Ripple Effects of CEO Awards: Investigating the Acquisition Activities of Superstar CEOs' Competitors

Research summary : This study proposes that CEOs may undertake intensive acquisition activities to increase their social recognition and status after witnessing their competitors' winning CEO awards. Using a sample of U.S. S&P 1,500 firm CEOs, we find that CEOs engage in more intensive acquisition activities in the period after their competitors won CEO awards (i.e., postaward period), compared to the preaward period. Moreover, this effect is stronger when focal CEOs themselves had a high likelihood of winning CEO awards. Our findings also show that acquisitions by focal CEO firms in the postaward period realize lower announcement returns compared to acquisitions by the same CEOs in the preaward period. Managerial summary : Each year a few CEOs receive CEO awards from business media and CEOs who receive such awards become instant celebrities, that is, superstar CEOs. This study explores how superstar CEOs' competitors react to not winning CEO awards. We find that superstar CEOs' competitors undertake more intensive acquisition activities in the postaward period compared to the preaward period. This is particularly true for competitors who were close, yet did not win CEO awards. In addition, acquisitions by superstar CEOs' competitors are associated with lower announcement returns in the postaward compared to the preaward period. These findings collectively indicate that acquisitions may be used as a channel for superstar CEOs' competitors to elevate their own social status, but at a cost to shareholders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

金庸小说的主题学研究与定位——刘卫英、王立《金庸小说母题及中外比较研究》读后

《金庸小说母题及中外比较研究》一书,从多种母题、主题、意象来探讨金庸小说的民族文学特征、民族文化内蕴生成以及外来佛经故事影响。注意在一个武侠文学传统的传承性链条上,发掘金庸小说的多重文化价值。在具体母题、意象的实证探究中,非常重视主题学理论方法的运用,拓展了主题学研究的视阈与空间,进一步验证和提升了主题学研究方法的学术意义与价值。     

Tax-benefit systems and differences in aggregate labour force participation: Comparative evidence from the Czech Republic and Hungary

This paper investigates the extent to which cross-country differences in aggregate participation rates can be explained by differences in tax-benefit systems. We take the example of two countries, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which – despite a lot of similarities – differ markedly in labour force participation rates. Using comparable individual-level labour supply estimates, we simulate how the aggregate participation rate would change in one country if the other country’s tax and social welfare system were adopted. The estimation results for the two countries are quite similar, suggesting that individual preferences are essentially identical in the two countries. The simulation results show that about one-third of the difference in the participation rates of the 15–74 year-old population and more than two-thirds of the participation of the prime-age population can be explained by differences in the tax-benefit systems.     

我国中小企业三维差异化特征比较研究

作为推动国民经济增长和促进社会稳定的基础力量,中小企业在市场中扮演着最活跃的经济主体。与大企业相比,中小企业有其鲜明的成长特征,从动态演进视角选取体量规模、生命周期、要素需求三个维度,系统探讨了中小企业的差异化特征。结论显示:体量规模特征反映在个体与群体以及经济板块之间;生命周期特征体现在死亡陷阱和空间格局演变上;要素需求特征会根据阶段创新内容的不同做出适时调整。     

我国蛋鸡养殖环境全要素生产率测度及省域比较分析

［目的］蛋鸡养殖场规模化养殖与生态环境保护协调发展问题是蛋鸡养殖业可持续发展过程中面临的关键性问题，测度我国大、中、小3种规模下不同省份蛋鸡养殖场的环境全要素生产率，并从时间、地区两个维度对蛋鸡养殖场的环境全要素生产率进行比较。［方法］利用2004—2016年不同养殖规模蛋鸡养殖场的投入和产出数据，文章基于SBM函数的Malmquist Luengerber（ML）指数方法，对蛋鸡养殖场环境全要素生产率进行分解，将其分解为技术进步指数、效率改进指数。［结果］（1）蛋鸡养殖场环境全要素生产率整体呈现下降趋势，同时与蛋鸡养殖规模呈反比，蛋鸡养殖场规模越大，蛋鸡养殖环境生产率越小。（2）蛋鸡养殖场效率存在效率改善，但养殖技术进步率相对较低，尤其是对小规模养殖场而言，改善空间更明显； （3）蛋鸡养殖环境全要素生产率区域差异较为明显，整体来看，蛋鸡养殖主产区环境全要素生产率高于非主产区。［结论］加强蛋鸡产业科技创新水平以及公共服务设施的投入，提高养殖户的废弃物无害化处理能力，推行蛋鸡养殖的规模化和标准化发展，进一步改善养殖效率，以促进蛋鸡养殖规模化和生态环境保护协调发展。     

Worktime control and work stress: the moderating effect of self-comparisons and social comparisons

Abstract

Perceived work-related stress has increased notably in recent years, reducing individuals’ well-being and increasing organizations’ and economies’ costs. This study focuses on worktime control as a key approach to reducing work stress, as the extant research on its effects reports inconsistent results. The study argues that comparisons play a major role in how work stress, conceptualized as effort-reward imbalance, occurs. Ordinary least squares is used to test hypotheses with a sample of 1721 employees from Germany to determine whether employees’ prior worktime control and employees’ referents’ worktime control affect the relationship between worktime control and work stress. Results show that (1) worktime control is negatively associated with the experience of work stress, (2) employees’ prior worktime control moderates the relationship between worktime control and work stress, and (3) there is no moderating effect of employees’ referents’ worktime control. The results are discussed in light of gift-exchange theory and related empirical findings.     

A Common Base Answer to the Question “Which Country Is Most Redistributive?”*

We believe that what most authors have in mind when referring to the “most redistributive country” is a tax and transfer schedule that is most redistributive across all pre-tax and transfer income distributions. In order to measure each country's tax and transfer redistribution according to the same baseline, we suggest using the transplant-and-compare method of Dardanoni and Lambert (2002, Journal of Public Economics 86, 99–122) to establish a common base. The redistributive effects of countries’ tax and transfer schedules are illustrated by employing microdata on eight countries from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS). Of these eight countries, Finland is found to be the most redistributive country, according to the common base method.     

The commercialisation of subsistence farms: Evidence from the new member states of the EU

For selected regions of five EU Member States (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia), this paper examines the determinants of the commercialisation of (semi)subsistence farms. While subsistence farming has become an important feature of the EU, there is a lack of evidence on its spatial distribution, importance and reasons for persistence. The analysis utilises cross-regional survey data and qualitative interviews. Results suggest the absence of a subsistence poverty trap driven by either farmer perceptions or transactions costs although capital endowment appears to play a significant part. On the other hand the degree of market engagement depends on access costs, which vary with location, households’ productive assets, specialisation, and risk propensity. Implications for land use policy are discussed.     

国内外环境素养测评发展的比较研究

鉴于国内环境素养测评研究处于起步阶段,文章追溯了国内外环境素养测评理论发展的历史脉络,对比分析了国内外学者在环境素养测评研究方面的差距和不足,以期促进国内学者研究水平的提高,促进生态文明、环境友好型社会建设。