Quality of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Cost of Equity Capital: Lessons from China

This article explores the relationship between the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and the cost of equity capital by analyzing the financial data and CSR reports of A-share listed firms in China from 2008 to 2014. The quality of the CSR disclosure is shown to be negatively related to the cost of equity capital of the listed firms. This negative correlation proves to be more prominent among firms of environmentally sensitive industries. Taking the ownership of the listed firms into consideration, it is further confirmed that the negative relationship between the CSR disclosure and the cost of equity capital is of higher significance for state-owned enterprises. Our findings also empirically demonstrate that the quality of CSR disclosure is more negatively related to the cost of equity capital among the large listed firms than the smaller ones.     

Consumption,welfare, and stochastic population dynamics when technology shocks are (Un)tied

The impact of uncertainty on consumption and welfare seems obvious; because of the precautionary saving motive, higher uncertainty reduces consumption, and subsequently, deteriorates welfare. Recent several studies, however, find that this intuitive narrative is not necessarily true. This paper provides the analytical underpinnings for this. In the absence of technological progress, I find that the larger demographic shocks always reduce consumption, but improve the welfare of households. Moreover, when demographic shocks are negatively tied to technology shocks, there emerges an inverted-U relationship between the size of two shocks and consumption, and a U-shaped relationship between the size of two shocks and household welfare. These results are all characterized analytically in the framework of the stochastic two-sector growth model featuring the correlated Brownian motion process. The findings suggest that demographic policies should not be implemented with no reference to the state of technology.     

Talent management of skilled migrants: propositions and an agenda for future research

This paper unpacks the dominant conceptualizations of talent management (TM) in contemporary academic publications, and considers these in relation to the increasingly important workforce population of skilled international migrants. It postulates that TM approaches are generally built from a relatively narrow human capital-based perspective wherein organizations focus on readily accessible and immediate skills, ignoring the longer term strategic potential of the international workforce of skilled migrants, particularly for multinational enterprises and other international organizations. Through a series of propositions, the paper highlights how organizations, in strategically using a more comprehensive TM lens rather than a human capital lens in approaching the TM of skilled migrants, could benefit from improved HRM performance over time. It also proposes a research agenda, by which future studies might test, explore, and further develop understanding on a more strategic utilization of skilled migrants in organizations.     

Farm size and productivity growth in the United States Corn Belt

In recent decades, agricultural production in the U.S. has continued to shift to large-scale operations, raising concerns about the economic viability of small and midsized farms. To understand whether economies of size provided an incentive for the consolidation of production, the study estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) of five size classes of grain-producing farms in the U.S. Heartland (Corn Belt) region. Using quinquennial Agricultural Census data from 1982 to 2012 the study also compares TFP growth rates across farm sizes to gain insight into whether observed productivity differences are likely to persist. The finding of a strong positive relationship between farm size and TFP suggests that consolidation of production has contributed to recent aggregate productivity growth in the crop sector. The study estimates the extent to which sectoral productivity growth can be attributed to structural change versus other factors including technological change. The study also explores some tradeoffs associated with policies that raise the productivity of small versus large farms.     

Capital buffer and credit‐risk adjustments in Islamic and conventional banks

The main purpose of this article is to empirically investigate the interactions between changes in capital buffer and changes in credit risk, using panel data of Islamic and conventional banks located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period 1999–2016. A negative two‐way relationship between the changes in capital buffer and the changes in credit risk is found for the two types of banks, that is, banks tend to decrease their capital buffers in response to an increase in risk exposure and limit their risky activities in response to an increase in their capital buffers. Dividing our period of study into three subperiods to assess the effect of the last financial crisis 2007–08 on the adjustment process, we point out the negative bidirectional relationship between the changes in capital buffer and the changes in credit risk of the two types of banks is present for the three subperiods except the case of conventional banks during the precrisis period. Moreover, we provide evidence that Islamic banks adjust their capital buffer in response to the changes in credit risk regardless of the existence or not of a deposit insurance scheme. In contrast, the negative two‐way relationship between the changes in capital buffer and the changes in credit risk in conventional banks is found only in countries without deposit insurance schemes.     

Outward foreign direct investment by Polish state-owned multinational enterprises: is ‘stateness’ an asset or a burden?

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are commonly associated with undue advantages due to preferential treatment by the state. Simultaneously they are often quoted as handicapped given the notorious state interference, management problems and agency tensions. They used to be regarded as a mainly domestic issue but in the context of globalisation and the fact that states enter treaties with new obligations, SOEs’ performance ceased to be solely a domestic problem, increasingly so as state-owned multinational enterprises (SOMNEs) emerge. This article presents the results of research on Polish SOEs’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). It offers an overview of overseas activities of nine major Polish firms with a state stake and aims to contribute to the conceptual literature on foreign investments conducted by SOMNEs. We distinguish between FDI by SOMNEs as specific – privileged (facilitated) or discriminated (hampered) – investments subject to the home country’s state power and the host country’s state perception.     

城镇群空间结构与要素集聚

依据城镇化发展过程中要素空间集聚理论，展开区域经济发展的空间经济结构研究。通过城市引力、克鲁格曼指数计算，比较分析城镇群内部城市吸引力和城市产业分布的差异性，通过人口与生产空间分布集中度指标和不一致系数的测算，分析了山西省城镇群空间要素集聚效应。研究表明，山西省的城镇群规划与要素空间集聚趋势整体一致，城市间产业分工体系基本形成，城镇群的要素集聚效应明显，但人口与生产分布仍存在不一致性。研究认为，山西省城镇群发展应该继续明确各城市的产业分工和特色，引导劳动力和资本要素的合理流动，实现人口与生产空间分布的一致。