Experimenting in the cloud: The digital divide's impact on innovation

This paper builds on a recent National Science Foundation working paper that identified a strong association between cloud use and various types of innovation but did not consider whether 1) cloud adoption is a reliable indicator of the innovation orientation of a firm, or 2) cloud adoption enables various types of innovation. We estimate propensity score matching and endogenous treatment effect models to control for innovation orientation, producing evidence to test the second explanation. Findings support an enabling effect of the cloud on innovation providing concrete evidence of the adverse impact of the digital divide.     

IPO performance of portfolio ventures funded by impact investors versus venture capital investors

With the global rise of impact investments to achieve societal goals, an increasing number of new ventures that aim to create societal impact now seek to go public. However, while many conceptual studies suggest that impact investors are less likely to pursue financially oriented exit plans in exchange for generating societal impact, there is little empirical evidence to back up this claim. Using a propensity score matching approach, we draw on data from Crunchbase and empirically compare the initial public offering (IPO) performance of a large sample of 3398 investments by impact investors with 3398 investments by matched venture capital (VC) investors. We find that impact investor investments are less likely to lead to an IPO than VC investments. Besides, our results indicate that syndication by impact investors increases the likelihood of an IPO. This suggests that companies funded by impact investors benefit more from syndication than their VC-funded counterparts. Our findings have practical implications for impact investors, portfolio ventures, and policymakers.     

National culture and the revenue-expense matching

Prior studies on the link between country-level cultural aspects and firms' arbitrary accounting practices are scant, and they show mixed results. To gain more insight about the impact of national culture on earnings characteristics, we exploit the matching concept between revenues and expenses, which well reflects managerial estimation and discretion in earnings quality. Using a large sample of 57 countries over the period 1989–2012, we find that (1) the economic association between revenues and expenses becomes stronger in firms from collectivistic and high uncertainty-avoidant countries, (2) the impact of these dimensions of national culture on the matching is more salient for firms from countries characterized by a higher level of accrual accounting, a greater proportion of special-items, and limited openness, and (3) the cultural impact on matching is mainly driven by the correlation between revenue and discretionary expense (i.e., selling, general, and administrative expense). These findings are consistent with the view that national culture plays an informal governance role to influence firms' discretionary accounting choices.     

Exploring the attractiveness of social enterprises to job seekers: The role of perceived value fit and prestige

Existing research indicates that job seekers are attracted to organizations demonstrating social responsibility. This seems especially true for commercial enterprises that engage in socially responsible practices, but is challenged in the case of social enterprises. While commercial enterprises stay focused on their primary aim of generating financial revenues when engaging in social responsibility, social enterprises’ social responsibility is primary and at the core of their business. However, the attractiveness of social enterprises on the job market has not been the focus of extant research. This study aims to enrich the academic literature by exploring the attractiveness of social enterprises to job seekers. When studying job seekers’ intentions to pursue a job with a social enterprise, we also examine some of the underlying mechanisms that affect individuals’ attraction process to social enterprises. We perform an experimental design study involving 349 Belgian students about to graduate. The results reveal that participants’ intentions to pursue a job with a social enterprise are significantly lower in comparison to their job pursuit intentions with commercial enterprises. Furthermore, factors relating to personal values, like perceptions of value fit and individuals’ prosocial values, play a significant role in the attractiveness of social enterprises.     

Can China's new rural pension scheme alleviate the relative poverty of rural households? An empirical analysis based on the PSM-DID method

Based on five-period panel data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010–2018, this paper uses the propensity score matching difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) method to comprehensively evaluate the effects of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on alleviating rural households' relative poverty. At the same time, based on the theory of sustainable livelihoods of rural households, the mediating effects model is applied to analyse the mechanism of rural households' livelihood capital. The results of the study are as follows. (1) The NRPS helps alleviate the relative poverty of rural households. (2) The livelihood capital of rural households is an important mechanism for the NRPS to alleviate the relative poverty of rural households, and social capital, financial capital, and human capital all play a part in the mediating effect. (3) The results of the heterogeneity tests based on the stage of rural households' participation in the NRPS and the region of participation in the NRPS indicate that the governance effects of the NRPS on rural households' relative poverty are more significant among households in the contributory stage and the central and western regions. Additionally, the results are supported by robustness tests, such as replacing the dependent variable and the PSM method. The findings of this paper have important implications for the establishment of a long-term mechanism to address relative poverty and the construction of a more efficient and inclusive rural social pension insurance system in China and other developing countries.     

水足迹视角下京津冀县域粮食作物水土资源匹配格局

目的 农业水土资源是粮食生产的决定因素，探明京津冀粮食生产中水土资源匹配格局特征对区域经济发展有深远的影响。方法 文章从水足迹的视角出发，分析了1980—2018年京津冀县域5种主要粮食作物（小麦、玉米、稻谷、大豆、薯类）的产量、播种面积、水足迹、耕地面积的时空变化，运用水土匹配系数法及ArcGIS深入研究了1983年、1998年、2003年和2016年水土资源匹配格局，并进一步剖析区域农业水土匹配对农业生产的影响。结果 （1）当前京津冀水土匹配系数区间为［0.02，1.25］，超出区间范围［0.281， 0.431］；粮食生产格局与水土匹配系数空间格局均为“冀中南高、北部低”。（2）研究时段内，京津冀粮食总产量提高1.14倍，播种总面积降低19.28%，粮食单产量显著提高；灌溉提高粮食单产量，水土匹配系数与粮食单产量呈正相关。（3）1980—2019年京津冀5种作物蓝水足迹均值（136.64亿m³）是绿水足迹均值（99.60亿m³）的1.37倍，各作物水足迹变化不同，间接反映地区农业种植结构的改变。（4）京津冀水足迹总量提高2.45倍，耕地总量下降20.59%，水土匹配系数变大，农业水土匹配程度差，间接指示研究区域地下水开发程度高。结论 京津冀县域水土资源匹配存在较大提升空间，应从当地水土资源存在的问题出发，适当调整作物种植结构，关注区域地下水超采等限制农业发展的因素，促进京津冀地区农业水土资源可持续发展。     

土地托管、规模经营与生产技术效率 ——来自山东省小麦种植户的证据

研究目的：基于山东省小麦种植户调查数据，以田间管理环节为例，探究土地托管通过规模经营对技术效率产生的影响，为更好地发挥出土地托管在推进粮食产业高质量发展中的重要作用提供参考。研究方法：得分倾向匹配模型与IV-Tobit模型等。研究结果：（1）土地托管通过形成适度服务规模对技术效率产生影响：田间管理托管服务规模与技术效率之间呈现“倒U型”关系，当服务规模在2～<13.33 hm2时，相比于农户自主经营具有提升技术效率的优势；使技术效率最大化的田间管理服务适度规模为7.5 hm2；托管中采纳绿色高效技术能够整体向上提升技术效率水平。（2）土地托管也会通过与农户土地规模相作用对技术效率产生影响：通过适度服务规模对技术效率的直接提升效用偏向于土地规模较大的农户；通过土地流入对技术效率的间接提升效用在较小规模农户中更为显著。研究结论：（1）发展土地托管应强调服务主体的适度服务规模，着力推进土地连片化；（2）运用绿色高效技术和机械有助于提升服务主体田间托管作业质量；（3）注重适度服务规模与适度土地规模之间的良性互动，在推进农业服务规模化的过程中也要满足小农户土地流转的需求。     

高标准农田建设、农业社会化服务对农药 投入的影响研究 ——基于江西省605户稻农的调查数据

研究目的：探究高标准农田建设对稻农农药投入的影响机理，为协调高标准农田建设与农药减量政策提供参考。研究方法：倾向得分匹配法、分位数回归、中介效应模型。研究结果：（1）高标准农田建设能够使稻农的亩均农药投入降低22.12%;(2)高标准农田建设对农药投入的影响存在异质性，对农药投入位于低分位点的农户和规模户产生的影响效应更加显著；（3）高标准农田建设通过提高农业社会化服务参与农业生产进而促进农药投入减量化；（4）不同类型的高标准农田建设项目产生的农药投入减量效应存在差异性。研究结论：通过继续推进高标准农田建设，针对不同资源禀赋农户采取差异化的农田建设力度，加大土地流转、扩张土地规模实现农业服务规模经营，以强化高标准农田建设的农药投入减量效果。     

基于遗传投影寻踪模型的交通用地集约利用综合评价

研究目的:对2006年全国31个省、直辖市、自治区的交通用地集约利用水平进行综合评价,提出全国交通用地集约利用相关政策建议。研究方法:针对交通用地集约利用评价系统的多目标和指标间的不相容性,提出交通用地集约利用综合评价的遗传投影寻踪模型。研究结果:(1)全国公路与铁路用地集约利用水平以及交通用地投入产出经济效益对集约利用水平影响较大。(2)2006年全国交通用地集约利用水平呈现东南—西北依次递减趋势。研究结论:遗传投影寻踪模型采用直接审视数据—通过计算机模拟数据结构—评价的新途径,为交通用地集约利用研究提供了新的思路和参考依据。     

基于快速OPAST算法的直扩信号PN码序列估计

在直接序列扩频（DSSS）通信对抗系统中，伪码（PN）序列估计是一个重要的研究课题。针对在某些情况下权值向量不收敛的问题，提出了一种基于快速正交投影逼近子空间跟踪（OPAST）算法和滑动窗技术的直扩信号PN码序列估计算法，对非同步接收DSSS信号按照宽窗口分段，利用快速OPAST算法提取主特征向量，滑动窗技术实现码同步。该算法迭代权值向量具有正交性以及良好的收敛性，同时解决了常见相位模糊问题。算法具有较低复杂度，数据存储量少，易于硬件实现与实时处理。仿真结果表明，在-10 dB的较低信噪比背景环境中，该快速OPAST算法可以正确有效地估计出PN码序列。