The role of network embeddedness across multiple social networks: Evidence from mobile social network games

This article examines peer influences from network relationships within a social network game (i.e., embeddedness) and across such games (i.e., multiplexity). Drawing on social influence theory, we develop a bivariate Poisson model of users’ repeated visits and latent attrition that accommodates peer interaction after controlling for homophily. We estimate the model using data from two social network games with considerable overlap among network members. We find that friends who are only multiplex across games exert greater peer influence on users’ game visits than members who are embedded within a single game. We also determined that ignoring network multiplexity across games may lead firms to mistarget users due to biased peer influences of embedded friends. This result provides an unresearched explanation—strength of peer influence—for the mixed findings in previous literature on network embeddedness. We utilized our results to conduct several scenario analyses to demonstrate how firms can effectively manage users’ engagement and target users in multiple social network games.     

新型农村社会养老保险参与决策中的同群效应

我国于2012年实现了社会保障在制度上的全覆盖。然而,对于自愿参与型社会保障项目,政策目标人群的参保率过低,无法充分发挥社会保障体系的风险分担和福利保障作用。2020年,党的十九届五中全会将健全社会保障体系作为“十四五”时期经济社会发展主要目标之一。分析政策目标人群的参保决策,有针对性地提高群众参保率,对于充分发挥社会保障制度的功能和健全社会保障体系具有重要意义。本文以新型农村社会养老保险(新农保)为例,使用家庭调查数据和工具变量方法,考察同群效应在社会保障项目参与决策中的作用。研究发现:同村居民参与新农保的比例每增加10个百分点,个体参保概率显著增加4.24个百分点;同村居民之间的信息传递以及其内部形成的社会规范是同群效应发挥作用的重要渠道;男性的参保行为具有更强的示范效应。本文的研究结论表明,加强基层政策宣传和提高政策透明度,以及有针对性地提高特定群体的参保率是提高社会保障项目整体参与率的有效手段。     

风险传染的信息识别——基于网络借贷市场的实证

基于清华大学金融科技研究院互联网金融研究中心网络借贷平台数据库与网贷之家相关平台统计数据,通过构建Logit模型与Cox比例风险回归模型来研究2015年12月e租宝事件和2018年6月备案延期后的“爆雷”现象,本文着重考察投资者是否具备根据信息披露程度识别问题平台和正常平台的能力。本文发现,第一,信息披露程度是影响平台风险的重要因素:信息披露程度越高的平台,其运营时间越长,出现问题的可能性越低。第二,信息披露程度越高的平台对抗风险的能力越强。风险传染期内,信息披露程度较高的平台,其成交量受市场负面情绪的影响较小。上述两点表明,总体而言,投资者重视平台披露的信息,并具备一定的信息识别能力。最后本研究也发现,上述两次风险事件期出现的问题平台是市场出清所需,它们和正常运营平台存在较大差异,尚无证据表明大量正常平台被拖累成问题平台。     

Risks from self-referential peer review echo chambers developing in research fields: 2018 Keynote Address presented at The British Accounting Review 50th Anniversary Celebrations,British Accounting and Finance Association Annual Conference,London

Denigration of academic experts and expertise, amid a resurgence of political populism, poses a challenge to the legitimacy of academic research. Addressing this challenge requires us to continually demonstrate the importance of basing policy interventions on reliable evidence, rather than unevidenced assertions that gain traction through communication echo chambers. However, unconscious confirmation biases in collection and analysis of evidence can impair the reliability of our research insights. A key source of such confirmation biases are unchallenged ideologies and other taken-for-granted assumptions underlying any research (sub)field. This essay argues that informal and formal peer review processes at many stages of research need to highlight and challenge both conscious selectivity bias and unconscious confirmation bias. However, they are unlikely to do so where researchers only take on board feedback from peers in the same (sub)field who share ideological commitments and taken-for-granted assumptions. In such circumstances, self-referential peer review echo chambers can develop that entrench rather than challenge weaknesses in a research (sub)field. This can be a major risk to the effectiveness and reputation of any academic research (sub)field; a risk we need to confront.     

科研诚信问题成因分析及治理

科研诚信是科研工作者应该遵循的基本原则，关系到一个国家科学事业的良性发展和社会有序运行。近年来，由于学术不端、科研失信事件频发，科研诚信问题成为科学界的关注焦点问题之一。从科研诚信的历史、表现、成因以及治理对策4个方面进行研究发现，科研诚信问题表现形式多样，形成原因复杂。据此，提出对科研诚信问题采取宽容原则、加强诚信教育、培育同行评议文化、探索有制约的同行评议制度以及随机抽取代表作等治理对策，以最大限度约束科研不端行为。     

高科技企业研发投入同群效应研究

探讨高科技企业研发投入的同群效应，特别是企业面临的市场环境不确定性，以及体现制度环境的知识产权保护对高科技企业研发投入同群效应的影响。实证分析沪深A股2009—2017年高科技上市公司数据，结果表明：①高科技企业研发投入存在显著的同群效应；②环境不确定性显著负向调节高科技企业研发投入的同群效应，即环境不确定性弱化了企业研发投入的行业趋同；③知识产权保护显著正向调节高科技企业研发投入的同群效应，即知识产权保护强化了企业研发投入的行业趋同。结论丰富了企业研发投入同群效应研究成果，为考察企业所处外部市场与制度环境对企业研发投入同群效应的影响提供了新视角。     

The effects of the visual presentation of an Influencer's Extroversion on perceived credibility and purchase intentions—moderated by personality matching with the audience

Influencers are ordinary individuals who have amassed large followings by demonstrating expertise in various niches on social media sites. We aim to propose (1) the visual presentation of an Influencer's extroversion as an antecedent to source credibility and purchase intentions and (2) personality matching in terms of extroversion between an Influencer and their audience as a moderator of such relationships. We chose the source credibility model and the similarity-attraction model as our theoretical frameworks. In our controlled online experiment (n = 165), the profile of a brand ambassador of a fashion brand was curated to create two levels of extroversion (i.e. low vs. high extroversion). Participants' self-reported extroversion levels were counterbalanced in these two conditions to create a personality match with the Influencer, entitled “extroversion congruence.” Our results suggest that the visual presentation of an Influencer's extroversion increases the perceived credibility of the Influencer and subsequent purchase intentions. Additionally, our findings show that these relationships were asymmetrically moderated by extroversion congruence: the positive effects of extroversion increase in the case of high extroversion among both the Influencer and their audience but decrease in the case of low extroversion.     

Including audit regulation in the accounting curriculum

Audits and auditors are regulated to uphold audit quality, thus regulation is important to the public interest and clearly impacts firms and CPAs. Moreover, the reach of audit regulation has expanded greatly in the last decade with the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Recent research and calls from the profession point to enhancing the coverage of audit regulation in the accounting curriculum so that students understand the consequences of failing to adhere to professional standards. In this paper, we propose regulatory content for inclusion in the curriculum, we survey and catalog existing auditing textbooks and other educational materials for regulatory content, and we suggest flexible alternatives for incorporating this topic into the curriculum. It is our hope that, with these resources, faculty can more effectively include audit regulation in the classroom and achieve a high level of student comprehension and learning on the topic.     

Dividend payments as a response to peer influence

I show dividend policies have peer effects. My estimates indicate that firms speed up the time taken to make a dividend change by about 1.5 quarters and increase payments by 16% in response to peer changes. The peer effects matter in increases but not decreases. In contrast to dividends, repurchases show no peer effects. In addition, announcement returns indicate that investors partially anticipate the consequences of peer effects. Overall, peer interdependencies account for 12% of total dividend payments.     

国外科研资助机构同行评议质量控制机制及启示

同行评议是各国科研资助机构普遍采用的项目申请评审方法。由于同行评议自身存在一些局限性,国外科研资助机构采取了各具特色的质量控制措施。我国国家自然科学基金自成立以来,在提升同行评议质量方面进行了很多有益探索。通过对几个典型国家的科研资助机构同行评议质量控制机制进行梳理,总结分析了各自特点和优势,结合我国实际情况,提出了加强我国科学基金同行评议质量控制的建议。