Doing more and doing better are two different entities: Different patterns of family control and environmental performance

Family firms bear two types of agency costs, including type I and type II agency problems, in corporate environmental practices: (1) Outside executives at family firms hesitate to engage in environmental strategies, which can lead to drops in profits; (2) Controlling families employ opportunistically environmental management to achieve their interests. We argue that a primary cause for the agency problems lies on ineffective internal corporate governance at family firms, which can cause loss of managerial (or power) balance between outside executives and family executives. Our findings show that family firms with ownership and strategic control (FSC), which family executives and outside executives monitor and constrain each other, can achieve the highest environmental performance. Moreover, external controls, including product market competition and provincial environmental regulations, substitute effective internal control of FSC. The environmental performance premium of FSC is more prevalent when the production market competition is lower. Family firms with ownership, operational, and strategic control (FOSC) can achieve higher environmental performance within a province with more stringent environmental regulations.     

重男轻女观念会加剧当地家族企业的机会主义动机吗——以家族企业上市公司为例

本文基于重男轻女观念的视角，探究地区文化是否会影响当地家族企业的机会主义动机。本文研究发现，重男轻女地区的家族企业更愿意安排男性家族成员担任CEO等重要职位，更多地引入家族成员参与企业经营。由于担心这种机会主义行为，外部投资者对当地家族企业的投资更为谨慎。本文从地区文化的视角阐释了家族企业的异质性，推动了已有研究从“家族企业与非家族企业有何不同”向“不同地区文化下的家族企业间有何不同”层面深入。     

Inter‐firm R&D collaborations and green innovation value: The role of family firms' involvement and the moderating effects of proximity dimensions

The present paper investigates the relationship between the involvement of family firms in R&D collaborations aimed at developing green solutions and the value of resulting innovations. To dig into this relationship, the moderating effects of two proximity dimensions (i.e., geographical distance and technological relatedness) are also assessed. Analyses are based on a sample of 156 joint patents classified into the “Alternative energy production” field, as defined by the International Patent Classification Green Inventory and successfully filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the period 1997–2010 by publicly listed companies. According to our conjectures, results reveal a positive relationship between the involvement of family firms and green innovation value. Moreover, our findings show that this relationship is hindered when partners are geographically distant or technologically proximate. Eventually, we contribute to the literature on green innovation by unveiling under which conditions inter‐firm R&D collaborations lead to more valuable innovations.     

Childcare,Household Composition,Muslim Ethnicity,and Off-Farm Work in Rural China

ABSTRACT

This study explores how religious and ethnic norms and gender relations interact across the domestic and public spheres of work in rural China's minority-concentrated regions. It focuses on the roles that childcare and household composition play in the employment decisions of prime-age married individuals of Muslim and non-Muslim ethnicity. Using the 2012 China Household Ethnicity Survey (CHES), the study finds that children generally decrease women's likelihood of employment outside the home and increase men's. The gender gap in the probability of off-farm employment is larger for those of Muslim ethnicity. Non-Muslim parents of sons are more likely to migrate for employment than parents of daughters. The presence of women of grandparent age (46–70) universally facilitates labor migration. Men of grandparent age tend to increase only the probability that non-Muslim parents migrate for employment. Additional adult male household members reduce the likelihood that women of Muslim ethnicity have off-farm employment.     

儒家传统文化与公司违规行为*——基于中国家族上市公司的分析

本文按照“文化-行为”的逻辑，探讨了作为非正式制度的重要组成部分之儒家传统文化对公司违规行为的影响。本文以2007—2014年沪深两市的中国家族企业上市公司为研究样本，考察了儒家传统文化对上市公司违规行为的影响以及其与正式制度（法律）的交互作用。研究发现，儒家传统文化影响力越强，上市公司违规行为发生的概率越低；并且在儒家传统文化与正式制度（法律）两者交互叠加作用时上市公司违规行为发生的概率更低。     

计划生育政策如何影响城乡收入差距——基于CFPS数据的实证分析

基于CFPS（2010）数据，实证分析计划生育政策对城乡收入差距的影响机制，并利用Oaxaca-Blinder分解法和RIF回归分解法测度了计划生育政策对城乡收入差距的贡献度。结果表明：（1）计划生育政策有利于子代收入的提高，且对城镇的收入边际效应大于农村；（2）政策允许家庭生育数量越多，越不利于农村家庭子代收入的提高，家庭一旦超生则会显著降低子代收入，而且相对于农村家庭子代而言，城镇家庭超生对子代收入的负向影响更大；（3）计划生育政策对城乡收入差距的拉力呈现出U型特征，对低、高收入群体的影响较大，而对中等收入人群的城乡收入差距贡献相对较小，其中政策允许生育胎数起到了决定性作用。因此，计划生育政策应统筹全局、因地制宜、奖惩兼施，以提高农村的人力资本水平和子女的教育质量，促使城乡居民生育率和人力资本水平趋同。     

金融素养、家庭财富与家庭创业决策

本文利用2015年中国家庭金融调查(CHFS)数据,分析了金融素养、家庭财富与家庭创业决策三者之间的关系。整体上,金融素养的提高显著增加了家庭参与创业的可能性,但家庭参与创业面临着"财富约束效应";而金融素养对家庭财富具有替代作用,提高金融素养有效缓解了家庭的"财富约束效应",促进家庭参与创业。同时,研究发现家庭财富对家庭创业决策的影响并不存在明显的城乡差异,但金融素养更能缓解农村家庭创业所面临的"财富约束效应"。另外,提高金融素养能有效缓解家庭的信贷约束,增加其风险偏好,间接地促进创业。     

Sibling gender and wage differences

Family influences on economic performance are investigated. In particular, sibship sex composition is related to hourly wages using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. The wages of men are increasing in the proportion of siblings who are brothers, but the wages of women are insensitive to sibling gender. Nonwage outcomes are generally unaffected. Contrasts by age structure and demographic group are also presented. The analysis addresses econometric challenges like the endogeneity of fertility and selection into the workforce. In addition, mechanisms such as labour market interactions, human capital investment and role model effects are documented. A questionnaire on job search indicates a same-gender bias in the use of brothers and sisters in obtaining employment. Developmental and psychological assessments suggest that brothers may be associated with worse childhood home environments and more traditional family attitudes among women. The findings are policy relevant and contribute to an understanding of gender differences and earnings inequality.     

Measuring responsible financial consumption behaviour

Sound consumption decisions determine individuals’ well‐being; responsible financial consumption behaviour (RFCB) affects not only their finances but also their societal status and emotional state. The failure to manage personal finances responsibly may result in serious long‐term consequences for individuals and society overall. In order to evaluate the concept of RFCB, this study combines two established theoretical frameworks—the family management system and the theory of planned behaviour. The paper investigates the relationships among RFCB, responsible financial attitudes, financial literacy and behavioural control. Its theoretical model is tested on a random sample of 494 respondents and analysed using PLS‐SEM. The results confirm the formation of responsible consumption behaviour by six formative elements: self‐control in spending, planning for the future, seeking information, education, rational decision‐making and solvency. The findings also indicate that all three focal variables have a direct effect on RFCB.     

工作家庭冲突背景下弹性工作的作用机制研究 ——基于工作-家庭边界理论

越来越多企业实施弹性工作来提升工作与家庭之间的边界弹性，以期减少工作家庭冲突并进而保证员工的工作绩效。然而，有些企业却认为坚持严明的工作与家庭边界并严加监管,防止家庭事务向工作领域的渗透，才能保证员工工作绩效。对此争议，文章基于工作-家庭边界理论分析了工作弹性程度对员工工作绩效产生影响的路径，提出心理渗透在这一路径中起中介作用、工作创造性起调节作用的研究模型，通过调查数据证实，工作弹性程度对员工绩效的正面影响是通过减弱员工的心理渗透而发生作用，工作创造性对心理渗透与工作绩效之间关系有调节影响。本文研究表明，工作弹性程度能够帮助员工减少心理渗透，尤其有利于从事创造性工作的员工提升工作绩效。