Excess corporate payouts and financial distress risk

Firms that follow excessive payout policies (over-payers) are higher on the financial distress spectrum and have lower survival rates than under-payers. In addition, over-payers endure lower future sales and asset growth than under-payers and experience negative abnormal returns in the bond and stock markets. Exogenous import tariff reductions and commodity price jumps reduce the likelihood of overpayment. We interpret this as evidence consistent with financial flexibility considerations, rather than risk-shifting, explaining the decision to overpay. We also find that CEO overconfidence and catering incentives affect overpayment.     

Eco-labels and product longevity: The case of whitefish in UK grocery retailing

In recent years, eco-labeling has become an increasingly used tool to signal sustainable sourcing of (sea-) food. While the literature has focused on price premiums associated with the labels, it is noted in this paper that eco-labels can also contribute to profitability by reducing cost, e.g. through longer product lifespans. Hence, eco-labels can be beneficial in a supply chain even without a price premium. This study applies duration analysis to explore whether two eco-labels (the MSC label of the Marine Stewardship Council and a line-caught label) influence product longevity of whitefish products in eight different grocery retailers in the UK. The results show that MSC labeled products have a 64.7% lower risk of being withdrawn from the shelves compared to non-MSC products, while products with the line-caught label have a 32.8% lower risk of being withdrawn than products without this label. The results also indicate that the influence of the eco-labels on product longevity vary considerably between the retailers.     

A capabilities perspective on the joint effects of internationalization time,speed, geographic scope and managers’ competencies on SME survival

This study examines the effect of key internationalization contingencies on SME survival. We argue early internationalization increases the probability of firm failure, while international experience reduces it. However, the survival odds among international new ventures may be improved by their post-entry international expansion scope and speed, and by managers’ competencies. These internationalization facets provide firms with opportunities to develop and exploit their resources and capabilities, and thus enhance their survival chances. Drawing on a sample of 271 manufacturers followed between 2005 and 2014, we find results that provide support to most of our arguments, and hold theoretical and managerial relevance.     

Modelling New Zealand dairy products: evidence on export survival and duration

This article presents evidence concerning the pattern of New Zealand dairy exports duration and survival from 1989 to 2017. It also analyses the influence of a set of supply, demand and gravity‐type drivers on the hazard rate for New Zealand dairy export relationships. The findings are summarised as follows. First, New Zealand dairy export relationships are dynamic with numerous entries and exits to and from foreign markets. Around half of the relationships survived for only 1–2 years at the sequence level. Second, duration of sequence, left‐censoring, initial export, decomposed sequences, New Zealand export price index, the number of cows available for dairy production, the number of origins and destinations, and destination partner’s GDP are the most significant factors reducing the hazard rate of export relationships. As regards the effects of the non‐tariff measures, it is interesting that technical barriers of trade are found to significantly decrease the hazard rate. Only pre‐shipment inspection and contingent trade protective measures are significant impediments to New Zealand dairy export relationships. Finally, hazard probabilities for New Zealand dairy export relationships are estimated to be ‘L‐shaped’ over time, whether or not non‐tariff measures are applied to New Zealand dairy products.     

The role of accelerators in firm survival: An fsQCA analysis of Italian startups

Accelerators are a recent yet rapidly growing phenomenon within entrepreneurial ecosystems. The distinctive characteristics exhibited by accelerators, relative to previous incubation models, imply that accelerators may play a different role and have a different impact on the survival rates of participating firms. In this study, we explore the relationship between participation in an accelerator program and firm survival using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with key variables related to firm survival. We analyze 38 accelerated startups from five Italian accelerators and a control group of 38 non-accelerated Italian startups. Our findings support the business accelerator literature that regards accelerators as a new and distinct generation of business incubators. Our results suggest that participation in accelerator programs on its own does not influence firm survival. However, we found a relationship between firm survival and accelerated technology-based firms that do not export and between firm survival and accelerated firms in the service sector with a small team that do not export. We conclude that factors affecting the survival of accelerated firms are different from factors affecting the survival of incubated firms, providing further evidence of the characteristics that distinguish accelerators from incubators.     

论体育教育与生存教育

生存教育是人类最基本的教育。体育作为教育的重要组成部分,对提高生存能力起着不可替代的作用。近年来,我国的体育教育受传统教育的影响,存在一些问题,严重制约着学校体育教育的发展。体育教育观念的更新、师资队伍的优化、评价体系的建立、校园体育文化的建设是实施生存教育的重要途径。     

Defending Gibrat’s Law as a long-run regularity

According to Gibrat’s Law of Proportionate Effect, the growth rate of a given firm is independent of its size at the beginning of the period examined. While earlier studies tended to confirm the Law, more recent research generally rejects it. This article reconciles these two streams of literature, taking into account the role of market selection and learning in reshaping a given population of firms through time. Consistently with previous studies, we find that Gibrat’s Law has to be rejected ex ante, since smaller firms tend to grow faster than their larger counterparts. However, a significant convergence toward Gibrat-like behavior can be detected ex post. This finding is an indication that market selection “cleans” the original population of firms, so that the resulting industrial “core” does not depart from a Gibrat-like pattern of growth. From a theoretical point of view, this result is consistent with those models based on passive and active learning, and can be seen as a defense of the validity of the Law in the long-run.

吸烟史与高龄老人死亡分析初步

利用1998—2000年高龄老人追踪调查的数据,探讨了吸烟——不良生活方式的主要内容之一,对高龄老人生存与死亡过程的影响。虽然吸烟有害于人体健康,但是针对高龄老人(80岁及80岁以上)生存与死亡的多元COX回归分析表明,其吸烟的历史过程(包括起始吸烟年龄、吸烟量和是否戒烟等)对高龄老人存活影响程度的统计意义并不明显。吸烟对高龄老人生存过程的干扰仍然需要进一步研究。     

初创科技型企业生存前景的经验判别

如何判别初创科技型企业未来的生存前景是各种投资机构和理论界都极为关注的问题。运用非条件Logistic回归模型,对厦门留学人员创业园内初创企业的生存状态进行了经验判别。在12个影响因素中,发现有3个因素与初创企业的生存状况密切相关。其中,既有的销路和明确的目标市场是促进初创企业成活率提高的因素,而产品适用范围的扩大反而会降低初创企业的生存概率。     

基于GIS技术的智慧校园方案设计研究

为改善高校的教育环境,提高高校的综合管理水平,本文提出了高校智慧校园系统的功能设计方案,然后基于可实现性原则,按照使用要素和使用对象两种分类标准将系统功能模块中的具体功能进行了细化设计,最后对智慧校园系统的具体建设过程提出了方案设计,对于更好的实现智慧校园的功能,有着很大的促进作用。