The Benefit of Frequent Corporate Philanthropy

Applying behavioural economic theory, we argue that the frequency of philanthropic activity is important in determining corporate philanthropy's economic outcome. Using Chinese data from 2003 to 2016, we find that firms with more frequent philanthropic activities obtain more government subsidies than firms that only engage in one-off charitable donations. Firms with better corporate governance, such as higher management ownership and more independent directors, are more likely to adopt a strategy of frequent donation. Furthermore, firms are more likely to be frequent donors when management or local government officers have a long tenure. Our findings provide insight into the giving process and suggest that firms can maximize the benefit of corporate philanthropy if they strategically consider the donation frequency and donation amount simultaneously.     

Are social media bad for your employees? Effects of at-work break activities on recovery experiences

Since social media has become a fundamental part of the daily activities of people, the purpose of this study was to explore social media use by focusing on job demands that may explain why employees perceive social media are vital for them at work. Further, this study seeks to understand how employees use social media at work to experience recovery. Questionnaires were collected from current frontline hospitality non-managerial and managerial employees in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze data. Results of the study confirm that at-work break activities including social and non-media break activities can be a channel for employees to experience recovery and deal with job demands. Moreover, the results suggest that at-work break activities are an important mediator between job demands and recovery experiences. Social media break activities also moderated the mediation effect of non-social media break activities between job demands and recovery experiences.     

生计资本对黄土丘陵区贫困人口生计活动的影响及评价*——以甘肃省榆中县为例

［目的］通过深入研究黄土丘陵区贫困人口生计资本对生计活动的影响，为解决农村贫困问题，提升农户生计资本存量、实现区域可持续生计发展提供科学依据。［方法］文章以甘肃省榆中县为例，基于对榆中县农户的调查数据，采用熵值法分析了东北部山区、中部川区和西南部山区贫困人口的生计资本状况和生计活动方式，并对其生计活动进行评价。［结果］从农户的生计资本组合来看，榆中县整体自然资本和人力资本相对物质资本、金融资本、社会资本3类资本较为富裕，尤其在西南部山区和东北部山区3类资本缺乏型农户比例较高。中部川区各乡镇人口的总体生计资本状况较好，总指数最高，而西南部山区次之、东北部山区最低，两者生计资本状况总体匮乏。农户的生计活动主要以种植、养殖和外出打工为主，生计活动多样性程度偏低； 中部川区人口的生计活动多样性指数最高，西南部山区次之、东北部山区最低，且整体受教育程度偏低，加之物质资本、金融资本、社会资本缺乏进一步限制了当地农户的生计多样性。［结论］（1）针对不同生计资本水平和生计活动多样性程度偏低的贫困地区，需要进一步发挥民族文化产业扶贫优势，开启地域产业扶贫新模式，打造地域无公害特色农业产业品牌，提高农户物质资本边际贡献； （2）发展小额信贷金融服务，改善农户金融资本存量，预防村际农户金融资本二元极化； （3）实施免费教育培训技能学习，打造教育培训脱贫示范村，提高人力资本存量，缓解贫困人口生计压力等提高经济发展水平的扶贫政策措施。     

改造我们的教学

进入"双高时代",我们距离新时代高等职业教育"舞龙头"的教学还有问题和"短板",应该改造教学方法和学习与研究制度。在剖析改造教学原因的基础上,厘清看待教学中存在问题的两种互相对立的态度,提出改造教学的革故鼎新路径,如强化"课堂教学为王"的意识,强化学习与专业研究,强化教学的职业素养,强化教师的课堂教学治理。     

Cross-national differences in stakeholder management: Applying institutional theory and comparative capitalism framework

Drawing upon the research in institutional theory and comparative capitalism, the present study investigates how cross-national differences in the political, business, and economic institutional contexts of the United States, Italy, and Japan are associated with the ways in which companies in each of these countries prioritize and engage in their stakeholder engagement activities (SEAs). Using Porter and Kramer's framework, which classifies corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities as falling into four categories (good citizenship, mitigating harm from value chain, transforming value chain activities, and strategic philanthropy), we investigate how companies in the United States, Japan, and Italy prioritize and engage in these four SEAs. An analysis of data collected from 340 companies across these countries reveals that while companies in each of these three countries undertake the four types of SEAs, the prioritization and prevalence of the four types of SEAs vary from one country to the other, in ways that align with the prevailing institutional contexts of each country. The results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of why and how companies' approaches to CSR differ across countries. From a practitioner's perspective, the findings highlight the cultural specificity of CSR, implying that despite the global nature of CSR, the implementation of CSR needs to be tailored to a country's context.     

A classroom experiment in monetary policy

The authors propose a classroom experiment implementing a simple version of a New Keynesian model suitable for courses in intermediate macroeconomics and money and banking. Students play as either the central bank or members of the private sector. The central banker sets interest rates to meet twin objectives for inflation and the output gap or to meet only an inflation target. In both settings, private sector agents are concerned with correctly forecasting the inflation rate. The authors show that an experiment implementing this setup is feasible and yields results that enhance understanding of the New Keynesian model of monetary policy. They propose alternative versions where the central bank is replaced by a policy rule and provide suggestions for discussing the experimental results with students.     

Revisiting global economic activity and crude oil prices: A wavelet analysis

Based on the wavelet analysis approach, this paper firstly examines the dynamic relationship between global economic activity (proxied by the Kilian economic index) and crude oil prices in both time- and frequency-domains. Our empirical results demonstrate significant correlation between crude oil prices and global economic activity at high frequencies (in the short run) during the entire sample period; however, the co-movement between the two at low frequencies (in the long run) is weaker and exists only during certain proportions of the sample period. We also document evidence that global economic activity and oil price are positively correlated, with dynamic lead-lag relationships across time. Our findings are robust to alternative choices of oil price indexes and controlling for other confounding factors such as geopolitical risk, armed conflicts, economic policy uncertainty and equity market uncertainty. The current study provides valuable implications for oil market investors based on the information of global economic situation and its dynamic relationships with oil prices.     

One size doesn’t fit all: A project designing small-scale economic development projects

The authors describe an innovative active learning strategy for a course on the economics of developing countries—a project designing a small-scale economic development project. Student teams research issues faced by developing countries and identify a specific problem in a specific locale. Students then create a detailed, feasible plan to alleviate the problem. Student plans include five key components: justification, implementation, budget, funding and evaluation. After having implemented this project for six years, the authors believe it has the potential to enhance learning and improve analytical, creative problem-solving and research skills. Results from a spring 2017 survey, where students respond favorably to the project, are discussed.     

“两网融合”背景下贸易经济专业人才培养模式探讨

本文总结梳理了“两网融合”复合型贸易经济专业人才培养的现状和新的要求,分析了“两网融合”复合型贸易经济专业人才培养的发展方向。从建立教学和科研复合型教学团队模式、信息化平台和实验室“多媒介”培养模式、“两网融合”平台全流程内部审计型人才培养模式、“课程思政+专业技能”结合教学模式等四个方面总结模式创新的基本途径。