Agency costs and tax planning when the government is a major Shareholder

In state owned enterprises (SOEs), taxes are a dividend to the controlling shareholder, the state, but a cost to other shareholders. We examine publicly traded firms in China and find significantly lower tax avoidance by SOEs relative to non-SOEs. The differences are pronounced for locally versus centrally-owned SOEs and during the year of SOE term performance evaluations. We link our results to managerial incentives through promotion tests, finding that higher SOE tax rates are associated with higher promotion frequencies of SOE managers. Our results suggest managerial incentives and tax reporting are conditional on the ownership structure of the firm.     

多波束移动卫星系统的自适应开环预编码方法

对于卫星移动通信系统，由于卫星与地面终端之间的相对运动以及星地间传输延迟，传统的基于理想信道信息的预编码方法是不适用的。针对这一问题，提出了一种基于开环信道估计的预编码方法。卫星端利用开环获取的部分信道信息实现多波束联合预编码，并导出了系统传输速率的闭合解析表达式。此外，为了克服强干扰环境下多波束预编码系统性能恶化问题，提出了一种自适应预编码传输方法。卫星发射机依据开环获得的慢时变用户位置信道信息和信道统计量信息，自适应地选择预编码方法或传统频率复用方法，实现最优的系统性能。理论分析和仿真结果表明，与传统的干扰抑制方法相比，所提方法能实现更优的系统性能，同时也克服了传统预编码方法的局限性。     

The relationship between national culture and the use of professional services: Evidence from two cross-country studies

Each year, clients spend large sums on professional services, such as accounting services, legal services and consulting services. While research has found significant cross-country differences in organizations’ spending on professional services, we do not know why they occur. Inspired by the organizational buying behavior literature, this paper investigates the influence of national culture on the use of professional services, particularly management consulting services. As the use of professional services involves considerable uncertainties—particularly for the buyer—it can be assumed to be influenced by cultural differences regarding the level of Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism and Masculinity. By drawing on two independent cross-country studies, we show that organizations in high uncertainty avoidance and individualistic cultures use professional services less than organizations in low uncertainty avoidance and collectivist cultures. We found no relationship between Hofstede's dimension of Masculinity and the use of professional services. The findings contribute to the theorizing on how the cultural context influences organizational buying behavior and the purchasing of professional services.     

CORPORATE TAX AVOIDANCE: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

Tax avoidance can range from reduction of the corporate tax burden by legitimate use of tax rules to violation of tax laws. In this paper, we endeavor to synthesize the major findings of tax avoidance research from the accounting and finance literatures over the past ten years. We consider theoretical developments and the related empirical findings about the interconnected issues of measuring tax avoidance, and the possible causes and outcomes of corporate tax avoidance. We present some ideas for further research to examine underexplored topics regarding tax avoidance.     

“北斗”救生终端海上自适应功率退避算法

受海况、浸水、结冰、对星等因素影响，飞行员海上遇险后报位可靠性较低，工作时长较短。为此，提出一种自适应功率退避方法，在对报位影响因素分析基础上，利用深度神经网络，通过对经纬度、高度、俯仰角、方向、加速度、速度、浸水、信号、电量等多维度数据进行学习，拟合出覆冰、浪涌、液面等信号特征与环境特征联想模型，自适应控制信号发射时机，实现功耗的有效控制。试验表明，该方法将通信成功率及工作时长分别由36.3%、6.0 h提升至73.3%、8.6 h。     

Consumers as legitimating agents: How consumer‐citizens challenge marketer legitimacy on social media

Previous research has shown that consumers increasingly challenge the legitimacy of marketers and unsolicited marketing communication in online contexts. Based on a qualitative study, this article examines how and for what reasons consumers challenge marketer legitimacy—the perceived appropriateness of marketers and their activities—in the empirical context of Reddit, a popular social news and community website. The study suggests that consumers challenge or accept marketer legitimacy in online communities based on particular, community and situation specific, legitimacy criteria that reflect and reproduce the values and norms of the community. In doing so, it is argued, consumers play a role as legitimating agents—consumer‐citizens that have the power to confer or deny legitimacy in the context of business‐society relations. Overall, the study advances knowledge in the field of consumer studies in two ways. First, it builds a symbolic interactionist perspective on consumer‐citizens as legitimating agents who enact their active citizenship role in the marketplace by assessing and constructing marketer legitimacy in online communities. Second, it offers an empirically grounded account of how and for what reasons consumer‐citizens challenge or accept the legitimacy of marketers and unsolicited marketing communication in online communities.     

Multinational enterprises and corporate tax planning: A review of literature and suggestions for a future research agenda

Corporate tax planning by the multinational enterprise (MNE), that is, the MNE’s ability to plan its tax affairs by using a multitude of strategies to reduce its tax bills legally, is a central research question in the literatures of international business, public economics, tax, finance, law and accounting. Underlying theoretical assumptions, approaches to empirical testing, profit shifting estimation strategies and findings are varied. Thus, it is important to conduct a critical literature review. In this paper, we offer new insights by studying the phenomenon from the international business (IB) perspective. We survey the academic literature on the MNE and corporate tax planning to examine the extent of knowledge on this topic and identify areas that we hope will stimulate interest among IB scholars for further research. We find materials across disciplines that are relevant to IB readers. We examine 120 articles in 51 scholarly journals and classic books published during the period 1966-2017. We identify the key mechanisms and the firm characteristics that may influence corporate tax planning. We suggest a research agenda where IB research can make clear contributions.     

The interaction between reputation and information search: Evidence of information avoidance and confirmation bias

This paper investigates how the valence of reputation affects the information search, and how the outcome of the search can result in a reevaluation of reputation. The protocol uses a digital version of the Information Display Board (IDB) to examine the dynamics of information search and reputation building. A sample of 1811 respondents was asked about their perceptions of the reputation of specific performing arts events, pre- and post-information search. The findings provide evidence of a confirmation bias (between positive information and the information search), and support information avoidance theories. Specifically, our results show that prior reputation only affected the online information search for consumers with no opinion, or with a positive opinion of a show's reputation. Furthermore, the information search only modifies reputation when consumers have no prior opinion.     

A train of thought in product experientiality: Working memory,distraction, and inconsistencies in cue order effects

The sequence of informational cues and the level of distraction have an impact on the judgment of a product’s quality and preference. Two quasi-experimental studies (N_total = 340) investigate the influence of the force behind the processing of these cues – working memory (WM). Previous research found that, in the presence of a distractor, high WM individuals are more able to recall the initial cue, and thus derive their product judgment from the initial strong cue. Study 1 contradicts these findings and raises important methodological questions regarding the conceptualization of strong and weak cues. Specifically, commonly accepted strong cues (e.g., product reputation) might not influence consumers as expected. Additionally, in a sequence of product evaluation with high vs. low degree of experientiality, study 2 reveals that consumers tend to show a primacy effect that is stronger for higher levels of WM capacity. Moreover, in a sequence of assessing low vs. high degree of experientiality products, consumers reveal stronger recency effects, thus showing that WM reinforces this recency effect. Our findings have important implications for marketers by suggesting that consumers with high WMC are more able to process complex stimuli and retrieve previously presented information on a product quality. These consumers also have a higher tendency to retrieve more information from product scenarios with a high degree of experientiality.     

A Multilevel investigation into the effect of cultural distance on bilateral trade: The roles of product type and uncertainty avoidance

Previous research shows mixed findings about how cultural distance may affect bilateral trade. To reconcile the mixed findings, we examine how key moderators at both the country-pair level (product type) and the country level (uncertainty avoidance) affect the magnitude of the effect of cultural distance on bilateral trade. Using trade data on electronic products from 90 nations during 2008–2 014, we show that cultural distance in general has a negative impact on bilateral trade. However, the effect is more pronounced when the trade is on experience (versus search) products, or if the importing country is low (versus high) in uncertainty avoidance. Apart from its moderating effect, experience (versus search) product also has a negative main effect on bilateral trade, but its impact is stronger for countries low (versus high) in uncertainty avoidance.