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.     

国有风险资本与企业融资约束: 如愿以偿还是事与愿违?

我国国有风险资本是否实现了设立之初的目标,即是否纾解了企业融资困难呢?文章基于上市企业微观数据和手动采集的国有风险资本数据对此进行了系统研究.实证结果稳健地显示,国有风险资本可有效缓解企业后续融资约束,我国政府参与风险投资活动是有效的.进一步地,高持股比例、多联合投资、高政治层级的国有风险资本对受资助企业融资约束的缓解作用更强;且国有风险资本对经济欠发达、低制度质量环境下的企业、面临高环境不确定性和高竞争程度企业、民营企业、成长期与动荡期企业能产生更大的影响.机制检验表明,国有风险资本既能通过认证作用显著降低企业信息不对称程度,又能发挥政治关联的资源效应,包括显著促进银企关系和企业的商业信贷获取能力,并提升企业获得政府补贴的水平,从而减轻企业资金负担,缓解其融资约束.经济后果分析表明,国有风险资本能显著降低企业外部融资的股权资金成本和债务资金成本,帮助改善企业融资贵的难题,而且国有风险资本有助于企业在创新和经营方面的良性发展.但国有风险资本并未起到有效监督作用,不能缓解企业代理问题,尤其是会导致第一类代理成本的明显提高,而高管薪酬提升是其中的重要原因.据此,文章认为在未来的国有风险资本发展中,要把握"政府角色"介入的尺度,完善国有风险资本对企业的监督管理机制.同时适当兼顾各地区发展不平衡的情况,对中西部地区的国有风险资本发展提供适当且必要的帮助,以促进国有风险资本在新时期的长足发展.     

Cost Analysis of Calcium in Store Brand versus National Brand Grocery Products

Objective: This study was to determine if calcium fortification yields a higher price per serving in grocery store products. Researchers compared store brand to national brand grocery products in relation to cost in order to examine if calcium values were similar between store brand and national brand products. Methods: A total of 112 store brand and 211 national brand grocery products were collected from three low (national chain store), middle and high priced (Virginia and North Carolina regional store) grocery venues. Products were compared using price and calcium percentage per serving. ANOVA was used to determine between store brand and national brand for price per serving and calcium content, and between grocery venues. Results: National brand fortified products had a significantly lower mean price per serving when compared to national brand non-fortified products (p = 0.0002). There was no statistical difference between store brand fortified and non-fortified products (p = 0.9256). Low priced store brand products had the lowest mean price per serving ($0.34 ±0.24). Conclusions: This study found store brand products have similar calcium content as national brand products. Product cost was lower at low priced store compared to middle and high priced stores.     

Is bank staff interaction associated with customer saving behavior in banks?

Major changes are underway in the U.S. retail banking sector toward heavy investments in technology and fewer in personnel. Using the 2017 survey of household economics and decision‐making (SHED) (n = 11,359), we examine the relationship between saving behavior related to emergency, long‐term and periodic expenses and personal, technological, and hybrid bank account access methods. Binary logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of reporting various saving behaviors in relation to various banking access methods. Findings suggest that the personal access method is positively associated with savings behavior for periodic expenses for the general population, and negatively associated with emergency savings in people with lower education attainment. Technology is associated with all types of saving behavior, while the hybrid access method is associated only with saving for periodic expenses. As investments in self‐service technology increase, the importance of access methods to savings behavior must be considered.     

在校大学生志愿服务激励管理的影响因素分析 ——以北京世园会为例

在新的时代背景下,对于志愿服务的激励管理越来越重要,大学生作为新时代的青年更应该积极投身到志愿活动当中去,对于志愿服务过程中出现的问题进行解决,让志愿者在服务当中展现出更好的工作状态势在必行.通过影响北京世园会在校大学生志愿者们工作积极性的因素为切入点,发放问卷收集相关数据,运用文献法了解国内外研究现状,使用SPSS统计分析得出影响志愿者工作积极性的因素并提出具有建设性的对策建议,最终达到提升志愿者工作积极性的目的,让越来越多的人愿意投身到志愿服务当中去.     

防止或减少国际货运代理的责任风险

投保责任险，将风险事先进行转移，是防止或减少国际货运代理的责任风险的最好办法之一。除此之外，货运代理尚须采取其他的必要措施，以尽量避免损失的发生、降低其责任风险。     

宏观经济政策与资本形成机制的契合——资本市场的宏观经济意义分析

资本形成机制的宏观经济含义体现为实现国民收入的良性循环,这一良性循环不只是消费、积累比例的确定,还体现在形成投资的现实效益,这种效益很大程度上体现为经济结构的优化。宏观经济政策在资本市场的传导,便以现实的资本形成机制的顺畅运行为前提。资本市场作为资本形成的实现机制,其宏观意义体现在其对宏观经济政策的顺畅传导中。     

道路交通对城市空间形态的影响

城市交通方式和道路系统的布局对城市的规模和空间结构分布具有重大影响 ,同样它作为重要的基础设施和对外交流通道对城市的发展方向也起着重大的引导作用。本文通过对道路交通的研究 ,揭示了城市的演变规律和发展趋势。