Facebook fan page: the effect of perceived socialness in consumer–brand communication

Facebook has become an important platform for a brand–consumer relationship channel. The current study investigates the influence of perceived socialness and its effect on consumers’ attitude toward brands. Participants (N = 404) were recruited in a large southeast university. A 2 (socialness: high vs. low)?×?2 (feedback control: high vs. low)?×?2 (brand image: high vs. low) between-subject design was conducted. The results of this study identified three important findings. First, high (vs. low) socialness elicited higher perceived relationship commitment, brand trust, and more favorable brand attitude. Second, the effect of socialness on brand attitude was moderated by brand image (positive vs. negative). Third, the mediation analysis showed that the effect of socialness (high vs. low) on brand attitude was fully mediated by perceived relationship commitment and brand trust.     

The price of going green: the role of greenness in green bond markets

In this paper, we empirically investigate how greenness information is priced in the green bond market. Our comparison of liquidity-adjusted yield premiums of green bonds versus synthetic conventional bonds indicates that, on average, there is no robust and significant yield premium or discount on green bonds. However, green bonds certified by an external reviewer enjoy a discount of about 6 bps. Furthermore, green bonds that obtain a Climate Bonds Initiative certificate show a discount of around 15 bps. The findings suggest that a universally accepted greenness measure can benefit the development of the green bond market.     

房产税能否抑制实体经济"脱实向虚"——来自上海和重庆的经验分析

本文利用我国35个大中城市2006-2018年的平衡面板数据,基于上海和重庆在2011年实施的房产税试点政策,运用合成控制法检验房产税政策能否抑制实体经济"脱实向虚"发展的趋势.研究结果显示,房产税政策能够有效地遏制地区房地产业新增产值占GDP的比重的上升,促使实体企业回归主业,增加实体投资,实现促进实体经济朝着"脱虚返实"方向发展的作用.鉴于此,本文提出应加快推进房产税政策在全国范围内的实施,并在政府补贴、银行贷款等方面采取一系列配套措施鼓励实体企业进行更多的实体投资.     

深山“皮夹沟” 崛起一座城

立春,傍晚。群峰叠嶂之中,万州龙驹镇的大街上仍显热闹,店铺闪烁的霓虹灯,商家揽客的热情,居民区升腾起的炊烟,构成了一幅特别的边城夜景图。龙驹镇是脱贫攻坚战中,重庆确立的18个深度贫困乡镇之一。一个长期以穷出名的偏远小镇,如今繁华初显,场镇人口达2.6万余人。它的蝶变,令人称奇。新年伊始,我们走进龙驹镇,从它浓浓的烟火味中,感受它的改变。     

The Effect of Litigation Risk Increase on Big N Auditor Exits and Audit Quality in the Korean Savings Banking Industry

This study investigates whether an increase in litigation risk results in Big N auditors leaving the industry and examines the impact of this increase on audit quality. Using a sample of Korean savings banks from 2009 to 2015, the study finds that the proportion of Big N auditors sharply decreases after a savings bank crisis, suggesting that Big N auditors are likely to reject riskier clients, while audit quality is unchanged. The results provide new evidence that an increase in litigation risk does not necessarily increase audit quality. The findings have academic and practical implications, as they suggest that policies for improving audit quality should consider auditors’ strategies in response to litigation risk.     

Self-Regulation for Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA): Analysis of OBA Notices

This study assessed how and to what extent self-regulation of online behavioral advertising (OBA) is executed on participating companies' websites. Based on the principles of OBA, as outlined by the Digital Advertising Alliance and Federal Trade Commission, we analyzed the format of OBA notices, explanation of OBA notices, opt-out options, transparency, and use of unacceptable notices. A series of content analyses was done in the years 2013 and 2015. Our results indicated slight improvements over the years, but the specific details of the implementation continued to fall short of the standards. In terms of accessibility and visibility, many websites demonstrated problematic presentations or lack of the components necessary to increase consumers' understanding and control over the practice of OBA.     

A division of the capitalist class and the market for money capital

In a one‐commodity economy populated by capitalists equipped with equal endowment but with heterogeneous linear production technology, a division of the capitalist class emerges endogenously. The capitalists with relatively weak technology, yielding the profit rate lower than the interest rate, become a money capitalist (lender), whereas the capitalists with relatively strong technology, yielding the profit rate greater than the interest rate, become an industrial capitalist (borrower). The equilibrium interest rate is derived by the associated demand and supply relation. From this setup of the model follow two essential relationships Marx establishes between the average profit rate and the interest rate: (a) that the profit (rate) sets a maximum limit of interest (rate), and (b) that the two rates are correlated in the long‐run. Lastly, the profit rate of financial sector is less than that of industrial sector due to the basic setup of the model where the industrial sector uses leverage to amplify the underlying capital profit rate, whereas the financial sector lacks intermediation technology, which would have enabled it to borrow profitably.     

Does an Audit Judgment Rule Increase or Decrease Auditors' Use of Innovative Audit Procedures?

The current audit environment encourages auditors to conduct defensive auditing procedures in lieu of using new, innovative, and potentially more effective audit procedures, due to concerns these procedures may be second-guessed in litigation or by audit inspectors such as the PCAOB. As a result, auditors may prefer traditional “generally accepted” procedures over innovative procedures that are potentially more effective. We test recent proposals that an Audit Judgment Rule (AJR) encourages the use of innovative, and potentially more effective, audit procedures analogous to the similar Business Judgment Rule that affords legal protections to corporate directors. Under an AJR, litigators or audit inspectors could not second-guess auditor judgments, even if they perceive that alternate judgments would have ordinarily been reached, provided the auditor's judgment was made in good faith and in a rigorous manner. However, the AJR's requirements that auditors must defend the rigor of their innovative judgments could potentially backfire and lead auditors to select more traditional procedures. Under the framework of goal activation theory, we conduct an experiment with audit managers and seniors and find that an AJR makes auditors less likely to select innovative audit procedures, particularly when audit risk is high. They do so despite believing the innovative procedures to be more effective than the traditional procedures. Findings from a supplementary experiment with experienced auditors further suggest that national office affirmation of the reasonableness of the procedures does not help overcome this effect. Overall, our findings suggest that an AJR may have the unintended consequence of further increasing auditors' focus on more traditional, and potentially less effective, audit procedures.     

公司增发与市值管理——基于中国A股上市公司的实证研究

采用2005—2014年中国A股有增发股份记录的上市公司的市场数据,检验了被广泛讨论的"市值管理"现象。结果表明:所有权性质、增发目的、增发对象、经营状况以及市值存在差异的上市公司,在其增发股份前后及期间的超额收益率和股价信息含量存在很大差异,这些差异与不同公司进行增发的诉求一致。这说明,中国A股市场广泛存在服务于公司控制人的市值管理行为。由于这些市值管理行为可能包括控制股价和侵害其他投资人,因此监管层应制定更为严格的法规来规范市值管理行为。     

Does the presence of professional football cause crime in a city? Evidence from Pontiac,Michigan

Using daily panel data from Detroit, we empirically explore the relationship between the National Football League (NFL) and crime in a city. We exploit the natural experiment of the Detroit Lions’ move from Pontiac, Michigan, to downtown Detroit in 2002. Pontiac is used as the treatment city and non-game day crime, other suburban cities, and other cities outside Detroit MSA are used as the comparison groups. Employing a difference-in-difference approach, we find decreases in assaults and vandalism on home game days in Pontiac relative to the control cities after the Lions’ move. We find weak evidence of a net decrease in larceny and vandalism in Pontiac on home game days following the loss of professional football. No changes in assaults and auto theft are reported. While not conclusive, our results suggest that professional football leads to additional larceny and vandalism incidents but no effects on assaults and auto theft.