Efficiency and Ethically Responsible Management

One common justification for the pursuit of profit by business firms within a market economy is that profit is not an end in itself but a means to more efficiently produce and allocate resources. Profit, in short, is a mechanism that serves the market’s purpose of producing Pareto superior outcomes for society. This discussion examines whether such a justification, if correct, requires business managers to remain attentive to how their firm’s operation impacts the market’s purpose. In particular, it is argued that the value of efficiency, despite views to the contrary, cannot be fully separated from the planning and intentions of business managers as long as those managers direct their firms in an ethically responsible fashion. This position is inspired by, and serves as a supportive clarification of Joseph Heath’s so-called “market failures approach” to business ethics.     

Expert and entrepreneur: the unique research domain of professional service entrepreneurs

Professionals are knowledge experts who create customized solutions for clients. Many professionals practice in the context of strong professional institutions that prescribe intense socialization and codes and norms. While some professionals work as employees, many start their own firms in order to practice. Firm start-up for professionals is more prevalent than for most other occupations. While professional institutions often constraint their activities, firm start-up for professional service entrepreneurs (PSEs) involves similar entrepreneurial activities as other entrepreneurs, creating an interesting paradox worth investigating. This paper explores the uniqueness of PSEs and the firms they start, and the distinctiveness and value of research in the context of PSEs and professional service firms.     

保定市主要作物需水量和缺水量特征分析

[目的]对作物需水量及缺水量的研究是了解和合理配置农业灌溉用水的基础,对提高农业用水效率有重大意义。[方法]选取河北省保定市为研究区域,利用Penman-Monteith公式和分段单值平均作物系数法对冬小麦、夏玉米和棉花的作物需水量和缺水量等指标进行计算,通过Mann-Kendall检验法对保定市近60年来的作物需水量和缺水量等的变化趋势进行分析。[结果]3种主要作物的需水量、有效降雨量和缺水量的最大值均出现在作物发育中期;其中除冬小麦的有效降雨量以0.208mm/10年的速率呈不显著性增长趋势外,其他作物的各指标变化则均呈减少趋势;从突变现象来看,夏玉米和棉花的各指标发生明显变化的时期相近,需水量出现明显拐点的时刻在2008年以后,有效降水量在1968年以前和2014年两个时期,缺水量分别在2011年和2012年。[结论]该研究结果为保定市乃至河北省的农作物灌溉效率的提高及水资源规划与管理的完善提供了理论依据,具有一定的现实意义。     

生态政策作用下农户生计资本与生计策略的关系研究*——以内蒙古自治区杭锦旗为例

[目的]探索生态政策作用下农户生计资本与生计策略的关系,对提高农户生计水平,促进区域生态环境修复具有重要意义。[方法]该研究以地处库布其沙漠腹地的杭锦旗为例,基于农户调研数据,对北部沿河区和南部梁外区农户的生计资本和生计策略进行了调查与对比分析,并建立二元Logistic回归模型,对影响两区域农户生计策略选择的关键因素进行了研究。[结果](1)北部沿河区农户的人力资本和金融资本高于南部梁外区,而自然资本、物质资本和社会资本低于南部梁外区。北部沿河区农户选择以农为主生计策略的比例高于南部梁外区,而选择以非农为主的比例低于南部梁外区。(2)人力资本和自然资本是影响两区域农户生计策略选择的共同关键因素。其中,人力资本对两区域农户以非农为主生计策略的选择均具有显著正向影响,而自然资本均具有显著负向影响。比较而言,人力资本和自然资本对生态政策影响较小的北部沿河区农户以非农为主生计策略选择的影响均大于生态政策影响较大的南部梁外区。[结论]杭锦旗农户的生计资本和生计策略具有区域差异性,生态政策是促使农户生计状况产生区域差异的重要因素。在生态政策的作用下,农户的生计策略仍受其生计资本的影响,同时生态政策也通过影响农户可实际运作的生计资本而影响着农户的生计策略。在以上研究的基础上,提出了改善农户生计状况和促进区域生态环境修复的政策建议。     

基于转移概率和网络联系的辽宁省农村居民点适宜性评价

[目的]农村居民点适宜性评价在农村居民点调控、规划和预测中具有基础作用,且农村居民点适宜性评价应顾及农村居民点之间的社会经济活动联系。[方法]以辽宁省为研究区,首先运用逐步Logistic回归模型构建农村居民点转移概率,其次运用网络分析方法确定农村居民点图斑间的网络联系强度,最终通过加权求和方法确定农村居民点转化概率,进行农村居民点空间布局适宜性评价。[结果]辽宁省农村居民点可以划分为高度适宜类、较适宜类、一般适宜类和不适宜类4类,分别占农村居民点总面积的比例为28.18%、31.32%、13.26%和27.24%;从各地貌分区来看,高度适宜类主要集中分布在中部平原地区和东部山地丘陵区中的南方沿海地区,而不适宜类整体分布则较为零散;辽宁省中部平原区位条件好,东部沿海地区区位条件也较好,西部山地丘陵区地区较差。[结论]研究方法和结论有助于全面把握农村居民点社会经济与区位适宜性特征,为农村居民点科学规划提供科学指导。     

An experimental analysis of tax avoidance policies

Policies to reduce aggressive tax avoidance are increasingly being implemented or discussed in many countries around the world. Tax authorities hope that such policies will generate new tax revenue by increasing overall tax compliance. We present an experimental design to investigate the effect of a stylized anti-avoidance tax policy on tax compliance behavior. We highlight that anti-avoidance tax policies that reduce tax avoidance can also induce an increase in tax evasion (“substitution effect”), which limits the additional tax revenue these policies will generate. We show that the degree of substitution depends crucially on behavioral factors such as tax morale. Policymakers therefore also need to consider behavioral features while designing such policies and estimating their potential effects.     

Towards an Understanding of Social Responsibility Within the Church of England

This research explores the interplay of individual, organisational and institutional variables that produce the current pattern of social responsibility practices within a specific religious organisation, namely the Church of England. By combining elements primarily of neo-institutional theory with Bourdieu’s theory of practice, we construct a theoretical framework to examine the extent to which social responsibility activity is modified or informed by a distinctive faith perspective. Given that neo-institutional theory predicts a convergence of structures and practices between different organisations operating in the same institutional sector, this research draws on a single case study focusing on social responsibility activity in six different Church of England dioceses and shows that the opposite is actually the case: there is evidence of a significant degree of divergence in terms of organisational practice within the same institutional structure. Reasons for that were found to be the impact of human agency and loose institutional structures. This paper thus contributes to the understanding of social responsibility in religious organisations by exploring the dynamics between institutional pressures, organisational context and individual agents operating in the field of faith-based social responsibility. It thereby also contributes to neo-institutional theory.     

Liquidity and Pricing of Credit Default Swaps in Japan: Evidence from a Benchmark Index for Corporate Debt Claims

This article is a contribution towards the growing empirical literature on the relationship between liquidity and pricing of credit default swaps (CDSs). To the best of my knowledge, the article becomes the first to show that market liquidity does matter to CDS pricing in Japan, by looking into a sole benchmark index of CDS trading for investment-grade debt claims, or the Markit iTraxx Japan (MiJ). The impact of illiquidity on MiJ premia has declined since the International Swaps and Derivatives Association introduced new trade practices in April 2009. The liquidity of the MiJ has increased since the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation started operating as a central counterpart for the MiJ in July 2011. The price discovery ability of the MiJ has also increased since then.