Beyond endorsements: The effect of celebrity Creative Directors on consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement

Marketers are beginning to expand the roles that celebrities play in support of brands. Connections now go beyond the typical endorsement relationship to employing celebrities as Creative Directors. Study 1 demonstrates celebrity Creative Directors, as opposed to merely endorsers, result in increased attitudes toward the advertisement; an effect mediated by consumer perceptions of celebrity expertize and attenuated by skepticism toward advertising. Study 2 further investigates this phenomenon by considering whether it is the title of Creative Director that results in increased attitudes toward the advertisement or if consumers need to be made aware of the responsibilities associated with such a role. Results from Study 2 suggest that merely bestowing a celebrity with the title of Creative Director is not sufficient to enhance attitudes, the duties performed by the celebrity Creative Director must be made explicit.     

The consequences of managerial indiscretions: Sex,lies, and firm value

Personal managerial indiscretions are separate from a firm's business activities but provide information about the manager's integrity. Consequently, they could affect counterparties’ trust in the firm and the firm's value and operations. We find that companies of accused executives experience significant wealth deterioration, reduced operating margins, and lost business partners. Indiscretions are also associated with an increased probability of unrelated shareholder-initiated lawsuits, Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, and managed earnings. Further, chief executive officers and boards face labor market consequences, including forced turnover, pay cuts, and lower shareholder votes at re-election. Indiscretions occur more often at poorly governed firms where disciplinary turnover is less likely.     

"名人"独立董事履行职责状况分析——来自中国上市公司的证据

本文以2006～2007年我国A股上市公司为样本,实证检验了我国上市公司聘请的独立董事的知名度是否会影响其履职效力.结果发现,上市公司聘请的"名人"独立董事确实存在"知名度效应":学界"名人"独立董事对提高财务报告质量和抑制公司高管违规有显著影响,但同时发现学界"名人"独立董事和企业界"名人"独立董事在发表意见时没有履行好勤勉的职责,发表独立意见的可能性较小.此外,本文还发现具有财会背景和法律背景的独立董事有助于减少公司和高管个人违规事件的发生.这一结果表明上市公司聘请"名人"独立董事具有信息后果,支持独立董事能够降低代理成本的逻辑.     

Heterogeneity and peer effects in mutual fund proxy voting

This paper studies voting in corporate director elections. We construct a comprehensive data set of 2,058,788 mutual fund votes over a two-year period. We find systematic heterogeneity in voting: some funds are consistently more management-friendly than others. We also establish the presence of peer effects: a fund is more likely to oppose management when other funds are more likely to oppose it, all else being equal. We estimate a voting model whose supermodular structure allows us to compute social multipliers due to peer effects. Heterogeneity and peer effects are as important in shaping voting outcomes as firm and director characteristics.     

Diffusion of technical change in medicine— a case study of oncology in a traditional society

This article reviews a new program established to provide modern modes of oncologic therapy to Arab cancer patients in the West Bank. The population of this region is distinguished by its fatalistic and traditional attitudes, and communication via word of mouth is prevalent. Therefore, the social system can be considered as one of traditional norms discouraging the adoption of new ideas. Demonstration effects and face-to-face communication proved effective in bringing about social change in health patterns.     

农民专业合作社理事长胜任特征及其绩效的实证分析

基于重庆市157家农民专业合作社理事长的调查数据,通过因子分析从12个胜任特征中总结出通用管理能力、特殊沟通能力、企业家精神和外部社会资本四类胜任力特征因素。运用有序概率回归的方法,对合作社理事长胜任力特征因素与组织绩效的关系进行实证分析发现:通用管理胜任力、企业家精神能显著改善合作社整体绩效,特殊沟通能力只与合作社的社会绩效正相关,外部社会资本只对合作社的业务增长产生正向影响。     

Who are better monitors? Comparing styles of supervisory and independent directors

This paper compares the unobservable style effect between independent directors and supervisory directors on firm performance. Utilizing the unique Chinese board system with both independent and supervisory directors and a large panel data of 2,240 public firms from 2003 to 2017, this paper finds that both supervisory and independent style is crucial in determining variations of firm performance. The effects of both independent and supervisory director style are less significant when the “type II” agency problem is more severe in a firm. Moreover, outside independent director style is more effective when information costs are low or when firms need more outside resources, while inside supervisor director style is more effective when there are no major internal changes. Finally, the results also suggest that increasing qualified supervisor representations are beneficial to firms.     

对独立董事"独立性"悖论的探讨

从独立董事与股东间实质性的委托代理关系出发，文章对独立董事“独立性”要求本身、独立性与激励机制及独立性与其决策效率间的三大悖论进行了分析，并进一步探讨了独立董事的“独立性”、报酬机制以及选拔机制等问题。     

独立董事的相对独立性与发挥作用的途径

本文的实证结果表明独立董事报酬无论与内部董事,还是与管理高层的整体报酬之间都呈现显著的正相关关系,这说明独立董事具有相对独立性是不以人的意志为转移的客观事实。在此基础上,研究了相对独立性对监督有效性带来的影响。结果表明,尽管独立董事只具有相对的独立性,但只要能挖掘出符合相对独立性要求的机制来激励独立董事做更多实实在在的工作,具有高认知能力的独立董事依然能在上市公司的治理中有效地发挥作用。     

Social networks in the global banking sector

We show that banks with shared social connections partner more often in the global syndicated loan market and that central banks in the network play dominant roles in various interbank transactions, indicating that social connections facilitate business connections. However, more centralized banks in the network also contribute significantly to the global systemic risk. Moreover, we find the soft information generated by social networks is particularly valuable when potential partners operate under different accounting and regulatory standards. Finally, we show that the recent banking crisis significantly limited the positive soft information effects of social networks in the global banking system.