The Impact of Monitoring and Sanctions on Cheating: Experimental Evidence from Tunisia

Using a laboratory experiment in a developing country (Tunisia, North Africa), we investigate whether the level of monitoring and both the nature (monetary versus moral) and magnitude of sanctions influence cheating levels. Our findings show that the introduction of weak monetary sanctions and monitoring is likely to increase cheating. However, a perfect monitoring is found to decrease the level of cheating. Moreover, when combined with a perfect monitoring, moral sanctions matter and may be even more effective than strong monetary sanctions in reducing cheating. We draw some policy implications regarding cheating in various domains. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental Innovations and Strategies for the Development of New Production Technologies: Empirical Evidence from Europe

This study empirically investigates whether firms' improvements in energy and material efficiency are related to the extent to which external partners are involved in the development of process innovations. In particular, we distinguish three different process innovation strategies: firms may follow an ‘in‐house strategy’ and develop their innovations mainly within the firm, they may opt for an ‘external strategy’ and let mainly external partners develop innovations, or they may opt for a ‘cooperation strategy’ and develop innovations jointly with external partners. Using data of manufacturing firms obtained from the fourth Community Innovation Survey covering 14 European countries, we conduct total sample as well as industry‐ and country‐specific regressions. Our results indicate that firms following the ‘external strategy’ tend to have a lower probability of introducing process innovations leading to a marked increase in energy and material efficiency. Moreover, in contrast to extant literature, none of our results suggests that companies following a ‘cooperation strategy’ experience greater environmental innovation performance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Intra‐Sectoral Differences in Climate Change Strategies: Evidence from the Global Automotive Industry

Companies are increasingly challenged for action on climate change. Most studies on business responses to climate change focus on cross‐sector comparisons and neglect intra‐sectoral dynamics. This paper investigates the influence of supply chain position and regional affiliation on climate change strategies within a particular industry. We present a generic framework integrating both market and non‐market responses to climate change. We argue that climate change strategies comprise several corporate activities that have different foci of interaction and four main objectives: governance, innovation, compensation and legitimation. Using a global sample of 116 automotive companies, we conduct a cluster analysis and identify four types of strategy. We find that the sophistication of automobile manufacturers' strategies significantly differs from that of suppliers. Regional affiliation and firm size prove to be determinants of the strategy type pursued. We cannot find evidence for a relationship between financial performance and a company's strategic approach to climate change. © 2017 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

A Study of Effective Financial Support for SMEs to Improve Economic and Employment Conditions: Evidence from OECD Countries

Using a panel logit regression model, this study analyzes whether or not five categorized financial supports for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the governments of 11 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries facilitate economic and employment growth: (1) direct government loans to SMEs; (2) government‐guaranteed loans to SMEs; (3) the reinforcement of relationship banking; (4) financial stability steps to ease pro‐cyclicality; and (5) equity‐linked financing. The academic contribution of this research is in identifying the optimal type of government financial support to SMEs given a country's level of financial crisis and market‐rate level. The main empirical test results are as follows. First, the type of financial support that contributes most to economic and employment growth is the set of steps that governments take to ease pro‐cyclicality. Second, the reinforcement of relationship banking can also contribute to improved economic and employment conditions. Third, in less capital‐intensive countries, the results confirm that economic and employment improvement occurs more often if equity‐linked financing is used. Fourth, the adoption of dynamic loan‐loss provisions to prepare for periods of economic recession is necessary to reduce the pro‐cyclicality of SME loans within the 11 OECD countries studied in this paper; it is also necessary to transition from a persistent monetary‐easing policy stance to a flexible monetary stance within a country's fiscal policy in order to make commercial banks benefit from an incentive‐like risk premium for SME loans despite the existence of economic recessions. Finally, the study finds that the need to apply equity‐linked financing methods through the stock market is especially urgent in developing countries. As the managerial perspectives, it is confirmed that easing pro‐cyclicality of SME loan and enhancing banking relationship can contribute to SMEs fund management. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Feedback in Tournaments under Commitment Problems: Experimental Evidence

We theoretically as well as experimentally analyze tournaments in which one of the agents leads over the other before entering the tournament, that is, in which one of the competitors benefits from a head start. The principal may decide upon informing the agents about the degree of this asymmetry. She cannot commit to giving feedback ex ante or not and, thus, chooses the strategy that is optimal for her ex post. In equilibrium, the principal reveals information if the asymmetry is not too large. Our experimental findings qualitatively confirm our theoretical prediction. Moreover, behavior of the principal and the agents is well aligned to each other.     

The Interactive Effects of Psychological Contract Breach and Organizational Politics on Perceived Organizational Support: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies

We explore the effects of the social context on the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and perceived organizational support (POS) in two studies. We build on the premise that psychological contract breach (i.e. the organization's failure to fulfil the obligations employees believe they are owed) signals to employees that they are not cared for and valued by the organization (i.e. reduces POS). In support, a longitudinal study of 310 employees shows that PCB at Time 1 explains significant variance in POS at Time 2 (beyond that explained by POS at Time 1). Building on this result, we advance the argument that employees' perceptions of organizational politics serve as a heuristic for the overall benevolent or malevolent character of the organization and its agents. Accordingly, we expect that when employees perceive PCB and high levels of organizational politics, they will be more likely to hold the organization responsible for PCB and thus report lower levels of POS in response to breach. This line of reasoning received support in a second study of 146 employees which showed that perceptions of organizational politics moderate the PCB–POS relationship. Our results suggest that the social context in which psychological contract breaches occur matters and that managers should consider the organization's perceived political landscape when anticipating how employees will respond to broken promises.     

Group Identity and the Moral Hazard Problem: Experimental Evidence

We experimentally examine how real group identity of parties (a principal and an agent) facing a moral hazard problem may attenuate the problem and thereby implement the efficient outcome. We find that, the frequency of the efficient outcome is significantly higher when both parties share the same identity than when they do not. However, when we induce a substantially weaker form of identity or increase an outside‐option payoff offered to the principal, the frequency of the efficient outcome diminishes considerably, even when the parties’ identities align perfectly. Our results have important implications for the design of nonpecuniary contract enforcement devices.     

Failure Prediction: Evidence from Korea

This study is an attempt to construct and test a distress classification model for Korean companies. Utilizing a sample of 34 distressed firms from the recent 1990-1993 period and a matched (by industry and year) sample of non-failed firms, we observe the classification accuracy of two models. Both models utilize measures of firm size, asset turnover, solvency and leverage with one model available for testing only on publicly traded companies and one model applicable to all public and private entities. We observe excellent classification accuracy based on data from the first two years prior to distress. And, although the accuracy drops off after t -2, the models still provide effective early warnings of distress in many cases. The results of this study are of particular relevance in the current financial market scenario of increased deregulation and greater individual financial institution decision making. It is somewhat ironic for us to be proposing the use of a financial distress early-warning model given the current robust economic growth and low bankruptcy rate in Korea. But, the financial problems in Japan are a sobering reminder that high growth can be followed by financial excesses, increased business failures and large loan losses.     

Training Strategies In Small Service Sector Firms: Employer and Employee Perspectives

Brian Abbott, who is a Research Assistant in the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University, examines both employer and employee views towards the level and character of training provision in small service sector firms. He challenges the widely held belief that small firms universally offer inferior levels of training and demonstrates that the level and character of training are largely dependent on the industrial sector in which the firm is located. He goes on to examine the implications of employers’ views on the newly established Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs).     

Property Rights Reform to Support China's Rural–Urban Integration: Village‐Level Evidence from the Chengdu Experiment

As part of a national experiment, in 2008, Chengdu prefecture launched a series of property rights reforms, among them complete registration of all land and measures to ease transferability and eliminate labour market restrictions. A comparison of villages inside and outside the prefecture's border using a difference‐in‐difference approach suggests that the reforms have reduced administrative reallocations; aligned land use closer to economic incentives, mainly through market transfers; and stimulated enterprise startups. These results, most of which are more pronounced for villages closer to Chengdu city, illuminate the potential gains from factor market reform.     

Spillovers from universities: Evidence from the land-grant program

This paper estimates the short- and long-run effects of universities on geographic clustering of economic activity, labor market composition and local productivity and presents evidence of local spillovers from universities. I treat the designation of land-grant universities in the 1860s as a natural experiment after controlling for the confounding factors with a combination of synthetic control methods and event-study analyses. Three key results are obtained. First, the designation increased local population density by 6 percent within 10 years and 45 percent in 80 years. Second, the designation did not change the relative size of local manufacturing sector. Third, the designation enhanced local manufacturing output per worker by $2136 (1840 dollars; 57 percent) in 80 years while the short-run effects were negligible. This positive effect on the productivity in non-education sectors suggests the existence of local spillovers from universities. Over an 80-year horizon, my results indicate that the increase in manufacturing productivity reflects both the impact of direct spillovers from universities and general agglomeration economies that arise from the increase in population.     

Working Capital Management,the Credit Crisis,and Hedging Strategies: Canadian Evidence

This study uses a sample of Canadian natural resource firms during the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2008 to examine the influence of firm hedging strategies on their working capital management. Our evidence implies that increased cash holdings and derivatives are alternative ways of hedging risk, and also provides another perspective on the U.S. “trapped cash” controversy as our sample firms are not R&D intensive and do not face the same tax regime as U.S. multinationals.     

从社会支持视角论当代组织阶段性工作压力管理策略

员工的工作压力管理是组织内部人力资源管理的重要工作,工作压力对组织所可能带来的负面冲击不容忽视。因此,组织管理当局应该从社会支持的角度来规划压力管理各个阶段的工作,尤其应该在组织成员工作压力的形成初期,提供及时适当的协助,以有效化解工作压力对个人及组织可能产生的负面影响。     

Perceptions of economic insecurity: Evidence from Russia

Economic insecurity is an inherent characteristic of the transition from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy and workers’ assessments of their economic insecurity have direct consequences not only for their happiness/well-being, but also on consumption and saving behavior. This study utilizes data from the nationally representative Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey to study perceptions of economic insecurity among workers in both rural and urban settlements. Analyzing three measures of perceived economic insecurity, we find that perceptions of insecurity were higher when economic conditions were deteriorating (1995–1998), and lower when economic conditions had stabilized (2000–2004). While perceived insecurity varies substantially by worker characteristics–those with less education, women, and unskilled and semi-skilled manual workers feel most vulnerable–, differences in observed characteristics explain a relatively small part of the ruralurban perceptions gap; other factors, such as different rates of economic recovery in rural and urban locales are also important. Individual well-being and household consumption tend to be lower when concerns about economic insecurity are present.     

Transitions In the Psychological Contract: Some Evidence From the Banking Sector

This study examines the psychological contract in a sample of 107 employees in a retail bank. Deregulation, market-entry by non-traditional suppliers, and the introduction of advanced technology have changed the security of and rules implicit in the employment contract in the UK banking sector, which is one of the leading contenders for downsizing and delayering. Many banks are experiencing increased employee cynicism. New structures and technology, demanding levels of customer service, and new competitors have produced heightened attention towards performance and are associated with the need for employees to develop new competencies, such as relationship-handling and sales skills. Regardless of whether banks pursue high performance management systems or control-based HR strategies, the requirement for committed and engaged employees able to develop new competencies is an assumed constant. Demographic factors such as age, service and sex are found to be partial predictors of some attitudinal items. However, these proxy measures of attachment to the old employment deal are not related to items that consider commitment or satisfaction. the psychological contracts in the bank are highly fragmented. Seven underlying constructs are revealed: ‘frustratedly disengaged’, ‘still ambitious’, ‘passively flexible’, ‘guidance seekers’, ‘buy me outers’, ‘don't push me too fast’ and ‘just pay me more’. Implications of the research for HRM, the management of new internal labour markets in the banks and future directions of research on the psychological contract are discussed. It is concluded that a new set of internal labour markets are being created within the banks, the dynamics of which clearly revolve around a wide range of individual factors. Accepted wisdom about participative management practices will be challenged in the HR strategies of the late 1990s.     

郑州航空港实验区航空经济发展策略研究

郑州航空港经济综合实验区航空经济的发展是中原经济区、河南省乃至郑州市经济社会快速、健康发展的希望所在。通过对航空经济提出背景的详细分析,在结合国内外关于航空经济研究现状分析的基础上,重新界定了航空经济的概念,并对郑州航空港航空经济发展现状进行深入分析,分别从宏观布局、政策支持、扩大对外开放等角度提出了加快郑州航空港区航空经济发展策略,以期努力提升郑州航空港综合实验区航空经济发展水平。     

Loss from the chasing of MAX stocks: Evidence from China

We evaluate the implications of the MAX effect in the Chinese financial market. First, the MAX effect prevails in China: A zero-cost MAX strategy, which goes long (short) stocks with the highest (lowest) maximum daily return in the prior month, generates significant losses over the full sample period. Second, further analysis on firm characteristics confirms that the MAX stocks exhibit lottery-like features, and the (negative) performance of the MAX strategy varies over time and is related to investor sentiment. Third, the MAX effect gets weaker after the introduction of short-selling in 2010. Finally, we document that there exists a reversed MAX effect among mutual funds, because a similarly implemented MAX strategy generates significant positive risk-adjusted returns among equity funds in China.     

Differential Weighting of Objective Versus Subjective Measures in Performance Evaluation: Experimental Evidence

In this paper, we conduct two experiments to investigate how managers’ differential weighting of objective versus subjective measures affects their performance-evaluation decisions. Drawing on psychological theory, we predict that managers heuristically perceive objective measures to be more scientific than subjective measures. As a result, their performance-evaluation decisions are influenced more by objective measures than by subjective measures. Experimental results are consistent with our prediction. Supplemental analyses further support our theory by showing that participants do not perceive objective measures to be more important for performance evaluation nor do they perceive subjective measurement to be inappropriate. The implications of our findings for management accounting research and practice are discussed.     

服务员感知组织支持对情绪劳动策略的影响:有调节的中介作用模型

综合运用社会交换理论、资源保存理论与情绪管理相关理论,以职业承诺为调节变量,探讨感知组织支持对自我效能感及表层扮演与深层扮演两种情绪劳动策略的作用机制.通过对224份南京地区服务员样本的实证分析,结果表明:感知组织支持对深层扮演具有显著的正向影响;自我效能感在感知组织支持与深层扮演之间起中介作用;职业承诺越高,感知组织支持对自我效能感的正向影响越强,进而对深层扮演产生更大的正面效应.研究成果深化对情绪劳动策略选择问题的认识,并为服务员情绪管理实践提供指导.