Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Investigation of U.S. Organizations

Organizations that believe they should “give something back” to the society have embraced the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although the theoretical underpinnings of CSR have been frequently debated, empirical studies often involve only limited aspects, implying that theory may not be congruent with actual practices and may impede understanding and further development of CSR. The authors investigate actual CSR practices related to five different stakeholder groups, develop an instrument to measure those CSR practices, and apply it to a survey of 401 U.S. organizations. Four different clusters of organizations emerge, depending on the CSR practice focus. The distinctive features of each cluster relate to organizational demographics, perceived influence of stakeholders, managers’ perceptions of the influence of CSR on performance, and organizational performance.     

地方政府债务风险预警机制建立及实证分析

选取国际通用的债务负担率、偿债率、债务依存度和债务率指标,运用层次分析法(AHP即Analytic Hierarchy Process)预测、评估地方政府债务的各风险指标,并在综合参考众多学者经验值设定风险评估的标准区间建立风险预警体系,最后运用实证分析该预警体系的实用性.     

Participation by U.S. Agencies in International Brand Advertising: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Marry ad agency executives have proclaimed the era of the global advertising agency. They observe that corporations are moving towards placement of their worldwide advertising through a single agency, and they predict that a few large “mega-agencies” will take over a majority of international advertising accounts. Yet, no published studies have examined how many brands are actually handled by the same ad agency worldwide. This paper presents the results of a survey examining the extent to which U.S. companies use the same agency to advertise abroad and in the home market. The study found that of the brands sold abroad, only about one-third are handled by the same agency both at home and abroad. This proportion does not vary significantly with advertising budgets, by product class, or between standardized and non-standardized brands. In addition, no single-agency group or “mega-agency” handles more than eight percent of the sample brands, and no agency handles a majority of its U.S. brands abroad.     

美国反倾销贸易保护效应的实证分析

通过建立美国各年向各涉案国家的进口额与反倾销申诉、反倾销措施及相关影响因素的回归模型,考察了1995-2008年美国发起的反倾销申诉和采取的反倾销措施对所有57个涉案国家和地区进口的影响.运用广义矩法对最小二乘估计的结果进行修正发现,虽然美国当期的进口主要由历史进口因素决定,但其反倾销申诉与措施会造成当期进口总额的显著下降,下降比例分别达到7.198%和5.890%,美国反倾销保护效应使美国年均进口额下降近1757亿美元,中国每年向美国的出口额减少超过127亿美元.     

The Corporate Social Responsibility of Pharmaceutical Product Recalls: An Empirical Examination of U.S. and U.K. Markets

The pressure on companies to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained momentum in recent times as a means of sustaining competitive advantage in business. The pharmaceutical industry has been acutely affected by this trend. While pharmaceutical product recalls have become rampant and increased dramatically in recent years, no comprehensive study has been conducted to study the effects of announcements of recalls on the shareholder returns of pharmaceutical companies. As product recalls could significantly damage a company’s reputation, profitability and brand integrity, this paper investigates the effect on shareholder wealth and the extent to which the adoption of CSR practices by pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.), the two largest markets for pharmaceutical products in the world, affected market reactions surrounding product recall announcements. The analysis of product recall announcements from 1998 to 2004 compiled from The Pharmaceutical Journal and U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement reports revealed marked differences in the way market participants in the two countries responded to news of product recalls. U.S. investors penalised firms according to the severity of product defects while U.K. investors were indifferent. While U.K. investors rewarded product recalls by firms which were not usually CSR-active, U.S. investors punished non-CSR active firms that performed recalls. These observations could pose strategic challenges to pharmaceutical firms operating in both countries. Jeremy Cheah is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Nottingham University Business School, Malaysia Campus. His research interests lie in the area of applied corporate finance and investment management. Wen Li Chan was an Advocate and Solicitor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before assuming the post of University Teacher in Information Systems and Strategy at Nottingham University Business School, Malaysia Campus. She is currently investigating the roles and implications of information on firm valuation, particularly in the area of corporate cyber-litigation and corporate social responsibility. Corinne Chieng is a Corporate Executive at Star Publications (M) Berhad, Malaysia. She has previously worked as a tax consultant at Arthur Andersen Malaysia. Her research interests include the financial implications of corporate social responsibility on the valuation of firms.     

美在华直接投资与中国对美出口商品结构关系研究

文章运用大量数据分别考察了美国在华直接投资的结构特征与中国对美国出口商品的结构特征,发现它们之间存在显著相关性.通过计量方法进一步论证了美国在华直接投资每增加一个百分点可带动劳动密集型和资本密集型产品及低、中、高技术产品对美国出口的不同出口效果,据此说明美国在华直接投资对中国向美国出口的商品结构产生了极大的影响.     

An Empirical Analysis of Motives for Offshore Outsourcing by U.S. Firms

In light of the political debate on offshore outsourcing, this article examines firm financial characteristics associated with the probability of being identified as an outsourcer. In a sample of S&P 500 firms, we find that firms identified as outsourcers operate in more competitive industries and have relatively worse operating performance, higher administrative overhead, and higher labor overhead. These firm characteristics are consistent with cost-cutting objectives and the need to respond to competitive pressures. We find that the need to lower labor costs is a significant determinant of manufacturing firms locating operations overseas, while lowering administrative overhead influences service firms' outsourcing decisions. From a policy perspective, our results suggest that the political pressure to limit firms' ability to offshore outsource will likely reduce their flexibility to respond to operating and competitive challenges.     

需求回应与地方政府性债务约束机制:经验启示与分析

文章在总结美国市政债券管理经验的基础上,研究并分析了分权、分税制框架下地方政府性债务约束治理机制.从代际成本分摊上看,地方政府性债务资金偿还来源于未来增加的居民税收负担,在公共项目融资过程中建立需求导向的约束机制是必要的.经验分析进一步表明,在中国债务投资的公共项目中,垄断性公共项目需求匹配程度低,福利性公共项目需求匹配程度较高,基本性公共项目投融资决策缺乏对需求因素的考虑.对于垄断性公共项目和基本性公共项目而言,要尤其重视控制债务资金偿还风险.研究认为,建立公共项目融资的需求约束机制,并由此保持公共项目投资成本和税收负担之间的平衡,是防止地方政府性债务无序扩张的关键.     

美国审计合谋治理分析及其借鉴

近几年来中外频频爆发审计丑闻案件,许多会计师事务所被撤销,大量注册会计师受到惩罚。美国在2002年颁发了《萨班斯奥克斯利法案》对审计合谋进行了严厉的制裁并初显成效。通过系统分析美国审计合谋的形成原因和治理过程,发现其中的若干做法对我国审计合谋的治理也具有一定的借鉴意义。     

美国对华贸易逆差对美国制造业失业率影响的实证分析

本文通过对大量经济数据的统计分析以及建立相关的经济计量模型,运用协整方法就美中贸易逆差是否是美国制造业失业率上升的主要原因进行实证分析.定量研究结果不但表明美中贸易逆差并非近年来美国制造业失业率上升的主要原因,而且还指出了造成美国制造业失业率上升的主要原因在于美国近几年来快速提高的生产率,以及美国对日本制造品出口额的大幅下降.最后本文给出了简要结论和相关建议.     

The Impact of Operational Diversity on Corporate Philanthropy: An Empirical Study of U.S. Companies

This paper investigates the impact of diversity on corporate philanthropy. Compared to previous studies that have considered the influence of board diversity and CEO gender on corporate philanthropy, this study introduces the concept of operational diversity, which is the implementation of diversity programs at management, employee, and supply chain levels, and further, it explains why operational diversity influences corporate philanthropy, by using the premises of resource dependence theory. Second, this study also investigates the influence of board diversity on corporate philanthropy. Third, this study uses a large sample of U.S. firms over the period of 1991–2009 and tries to mitigate possible omitted variables and endogeneity problems that are often overlooked in previous research. We demonstrate that firms with operational diversity programs are likely more dependent on a broad variety of resources and give more to community as a strategic maneuver; hence, operational diversity is a better indicator for predicting future corporate giving than board diversity alone. However, having a woman or a member of a minority as a company’s chief executive officer is not sufficient to impact its charitable giving. A battery of robustness tests support our conclusion and confirm that our results are not driven by a firm’s general corporate social responsibility (CSR) score, gender or independence of board members, or firm ownership. This paper will assist researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders in deepening their understanding of the predictors of corporate giving.     

Antecedents of Online Reviews' Usage and Purchase Influence: An Empirical Comparison of U.S. and Korean Consumers

We propose a model linking consumer characteristics (consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence and Internet shopping experience), attitude toward online reviews (perceived usefulness), and the outcome of online reviews (usage frequency and purchase influence). We advance hypotheses on the interrelationships among these factors and on the moderating effects of national culture on some of the relationships. We test the hypotheses on survey data collected from U.S. and Korean consumers. The results show that national culture has important moderating effects on the relationships among online reviews and its antecedents. The results suggest that an attitude-oriented marketing communication strategy is more effective for Korean consumers while a behavior-oriented strategy is more effective for U.S. consumers.     

Exports and FDI motivations: Empirical evidence from U.S. foreign subsidiaries

Foreign direct investments (FDI) are supposed to bring into the host countries indirect benefits, usually referred as productivity spillover effects. However, an emerging literature analyses the effect with regard to the export performance of local firms finding inconclusive results. This literature is affected by two main shortcomings: firstly, the role played by FDI motivations is largely disregarded and, secondly, it is difficult to generalise results valid across countries. For these reasons, the aim of the paper is that of testing the effects of U.S. FDI on export intensity at the sectoral level in 16 OECD countries over the period 1990–2001 by bringing together international economics and international business perspective on FDI motivations. Through our data, we disentangle asset seeking and asset exploiting FDI motivations distinguishing also the channels through which the effect is going to occur. The findings show that asset exploiting motivations, and in particular market seeking FDI, are those that affect export intensity to a greater extent.     

Homeownership among Young Americans: A Look at Student Loan Debt and Behavioral Factors

This study uses the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) to examine the factors that impact homeownership among young adults, with an emphasis on student loan debt. Three key findings arise from the research. First, life cycle and demographic characteristics, such as marital status, education, and income, continue to be strong predictors of homeownership. Married households with a college degree and children are among the most likely to own a home. Second, young adults with student loan debt are no more or less likely to own a home than someone without debt after controlling for a number of factors; however, students who have already paid off their loans are more likely to own a home. Finally, respondents who express a willingness to take risks in finances are more likely to own a home while those who are more conscientious are less likely to own a home.     

An Empirical Model of the Sources of Innovation in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector

This paper estimates a simple model of innovation in the U.S. manufacturing sector and derives summary indicators of product and process innovation. Our empirical work reveals that the drivers of innovation extend well beyond business research and development spending. Capital investment, cutting-edge scientific output from academic institutions, and the growth of the science and engineering workforce all matter. The dynamic structure of our model suggests that policymakers must look beyond the short-term when developing and evaluating innovation initiatives because there can be lags of several years before inputs are fully realized in innovative performance. But simple simulations conducted with our equations indicate that even a modest increase in key innovation inputs reaps significant benefits. JEL Classification O31     

美欧应对债务危机路径的国际比较研究

美欧发达国家政府的债务危机问题已经越来越严重,逐渐引起了包括发展中国家在内的世界各国的广泛关注.面对此次债务危机,美欧各国都相继采取了各种财政、货币政策措施加以应对.在分析美欧国家债务危机产生原因以及列举美欧国家应对危机采取的措施基础上,对其政策措施实施效果进行了分析比较,最后总结了主权债务危机给中国发展所带来的几点启示.     

银行利润对经济增长影响的实证分析——基于中美两国数据的对比

随着中国利率市场化改革的深化,银行拥有更多的经营自主权,但银行在信贷市场中所处的垄断地位却没有随着利率市场化改革而相应改变。运用VECM模型对中国12家上市银行及同时期美国商业银行的利润增长对经济发展的影响进行了实证研究,结果表明美国的银行利润增长显著促进了经济发展。相比之下,中国银行利润增长对经济发展的长期影响并不显著,而四大国有银行利润增长对经济发展有显著的阻碍作用,非国有银行利润增长则对经济发展有显著的促进作用。四大国有银行在信贷市场中的垄断地位导致其对经济发展产生阻碍,这意味着中国利率市场化改革及资本市场改革仍不彻底。因此,应鼓励非国有股份制银行发展,并进一步深化利率市场化改革及资本市场改革。