Volunteers and Pseudo-Volunteers: The Effect of Recruitment Method in Dictator Experiments

We report the results of experiments that test for behavioral differences between volunteer subjects recruited in the usual way and pseudo-volunteer subjects in experiments conducted during class time. In a series of dictator games, we find that psuedo-volunteers are more generous on average than their volunteer counterparts, and that non-monetary factors such as religious or altruistic preferences have a greater effect on the giving behavior of pseudo-volunteers.     

Socially responsible products: what motivates consumers to pay a premium?

The motivation to pay a premium for socially responsible products is partly an expression of consumer concern for the well-being of those involved in the production process. Buying a product with a socially responsible label, and donating to a charity are similarly motivated actions. While there is an extensive literature on the economics of charitable giving that examines motivations to donate as well as on the impacts of labelling on consumer demand, there is little overlap between the two literatures. We bridge these two literatures by investigating whether consumers have heterogeneous motivations for paying a premium. Through a laboratory experiment that auctions coffee with hypothetical socially responsible labels that put different weights on in-kind versus cash transfers, we find that those consumers who prefer an in-kind transfer (paternalistic altruists) are willing to pay a 52.5% price premium over standard coffee. Those who prefer that most of the premium is paid as cash (strong altruists) are willing to pay a 42.5% premium. Finally, those who are indifferent to how the premium is spent by the recipient (warm-glow givers) are willing to pay only a 19.2% premium. We discuss the implications of our results and future research directions.     

Fiscal and Monetary Problems in Developing States: Proceedings of the Third Rehovoth Conference

This study considers social capital and religious adherence as determinants of child poverty in the United States and finds that both social capital and religious adherence play a role in U.S. child poverty at the county level. The study also disaggregates the total religious adherence variable into Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and Catholics and finds that the effects of these denominations on child poverty are mixed. The model is tested for spatial dependence bias and the test results show that without spatial correction, the OLS results may be biased and inefficient.     

Profit maximisation vs. agency: an analysis of charitable giving by UK firms

The charitable giving of a large sample of publicly quoted UKfirms is analysed within a model that explores the profit maximisationand managerial utility enhancement motives for giving. The empiricalmethod draws a distinction between the decision to participatein giving and the determination of the amount of corporate contributions.Firm size and advertising intensity are found to be positivelyassociated with the probability of participation in giving.Stricter corporate governance and the rate of directors' remunerationare negatively related to the probability of participation.Among givers, the rate of giving is related positively to R&Dintensity, the rate of directors' remuneration, and corporateprofitability and negatively to firm indebtedness.     

政治关联、慈善捐赠与政府补助*--来自中国亏损上市公司的经验证据

文章以2009－2012年中国亏损上市公司作为研究样本,运用社会网络理论,分析和检验了高管的政治关联对亏损企业通过慈善捐赠行为获得政府补助的影响。研究结果表明：第一,有政治关联的亏损企业比无政治关联的亏损企业更容易出于获取政府支持而进行慈善捐赠,高管的政治关联广度相对于其政治关联深度对亏损企业慈善捐赠的正向影响更大,同时高管的地方政治关联相对于其中央政治关联对亏损企业慈善捐赠的正向影响也更大;第二,基于“利益互惠”的原则以及对企业积极履行社会责任的鼓励,政府通常会倾向于对进行慈善捐赠的企业给予更多的补助;第三,相对于无政治关联的亏损企业,有政治关联的亏损企业的慈善捐赠能够帮助其获得更多的政府补助,相对于中央政治关联,地方政治关联对亏损企业通过慈善捐赠获得政府补助的“支持效应”更加明显,同时政治关联广度更宽的亏损企业也通过慈善捐赠获得了更多的政府补助。文章的研究结论深化了对中国亏损上市公司慈善捐赠的动机及其经济后果的认识,为相关部门规范企业慈善行为也提供了有益的启示。     

我国农业上市公司的政治关联与融资便利性

本文以社会资本理论为切入点,实证分析政治关联对我国农业上市公司获取银行信贷融资及其期限结构的影响。以1996—2010年间在沪深两地上市的农业企业为样本,以董事长是否现在或曾经担任政府官员、人大代表、政协委员来判断政治关联。检验结果发现,农业上市公司的政治关联与银行贷款数量显著正相关;政治关联所带来的融资便利性,更多表现为获取银行的短期贷款。研究表明,政治关联作为一种特殊的社会资本,能够作为非正式制度帮助农业企业获得银行信贷支持。     

地方政治权力转移与企业社会资本投资周期--基于政企关系重构的动态研究

文章以2007－2012年我国A 股上市公司为样本,从政企关系重构的视角研究了地方政治权力转移对企业社会资本投资的影响。研究发现：(1)在地方政治权力转移当年,企业会显著提高社会资本投资力度。随着主政官员任期的增加,企业社会资本投资呈现下降趋势。这说明在主政官员任期内,企业社会资本投资呈现先增后减的周期性特点。这种周期性特点仅在民营企业中存在。(2)民营企业社会资本投资的周期性特点在地方官员来自外地、继任官员预期任期较长、管制行业以及融资约束程度高和无政治关联的企业样本中更加显著。(3)在地方政治权力转移当年,民营企业提高社会资本投资力度能够帮助其获得政府补助,但这种优势并不会立刻体现出来;同时,企业提高社会资本投资力度也会对自身的研发投入产生挤出效应,且挤出效应持续存在于继任官员的整个任期中。文章的研究为理解企业建立政企关系的手段、过程与效果提供了新的视角。     

Self-employment,start-up incentives and political ideology

We find evidence that public start-up incentives promote self-employment. This public policy seems to affect more women than men.     

家族企业成长的社会网络资本

家族企业的突出特征表现为家族对企业所有权和经营所有权的控制,按照一般的发展顺序,家族企业的成长过程可依次划分为原始家族企业、纯粹家族企业、泛家族企业和现代家族企业4个阶段。伴随着家族企业的成长而变化和延伸的是家族企业自身所拥有的一种具有商业性质的资本,即社会网络资本。本文主要探讨社会网络资本伴随家族企业成长4阶段而发展变化的轨迹和规律性,以充分利用这种特殊资本来促进家族企业快速发展。     

企业社会资本:理论与实证研究述评

大量研究表明,社会资本是企业重要的战略资源和有效的治理机制,因而企业社会资本理论成为当前经济学和管理学研究的前沿领域之一。本文在已有文献的基础上,对企业社会资本的概念界定、分析维度和测量方法方面的研究进行了归纳;并从公司治理、融资行为、技术创新和企业家4个方面,对现有关于企业社会资本与企业绩效之间关系的实证研究进行了梳理。最后,就企业社会资本理论的发展现状和趋势进行了简要总结。     

Evolutionary Aspects of Corporate Concentration and Its Implications for Economic Theory and Policy

Thorstein Veblen's class analysis implicitly was a critique of the class analysis of some Marxists, who reduced the interdependence of economic base and ideological superstructure to a causal link from the former to the latter. Veblen's emphasis on the directive to take culture into account occurs later in Antonio Gramsci's theoretical innovations: namely, class struggle for cultural hegemony and the importance of the organic intellectual as ferment for class emergence. Gramsci was experiencing the mass movement of fascism, and the (now) classic analysis of social classes became an urgently needed extension to explain class evolution. Today, capitalism is in deep crisis once again. This paper argues that the drivers of the next revolutionary upheaval will, once more, be the social classes — particularly, the newly emerging ones. We graft ideas of Veblen onto concepts suggested by Gramsci to enhance the theoretical toolbox necessary to understand contemporary global class dynamics.     

Does Aid Effectiveness Differ per Political Ideologies?

Despite the extensive empirical literature on aid effectiveness, existing studies have not addressed directly how political ideology affects the use of foreign aid in the recipient country. This study, therefore, uses a unique dataset of 12 democratic countries in Africa to investigate the impact of political ideologies on aid effectiveness. Our results indicate that each political party uses aid differently in peruse of their political, ideological orientation. Further analyses suggest that rightist capitalist parties are likely to use aid to improve the private sector environment. Leftist socialist on the other hand, use aid effectively on pro-poor projects such as short-term poverty reduction, mass education and health services. Our additional analysis on the lines of colonialisation shows that the difference in the use of aid by political parties is much stronger in French colonies than Britain colonies. The study provides insight on how the recipient government are likely to use foreign aid.     

微博社会资本的影响因素

采用新浪微博的数据,通过聚类分析、社会网络分析和回归分析,研究了微博用户的主动行为和真实世界中的社会资本对其微博社会资本的影响。研究结果显示:微博用户的主动行为和线下社会资本对其微博社会资本都有正向影响,且线下社会资本的影响较大;线下桥接社会资本对微博纽带社会资本的影响较大。