What’s Wrong with Executive Compensation?

I broadly explore the question by examining several common criticisms of CEO pay through both philosophical and empirical lenses. While some criticisms appear to be unfounded, the analysis shows not only that current compensation practices are problematic both from the standpoint of distributive justice and fairness, but also that incentive pay ultimately exacerbates the very agency problem it is purported to solve.     

What's Wrong With the Federal Reserve: What Would Restore Independence?

The actual degree of independence of the Federal Reserve has varied over the years. This paper traces its history and finds that the Federal Reserve has been most successful in its dual full-employment, low inflation mandate when it follows fixed rules, and focuses on the intermediate term rather than trying to react to short-term developments under political pressure. Going forward, monetary policy should emphasize on annual monetary growth more and short-term interest rates less. A number of policies are recommended to support this overall emphasis on intermediate-term stability.     

What in the World is Going On?

Advertisers grappling with the vagaries of a global marketplace require a perspective that is comprehensive of the issues affecting their craft. The trade press is one information source that is commonly mined by agency researchers seeking to remain current on the international front. This article attempts to transform impressions gained from such casual reading into a more systematic and useful framework for interpreting the global marketplace. Drawing on a content analysis of information presented in the pages of the "International" section of the trade paper Advertising Age, a perspective of international marketing is advanced, the utility of that perspective to advertising researchers is explored, and the implications of that perspective for international advertising strategy are examined.     

What is the Western MarketLike? Meat? or Potatoes?

-Thoughtson99TalksonCooperationandInvestmentinEasternandWesternChinaAtthe99tradetalksontradeinEasternandWesternChina,onephenomenonpuzzledtheparticipants:peoplefromeasternprovincesflocktothecentralandwesternmarket,thinkingtherewouldbelargespaceforexploration,whilepeoplefromthecentralandwesternprovinceslookdownonthemarketsaroundthem,butfavourtheoutsideworld.ThereasonforthisphenomenonwasthatpeopleineasternandwesternChinahelddifferentviewsonthevalueofthecentralandwesternmarkets.Asthesayinggoes…     

What is in the Mind of State-owned Enterprises?

foe World Top 500 and the Development ofChina's Large State--owned Enterprises wasa seminar sponsored by the China EnterpriseAssessment Association, which was participatedby more than one hundred leading figures fromthe Development Research Center of the StateCouncil, Peking University, the State Economicand Trade Commission, Economic RestructuringOtllce of the State Council, the State StatisticsBureau and the China Petro-Chemical Corp,Baoshan iron and Steel Company, Capital iron…     

What's Wrong with "Deceptive" Advertising?

In this paper I present a moral account of the legal notion of deceptive advertising. I argue that no harmful consequences to the consumer need follow from a deceptive advertisement as such, and I suggest instead that one should focus on the consequences of permitting the practise of deceptive advertising on society as a whole. After a brief account of deceptive advertising, I move to discuss the role of the reasonable person standard in its definition. One interpretation of this standard is empirical, aiming to objectify the quality of misleadingness in the advertisement. I offer an alternative normative interpretation which aims to draw the line between the advertiser's responsibility and that of the consumer, between misleading and miscomprehension. I then examine and reject several possible moral grounds for condemning and prohibiting deceptive advertising. These include: harm, in the sense of welfare, to the misled consumer; harm to competitors; and a violation or a reduction of the consumer's autonomy. Finally, I explain how the effect of the practise of deceptive advertising on society as a whole should inform our normative line-drawing between misleading and miscomprehension, and how it provides the basis for the moral evaluation of deceptive advertising.     

What is Capital Flight?

This paper offers a definitive distinction between capital flight and capital outflows. It unifies and synthesises the capital flight concept as used in both theoretical and empirical work and shows that various definitions have two common elements. These are: (1) capital flight is a subset of capital outflows from developing countries by its residents; (2) these outflows must be motivated by risks and uncertainties that are peculiar to developing countries. The former points to the counter‐intuitive nature of these outflows. The latter gives these counterintuitive outflows’ explanation. We then propose an econometric method to measure this concept, and illustrate its use by applying it to Korea.     

What is the CSR’s Focus in Healthcare?

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been the subject of several academic contributions, but in the health sector the development of an interest in this subject is very recent. Although many practices in healthcare are already socially responsible, progressing from a series of socially responsible behaviours to a socially responsible organization entails a more consolidated awareness of the health sector’s mission and the needs of its participants. In this paper, we will review the different studies published that address the relationship between the healthcare sector’s corporate responsibility and society, with the aims of individuating the prevailing foci that are emerging and categorizing the proposed contributions according to these foci: social responsibility and organization; social responsibility and social impact; social responsibility and competitiveness. Finally, the paper finishes with a personal definition of CSR and its correlated ethical roots.     

What is the value of corporate sponsorship in sports?

This paper investigates the stock market reaction to investor mood swings resulting from the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches. We find that stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that sponsor the IPL cricket are unaffected by the cricket matches. This finding is robust along two lines: (a) the effect is insignificant both statistically and economically which we demonstrate using a simple trading strategy; and (b) results hold across a wide range of portfolios. Our results, both statistical and trading strategy-based, suggest that the portfolios of companies that sponsor cricket in India are efficient. Our findings stand in sharp contrast to the evidence obtained by the broader sports literature suggesting that sports actually impact stock returns, driven principally by psychological factors.     

Food Advertising and Obesity Prevention: What Role for the European Union?

When the Television Without Frontiers Directive (TVWF Directive) was first adopted in 1989, there was very little discussion on how food advertising should be regulated at Community level. However, things have changed as a result of rising levels of obesity in all EU Member States. Consequently, several stakeholders have suggested that the advertising of unhealthy food to children should be restricted. This article analyses whether and how, bearing the obesity epidemic in mind, the European Union could regulate the marketing of food high in fat, sugar and salt to children (HFSS food). It starts by presenting the evidence supporting such regulation. It then focuses on the contribution which the TVWF Directive and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS Directive) could make to the debate. It finally looks at the broader regulatory framework by discussing their relationship with other instruments of Community law relating to food advertising, and in particular the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCP Directive) and the recently adopted Regulation on nutrition and health claims made on foods.

What type of framing message is more appropriate with nine-ending pricing?

While the effect of nine-ending prices on purchases has been well documented, studies that examine the impact of this pricing technique in the context of advertisements are rare. This paper examines the joint effect of the pricing technique and message frames on the advertisement efficacy. Since a nine-ending price is compatible with gain-framed messages due to its gain image, we propose that nine-ending pricing strengthens the effectiveness of gain-framed messages (versus loss-framed messages) on the overall advertisement efficacy. The results of two experiments provide support for this hypothesis.     

What is business in America?

This paper, presented at the Conference on Value Issues in Business at Millsaps College, is divided into three parts. The first sketches the logic of the evolution of U.S. business and suggests reasons for its remarkable success. The second assesses the power of U.S. business in modern society, both from an economic and political perspective. The third attempts to formulate the underlying philosophy of U.S. business using ideals such as the work ethic, entrepreneurism, democracy, and equality. Some of these ideals, the paper suggests, are irreconcilable. Thomas J. Donaldson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University of Chicago. His publications in the area of business ethics include numerous articles and two books, Ethical Issues in Business co-edited with Patricia Werhane, and Corporations and Morality.     

What is holding back housing?

There are two major factors constraining the homeownership rate today: limited supply relative to net household formation and restricted credit availability. In this paper, we carefully document each of these factors, arguing that is is very difficult to fix the supply issues, as so much of the problem is local zoning laws, while steps can be taken to fix the credit availability issues. The supply/demand imbalance is currently the more significant of the two problems, as it places upward pressure on both home prices and rents.