The effect of incentives on intrinsic motivation and employee attitudes: A multilevel study across nations and cultural clusters

In a study of employees across 29 nations and 9 of the 10 Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE) cultural clusters, the association between economic and psychological incentives and intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were examined. Self‐Determination Theory (SDT) is utilized to develop a theoretical model and then compare structural relationships across nations and cultural clusters. Results confirm the positive relationship between basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation across all nations and cultures. However there is an effect of cultural cluster on the relationships between incentives and motivation, wherein external incentives are intrinsically motivating in Southern and Confucian Asian clusters. The implications for the design of incentive systems are discussed.     

A rational asset pricing model for premiums and discounts on closed‐end funds: The bubble theory

This paper provides a new explanation for closed‐end fund (CEF) discounts and premiums using the local martingale theory of asset price bubbles. This is a rational asset pricing model that is shown to be consistent with the existing empirical evidence on CEF discounts/premiums. Additional testable implications of the model are derived, which await subsequent research for their resolution. This bubble theory also applies equally well to understanding discounts and premiums on exchange traded funds.     

The challenge of Chinese state‐affiliated multinationals in benefiting from foreign subsidiary knowledge transfer: A criticism of light‐touch integration

Acknowledging the sharp growth of Chinese state‐affiliated multinationals and their strategic asset‐seeking investments abroad, this study investigates the effects of headquarters' home‐country political ties on the multinational‐wide benefits gained from subsidiary knowledge transfer in Chinese multinationals. It also looks at how these effects are mediated by organizational distance and social integration between headquarters and subsidiary. Based on a survey of 177 subsidiaries of 99 Chinese multinationals, we find that headquarters' political ties trigger organizational distance and hinder social integration between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries and these, in turn, hamper the potential benefits that Chinese multinationals derive from subsidiary knowledge transfer. This study identifies new challenges related to political ties and light‐touch integration in gaining benefits from subsidiary knowledge transfer.