Impact of the interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems on procedural fairness perception,cooperation and performance in supply alliances

We examine the effects of interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems (PMSs) on two behavioural factors (procedural fairness perception and cooperation) in inter-firm alliances. We further investigate whether the two behavioural factors mediate the relationship between PMS uses and alliance performance. We find that both interactive and diagnostic uses of PMS are significantly related to procedural fairness perception but only the interactive use is significantly related to cooperation. The relationships between the two uses of PMS and alliance performance are serially mediated by procedural fairness perception and cooperation. These findings contribute to management accounting studies in inter-firm alliances.     

CEO turnover in China: the role of market-based and accounting performance measures

We investigate the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) turnover and firm performance in China's publicly traded firms. We provide evidence on the use of accounting and market-based performance measures in CEO turnover decision. We also investigate the moderating roles of noise in performance measures, firm growth opportunities, state-owned enterprises, and corporate governance reform on the weights attached to these performance measures. We observe that Chinese listed firms rely more on accounting performance than on stock market performance when determining CEO turnover. Firms with noisier performance measures and larger growth opportunities rely less on both accounting performance and stock market performance in CEO replacement decision. State-controlled firms are more likely to use accounting performance to determine CEO turnover. Finally, we observe that the weight attached to the accounting performance measure is significantly reduced and the weight attached to the stock market performance measure is significantly increased after the governance reform. We also observe that the reform has different impact on state-owned firms and private firms in terms of the sensitivity of CEO turnover to firm performance.     

商业银行高管薪酬业绩敏感度的实证研究

本文基于调查数据,实证分析了银行绩效对高管薪酬的影响,并对银行高管薪酬绩效敏感度的影响因素进行了分析。结果发现,样本银行高管薪酬与银行绩效之间显著负相关,股权集中、银行风险和银行规模也影响了银行高管薪酬的决定;股权集中和银行风险强化了银行高管薪酬与绩效之间的敏感度,而股权制衡则弱化了薪酬绩效敏感度。     

The effect of non-financial performance measures,organisational politics and political skill on job performance: Evidence from China

We investigate the role of organisational politics (i.e., general political behaviour, going along to get ahead and pay and promotion policies) and political skill on the relationship between non-financial performance measures and job performance, relying on a sample of manufacturing firms in China. Results suggest that non-financial performance measures positively affect managers' job performance, and non-financial performance measures reduce general political behaviour and pay and promotion policies. Results further suggest that managers' political skill positively affects job performance, and political skill also moderates the relationships between (1) general political behaviour and (2) pay and promotion policies, and job performance.     

论保险的本质与保险业在金融行业中的角色定位

保险的本质是以资金解决了经济社会运行过程中要素的短缺与需求之间的矛盾,实现了风险的分散和财富的调剂,保障了经济社会生活的稳定运行。从保险的本质出发,明确保险业在金融行业中的角色定位,是保险业实现科学发展的前提。在当前经济金融环境不确定因素增加,行业发展尚不充分的情况下,保险业偏离保障发展方向可能带来潜在的风险。只有坚持保险保障的发展方向,立足于专业化经营,不断创新,进一步加强监管,才能真正实现保险事业又好又快的科学发展。     

Country world betas: The link between the stock market beta and macroeconomic beta

We assess the connection between stock market linkages and macroeconomic linkages by using a world index model. Specifically, we test the association between the stock market beta (the sensitivity of country stock market index to world index) and macroeconomic betas (the sensitivity of national output and inflation to world output and inflation). Output betas account for about 20–26% of the cross-section of stock market betas. Controlling for previously-documented factors affecting stock market comovements: world output volatility is somewhat significant, while inflation betas, trade openness and world stock market volatility are insignificant in accounting for variation in stock market betas.     

The relationship between lack of controllability and proactive work behaviour: an empirical analysis of competing theoretical explanations

The controllability principle suggests evaluating managers solely based on performance measures they can control. In practice, however, companies often disregard this principle. Therefore, our study addresses organisational benefits linked to the lack of controllability in measures used for managers’ performance evaluations. We draw on important case-based findings to establish a positive ‘base relationship’ between lack of controllability and proactive work behaviour. We test this base relationship with a large-scale sample and find that companies encourage higher levels of proactive work behaviour when they rely on less controllable performance measures. Drawing on recent developments in role theory, we advance previous research and extend the base model by including the theoretical construct of flexible role orientation. We examine different mechanisms through which flexible role orientation potentially impacts the base model. Using survey responses from 432 managers, we find evidence for a mediation model as opposed to an interaction model. Specifically, we find that lack of controllability enhances role conflict, which in turn induces more flexible role orientations ultimately resulting in higher levels of proactive work behaviour.     

Ownership concentration and firm risk: The moderating role of mid-sized blockholders

This study analyzes the relationship between mid-sized blockholders and firm risk. We show that ownership structure matters for firm risk beyond the first largest blockholder. Firms with multiple blockholders take more risk than firms with just one blockholder, even when controlling for the stake of the largest blockholder. Consistent with the diversification argument, we find that firm risk increases by 22% when the number of blockholders increases from one to two. Our results are robust to controlling for blockholder type and firm characteristics. We carry out various robustness checks to tackle endogeneity issues. More generally, we provide evidence that firms’ decisions are affected by mid-sized blockholders and not merely the largest blockholder. This is in line with theoretical predictions.     

Public service motivation and performance: The role of organizational identification

Although the association between public service motivation (PSM) and job performance has received increased attention, there is limited knowledge of the mechanisms underlying its effects. Utilizing data from Chinese civil servants and their supervisors, the authors found that PSM results in higher levels of organizational identification and leads to higher levels of job performance because civil servants perceive the organization’s fate and results as their own.

IMPACT

Our study demonstrates that organizational identification is a key mechanism that explains how public service motivation (PSM) leads to higher levels of performance. To improve performance, public agencies should create an environment that helps employees identify with the organization, for example by highlighting the distinct services that the organization provides for the public and by establishing socialization practices for newcomers.     

Exploring the relationship between strategic performance measurement systems and managers' creativity: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and organisational learning

This study explores whether strategic performance measurement systems (SPMSs) are linked to managers' creativity through two mediating variables—organisational learning and psychological empowerment. Using data collected from 92 senior production managers in Australian manufacturing organisations, the study tests these links using a partial least squares structural model. The results from the structural model indicate that SPMSs are indirectly related to the managers' creativity through organisational learning and psychological empowerment. The study also finds that organisational learning is both directly related to creativity, and indirectly related to psychological empowerment. Further, the potential implications for empirical research are discussed.     

Application of the controllability principle and managerial performance: The role of role perceptions

The controllability principle stipulates that the evaluation of a manager should be based only on elements that are under the manager's control. Arguments for and against its application are theoretically well understood, but empirical evidence based on the evaluation of the perceptions of managers and their implications for managerial performance is scarce. By empirically analyzing the effects on managerial performance, this paper explores managers’ responses to the application of the controllability principle. We draw on role theory and analyze how role ambiguity and role conflict mediate this basic relationship. Moreover, we test whether application of the controllability principle equally affects role perceptions of top-level managers and those of lower and middle-level managers. Empirical analysis of survey responses from 440 managers reveals that role perceptions completely mediate the effect of application of the controllability principle on managerial performance. This effect is insignificant in the group of top-level managers, who appear to cope with uncontrollable factors more effectively.     

推行消费型增值税与当前宏观调控的协调性分析

我国实行消费型增值税的必要性已取得社会各界的广泛共识,税改基本已成定局。但2007年下半年以来的经济过热格局,促使12月的中央经济工作会议将防止经济转向过热和明显通胀作为2008年的调控目标。在如此背景之下,全面推行消费型增值税与宏观调控目标就出现若干矛盾。本文通过对各种宏观经济因素和消费型增值税的经济效应分析,指出两者矛盾的根源所在,并以此为基础提出构建两者协调关系的路径选择。     

Return spillovers between white precious metal ETFs: The role of oil,gold, and global equity

This paper investigates the relationship between white precious metals and gold, oil and global equity by means of spillovers and volatility transmission. Relying on the recently introduced ETFs, this study is the first to analyse return spillovers derived from an E-GARCH model and to take into account frequency dynamics to understand changes in connectedness across periods of time. Results uncover numerous channels of return transmission across the selected ETF markets over the last 10years and highlight the role of gold ETFs as the most influential market in the sample. Furthermore, our work provides insights into the characteristics of white precious metal markets using a hidden semi-Markov model. Finally, we argue that even though silver and platinum have gained more importance as investment assets over the last few years, palladium still very much remains an industrial metal.     

The relation between equity incentives and misreporting: The role of risk-taking incentives

Prior research argues that a manager whose wealth is more sensitive to changes in the firm?s stock price has a greater incentive to misreport. However, if the manager is risk-averse and misreporting increases both equity values and equity risk, the sensitivity of the manager?s wealth to changes in stock price (portfolio delta) will have two countervailing incentive effects: a positive “reward effect” and a negative “risk effect.” In contrast, the sensitivity of the manager?s wealth to changes in risk (portfolio vega) will have an unambiguously positive incentive effect. We show that jointly considering the incentive effects of both portfolio delta and portfolio vega substantially alters inferences reported in prior literature. Using both regression and matching designs, and measuring misreporting using discretionary accruals, restatements, and enforcement actions, we find strong evidence of a positive relation between vega and misreporting and that the incentives provided by vega subsume those of delta. Collectively, our results suggest that equity portfolios provide managers with incentives to misreport when they make managers less averse to equity risk.     

Corporate governance and risk management: The role of risk management and compensation committees

This paper examines the role of compensation and risk committees in managing and monitoring the risk behaviour of Australian financial firms in the period leading up to the global financial crisis (2006–2008). This empirical study of 711 observations of financial sector firms demonstrates how the coordination of risk management and compensation committees reduces information asymmetry. The study shows that the composition of the risk and compensation committees is positively associated with risk, which, in turn, is associated with firm performance. More importantly, information asymmetry is reduced when a director is a member of both the risk and compensation committees which moderate the negative association between risk and firm performance for firms with high risk.     

The effect of cost management knowledge on the relationship between budgetary participation and managerial performance

This study investigates the relationship between budget participation (BP), cost management knowledge and managerial performance. It draws on relevant previous research in the theory of work performance and accounting to formulate the research questions. Eighty-three managers from Finnish companies participated in the study. Data were collected from the managers using a mail questionnaire. The results indicate that managers’ cost management knowledge, and especially the balanced perspective of cost management knowledge, moderates the effect of BP on self-perception of managerial performance. It was specifically found that the effect of BP on perceived managerial performance becomes more positive when managers’ cost management knowledge increases. High perception of managerial performance is obtained when both the BP and managers’ cost management knowledge are high. Our results suggest that organizations should improve the cost management knowledge of managers who participate in the budgeting process.     

The relationship between the frequency of news release and the information asymmetry: The role of uninformed trading

This paper shows that the degree of information asymmetry is lower for firms with more frequent news releases. The relation holds for various measures of information asymmetry such as the probability of information-based trading (PIN), permanent price impact, and adverse selection component of bid-ask spread, even after adjusting for endogeneity between news release and information asymmetry. By decomposing the PIN into intensities of uninformed and informed trades, similarly to Brown and Hillegeist (2007), we find that intensity of uninformed trading increases much more than that of informed trading for firms with more frequent news releases. As a result, information asymmetry, as is measured by PIN, decreases for such firms due to the large increase in the intensity of uninformed trading. Our findings highlight not only the importance of news releases in leveling the playing field of investors but also the role of uninformed investors in reducing trading cost due to information asymmetry.     

Accruals Quality, Information Risk and Cost of Capital: Evidence from Australia

Abstract:  Recent theoretical work argues that information risk is a non-diversifiable risk factor that is priced in the capital market. Using accruals quality to proxy for information risk, Francis et al. (2005) provide empirical support for this argument using a sample of US firms. This paper re-examines the interplay of accruals quality, information risk and cost of capital in Australia, where a number of important institutional and regulatory differences are hypothesized to affect the relation between accruals quality and cost of capital. The results suggest that, while accruals quality impacts on the cost of capital for Australian firms, some salient differences exist. In contrast to findings for US firms, the costs of debt and equity for Australian firms are largely influenced by accruals quality arising from economic fundamentals (i.e., innate accrual quality) but not discretionary reporting choices (i.e., discretionary accrual quality). This finding is consistent with our predictions based on the Australian institutional and regulatory environment. In addition, using both the asset pricing tests in Francis et al. (2005) and Core et al. (2008) , we provide evidence consistent with accruals quality being a priced risk factor.     

Shareholder composition,share turnover,and returns in volatile markets: The case of international REITs

The shareholder composition of listed property companies has changed from the fragmented, retail ownership, to more concentrated, institutional ownership over the past decade. In this paper, we first document significant variation in the composition of the shareholder base across the world's five largest listed property markets. We then examine the relation between the composition of the shareholder base and stock market performance and share turnover during the turbulent trading days of 2008 and 2009. By directly relating the shareholder base of firms to excess returns and turnover on these volatile days, we are able to isolate the importance of shareholder composition during periods when trading behavior is most likely to vary across different types of shareholders. We find that both large block holdings and high levels of institutional ownership decrease trading volumes and moderate stock returns; however, the effects largely occur when stock prices move sharply downward. Moreover, these effects are strongest when ownership concentration and institutional ownership exceed 25 percent. We also find that the disaggregation of institutional investors into distinct categories (banks, pension funds, advisors, etc.) increases our understanding of stock trading and share price dynamics of listed property companies.