On the asymmetric relationship between stock market development,energy efficiency and environmental quality: A nonlinear analysis

It has been widely documented in the literature that financial development drives up the impact of CO₂ emissions through increases in real economic activities and the consumption of polluting fossil fuel energy. However, when dealing with stock market development, such upward effects on economic growth, energy efficiency, and carbon emissions seems to give away to a positive impact especially in emerging markets. This paper contributes to this debate by exploring both the symmetric and asymmetric responses of CO₂ emission to changes in stock market development indicators. Using both the panel linear and nonlinear ARDL, our results demonstrate the asymmetric effects of stock market development indicator son carbon emissions in the context of emerging markets. In particular, the long-run elasticities results suggest that positive and negative shocks on stock market indicator decreases environmental quality by increasing carbon emissions. Based on these empirical findings, this study offers some crucial policy implications. Especially, policy makers should implement strong environmental policies in emerging markets economies to reduce carbon emissions of industrial companies without significantly affecting the development of financial markets.     

How loan portfolio diversification affects risk, efficiency and capitalization: A managerial behavior model for Austrian banks

The aim of this paper is to analyze how diversification of banks across size and industry affects risk, cost and profit efficiency, and bank capitalization for large Austrian commercial banks over the years 1997–2003. Employing a unique dataset, provided by the Austrian Central Bank, we test for several different types of managerial hypotheses, formalized according to a modified version of the Berger and DeYoung model [Berger, A.N., DeYoung, R., 1997. Problem loans and cost efficiency in commercial banks. Journal of Banking and Finance 21, 849–870]. We find that, although diversification negatively affects cost efficiency, it increases profit efficiency and reduces banks’ realized risk. Finally, diversification seems to have a positive impact on banks’ capitalization.     

Financial reforms and technical efficiency in Indian commercial banking: A generalized stochastic frontier analysis

In this study we estimate technical efficiency of Indian commercial banks from 1989 to 2009, using a multiple-output generalized stochastic production frontier and analyze the effects of financial reforms on estimated efficiency. The generalized method estimates technical efficiency in the presence of multiple outputs, filling a gap in the existing literature. Our results show that Indian commercial banks were operating with 64% efficiency on average during the sample period. The initial phase of reform had a positive impact on while the later phase adversely affected technical efficiency of banks. Public sector banks show higher efficiency levels compared to private and foreign banks.     

Impact of non-traditional activities on the efficiency of Indian banks: an empirical investigation

This article investigates the relevance of the inclusion of non-traditional activities in the specification of banks' output on the efficiency of Indian banks. The results indicate that the exclusion of non-traditional activities not only understates the cost, technical and allocative efficiencies of individual banks but also affects the ranking of ownership groups in the industry. In particular, when a proxy for non-traditional activities is accounted for in the output specification, the foreign banks appear to be more efficient than public and private sector banks. Overall, the results reinforce the prevailing view in the extant literature that the exclusion of non-traditional activities causes misspecification of banks' output, and may distort the efficiency estimates.     

Automation and management control in dynamic environments: Managing organisational flexibility and energy efficiency in service sectors

Automation has been conceptually explained in management accounting research as an antecedent to control problem avoidance (Emmanuel, Merchant, & Otley, 1990). However, the question of how automation is implicated in more dynamic service-based environments remains unanswered. We apply the Adler and Borys' (1996) bureaucracy framework to explain how enabling controls allow organisations to simultaneously pursue organisational flexibility and energy efficiency (Ahrens & Chapman, 2004; Jorgensen & Messner, 2009). Subsequently, we examine how automation and its related management control are designed and used in a dynamic service-based organisation, where goal attainment and the energy efficiency of its buildings are critical. In doing so, we explain how automation-related standardisation is adjusted by enabling control attributes (repair, flexibility, internal transparency) to advance user flexibility. Additionally, standardisation minimises the loss in energy efficiency when less optimal repair control behaviour manifests. Our study adds more depth to the work by Merchant and Van der Stede (2017) by exploring how automation complements labour in dynamic environments. Our findings offer greater understanding of how automation and management control systems are designed and used to enhance organisations' energy efficiency in dynamic service-based environments. In doing so, we advance extant environmental management accounting studies (Virtanen, Tuomaala, & Pentti, 2013).     

中国能源利用效率省际分异与影响因素的实证研究

根据中国能源利用效率的省际差异显著而且当前节能任务艰巨的事实,提出了进行能源效率地区差异因素分析的必要性。基于2007年的截面数据,运用偏最小二乘回归建模,分析了各因素对能源效率地区差异的影响方向和影响程度。研究结果表明,各地区固定资产投资中外商投资比重、工业增加值中高耗能产业比重以及煤炭消费比重的差异是造成能源效率地区差异显著的主要原因。要在短期内缩小地区间的能源效率差距,必须严格限制高耗能行业的过快发展,加强高耗能行业的结构调整,加快淘汰落后生产能力,大力提升煤炭的使用效率。     

Energy futures: Diversity and the need for assessment

In energy policy and energy research, decisions have to be made about the technologies and infrastructures that may be used to provide and distribute energy in future times, some of which are very distant. Frequently, energy futures such as predictions of the energy demand or energy scenarios are used for decision-support in this field. The diversity of energy futures, however, threatens any possibility for orientation, could lead to disorientation instead of helping more rational decision-making and could be used for ideological purpose. In this paper, we investigate concepts and approaches for scrutinizing, comparing and assessing the various energy futures from an epistemological point of view. Following the analysis of the structure of (energy) futures we will conclude that comparisons and assessments of energy futures should be made through processes of scrutiny and assessment, looking into the ingredients which have been used in constructing the respective futures, and into the process of their composition. Providing much more insight into the cognitive and normative structure of energy futures is required for allowing a more transparent and deliberative societal debate about future energy systems.     

中国能源海外投资风险管理实证研究——以南苏丹石油投资为例

中国“21世纪海上丝绸之路”是全球政治、贸易新格局下改革开放的伟大构想,其核心价值在于通道价值和战略安全。能源战略安全是中国资本输出优先目标选择之一,而风险管理是中国能源海外投资亟待解决的问题。通过模糊综合评价法对南苏丹进行风险实证检验,着重建立风险评估相对科学的指标体系和定量评价方法以及防范风险政策框架。     

新能源汽车财务与非财务消息对股市影响的多维特征及差异

新能源汽车股市是投资者对公司财务绩效、政策导向、技术水平和发展前景等多方面因素综合反应的结果。将新能源汽车产业相关消息分为"财务"和"非财务"消息,应用事件研究法从"敏感性""、强弱性"和"持续性"三个维度分析了财务与非财务类消息对于新能源汽车股市影响的差异性。结果表明,新能源汽车非财务类消息对于股市表现影响的强度和持续性相对更显著。新能源汽车非财务类消息中的政策、市场消息对于股市表现影响的敏感性要高于技术消息,政策、技术消息对于股市表现影响的强度明显高于市场消息,技术消息对于股市表现影响的持续性明显优于政策和市场类消息。新能源汽车产业的政策扶持不应仅仅关注现阶段新能源汽车制造商的财务指标,更应高度关注新能源汽车制造商的创新能力。制造商要进一步加大新能源汽车的研发投入,通过资本市场的合理融资促进新能源汽车技术创新和长期盈利能力提升。     

Understanding resource deployment efficiency for ESG and financial performance: A DEA approach

COVID-19 has stimulated additional research interest on economic sustainability and ESG in both academia and industry. This study adopts a DEA approach to examine the efficiency of achieving ESG targets and their relationships with financial performance. Using MSCI ESG data from 2015 to 2019 on 1108 Chinese firms, we examine the ESG proportional and pillar mix efficiencies. The dominant strategies for our sampled firms are to improve overall ESG performance by enhancing the E and S pillars through sacrificing G’s performance. The second result shows a positive relationship between proportional efficiency and financial performance while a mixed relationship between pillar mix efficiency and financial performance. However, for the technology sector, there exists some trade-offs between ESG performance and financial performance. Specifically, relative to non-technology firms, improving proportional and pillar mix efficiencies for technology firms could result in some sacrifice in stock valuation.     

Empirical investigation of stock index futures market efficiency: the case of the Athens Derivatives Exchange

Pricing and trading practices in the Athens Derivatives Exchange, a newly established derivatives market, result in significant futures arbitrage profit opportunities for low-cost traders. We find that a large part of the mispricing is due to transaction costs, but additional factors, such as anticipated volatility and time to maturity, also contribute. Ex ante tests reveal significant arbitrage opportunities that could have been exploited up to 30 min after they had been identified. All different tests employed indicate that the derivatives market was inefficient during its early trading history because arbitrage opportunities persisted even after other market impact costs were taken into consideration.     

The impacts of risk-taking behaviour and competition on technical efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese banking industry

This paper tests the impact of risk and competition on efficiency in the Chinese banking industry over the period 2003–2013. Comprehensive types of risk-taking behaviour are considered including credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, and insolvency risk. Competition is measured by the Lerner index. The results are cross-checked using an alternative econometric technique as well as an alternative competition indicator. The findings show that the technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks are significantly and negatively affected by liquidity risk. They further show that greater competition precedes declines in technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks. The results suggest that Chinese bank efficiency is significantly affected by bank diversification, banking sector development, stock market development, inflation and GDP growth rate. The findings also indicate that, compared to state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks have lower technical and pure technical efficiencies.     

Internationalization, product development and performance outcomes: A comparative study of 10 countries

Product development is recognized as innovative value creating effort that has become important in the high-risk, globally competitive environment. This paper presents a model that links product development practices with product development performance in the context of internationalization. The empirical results base the analyses on International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS IV) data from 10 countries (i.e., Argentina, China, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey and USA). We develop several hypotheses with respect to the relationships between product development practices and their outcome measures. We test the hypotheses with data from 458 manufacturing units. This study suggests that many small and medium sized firms adopt internationalization as their new competitive weapon. Small firms seem to be more effective in utilizing product design and manufacturing involvement while large firms standardize and formalize the product development practices. Both small and large firms utilize cross-functional work for achieving organizational and technological integration. The improvement efforts toward enhancing product development outcomes vary depending on different regions of the world.     

A new perspective on performance persistence: evidence using portfolio holdings

We investigate the existence and sources of performance persistence for Australian equity funds, using monthly portfolio holdings data. We find significant persistence among outperforming rather than underperforming funds, which is primarily related to security selection skill, and is associated with growth‐orientated funds. Meanwhile, the relation between persistence and momentum is secondary and nuanced. Further, persistence largely derives from existing holdings, while subsequent active trading contributes only moderately positive returns for both outperforming and underperforming funds. We also find that persistence fades beyond 6 months and vanishes after 24 months. Our findings differ from those for U.S. equity funds and previous Australian studies, implying that persistence may vary with market context and its identification may depend on data availability.     

Ten years after: The rise and fall of managerial autonomy in Pompeii

In September 1997, an ad hoc law (Law no. 352/1997) gave the archaeological site of Pompeii a new status. Its previous status as a local branch of the Ministry of Culture (the Soprintendenza) was reconfigured as an autonomous entity (Soprintendenza autonoma). In July 2008, the Italian Prime Minister declared a one year state of emergency in Pompeii, appointing a special Commissioner (Commissario straordinario) in order to cope with “the serious critical situation of the archeological area” (OPCM 3692/2008). The aim of the paper is to review the process of change in Pompeii over ten years, observing major institutional transformations and analyzing the evolution of activities and human and financial resources management. Beyond the substantive elements of interest (the mis-management of one of the most important archaeological sites in the world), the paper sheds lights on the role of accountability in the cultural sector and on the distinctive features of Italian public administration, questioning the existence of a path of international convergence in public sector change.     

Uncertainty,growth controls,and the efficiency of development patterns

This article examines the regulation of real estate development patterns from the perspective of the suburban household. Employing concepts of efficiency developed in the financial economics literature, it argues that uncertainty about future growth impacts, coupled with transactions costs, contributes to the motivation to enact growth controls. The article concludes by suggesting that in an information-efficient environment an alternative pricing policy, rather than regulatory intervention, is a Pareto-preferred response.     

节能减排对企业财务绩效影响的实证研究

节能减排背景下,企业越来越重视可持续发展.作为高能耗、高排放的钢铁行业,更应做好低碳环保,推进制度创新,新能源开发,达到经济效益、社会效益和环境效益的统一.现行财务评价体系缺少对环境效益的评价,本文试图在原有的财务评价体系中加入节能减排评价指标,并通过具有代表性的钢铁企业-宝钢的财务指标,使用因子分析法,得出综合得分,并利用两配对样本非参数检验,比较加入节能减排指标前后企业财务绩效的变化,研究节能减排是否会对企业的财务绩效产生显著影响.     

Procedural justice in managerial performance evaluation: Effects of subjectivity,relationship quality,and voice opportunity

This study investigates the effect of subjectivity in performance evaluation on managerial perceptions of procedural justice. Using survey data from a sample of 317 managers, we examine two forms of subjectivity: use and weight of subjective performance measures and ex post flexibility in the weighting of multiple performance measures. We also examine the interaction effects of two contextual factors, superior–manager relationship quality and voice opportunity, on the association between subjectivity and perceived procedural justice. The results suggest that only the superior's use of ex post flexibility in weighting multiple performance measures adversely affects managers' perceptions of procedural justice. Moreover, superior–manager relationship quality reduces the negative effects of ex post flexibility in weighting multiple performance measures on procedural justice, whereas voice opportunity amplifies this negative effect. These findings have practical and theoretical implications, as they shed new light on the trade-off between the informative benefits and perceived unfairness of incorporating subjectivity into performance evaluation.     

Market development and market efficiency: evidence based on nonlinear panel unit root tests

This study tests the weak form market efficiency of 32 European stock markets. Utilizing monthly data from June 2006 to June 2017, six different, newly developed nonlinear panel root tests were applied in three different groups of European markets: Frontier, Emerging and Developed. The results show that there is a meaningful relationship between different levels of economic development and the weak form market efficiency. Considering the nonlinear structure of the stock market indices, use of linear models might lead to wrong conclusions regarding market efficiency. Using several nonlinear panel root tests, the results of this study shed more light on the true data generating process of the stock market indices and more appropriately model market efficiency.     

A review of dashboards in performance management: Implications for design and research

Dashboards are expected to improve decision making by amplifying cognition and capitalizing on human perceptual capabilities. Hence, interest in dashboards has increased recently, which is also evident from the proliferation of dashboard solution providers in the market. Despite dashboards' popularity, little is known about the extent of their effectiveness, i.e. what types of dashboards work best for different users or tasks. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive multidisciplinary literature review with an aim to identify the critical issues organizations might need to consider when implementing dashboards. Dashboards are likely to succeed and solve the problems of presentation format and information load when certain visualization principles and features are present (e.g. high data-ink ratio and drill down features). We recommend that dashboards come with some level of flexibility, i.e. allowing users to switch between alternative presentation formats. Also some theory driven guidance through pop-ups and warnings can help users to select an appropriate presentation format. Given the dearth of research on dashboards, we conclude the paper with a research agenda that could guide future studies in this area.