The Consequences of “Consideration Payments”: Lessons from Radio Payola

The prohibition of radio payola in 1960 gives us an opportunity to examine the effect that “consideration payments” had on the record labels that used them and on overall product variety. Using a historical Billboard chart data, we find that the prohibition of payola reduced musical variety and overall record sales, but may have helped increase access for smaller record labels. These findings support the theory that payola payments, which may impose a non-trivial financial burden on the record label, serve to reduce the radio station’s risk.     

Long-Run Implications for Developing Countries of Joint Implementation of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Joint Implementation (JI) calls for cooperation between industrialized and developing countries in the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, a major concern of potential host countries is that, if they utilize their low-cost options for JI now, they will be left with only high cost options in the future, thereby penalizing them at a time when they may be obligated to mitigate GHGs themselves. This paper formalizes this hypothesis by utilizing an optimal control framework analogous to the Hotelling model of non-renewable resource extraction. The results are that cumulative abatement effects can impose costs on the future, but that they can be offset by technological change, market power, or compensation.     

Adaptation responses to increasing drought frequency

Using state contingent analysis, we discuss how and why irrigators adapt to alternative water supply signals. Focusing on the timing of water allocations, we explore inherent differences in the demand for water by two key irrigation sectors: annual and perennial producers. The analysis explores the reliability of alternative water property right bundles and how reduced allocations across time influence alternative responses by producers. Our findings are then extended to explore how management strategies could adapt to two possible future drier state types: (i) where an average reduction in water supply is experienced; and (ii) where drought becomes more frequent. The combination of these findings is subsequently used to discuss the role water reform policy plays in dealing with current and future climate scenarios.     

Die Informationswissenschaften als Brücke zwischen den Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Are corporate managers savvy about their stock price? Evidence from insider trading after earnings announcements

We find that insiders trade as if they exploit market underreaction to earnings news, buying (selling) after good (bad) earnings announcements when the price reaction to the announcement is low (high). We also find that insider trades attributable to public information about earnings and the price reaction generate abnormal returns. By demonstrating that managers spot market underreaction to earnings news, our results imply that managers are savvy about their company’s stock price.     

Modeling the psychological antecedents to tourists’ pro-sustainable behaviors: an application of the value-belief-norm model

Understanding the psychological mechanisms underpinning tourists’ voluntary adoption of behaviors that minimize harm to environments and communities that support tourism is critical for the sustainability of the industry. In this study, we examined the internal attributes that lead tourists to adopt three dimensions of pro-sustainable behavior drawing on the value-belief-norm model. We hypothesized that pro-sustainable behavior is reflected in three dimensions of intent related to behaviors that reduce environmental impacts, the consumption of local goods and services, and a willingness to sacrifice time and money to choose sustainable options. Additionally, hypothesized behavior to be a function of altruistic values, beliefs and Personal Norms. Data were drawn from a panel of active US tourists (N = 623). The hypothesized model predicting pro-sustainable behavior was tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Results demonstrate that the model adequately fit the data, and that Personal Norms account for a considerable degree of variance in tourists’ pro-sustainable behavioral intent. Biospheric values were found to influence behavioral intent mediated by value-belief-norm model constructs.     

Human rights abuses at the Rio 2016 Olympics: activism and the media

Abstract

This article examines activists’ use of human rights as a discourse to contest the impacts of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by drawing on a wider ethnographic project examining activism at Rio 2016. Focusing on two areas of contention, forced evictions and police brutality, the article considers the way activists framed their grievances and how mainstream international media outlets reported those grievances. While activists fighting against forced evictions explicitly used the language of rights in their activism, media accounts tended not to discuss these issues using this lexicon. Conversely, grassroots activists protesting around the issue of police brutality did not tend to frame their grievances in terms of rights, but these issues were discussed as human rights abuses in the media. This points to a dual role played by activists fighting forced evictions: while they are fighting to keep their own homes, they are also part of a wider discursive battle for the right to housing to be recognised and respected.     

A dynamic multiple equation approach for forecasting PM2.5 pollution in Santiago,Chile

This paper proposes a methodology based on a system of dynamic multiple linear equations that incorporates hourly, daily and annual seasonal characteristics for predicting hourly ${\text{pm}}_{2.5}$ pollution concentrations for 11 meteorological stations in Santiago, Chile. It is demonstrated that the proposed model has the potential to match or even surpass the accuracy of competing nonlinear forecasting models in terms of both fit and predictive ability. In addition, the model is successful at predicting various categories of high concentration events, between 53% and 76% of mid-range events, and around 90% of extreme-range events on average across all stations. This forecasting model is considered a useful tool for helping government authorities to anticipate critical episodes of poor air quality so as to avoid the detrimental economic and health impacts of extreme pollution levels.     

The Effects of Culture and Structure on Strategic Flexibility during Business Model Innovation

This study uses responses from 107 multinational firms to reveal CEO perceptions of the drivers of strategic flexibility during business model innovation. While the positive effect of creative culture is confirmed, partner reliance reduces strategic flexibility during business model innovation. Further, structural change is disaggregated into efforts that either focus managerial attention on core activities or reconfigure existing activities. CEOs perceive that structural flexibility requires structural simplification while retaining control of non‐core functions. We find that the relative magnitude of business model innovation effort moderates the effect of reconfiguration on strategic flexibility. The implications for theories of organizational design and dynamic capabilities are discussed.