Bargaining and Opinion Assignment on the US Supreme Court

We formulate a new game-theoretic model of bargaining on theUS Supreme Court. In the model, a degree of monopoly power overpolicy endogenously accrues to the assigned writer despite an"open rule" permitting other justices to make counteroffers.We assume justices are motivated ultimately by a concern forjudicial policy, but that the policy impact of an opinion dependspartly on its persuasiveness, clarity, and craftsmanship—itslegal quality. The effort cost of producing a high-quality opinioncreates a wedge that the assignee can exploit to move an opinionfrom the median without provoking a winning counteroffer. Weuse this bargaining model as the foundation for a formal analysisof opinion assignment. Both the bargaining and opinion assignmentmodels display rich and tractable comparative statics, allowingthem to explain well-known empirical regularities, as well asto generate new propositions, all within a unified and internallyconsistent framework.     

The Effect of Consumers’ Real-World Choice Sets on Inferences from Stated Preference Surveys

For stated preference (SP) studies, we develop a model that assesses the influence of choice set misspecification arising from the omission of perceived substitutes among real-world alternatives in the same class of goods. This problem is most likely to be present when individuals are allowed to select a “no purchase” option instead of being forced to choose from an explicit set of SP alternatives with hypothetical attribute levels. A convenient feature of our model is that researchers do not need to know exactly which omitted real substitute the individual most prefers, only the set of real substitutes that exists. In our empirical illustration, a comparison of rival models suggests researchers who overlook the presence of perceived real alternatives related to an SP experiment can end up with noticeably biased welfare estimates. Our more-general model suggests that it may be prudent for future SP researchers to anticipate, then test and possibly correct for, distortions in utility parameter estimates that result from this problem.      

Subject pool effects in a corruption experiment: A comparison of Indonesian public servants and Indonesian students

We report results from a corruption experiment with Indonesian public servants and Indonesian students. Our results suggest that the Indonesian public servant subjects have a significantly lower tolerance of corruption than the Indonesian students. We find no evidence that this is due to a selection effect. The reasons given by the subjects for their behaviour suggest that the differences in behavior across the subject pools are driven by their different real life experiences. For example, when abstaining from corruption, public servants more often cite the need to reduce the social costs of corruption as a reason for their actions, and when engaging in corruption, they cite low government salaries or a belief that corruption is a necessary evil in the current environment. In contrast, students give more simplistic moral reasons. We conclude by emphasizing that results obtained from different subject pools can complement each other in illuminating different aspects of the same problem. We would like to thank Charles Noussair and the participants of the Experimental Economics Workshop (2006) at the University of Melbourne for their comments. Daniel Piccinin and Revy Sjahrial have provided excellent research assistance. We are grateful to the Australian Research Council and the World Bank for their financial assistance.     

Engaging workers in resource-poor environments: the case of social enterprise in Vietnam

Abstract

How do social enterprises acquire and retain employees in resource-poor environments? This paper presents findings from a study examining human resource management (HRM) practices in transitional economy social enterprises, where research on HRM remains underexplored. Drawing on social exchange theory and employing a multiple-case study design, we examine the ways in which four well-established social enterprises in Vietnam use high-involvement work practices (HIWPs) to acquire, retain and support the performance of workers. The findings suggest that HIWPs increase the social exchange value of social enterprise employment but raise questions about business sustainability. We identify evidence of a unique bundle of HIWPs, which comprise four dimensions of the original model: information, knowledge, power, and rewards, and one new dimension, namely family-building practices.     

Corporate social marketing in tourism: to sleep or not to sleep with the enemy?

ABSTRACT

Social marketing is regarded as an effective consumer-oriented approach to promoting behavioural change and improved well-being for individuals, communities and society. However, its potential for tourism, especially sustainable tourism, remains under-researched. This article examines the utilisation of social marketing by tourism businesses. A search strategy identified 14 behavioural change programmes that involved tourism businesses. Half of these programmes label themselves social marketing; the others tend to be part of corporate social responsibility efforts, using a form of corporate social marketing (CSM). Most programmes seek to encourage pro-environmental behaviours in tourists, tourism businesses and other stakeholders including suppliers. Although tourism businesses can develop social marketing programmes alone, typically they collaborate with public and non-profit agencies as partners and sponsors. The strength of the tie between the promoted behaviour and the sale of a company's product varies considerably. It is suggested that social marketing can make significant contributions to environmentally sustainable tourism. However, this research also suggests that social marketing is not a substitute for, but rather an essential complement to, technological and regulatory approaches to climate change. Changing behaviour is a long process: without a long-term commitment from private sector companies, CSM programmes will fail to achieve behavioural change goals.     

What do U.S. biopharmaceutical companies get from patents and research and development spikes for their dynamic corporate performance?

This paper investigates how patents and research and development (R&D) spikes affect the corporate performance of 863 firm-year observations of U.S. biopharmaceutical companies. First, a dynamic data envelopment analysis model is adopted to evaluate the performance of the U.S. biopharmaceutical companies. Then, ordinary least squares regression is used to explore the effects of three patent-related variables (patent counts, citations, and claims) and R&D spikes on corporate performance. This study finds positive impacts of patent counts, citations, and claims on corporate performance. In addition, the results show that R&D spikes have negative contemporaneous effects and time-lagged effects on corporate performance.     

The effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process: Evidence from Vietnam

This study aims to identify the effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces/cities. I employ labour quality assessments of firms as a proxy for human capital and divide human capital accumulation into the following two processes: an educational process and a process through which educational outcomes and worker training transform into labour quality. The estimation results have some notable implications for the Vietnamese context. Corruption has both negative and positive effects on human capital. On the one hand, corruption reduces the positive effect of local government spending on educational achievements and worsens labour quality. On the other hand, the prevalence of corruption in provinces/cities increases the advantages of local schools in the competition to obtain funds from the central government; hence, corruption enhances educational achievements in those regions. The results of this study indicate that corruption adversely affects human capital overall.     

Climate-induced migration: using mental models to explore aggregate and individual decision-making

The US Dust Bowl of the 1930s (a prolong period of drought experienced in the United States accompanied by severe sand storms) is often described as an abnormal event. However, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of similar occurrences. Because of this, a growing number of scholars have begun to examine multiple facets of climate-induced migration from various disciplinary traditions. Specifically, scholars have called for continued research into individual decision-making processes. Responding to this call, we construct a mental model from historical interviews of those who migrated to California during the US Dust Bowl. Our model provides insight into the migration process with a unique focus on individual decision-making processes of migrants.     

When are dividend increases bad for corporate bonds?

Employing an event study approach, we examine 5,574 bond return reactions to unexpected quarterly dividend change announcements in the U.S. corporate bond market over the period 2002–2014. On average, bond price reaction is in the same direction as dividend changes, which supports the hypothesis that dividend changes signal future firm performance. However, the price reaction varies significantly in the spectrum of bond's risk. Importantly, we document that some bondholders react negatively to unexpected dividend increases, indicating a wealth transfer effect. Such wealth transfer effect is most likely to occur in very high risk bond approaching maturity issued by firms with a low level of cash and incorporated outside Delaware.