Experimental technology assessment: Explorations in processes of interdisciplinary team research

Technology assessment (TA) is team research that entails the cooperative effort of professionals from diverse disciplines. Whether this effort can be truly integrated into an interdisciplinary assessment is problematic, based on analyses of 24 actual TAs. To probe the situational and process factors that impinge on this interdisciplinary research process, we have performed laboratory simulations on TA-like problems. By controlling several key factors, these sessions have yielded insights into small group interactions and offer suggestive evidence for the conduct of future TAs. In these exercises the role of expertise was downplayed as groups preferred to operate in a “common-group learning” mode; epistemological differences emerged in the form of a “pecking order” favoring more quantitative sciences; and performing the leadership role reduced an individual's intellectual contribution to the problem-solving process. These exploratory TA simulations suggest merit in further efforts at controlled study of complex interdisciplinary processes.     

A Regime-Level Empirical Model of the Specialist Quote Revision Process

NYSE trading is a continuous auction process distinguished by order flow imbalances and non-coincident revision of the bid and the ask. To deal with the aggregation problem presented by non-coincident revision of the quotes, we propose a regime-level empirical model and use it to test the Brock and Kleidon queuing theory of a continuous auction. Using transactions data for IBM for calendar year 1988, Harris, McInish, and Chakravarity (1995) performed a Hausman-type specification test that confirmed the exogeneity of order flow volumes at the bid and the ask. Extending their work, this paper estimates two simultaneous autoregressive ask and bid equations for 50 randomly selected stocks and contrasts thinly traded and volatile stocks. The results support Brock and Kleidon's distinguishing implication—namely, exogenous increases in trading volume raise the ask and lower the bid. Although some queuing system characteristics prove endogenous in thinly traded stocks and in especially volatile stocks, exogenous order flow volume continues to increase spreads across the 50 stock sample. The paper draws conclusions about the appropriate specification of endogeneity, cross-equation disturbances from the bid to the ask, and cross-equation queuing information flows.     

Insider trading in rumored takeover targets

We examine insider trading surrounding takeover rumors in a sample of 1,642 publicly traded US firms. Using difference-in-differences regressions, we find that insider net purchases increase within the year prior to the first publication of a takeover rumor, particularly when rumor articles are either accurate (lead to a takeover announcement) or informative (provide substantial justification for the rumor's publication). Moreover, we find abnormal insider trading to be a significant predictor of takeover announcements occurring within the following year. Finally, passive net purchasing (i.e., selling less rather than buying more) is more pronounced among managing insiders than among non-managing insiders.     

Carbon pricing under uncertainty

International Tax and Public Finance - Economists have adopted the Pigouvian approach to climate policy, which sets the carbon price to the social cost of carbon. We adjust this carbon price for...     

The Impact of Recession on the Value‐relevance of Accounting Information

The Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2008, and the subsequent global economic downturn, has heightened the need for research on whether the value‐relevance of accounting information is impacted by periods of macroeconomic decline. In this study, we examine whether the occurrence of a recession impacts the value‐relevance of two key accounting constructs: book value of equity and earnings. Consistent with our priors, we find that controlling for recession significantly increases the value‐relevance of both the book value of equity and earnings. Our findings indicate the importance of controlling for recession in value‐relevance studies. Sample periods that include recession events, and that do not incorporate such conditioning, may be mis‐specified, with results difficult, if not impossible, to interpret.     

Sales tax exemptions and credits: Time to reevaluate

The state sales tax is an inherently regressive source of revenue. This has given rise to attempts to counter the regressivity through adjustments to the basic sales tax structure through credits and exemptions. Two new alternatives appear to have both theoretical and practical advantages over simple credits and exemptions: the use of a debit card for delivering sales tax credits and a negative credit related to potential tax liability. They have the theoretical advantages of both the credit and the exemption while not having the administrative difficulties of the credit or the revenue loss of the exemption. Empirical analysis using the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the Maryland tax code indicates that the state can reduce regressivity and raise substantial revenue using either alternative. The proposed gains can be made with enhanced revenue stability, little administrative cost, and little impact on horizontal equity or efficiency.     

Concentration-price relations in regional fed cattle markets

Since 1977, the U.S. beef packing industry has been restructured at a pace unprecedented in large American industries. By 1987, four packers slaughtered over two-thirds of all steers and heifers. In the thirteen regional feedlot-packer markets studied here, the four leading packers slaughtered 85 percent of fed cattle, on average. The impact of packer concentration on fed cattle prices during 1971–86 was examined using several econometric models. The results generally support the hypothesis that packer concentration was negatively related to live cattle prices. Cattle prices were estimated to be about 3 percent less in the most concentrated region compared to the least concentrated region. There was evidence of a critical concentration of CR₄=60 in regional livestock markets.     

The Unexplored Potential of Hope to Level the Playing Field: A Multilevel Perspective

A multilevel view of social change is presented in which socially responsible organizations, society, and high-hope individuals interact in support of hopefulness – thereby leveling the playing field. Suggestions are made about future research and the roles of organizations and society in eliciting hope in organizational and societal cultures.     

The uses of moral talk: Why do managers talk ethics?

When managers use moral expressions in their communications, they do so for several, sometimes contradictory reasons. Based upon analyses of interviews with managers, this article examines seven distinctive uses of moral talk, sub-divided into three groupings: (1) managers use moral talk functionally to clarify issues, to propose and criticize moral justifications, and to cite relevant norms; (2) managers also use moral talk functionally to praise and to blame as well as to defend and criticize structures of authority; finally (3) managers use moral talk dysfunctionally to rationalize morally ambiguous behavior and to express frustrations. The article concludes with several practical recommendations.Frederick Bird teaches Comparative Ethics at Concordia University, where he is an associate professor. He has recently written a text on the comparative sociological study of moral systems as well as a number of articles on business ethics and contemporary religious movements.Frances Westley is an Assistant Professor of Policy at McGill University in Montreal. She publishes in the area of visionary leadership, organizational culture and change, and strategic communications. James A. Waters was Dean, Graduate School of Management at Boston College. His research interests concerned the process of strategy formation in complex organizations, organizational change and development, and ethics in organizations. His work has been published in such journals as Organizational Dynamics, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, California Management Review, Business Horizons, Journal of Applied Psychology, Business and Society, Canadian Journal of Administrative Science, Advanced Management Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, and numerous anthologies. He died January 4, 1989.