China's post-economic reform growth: The role of FDI and productivity progress

China has become the top FDI destination among all developing countries and remained host to the world's largest share of foreign direct investment receipts since its accession to the WTO in 2001. Given the impressive growth performance and FDI influx into China, the two globalized delta economies (GDEs), Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD), have continued to out-perform all other regions in China in terms of FDI absorption and growth. The role that inward FDI plays in the process of regional development and the exact channels through which economic growth would be affected are investigated by panel data estimations of the GDEs at the city level since China's economic opening and reform. This research shows consistent results with some recent findings in other developing countries in that FDI exerted spillover effects and affected productivity (TFP) growth of the recipients. While TFP was found to be increasing overtime in the GDEs cities and facilitated economic growth in both PRD/YRD regions, major technology- and knowledge-related factors including R&D and human capital other than FDI also played critical roles in TFP enhancement and regional growth. The endogeneity of TFP and the simultaneous relations of FDI in affecting TFP and output growth are also addressed in this regard.     

Effectiveness of organizational efforts to lower turnover intentions: The moderating role of employee locus of control

In the current career climate characterized by change and turbulence, employees may demonstrate limited psychological attachment to their employers. Rousseau (1998) suggested that organizations can elicit psychological attachment from employees by reinforcing perceptions of organizational membership and demonstrating care and support for them. The effectiveness of these strategies, however, may depend on individuals' personality traits. In this study, we examined the moderating effect of locus of control in the relationship among four valued aspects of the work environment—information sharing, job significance, opportunity for learning, and availability of rewards for performance—and employees' intentions to stay. In two empirical studies, we found that information sharing, job significance, and locus of control interacted to positively affect intentions to stay and that opportunity for learning, availability of rewards for performance, and locus of control also interacted to increase intentions to stay. Implications of these results for theory building and practice are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A comparison of the legislated employment equity program,federal contractors program,and financial post 500 firms

We investigated the impact of employment equity legislation, compliance regulations, and the absence of these requirements on the diversity practices of Canadian firms. A field survey involving CEOs and Human Resource Executives of 286 firms covered under the Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP), Federal Contractors Program (FCP), and Financial Post 500 (FP 500) companies was conducted. Results indicate that CEOs of LEEP firms reported a greater commitment to managing diversity. LEEP firms, and to some extent FCP firms, also had adopted more practices (e.g., policies, recruiting, training, and accountability) supportive of employment equity than FP 500 firms. It appears that employment equity remains the most effective tool for promoting equity and diversity in Canadian organizations. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国创意：时隔千载再辉煌

中国有丰富的创意历史，由创造火药到第一个地震仪，中国的发明家经常打破固有模式，大胆创新。中国人的创意火花闪耀了几千年，照亮了东方，照亮了世界。而今天，中国企业有机会利用从前不可想象的方法建立品牌，去构建一套全新的沟通范例，迎合中国人独特的思想模式和环境：事实上，这就是“为中国制造中国产品”的模式。     

Antecedents and outcomes of flight attendants’ job satisfaction

This paper develops and tests a comprehensive model for job satisfaction amongst flight attendants with antecedents and outcomes that are germane in the context of airlines. The antecedents are: jetlag, role overload, emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depersonalization, and the outcomes are; job performance and service recovery performance. A framework was tested using structural equation modelling. A survey was conducted of flight attendants working in Malaysia found exhaustion and personal accomplishment have a direct effect on job satisfaction; emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment affect the level of depersonalization; and role overload has a positive relationship.     

Peer Effects in the Trading Decisions of Individual Investors

This study examines for evidence of peer effects in the trading decisions of individual investors from Mainland China, a country whose cultural and social structures are vastly different from those of Western countries. Cultural differences, as widely documented, play a significant role in social interactions and word-of-mouth behavior. In contrast to US studies, we find robust evidence that the trading decisions of Chinese investors are influenced, via word of mouth, by those of their peers who maintain brokerage accounts at the same branch, but not by those whose accounts are maintained at another branch located in the same city.     

Learning to be Sociable: The Evolution of Homo Economicus

A bstract .   This article studies the evolution of the economic man ( Homo economicus ) from its original conception until the current day. By analyzing the discourse of economic articles, we provide a chronological account of the economic man's intellectual and philosophical development as it evolved from what we term the philosophical age to the neoclassical age and finally to the strategic age. The article then shows how the economic man in the strategic age is slowly finding convergence with the sociological man ( Homo sociologicus ). A reconciliation of the two sapiens is difficult. However, recent papers on behavioral and experimental economics provide insights into a possible reconciliation. Our study argues that the purpose of the sociological man is to identify who he is, how he interacts with people within a society, and the antecedents to such behaviors. Homo economicus, however, has no overarching philosophical assumptions on what he values. The objectives of each discipline are different and, once one is mapped onto the other, it is unclear if there is truly any tension between them.     

The ‘Cost’ of Climate Change: How Carbon Emissions Allowances are Accounted for Amongst European Union Companies

Following the withdrawal of IFRIC 3: Emissions Rights in 2005, European Union (EU) companies participating in an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) do not have definitive guidelines as to how to account for carbon emissions allowances. Using a content analysis methodology, this study examines the disclosed accounting policies of companies participating in the EU ETS, and reveals how, in the absence of clear guidance, they account for their carbon emissions allowances. As the accounting method adopted will impact upon a company's financial statements, these findings are of interest to accounting standards setters, investors, financial reporting preparers, auditors, and researchers.     

Is unlevered firm volatility asymmetric?

Asymmetric volatility refers to the stylized fact that stock volatility is negatively correlated to stock returns. Traditionally, this phenomenon has been explained by the financial leverage effect. This explanation has recently been challenged in favor of a risk premium based explanation. We develop a new, unlevering approach to document how well financial leverage, rather than size, beta, book-to-market, or operating leverage, explains volatility asymmetry on a firm-by-firm basis. Our results reveal that, at the firm level, financial leverage explains much of the volatility asymmetry. This result is robust to different unlevering methodologies, samples, and measurement intervals. However, we find that financial leverage does not explain index-level volatility asymmetry. We show that this difference between index-level asymmetry and firm-level asymmetry is driven by the asymmetry of the unlevered covariance component of index volatility.