Spatially explicit micro-level modelling of land use change at the rural–urban interface

This paper describes micro‐economic models of land use change applicable to the rural‐urban interface in the US. Use of a spatially explicit micro‐level modelling approach permits the analysis of regional patterns of land use as the aggregate outcomes of many, disparate individual land use decisions distributed across space. In contrast to the models featured by Nelson and Geoghegan, we focus on models that require spatially articulated data on parcel‐level land use changes through time. In characterising the spatially disaggregated models, we highlight issues uniquely related to the management and generation of spatial data and the estimation of micro‐level spatial models.     

The effect of strike militancy intentions and general union attitudes on the Organizational Citizenship Behavior of university faculty

Using a sample of unionized faculty, this study investigated whether faculty members' militancy intentions and general union attitudes affected their level of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). OCB was divided into three dimensions (OCB-teaching, OCB-faculty, and OCB-university), and separate predictions were made for each. Results indicated weak relationships at best between the predictor variables and OCB, suggesting that unionization is not likely to affect this important aspect of job performance.     

Using seminonparametric methods to model hospital cost functions: The multi-product asymptotically ideal model

The article develops a multi-product extension of the asymptotically ideal model which has several advantages over traditional cost functions. The AIM cost function has greater flexibility and allows for economic theory to be imposed via parametric restrictions alone. In addition, the AIM cost function is superior to other seminonparametric approaches as it is unlikely to suffer from overfitting problems. The multi-product AIM cost function is estimated using hospital data from 137 VA hospitals.     

Global Social Media Usage: Insights Into Reaching Consumers Worldwide

This study documents global social media usage patterns based on a large‐scale survey of 4,630 social media users around the world. The study provides insights into how users in the European Union, United States, and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) regions use social media for business and personal use. It analyzes variability in global social media platforms being used in these different world regions. The study also presents insights into usage of multilingual content for global social media consumption and the global user propensity to translate social media. Finally, the paper showcases an innovative technology solution to help companies leverage machine and human translation to enable users to translate social media content. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Governance,media and the quality of environmental disclosure

Given the rising emphasis on environmental disclosures and the expressed importance of ‘good’ governance in determining the extent of information disclosure in general, we examine the relation between specific aspects of governance and media coverage and the quality of voluntary environmental disclosure (VED). Using a sample of 127 firms over a 6-year period (2000–2005), we empirically test characteristics of governance and media in relation to VED. Our results suggest that VED quality is positively associated with environmental media coverage, negative environmental media and board attributes of independence, diversity, and expertise. Results from supplemental analysis suggest that institutional investors exert influence over managerial decisions on environmental reporting only in the face of negative environmental media. Additionally, results from longitudinal analyses indicate that the quality of environmental disclosures increases over time. Our conclusion discusses the implications of these findings.