Examining the relations between open innovation climate and job satisfaction with a PLS path model

The paper studies the relations between open innovation climate and job satisfaction, in particular the causal effects of the various dimensions of open innovation climate on different facets of job satisfaction. We assume firms which pursuing open innovation climate will result in higher level of employee job satisfaction. Both open innovation climate and job satisfaction are assumed to be multidimensional constructs (second-order model). Meanwhile the difference caused by employees’ organizational level was also investigated. A partial least squares path model was developed, in which significant effects were discovered. This study provides valuable materials for hoteliers who want to promote open innovation climate in their organizations.     

Engagement partner specialization and corporate disclosure transparency

This paper explores the association of audit partners' industry specialization with corporate disclosure transparency and the latter's informativeness. The distinctive institutional designs of partner signature requirement and Information Disclosure and Transparency Ranking System (IDTRS) adopted in Taiwan allow us to empirically address the issue. We posit and find that the rankings from the IDTRS are higher for firms audited by industry specialist engagement partners than for firms audited by non-specialist engagement partners. Additionally, the results show that the probability of informed trade (PIN) proxy for information asymmetry is negatively associated with the rankings for clients of industry specialist engagement partners, but not for clients of industry non-specialist engagement partners. The results are robust with respect to alternative estimation method and alternative measures of industry specialization. Overall, the evidence suggests that industry specialist engagement partners enhance the credibility of corporate disclosure transparency, through which information asymmetry is further declined. The evidence provides policy implications to the partner signature requirement adopted in Taiwan and China.     

Non-technical skills for managing risk and performance in financial trading

Recent large-scale failures in financial institutions have been found to be caused, in-part, by human factors-related issues in financial trading. In other environments where risk management and performance are intertwined, a human factors approach is often adopted to understand how the ‘non-technical skills (NTS)’ (leadership (LD), decision-making (DM), situation awareness (SA), teamwork) of organisational actors influence outcomes. Yet, to date, there has been minimal application of human factors research in financial trading. This study (i) identifies ‘real-world’ (i.e. non-laboratory) research studies investigating the NTS important for performance in financial trading, (ii) examines and synthesises data on the NTS found to underpin good or poor performance and (iii) considers the quality and coverage of research investigating NTS in financial trading, and identifies potential areas for future research. Nineteen studies were identified through a systematic literature search and then content-analysed for associations between NTS and performance in financial trading. The review found a range of decision-making (e.g. heuristics and biases, intuitive DM, emotional regulation) and LD skills (e.g. setting standards, monitoring behaviour, encouraging speaking-up) to have been identified as important for managing risk and performance in financial trading environments. Furthermore, SA (e.g. information search and assessment strategies, vigilance, identifying ‘noise’ data) and teamwork (e.g. avoiding ‘role’ conflict, communication between traders) were found to be important, yet remain less explored within the literature, and should be the focus of future research. NTS appear essential for effective risk management within the financial sector, yet further field research is required to examine the context-relevant behaviours that underpin safe activity. This will facilitate the development of evidence-based systems for assessing and training NTS competencies.     

Consumer perception,information provision,and regulation of insurance markets

Available evidence shows that consumers overinsure against modest risks. For instance, a majority of consumers tend to choose too low a level of deductible for homeowners insurance and automobile insurance, and purchase excessive warranties for electronics and other durable products such as automobiles and furniture. The analysis demonstrates that overinsurance decreases consumer welfare and increases insurers’ profits. This tendency of overinsurance stems from lack of information about the probability and magnitude of loss, and it calls for policies that require insurers or third-party organizations to provide more, albeit not perfect, information and data for consumers before they make insurance-purchase decisions. The implications of the analysis for other financial products such as stocks and deposits are discussed.     

The differential effects of public R&D support on firm R&D: Theory and evidence from multi-country data

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of various forms of public research and development (R&D) support on firms’ incentives to invest in R&D. First, in order to identify potential channels through which public R&D support influences firm R&D, a formal model of firm R&D with public R&D support is developed and analyzed. Four potential channels are identified: the technological-competence-enhancing effect, the demand-creating effect, the R&D-cost-reducing effect and the (project) overlap (or duplication) effect. These multiple channels indicate that it is difficult to evaluate the aggregate effect of public R&D support and that there are differential effects of public R&D support on firm R&D, depending on various firm- or industry-specific characteristics. Second, the differential effects of public R&D support are empirically tested using unique firm-level data for nine industries across six countries. Public support tends to have a complementarity effect on private R&D for firms with low technological competence, for firms in industries with high technological opportunities and for firms facing intense market competition. In contrast, firms with high technological competence and firms that have enjoyed fast demand growth in recent years show a crowding-out effect, and firm size and age do not show any discernible differential effect.     

An investigation of restaurant food safety performance: A comparison between ethnic and nonethnic and chain and independent restaurants in Louisiana

This study examines health inspection data from casual dining restaurants and compares differences of food code violations between ethnic and nonethnic restaurants. A total of 7,415 violations were retrieved from the restaurant inspection reports of 769 restaurants. Ethnic restaurants have more violations than nonethnic restaurant in categories related to food time/temperature violations, cross contamination, and food condition/surface/labels. Nonethnic and chain restaurants had fewer behavioral violations than ethnic and independently operated restaurants. Ethnic restaurants were 1.74 times more likely than nonethnic restaurants to have critical violations. Meanwhile, independent restaurants were 1.64 times more likely than chain restaurants to have critical violations.