CEO compensation structure and firm performance

The objectives of our study are to estimate a model of ‘efficient’ compensation structure based on firm characteristics and test the performance consequences of deviation from the efficient compensation structure. Our results are based on 3503 firm years for the period from 1999 to 2005. The results suggest that firms whose CEOs receive compensation inconsistent with their firm characteristics have a lower performance compared to those firms whose CEOs’ compensation is consistent with their firms’ characteristics. Our measure of performance is based on both accounting and market‐based performance measures. Overall, our study provides some important new insights into the links between CEO compensation structure and firm performance.     

Invertible and non-invertible information sets in linear rational expectations models

Rational expectations solutions are usually derived by assuming that all state variables relevant to forward-looking behaviour are directly observable, or that they are “…an invertible function of observables” (Mehra and Prescott, 1980). Using a framework that nests linearised DSGE models, we give a number of results useful for the analysis of linear rational expectations models with restricted information sets. We distinguish between instantaneous and asymptotic invertibility, and show that the latter may require significantly less information than the former. We also show that non-invertibility of the information set can have significant implications for the time series properties of economies.     

Crop genetic resource policy: the role of ex situ genebanks

The world–wide capacity of genebanks for ex situ conservation of crop genetic resources has increased greatly since the 1970s, improving the access of crop breeders to landraces and wild and weedy relatives. But utilization of genebank resources has not kept pace. The set of popular cultivars in major crops is typically rather small, and their ancestry encompasses only a fraction of the genetic diversity currently available in other cultivars. Discussions of farmers' rights that focus on compensation for current incorporation of farmers' varieties in new cultivars have diverted attention from the question of why so little of the newly accessible genetic diversity is currently being utilized by public and private breeders. To optimize the future provision of genebank services, research is needed on the costs of genebanks, the market for their services, the use of genetic resources by breeders, and the implications of recognition of farmers' rights, evolving intellectual property rights, continued funding problems and developments in biotechnology.     

Attributes Versus Benefits: The Role of Construal Levels and Appeal Type on the Persuasiveness of Marketing Messages

When should marketers emphasize attributes or benefits in their communications? Grounded in construal-level theory, the results of four studies suggest that when a purchase is planned for the distant future or when construal levels are high, benefit-based appeals are more persuasive than attribute-based appeals. By contrast, when a purchase is planned for the near future or when consumers are predisposed to low construal levels, attribute-based appeals are equally as persuasive as benefit-based appeals. However, when low construal levels are temporarily induced using a mind-set manipulation, attribute-based appeals are found to be more persuasive than benefit-based appeals. Moreover, we demonstrate how these effects occur only when processing fluency is uninhibited. This research establishes an important link between these appeal types and construal levels, subsequently demonstrating when marketers should use these appeals.     

The Influence of Repetitive Health Messages and Sensitivity to Fluency on the Truth Effect in Advertising

Although merely repeating a product claim does not influence the objective validity of the claim, it often increases the subjective validity of the claim (the truth effect). Research notes that the truth effect plays an important role in health advertising. The present research investigates the moderating role of sensitivity to feelings of fluency (or processing ease) on the truth effect. The truth effect was more pronounced when the need for affect was high rather than low (Study 1) and when consumers were primed to trust their feelings (Study 2). Finally, Study 3 and Study 4 replicate these findings using advertising appeals. Advertisements that encourage consumers to focus on their feelings increase susceptibility to the truth effect.     

The UK's Exit Charge from the EU: Insights from Modes of Accounting

Whatever the final charge on the UK for leaving the EU, the money itself is relatively marginal to the former's public finances. However, this charge is politically sensitive and financially aggravating during one of the longest periods of fiscal austerity in the UK's history. The ways in which leaving is conceptualized have implications for any continuing financial obligations that must be managed within the context of fiscal austerity and political uncertainty. Yet, leaving the EU is a unique transaction: it is not analogous, for example, to a divorce settlement, the leaving of a club, the termination of a commercial contract, the leaving of a treaty-based international organization, or secession from a state. Analyzing the formulation of the charge in terms of the four modes of government accounting—financial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting, and fiscal sustainability projections—enhances its fiscal transparency. It evidences not only the weakness and inconsistency of the UK's negotiating position but also the dominance in EU thinking of the short-term budgetary calculations of the 2014–20 Multiannual Financial Framework over its long-term sustainability without a large net contributor. The final amount paid by the UK will depend on the resolution of competing perspectives as well as on liabilities and contingent liabilities associated with the increasingly complex EU financial architecture.     

Exploring the preparation practices of teachers who organise secondary school ski trips in England and Wales

Secondary schools across England and Wales understand the importance of offering young people the opportunity to experience activity-based trips. One of these fundamental trips is the ski trip which enables young people to experience new challenges and adventure. However, within England and Wales, skiing is an atypical activity due to the lack of accessibility to the slopes. Consequently, it is vital to effectively prepare young people for skiing to promote enjoyment and reduce the likelihood of injury. The purpose of this study was to explore the current practices in the preparation of school ski trips within England and Wales. An electronic survey was administered to secondary schools across England and Wales with 270 completed responses of schools which organise ski trips. Analysis revealed that there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) across the regions with information being shared with parents prior to the ski trip. Young people are informed on similar information prior to and during the ski trip across the regions (p < 0.05). However, there was a significant difference between respondents screening (33%) and not screening students (67%) (p > 0.01) and under half (47%) of schools provide their pupils with exercise programmes prior to the school trip. Overall, these findings appear that ski trip organisers are consistent across England and Wales with their education of the young person and the management of the ski trip. Although, the knowledge gained by organisers to prepare young people is gathered from a variety of different sources. Therefore, it is essential for evidence-based information to be shared and disseminated to ski trip organisers to provide best practice and to facilitate other schools in providing ski trips for their pupils.     

It's all about games: enterprise and entrepreneurialism in digital games

This article aims to contrast benign notions of ‘free’ and ‘creative’ work in the context of labour market conditions and employment relationships. Empirical research reveals the exploitative and precarious nature of work in the experiences of self‐employed digital game developers and charts the responses of developers to unstable and insecure working conditions. Building on work by Pongratz and Voß, Haunschild and Eikhof, and Bergvall‐Kåreborn and Howcroft, this study finds that a typical response to increasing instability in the labour market is to adopt more enterprising and entrepreneurial behaviour in order to find work. This article illustrates the consequences for developers by highlighting examples of self‐exploitation, which is fuelled by a passion for work and is where entrepreneurial practices lead to long working hours, unpaid work and a blurring of work–life boundaries.     

The Ability and Willingness Paradox in Family Firm Innovation

We present a framework of how family involvement influences innovation management based on ability (discretion to act) and willingness (disposition to act), two drivers that distinguish family firms from nonfamily firms and lead to heterogeneity among family firms. Paradoxically, family firms have superior ability yet lower willingness to engage in technological innovation. Resolving this paradox should yield new insights about innovation management in general. We summarize and position the papers in this special issue according to these drivers and set out an agenda for further research that will contribute to a better understanding of family firms' heterogeneous and paradoxical behaviors.     

Greening the environment: National and local economic issues

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The Local Authority Associations, 1990: Environmental Practice in Local Government. London: Association of District Councils, £20.00 (£15.00 to local authorities).

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