Influences Upon Organizational Ethical Subclimates: A Replication Study of a Single Firm at Two Points in Time

This research replicates Weber's 1995 study of a large financial services firm that found that ethical subclimates exist within multi-departmental organizations, are influenced by the function of the department and the stakeholders served, and are relatively stable over time. Relying upon theoretical models developed by Thompson (1967) and Victor and Cullen (1998), hypotheses are developed that predict the ethical subclimate decision-making dimensions and type for diverse departments within a large steel manufacturing firm and that these ethical subclimate types will be stable across the two periods of time when the data were collected. Employees were surveyed in 1995 and again in 1999 using Victor and Cullen's Ethical Climate Questionnaire. Response rates of 88 and 94 percent were achieved. Contrary to Weber's findings, our results imply that, in both samples, ethical subclimates may be determined by the strength of an organization's overall ethical climate, rather than the department's function. However, we did find support for Weber's earlier contention that these subclimates are relatively stable. Our results also suggest that differences may exist across industries, that is when comparing a large steel manufacturer, as we did in our study, with a large financial services organization, as Weber did in his 1995 study.     

Labor market entry and earnings dynamics: Bayesian inference using mixtures‐of‐experts Markov chain clustering

This paper analyzes patterns in the earnings development of young labor market entrants over their life cycle. We identify four distinctly different types of transition patterns between discrete earnings states in a large administrative dataset. Further, we investigate the effects of labor market conditions at the time of entry on the probability of belonging to each transition type. To estimate our statistical model we use a model‐based clustering approach. The statistical challenge in our application comes from the difficulty in extending distance‐based clustering approaches to the problem of identifying groups of similar time series in a panel of discrete‐valued time series. We use Markov chain clustering, which is an approach for clustering discrete‐valued time series obtained by observing a categorical variable with several states. This method is based on finite mixtures of first‐order time‐homogeneous Markov chain models. In order to analyze group membership we present an extension to this approach by formulating a probabilistic model for the latent group indicators within the Bayesian classification rule using a multinomial logit model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human resource practices and performance of mergers and acquisitions in Israel

An extensive body of literature has investigated financial and strategic variables as predictors of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) performance without finding clear relationships. This paper proposes a knowledge-based view of acquisitions and suggests that to enhance M&A performance acquirers must use human resources (HR) practices that develop integration capabilities during post-merger integration. The paper explains the specific effects of HR practices in M&A in Israel, a country that serves as a microcosm for developed Western countries.     

American option valuation: Implied calibration of GARCH pricing models

This study analyzes the issue of American option valuation when the underlying exhibits a GARCH‐type volatility process. We propose the usage of Rubinstein's Edgeworth binomial tree (EBT) in contrast to simulation‐based methods being considered in previous studies. The EBT‐based valuation approach makes an implied calibration of the pricing model feasible. By empirically analyzing the pricing performance of American index and equity options, we illustrate the superiority of the proposed approach. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark     

Regulating the timing of disclosure: Insights from the acceleration of 10-K filing deadlines

We study the effects of regulating the timing of disclosure on the quality of accounting information, using a 2003 US regulatory change that accelerates 10-K filing deadlines as a research setting. Employing a difference-in-differences design, we find that the likelihood of issuing financial statements that are later restated increases for firms that are required to file more quickly, relative to firms whose filing practices are not affected by the regulatory change. This effect is particularly pronounced during the audit busy season, when auditors also face significant time pressure. These results are consistent with a tradeoff between how quickly accounting reports are required to be filed and the reliability of the resulting reports.