Strategic reward systems: a contingency model of pay system design

A limited number of studies have addressed the idea of ‘strategic’ reward systems—the matching of compensation systems to a firm's strategy. Prior research on this topic has been confined to U.S. firms, however, and a number of key questions remain unanswered. Using a sample of 917 employees from two large Swiss financial institutions, we found that pay systems are linked with divisional strategic orientation, but in a different form than prior studies. Additionally, we identify hierarchical position as an important variable in the tailoring of reward systems. Hierarchy has a significant main effect on pay plan design, and an interactive effect with strategic orientation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Once were farmers: Occupation, social mobility, and mortality during industrialization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec 1840–1971

We study men's adult mortality and longevity by socio-occupational status during industrialization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Data were extracted from the BALSAC database (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi), which comprehensively traces the demographic history of the region since the beginning of the French Canadian settlement in 1840 up to the early 1970s. Using five occupational classes and controlling for year, age at marriage, urban/rural residence, and literacy, we found no evidence for the emergence of a socioeconomic gradient in mortality. At least until the early 1970s, mortality in the region is the lowest for farmers and appears to be driven by occupational risk rather than fundamental social causes.     

Career plateauing reactions: the moderating role of job scope,role ambiguity and participation among Canadian managers

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect and the interactive effect of job scope, role ambiguity and participation in decision-making on relationships between career plateauing and outcomes. A cross-sectional survey of 3,065 Canadian managers shows that these job characteristics can contribute to limiting the negative consequences associated with career plateauing. Moreover, in accordance with the theory of work–situation fit, some double moderating effects are found. The attitudes and behaviours of plateaued managers are significantly more positive when their job is richer and offers an opportunity to participate in decision-making. However, contrary to evidence in the literature, results show that reactions to career plateauing are more positive for managers who perceive that their job is richer and their role more ambiguous. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Trade mechanism selection in markets with frictions

We endogenize the trade mechanism in a search economy with many homogeneous sellers and many heterogeneous buyers of unobservable type. We study how heterogeneity and the traders' continuation values—which are endogenous—influence the sellers' choice of trade mechanism. Sellers trade off the probability of an immediate sale against the surplus expected from it, choosing whether to trade with everyone and how quickly. In equilibrium sellers may simply target one buyer type via non-negotiable offers (price posting), or may price discriminate (haggling). We also study when haggling generates trading delays. A price setting externality arises because of a strategic complementarity in the sellers' pricing choices.     

Incorporating financial market volatility to improve forecasts of directional changes in Australian share market returns

Financial Markets and Portfolio Management - This study examines whether incorporating volatility improves the forecast of directional changes in the returns of Australia’s banking,...     

Voluntary firm restructuring: why do firms sell or liquidate their subsidiaries?

This paper examines why companies decide to divest a subsidiary in a corporate environment characterised by concentrated ownership, using a unique dataset of non-listed Belgian subsidiaries. The results of the binomial logit analyses are consistent with the idea that management will intervene in order to improve the controlling firm’s focus or when subsidiary performance imposes a burden on the group’s financial situation. Especially when blockholders hold more than 75% of the shares, these motives drive the divestiture decision. At lower levels of ownership concentration, these hypotheses cannot explain the higher divestiture likelihood, which supports the agency hypothesis. Once the divestment decision has been taken, the choice has to be made between a sale and liquidation. The logit analysis reveals that although selling a subsidiary seems the preferred option, liquidation is likely when the subsidiary is small, active in a sector with few competitors and when financial distress is eminent.     

Foreign currency borrowing by small firms in emerging markets: When domestic banks intermediate dollars

This paper investigates what induces small firms in an emerging market economy to borrow dollar credit from domestic banks. Our data are from a unique survey of firms in Lebanon. The findings complement studies of large firms with foreign currency loans from foreign lenders. Exporters, naturally hedged against currency risk, are more likely to incur dollar debt. Firms also partly hedge themselves by passing currency risk to customers and suppliers. Less opaque firms with easily verifiable collateral and higher net worth are more likely to access dollar credit. Firms reliant on formal financing (banks and supplier credit) are more likely to contract dollar debt than firms reliant on informal financing (family, friends and moneylenders). Bank relationships, however, do not increase the dollar debt likelihood. And finally, profitable firms are less likely to have dollar debt. Information frictions and limited collateral, therefore, constrain dollar credit even when it is intermediated domestically.     

REAL OPTIONS WITH COMPETITION AND REGIME SWITCHING

In this paper, we examine irreversible investment decisions in duopoly games with a variable economic climate. Integrating timing flexibility, competition, and changes in the economic environment in the form of a cash flow process with regime switching, the problem is formulated as a stopping‐time game under Stackelberg leader‐follower competition, in which both players determine their respective optimal market entry time. By extending the variational inequality approach, we solve for the free boundaries and obtain optimal investment strategies for each player. Despite the lack of regularity in the leader's obstacle and the cash flow regime uncertainty, the regime‐dependent optimal policies for both the leader and the follower are obtained. In addition, we perform comprehensive numerical experiments to demonstrate the properties of solutions and to gain insights into the implications of regime switching.     

What is the added value of an organic label? Proposition of a model of transfer from the perspective of ingredient branding

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the added value of an organic ingredient strategy and the transfer mechanisms at work when placing an organic label on product brands. We proposed and empirically tested an integrated model that included three stages: brand and label equity; transfer mechanisms; and product evaluation. We first selected an organic label and product brands and then tested our hypotheses with a sample of French consumers. The results confirm the positive influence of brand and label equity on transfer mechanisms (brand/label perceived fit and ease of transfer) and, in turn, illustrate how ease of transfer influences the overall product evaluation. A surprising result is that brand/label perceived fit does not directly affect the overall product evaluation; rather, it only influences brand/label ease of transfer.