The influence of leader regulatory focus on employee creativity

Brockner and Higgins (Brockner, J., Higgins, E. T. 2001. Regulatory focus theory: Implications for the study of emotions at work. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 86(1), 35–66.) suggest that a leader's behavior may be perceived as an organizational endorsement of promotion-focused or prevention-focused concerns and that this perception will influence employee behavior by eliciting a congruent state of regulatory focus. We tested this hypothesis using matched pairs of leaders and employees from a Chinese firm and found that employee creativity is positively associated with the promotion focus of the supervisor's behavior. Consequently, through their actions, promotion-focused leaders may increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action in their firms by eliciting a promotion-focused state of eagerness from their employees.     

Managerial (In)attention to Competitive Threats

We integrate the Attention Based View of the firm and Regulatory Focus Theory to propose a model of managerial (in)attention that explains why appeals by middle managers for top managers to attend to specific threats of emerging rivals go unheeded. By acknowledging that different regulatory foci are elicited by different structural positions within the firm, we suggest that these differences in regulatory foci influence the allocation of attention to competitive intelligence warning of an emerging threat. We conclude by discussing how top managers might better evaluate whether threats of emerging rivals are worthy of deeper consideration.     

Discussion of “Evidence on the Usefulness of Capital Expenditures as an Alternative Measure of Depreciation”

Review of Accounting Studies -     

Structural Features of Economic Reform in Poland

This paper examines current macroeconomic evidence on the characteristics and magnitude of structural change in Poland during the reform era. The analysis is based on a comparison of two social accounting matrices (SAMs) compiled for 1987 and 1993, three years either side of the introduction of the main reform program. The results show Poland has shifted towards the characteristics expected of a market economy. A multiplier analysis shows there are significant system-wide linkages, and that while the magnitude of some linkages has been resilient to change others have changed markedly, including a substantial growth in the entrepreneurial household sector.     

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) Standards of Practice: How Far Does This Professional Association's Code of Ethics' Influence of Reach

In a national survey, members of 4As agencies were contrasted with non-member agencies to determine awareness and influence of the 4As Standards of Practice, the Professional Code of Ethics for 4As members. The 4As Code was selected because the 4As represents the principle professional association of the support service industry, advertising.     

Implications of habit formation for optimal monetary policy

We study the implications for optimal monetary policy of introducing habit formation in consumption into a general equilibrium model with sticky prices. Habit formation affects the model's endogenous dynamics through its effects on both aggregate demand and households’ supply of output. We show that the objective of monetary policy consistent with welfare maximization includes output stabilization, as well as inflation and output gap stabilization. We find that the variance of output increases under optimal policy, even though it acquires a higher implicit weight in the welfare function. We also find that a simple interest rate rule nearly achieves the welfare-optimal allocation, regardless of the degree of habit formation. In this rule, the optimal responses to inflation and the lagged interest rate are both declining in the size of the habit, although super-inertial policies remain optimal.     

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UNCERTAINTY AND COMMON STOCK RETURNS IN THE UNITED STATES

There is substantial evidence on the influence of political outcomes on the business cycle and stock market. We further hypothesize that uncertainty about the outcome of a U.S. presidential election should be reflected in pre‐election common stock returns. Prior research pools returns based on the party of the winning candidate, assuming that the outcome of the election is known a priori. We use candidate preference (i.e., polling) data to construct a measure of election uncertainty. We find that if the election does not have a candidate with a dominant lead, stock market volatility (risk) and average returns rise.     

Harmonisation of Government Finance Statistics and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Harmonisation between the Australian accounting standards applicable to the public sector and Government Finance Statistics is the highest priority for Australian public-sector reporting. The objective of harmonisation is to achieve a standard for a single set of government reports which are auditable, comparable between jurisdictions, and in which the outcome statements are directly comparable with the relevant budget statements. The result will be an improvement in the quality, clarity and transparency of government financial statements, and will remove the source of confusion as to which set of financial reports presents a more reliable portrayal of financial results.     

Exploring (false) dualisms for environmental accounting praxis

This paper focuses on the political nature of the linguistic dualisms or ‘false antinomies’ that inhere in environmental accounting practice and environmental accounting research. These dualisms, ‘subject–object,’ ‘man–woman,’ ‘mind–body,’ and ‘culture–nature,’ the paper argues, need to be ‘ambiguized’ if the politics inherent in these dualisms are to be resisted. Two strategies for the ‘ambiguization’ of these dualisms are suggested: ‘performative parody,’ which is a strategy intended for environmental accounting practitioners, and ‘democratic reflexivity,’ which is a strategy intended for environmental accounting researchers. In taking this linguistic focus, the paper challenges common sense constructions of the environment and the potentially elitist and anti-democratic nature of environmental accounting research. By offering these two strategies, the paper provides a means of environmental accounting praxis, or means of resisting global ‘environmental’ domination.