Threat of falling high status and corporate bribery: Evidence from the revealed accounting records of two South Korean presidents

Research Summary: Social status and its dynamics may be an important predictor of which firms will engage in large‐scale bribery. Prior theory is incomplete, however, and prior studies have lacked comprehensive and reliable data on firm‐level bribery decisions. We offer a new theoretical prediction and a novel data set on high‐level corruption in South Korea, where the accounting records of two presidents in the 1987–1992 era were exposed to after‐the‐fact legal and public scrutiny. We find that, controlling for a range of alternative explanations, the threat of falling high status—that is, the combination of longstanding high social status with current‐period mediocre economic performance relative to that of industry peers—is a statistically and economically meaningful predictor of increases in the amount of large‐scale corporate bribery. Managerial Summary: What leads companies to engage in large‐scale bribery of senior politicians? Our concept of “threat of falling high status” refers to a circumstance where companies that have historically enjoyed high status through their owner families’ elite marriage networks experience mediocre economic performance relative to their peers. We show that this threat of falling high status is a notable determinant of large‐scale corporate bribery of senior politicians, using court data on corporate bribery of two South Korean presidents during 1987–1992. The implication of our study is twofold. Companies can strengthen internal control systems to avoid any large‐scale illegal activities at a higher level. Law enforcement agencies can also implement targeted monitoring programs to preempt illegal activities among companies facing the threat of falling high status.     

Exploring determinants of meeting planners’ commitment to the business relationships with destination management companies

Although there is a demand for research on a business-to-business relationship between meeting planners and destination management companies, the current hospitality and tourism literature is insufficient in its attempt to understand the dynamics of this unique relationship. Recently, in the meeting industry, destination management companies have been recognized to experience a more challenging business environment due to the abundance of online vendor information which activates meeting planners’ disintermediation of destination management company services. To provide more practical implications for these key meeting players, this study urges that the key factor that encourages meeting planners to continue using destination management companies is trust. Therefore, this study examines determinants of the trust–commitment relationship as a means for meeting planners to achieve a more sustainable relationship with destination management companies. Applying and extending social exchange theory, this study also explores the determinants of the future relationship (commitment or termination). Findings of this research will provide the industry with suggestions for their relationship development.     

Perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in a Korean context: An indigenous qualitative study

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study is to identify what Korean managers and non-managerial employees perceive to be effective or ineffective managerial behaviors from an emic perspective. Critical incident technique was used to collect concrete examples from 45 managers and non-managerial employees of observed managerial behaviors that they perceived as effective and ineffective. While the emphasis was given to both effective and ineffective managerial behaviors with a holistic approach, 38 distinctive behavioral categories of effective and ineffective managerial behavior were derived. Furthermore, the seven overarching indigenous themes of Korean managerial behavior emerged, offering an insightful, contextually relevant, and richly described understanding of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in a Korean context. The authors identified and described several Korean cultural concepts embedded in the indigenous themes, which may confirm implicit leadership theory. After discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings, the authors provide the limitations of this study and several directions for future research. As one of the first attempts at identifying indigenous Korean managerial and leadership effectiveness, this study could become a cornerstone for advanced indigenous empirical studies and a catalyst for dialogue related to indigenous managerial and leadership research, especially in Korean and other East Asian contexts.     

Do board directors affect the export propensity and export performance of Korean firms? A resource dependence perspective

Using the Heckman two-stage method, this study empirically investigates whether board directors’ work experience in government and multinational corporations (MNCs), as well as the proportion of outside directors affects export propensity and export performance based on a sample of Korean firms. We find that the Korean firms with former government officials on the board are more likely to engage in exporting, although there is no empirical evidence supporting export performance. The findings also show that firms with former MNC employees on the board demonstrate higher levels of export propensity and export performance. Similarly, firms with a higher proportion of outside directors exhibit a higher level of export propensity and export performance. These findings highlight the importance of the board of directors in Korean firms’ first stage of internationalization and provide new insights into which type of board members can benefit their firms in terms of export propensity and export performance.     

Upstream regulation in mature network industry: evidence from Nordic mobile telecommunications markets

This article investigates the effects of upstream regulation that aims to create niches and attract new type of entrants on the competitive environment of downstream markets. Using unique cross-country data of Nordic mobile telecommunications markets, we show that upstream regulation leads to (i) increases in both number and aggregate market share of service-based providers in the downstream market, (ii) an increase in the number of service-based providers, thus increasing their aggregate market share, but no opposite direction of results and (iii) a lower retail price level, proxied by average revenue per user. Our findings imply that upstream regulation may be able to achieve better outcomes when the policy objectives are to revitalize mature network industries and to enhance consumer welfare.     

Crossing Borders: Foreign Investment and Sentiment in Korea

This study examines the effect of global investor sentiment on capital inflows in the Korean stock and bond markets using textual analysis. First, we conclude that global investor sentiment about Korea causes fluctuations in capital inflows to the Korean stock market. Second, global investor sentiment about Korea causes foreign investors to modify their investments but not by enough to cause drastic changes. Third, positive sentiment about Asia-Pacific countries results in more foreign investment in Korea. The results suggest that research on global investor sentiment provides insight into the determinants of capital flows and has implications for capital flow management policies.     

Differencing versus nondifferencing in factor-based forecasting

This paper studies performance of factor-based forecasts using differenced and nondifferenced data. Approximate variances of forecasting errors from the two forecasts are derived and compared. It is reported that the forecast using nondifferenced data tends to be more accurate than that using differenced data. This paper conducts simulations to compare root mean squared forecasting errors of the two competing forecasts. Simulation results indicate that forecasting using nondifferenced data performs better. The advantage of using nondifferenced data is more pronounced when a forecasting horizon is long and the number of factors is large. This paper applies the two competing forecasting methods to 68 I(1) monthly US macroeconomic variables across a range of forecasting horizons and sampling periods. We also provide detailed forecasting analysis on US inflation and industrial production. We find that forecasts using nondifferenced data tend to outperform those using differenced data.     

集群式创新对高技术企业研发绩效的影响——基于国家自主创新综合示范区高技术产业面板数据的实证研究

文章基于随机前沿分析模型(SFA)模型,以中国自主创新综合示范区(以下简称自创区)高技术产业面板数据为检验对象,就集群式创新对自创区高技术企业研发绩效的影响进行了实证研究,研究发现:这种影响是正向的,企业的知识吸收转化能力越强、互动强度越大,这种正向作用越明显;与国有独资企业企业相比,这种正向作用在混合所有制企业中体现得更加充分.针对以上结论,提出集群式创新政策建议,以期为利用集群式创新提升自主创新能力和高技术研发效率提供参考.     

The impact of the length of preceding and succeeding ads on television advertising effectiveness

This study investigates the impact of the length of immediately surrounding commercials on the effectiveness of a given ad with the consideration of sequential order relations between two consecutive ads. The results show that the effect of proactive inhibition, the effect of an immediately preceding commercial, is fundamentally different from that of retroaction inhibition, the effect of an immediately succeeding ad. This study also found that proactive interference is stronger than retraction interference on the effectiveness of television advertising. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Asia's contribution to global rebalancing

Developing Asia remains at the core of global payment imbalances. While the geographical concentration of current account imbalances is significant—with the People's Republic of China accounting for the lion's share of the region's current account surplus—how Asia contributes to global rebalancing also depends critically on the newly industrialising economies and larger Association of Southeast Asian Nations economies. Given the region's huge diversity, the necessary national macroeconomic and structural policies will vary significantly across Asia's emerging economies. Whereas near‐term rebalancing efforts will be driven primarily by macroeconomic and exchange rate policies, structural reforms are essential for boosting domestic and regional demand as sources of economic growth over medium to long‐term. We argue that regional rebalancing will depend critically on the adoption of deeper and more comprehensive structural reforms and further trade liberalisation to unlock the potential of strong domestic and regional spending—thus reducing Asia's high dependence on extra‐regional demand. Priority policies should include infrastructure spending, competition, trade, financial development, investment, immigration, and other social policies to reduce national savings.