Corporate Opacity and Cost of Debt for Family Firms

This paper uses a sample of Chinese firms to examine the impact of corporate opacity on the relationship between family control and firms’ cost of debt. We find that family control is associated with a lower cost of debt on average, and a negative impact exists mainly in firms with relatively low corporate opacity. We further provide evidence that the moderating effect of corporate opacity becomes more pronounced when investors’ perception of controlling families’ moral hazard of expropriation is higher. Our results are robust to alternative opacity proxies and controlling for endogeneity of family control using the instrumental variable method. Our study highlights that controlling families are heterogeneous in their impact on the shareholder–debtholder relationship in family firms, and debtholders view corporate opacity as an important reference in assessing the extent of potential agency conflicts in China.     

Are the BRIC countries overtaking intermediate countries in the race for international R&D? The case of Spain

The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as international locations for foreign direct investment in R&D is a sign that multinationals are relocating their technological activities to new territories. This trend may weaken the supremacy of the developed countries until now considered leaders in innovation, and may mean the loss of the competitive advantages enjoyed by the countries considered intermediate innovators. This paper examines the situation of Spain as a typical intermediate economy and compares it to its main competitors among the BRICs. Based on eight case studies of subsidiaries with R&D centres in Spain, we conclude that the policies adopted by certain emerging economies to develop their national innovation systems are proving effective and that these countries now pose a threat to intermediate economies. However, the BRICs still lag behind in terms of the security of their institutional framework; this situation leaves intermediate countries in an advantageous position.     

CEOs’ Poverty Experience and Corporate Social Responsibility: Are CEOs Who Have Experienced Poverty More Generous?

Journal of Business Ethics - This study examines whether the chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) poverty experience has an impact on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). We...     

Factors influencing theme park visitor brand-switching behaviour as based on visitor perception

With the development of theme parks, which represent a multi-million-pound industry worldwide, research investigating the factors affecting theme park visitor brand-switching behaviour is an important method for improving theme park competitiveness. In the present work, models and research hypothesis are constructed based on visitor perception, and the survey data are collected and analysed to assess the hypothesis and to revise the conceptual model in this paper. The results indicate that there are seven factors influencing visitor brand-switching behaviour: ‘visitor variety-seeking', ‘visitor satisfaction', ‘switching cost', ‘perceived value', ‘competitor attraction', ‘theme park image' and ‘visitor involvement'. The perceived value and visitor satisfaction strongly influence brand-switching behaviour as intermediate variables. Visitor variety-seeking and competitor attraction are positively related to visitor brand switching behaviour, whereas the other five factors are negatively related to visitor brand-switching behaviour.     

To post or not to post: social media sharing and sporting event performance

Social networks are becoming increasingly important for consumers, especially in the context of sport, where the service experience is highly intense. Few studies have combined subjective event performance variables and social network variables to analyze social network content sharing by sports practitioners. This article investigates the use of social networks in relation to sporting events. An empirical study examined the role of social network variables and sporting event performance variables in social media use. The sample consisted of 410 triathletes (72.2% male) aged between 18 and 66 years (mean 37.03 ± 8.62). Four analyses were performed using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the causes of sharing comments through social media, sharing photos and videos on social media, participant satisfaction, and word‐of‐mouth (WOM). The event's general image was a necessary condition in all cases. The combination of participants’ satisfaction and positive event image and the combination of social network use and positive event image lead to social network content sharing by athletes. The combination of positive event image and participant satisfaction leads to a positive WOM.     

新企业会计准则执行中存在的问题分析

从2007年1月开始实施的1项基本会计准则和38项具体会计准则,标志着与我国市场经济发展相适应、与国际惯例趋同化的新企业会计准则体系正式确立。新准则在执行中存在制度变迁成本较大、可操作性不强等问题,对会计人员的职业判断提出了更高的要求。为了解决存在的问题,应及时采取多种措施,包括出台解释公告、提高会计人员专业素质、完善新会计准则的各项配套政策等,使新企业会计准则得到有效实施。     

浅谈新老路基不均匀沉降处理技术

结合我国部分高速公路改扩建工程对新旧路基拼接部的不均匀沉降问题进行分析讨论.     

云南知识密集型服务业的人力资源管理研究——以高校为例

高校作为知识密集型服务业的一个组成部分,师资作为其核心发展动力,师资的建设和管理对于如今知识经济高度发达的社会来说就非常重要,通过完善师资的建设来带动高校的发展。文章主要阐述了知识密集型服务业的人力资源管理的方式和特点,进而论述了知识密集型服务业中的高校的人力资源管理即师资管理的对策,并针对云南省发展的特点和云南省高校的特点展开论证。     

不动产登记审查及赔偿问题探析

不动产登记的审查标准在很大程度上影响着登记机构承担责任的范围。登记机构承担责任的原因有很多,但第三人提供虚假材料申请登记引起的责任关系尤为关注。这些研究对于银行维护信贷资产的安全有一定的启示作用。     

人民币物流信息应用问题研究

本文首先说明信息对人民币现钞货币流通的作用,而后对当前信息运用现状进行分析并指出信息建设存在的缺陷,形成原因及对人民币现钞货币流通造成的影响,在此基础上提出实施有效信息管理的建议.