The effect of reference point prices on mergers and acquisitions

Prior stock price peaks of targets affect several aspects of merger and acquisition activity. Offer prices are biased toward recent peak prices although they are economically unremarkable. An offer's probability of acceptance jumps discontinuously when it exceeds a peak price. Conversely, bidder shareholders react more negatively as the offer price is influenced upward toward a peak. Merger waves occur when high returns on the market and likely targets make it easier for bidders to offer a peak price. Parties thus appear to use recent peaks as reference points or anchors to simplify the complex tasks of valuation and negotiation.     

情景化日常生活与阶层地位的获得——基于沈阳市服务业新生代农民工的个案考察

新生代农民工在城市日常生活方式上明显区别于第一代进城农民工。对沈阳市服务性场所服务员日常城市生活作了个案研究。作为社会分层多元化的一种特殊表现,从农村到城市所带来的生活方式的转变在主观与客观双方面上重构了新生代农民工群体的社会阶层地位,一种固定情景化的生活模式正在形成。外部存在的国家传统制度政策的限制以及城市社会体系的排斥都进一步强化了新生代农民工对于本群体共同利益与共同生存条件的认识,情景化的城市社会生活将不可避免地对新生代农民工阶层未来的发展前途与最终社会归属提出严峻的挑战。     

The role of satisfaction in labor diaspora dynamics: An analysis of BREXIT effects

In diaspora research, people's international mobility is often understood as a response to pull-push forces on an economic macro-level or as part of diasporic waves. However, labor diaspora formations are also influenced by micro-level (i.e., individual perceptions) drivers related to work per se, such as satisfaction. This explorative qualitative study takes a novel angle and focuses on the role of Portuguese nurses’ satisfaction with the evaluation of the Brexit scenario and its effects on this labor diaspora's mobility and stability. The findings illustrate that satisfaction, although affected by uncertainty, mainly relates to perceived working conditions and legislation and the possibilities to communicate with locals and other diasporans. This paper provides suggestions for future research and contributes to the development of theory on staying and human stickiness, explaining the dynamics of exit and entry in (re-)migration decision making.     

Does character's gender matter in inspirational brand story? Exploring the moderating effect of gender role conformity

Inspirational brand story is a widely used marketing strategy in brand building. However, few empirical studies have investigated the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of a successful brand story strategy. The current study examined the influence of lead character's gender in inspirational brand story on consumer–brand identification based on the social identity theory, benevolent sexism, and gender schema theory. Results from two experiments demonstrated that the gender of inspirational brand stories has an impact on consumer brand identity through the mediation effect of sympathy. Compared with a male character, a female character elicits viewers' sympathy, which results in high brand identification. Such a gender effect is stronger when there is a high level of perceived gender role conformity. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Income distribution and unequal gains from trade

This paper studies welfare gains from trade in a tractable model with a nonhomothetic preference over product quality. We show that the welfare changes due to trade shocks are unequal across consumers and derive a parsimonious formula to measure these welfare changes as in Arkolakis et al. (2012, American Economic Review, 102, 94–130). We find that the welfare changes are larger for consumers with lower income. Moreover, this paper shows that the welfare implications are different between a change in (iceberg-type) variable trade cost and a change in tariff when tariff revenue matters. More importantly, we show that the difference varies across consumers with different income levels.     

The effectiveness of information interventions to improve domestic food safety among rural consumers

Consumer education on food handling behavior is regarded as an effective method to improve domestic food safety and prevent foodborne illness, but is usually overlooked in rural areas. Using a presurvey and two rounds of postsurveys targeted at rural consumers from China included in a randomized controlled trial, this study investigated the effectiveness of two information interventions—a leaflet with tips for best practices and the leaflet plus consumer education sessions conveyed by phone—and compared them with a control group. Cloth use behavior was the target in the trial and five specific aspects were evaluated: (1) whether the cloth was made of old clothes, (2) whether the one used to clean kitchen tables was also used to wash dishes, (3) whether it was hung to dry, (4) how it was disinfected, and (5) how long the cloth was used before being discarded. Firstly, consumers' behavior was scored by summing the above-mentioned five behaviors. The results estimated using the difference-in-difference model showed that respondents in the leaflet-only group improved to a greater extent than those in the control group, but their difference in progress was not statistically significant until the second round of the postsurvey. Respondents in the leaflet-plus-phone group were quicker to adopt suggested practices and made discernible improvements compared with those in the leaflet-only group in the first round of the postsurvey, but the gap between these groups narrowed to statistically insignificant in the second round of the postsurvey. It was concluded that one consumer education session was effective and made a difference in the long term, whereas more education sessions produced normative behavior at faster rates, showing a significant improvement in the short term. Then, the study estimated the effectiveness of interventions on the five specific behaviors separately. The results were estimated using a probit difference-in-difference model and showed that the suggested behaviors with lower costs or a greater difference from past behaviors were more likely to be adopted by consumers. Consumer education facilitates proper food handling practices among rural households, which should be considered by policy makers.     

从发票管理角度看我国当前税收流失状况及改善措施

目前,全球金融危机对我国的影响还未见底。实施积极财政政策扩大内需,增强经济抵抗力和竞争力,确保持续增长是未来的艰巨任务。作为一系列重大举措的支撑力量,税收成为财政工作的关键一环。全面加强征收管理,减少税收流失是确保积极财政政策顺利推行的前提之一。本文围绕我国税收征管工作中的发票管理环节展开,分析了发票管理漏洞使税收流失加剧的现状,并提出了改善发票管理的若干措施。     

高绩效工作系统、工作倦怠对员工离职倾向的影响研究

本文基于员工感知的视角,以工作倦怠作为中介变量,探索员工感知的高绩效工作系统对离职倾向的影响机制。通过来自企业256 个有效样本的实证研究发现,员工感知的高绩效工作系统与离职倾向显著负相关;工作倦怠及其子维度情感耗竭、玩世不恭与离职倾向显著正相关,而子维度成就感低落与离职倾向相关性不显著;工作倦怠在员工感知的高绩效工作系统与离职倾向之间起部分中介作用;员工感知的高绩效工作系统可通过影响员工的情感耗竭、玩世不恭情绪,间接对离职倾向产生影响,而成就感低落的中介效应不显著。     

种粮大户粮食生产效益的非价格影响因子分析——对江西省种粮大户的调查

通过对2005年江西省种粮大户种粮效益非价格因素的实证分析,发现种粮大户种粮效益与粮食经营规模、机收面积和家庭人数呈正相关关系。而与种粮农户的文化水平、性别、年龄等因素相关性不强。这一结果说明当前农村农业劳动力成本在不断上升,农业投入中劳动力的替代效应逐渐下降;同时,这也是当前政府在粮食主产区的政策支持与引导的结果,说明当前粮食主产区的农业政策是有效的。即推动粮食主产区农村土地流转制度的完善和适度规模经营,对粮食主产区的良种补贴和购买大型农机具的补贴,有利于种粮大户种粮食生产效益的提高。同时,提高农业科技成果物化水平,有利于农业科技成果在不同文化水平的粮农中推广应用。     

封育措施对呼伦贝尔草甸草原区草地生产力的影响

目的 研究围封条件下植物群落中物种变化的分布特征,有助于解释退化草地在不同围封阶段演替规律。方法 文章以温性草甸草原为研究对象,采用野外定位随机采样方法,调查群落生物量、植物物种种类、密度、盖度及高度,探讨时间尺度封育状态下的温性草甸草原植物群落特征、物种多样性的变化。结果 （1）封育措施显著增加了群落盖度,比围栏外的自由放牧样地提高了13.79%~114.75%,且随着封育年限的增加群落盖度表现出先增加后降低;而封育措施对群落密度没有显著性影响。（2）封育显著增加了植被地上生物量、地下生物量以及禾草生物量,其中地上生物量较围栏外的自由放牧样地提高了66%~887.3%,禾草生物量和地上生物量均随着封育年限的增加表现出先增加—降低—增加—降低的波动变化,地下生物量在监测年份下表现为先增加后降低的变化;封育措施可以提升植物多样性,随着封育年限的增加,多样性指数和丰富度指数呈现先增加后降低的变化趋势。结论 封育措施可以显著提高草地生产力,并且对物种多样性也有一定的促进作用,是应对退化温性草甸草原恢复的有效措施,但退化草地在长期围封后,应进行适度利用来维持较高的生产力。