Beyond the High‐Performance Paradigm: Exploring the Curvilinear Relationship between High‐Performance Work Systems and Organizational Performance in Taiwanese Manufacturing Firms

In this study, we explore the potential downside of the ‘high‐performance’ paradigm by examining the curvilinear relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance and the moderating effects of the industry type. Using data from Taiwanese manufacturing firms, we find an inverted‐U pattern between HPWS and organizational performance in high‐technology firms (N = 74), and a linear relationship in traditional manufacturing firms (N = 86). These findings are consistent with the viewpoint of diminishing returns of HPWS and the contingency perspective. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are also discussed.     

像野狗一样生活 方力均文献展(1963-2008)

在方力钧的作品成为中国当代艺术的一个标志性形象之前,中国当代艺术已经迈出了很不平凡的步伐。70年代末、80年代初,吴冠中重提形式主义在艺术创作中的重要性、机场壁画事件、无名画会和星星画会的成立、各种美术刊物对西方现代艺术家和理论的翻译和     

Can we live without cats? Interpreting and expanding on Ellson's question from a cat-lover's perspective

This commentary responds to Tony Ellson's, “Can we live without a dog? Consumption life cycles in dog-owner relationships” from the point of view of a cat owner and her cats. The author discusses cat-related consumption via a life-cycle framework and notes that consumption extends beyond basic food, veterinarian care, pet supplies, and pet services. Stories or vignettes emanating from subjective personal introspection reveal the complexity and intimacy of the cat-owner relationship and the plethora of needs and wants generated as a result of this relationship.     

Interfuel substitution in US electricity generation

Ongoing changes in the US electricity market include restructuring and increased competition. With this unfettering of the market, the fuel choice in generation is expected to become more flexible and responsive. To investigate this hypothesis, studies of US electricity fuel choices over the last three decades are summarized and the most recent analysis is provided on a market very different from the one on which earlier studies were done. Modern data handling techniques allow the consideration of the most comprehensive database including 185 utilities on monthly data for 1993. This paper finds fuel choice to show a considerable amount of price responsiveness, the amount of responsiveness is sensitive to the fuel substitution possibilities within the utility, and the amount of responsiveness seems to have increased recently for oil and natural gas.     

以四季酒店为圆心的清迈

清迈是个充满灵气的城市,邓丽君的一曲小城故事,常让人们想象这让她魂牵梦萦却香消玉殒的小城究竟深藏着什么魅力。以四季酒店为中心,每日感受不同的清迈生活,一个＂生活的圆＂,从酒店开始,到酒店结束,一段美好的乡村岁月之旅,会成为记忆的永恒。     

Analysis of Accounting Expert Systems Citations: An Alternative Accounting Classification Scheme

This paper compares and contrasts a paper by Shanker, Nilakanta, and Norris (1992) that quantitatively analyzes citations with Brown (1989). The analytical approach used by Shanker et al. is discussed in light of the background and limitations of the original study, the accounting classification scheme used for the analysis, and classification differences caused by either authors classifying their own articles or someone else classifying the articles based on abstracts. An alternative accounting classification scheme is presented that uses four dimensions to describe and organize the discipline of accounting: accounting tasks, domain, organization type, and service provider. In this context, a number of representative accounting expert systems are classified and discussed. Recommendations are suggested for further research.     

Normal mixture diffusion with uncertain volatility: Modelling short- and long-term smile effects

This paper introduces a parameterization of the normal mixture diffusion (NMD) local volatility model that captures only a short-term smile effect, and then extends the model so that it also captures a long-term smile effect. We focus on the ‘binomial’ NMD parameterization, so-called because it is based on simple and intuitive assumptions that imply the mixing law for the normal mixture log price density is binomial. With more than two possible states for volatility, the general parameterization is related to the multinomial mixing law. In this parsimonious class of complete market models, option pricing and hedging is straightforward since model prices and deltas are simple weighted averages of Black–Scholes prices and deltas. But they only capture a short-term smile effect, where leptokurtosis in the log price density decreases with term, in accordance with the ‘stylised facts’ of econometric analysis on ex-post returns of different frequencies and the central limit theorem. However, the last part of the paper shows that longer term smile effects that arise from uncertainty in the local volatility surface can be modeled by a natural extension of the binomial NMD parameterization. Results are illustrated by calibrating the model to several Euro–US dollar currency option smile surfaces.