The relationship between enterprise risk management,value and firm characteristics based on the literature

In the wake of the increasing importance of comprehensive enterprise-wide risk management approaches (ERM) in the last years, e.?g. due to stronger regulatory requirements, the field of research on ERM has attracted a considerable amount of attention in the literature. The aim of this paper is to provide a literature-based analysis of the theoretical arguments and empirical findings regarding firm characteristics in the context of measuring the impact of ERM on firm value. Due to the endogeneity problem, we focus on the direct impact as well as on the indirect impact (via ERM) of firm characteristics on firm value.     

Credit reallocation

A growing empirical literature finds that the allocation of credit across firms is as important as its total volume for economic performance. This paper investigates the process through which credit is reallocated across US businesses employing the methodology developed by Davis and Haltiwanger (1992) for the analysis of job reallocation. We find that credit reallocation is intense, highly volatile and moderately procyclical and that it primarily occurs across firms similar in size, industry or location. The results suggest that microeconomic heterogeneity can play a key role in the interaction between the credit market and the aggregate economy.     

The drivers and value of enterprise risk management: evidence from ERM ratings

In the course of recent regulatory developments, holistic enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) frameworks have become increasingly relevant for insurance companies. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature by analyzing determinants (firm characteristics) as well as the impact of ERM on the shareholder value of European insurers using the Standard & Poor’s ERM rating to identify ERM activities. This has not been done so far, even though it is of high relevance against the background of the introduction of Solvency II, which requires a holistic approach to risk management. Results show a significant positive impact of ERM on firm value for the case of European insurers. In particular, we find that insurers with a high quality risk management (RM) system exhibit a Tobin’s Q that on average is about 6.5% higher than for insurers with less high quality RM after controlling for covariates and endogeneity bias.     

Die Risikoübernahme von Versicherungsunternehmen: Eine empirische Analyse für Deutschland und Großbritannien

In this paper we analyze the risk resulting from an insurer’s investment policy. For this a hypothetical asset return rate is defined, based on which the German and British insurance market is analyzed. The study design allows an investigation of the investment risk in different countries or for different lines of business. The aim of the analysis is to detect general market trends in the investment policy and an analysis of effects of important changes over time on the investment risk of insurers. The questions analyzed in this paper are also of particular relevance beyond the background of current reform proposal for insurance regulation in Europe in the field of risk management and capital adequacy (Solvency II).     

Shareholders of the World United? Organized Labour's Preferences on Corporate Governance under Pension Fund Capitalism in the United States,United Kingdom and France

This article considers whether organized labour's engagement with shareholder activism represents a shift in unions’ traditional stakeholder preferences on corporate governance under pension fund capitalism. It does so in light of recent critiques of the class power thesis of corporate governance which suggest greater fluidity and fragmentation in labour's approach. Adopting a diverse case study strategy to compare organized labour's actions in the United States, United Kingdom and France, the article explains these activities as innovative strategies, similar to other revitalization initiatives, designed to advance traditional agendas by alternative means. The article thus concludes that, while organized labour's shareholder activism is unexpected under the class power thesis, its core preferences remain largely unchanged.     

The welfare comparison of corrective ad valorem and unit taxes under monopolistic competition

The ad valorem versus unit tax debate has traditionally emphasized tax yield. On this criterion, ad valorem taxes outperform unit taxes in terms of welfare for a wide range of imperfect competition settings including Dixit–Stiglitz monopolistic competition. However, in a number of policy fields such as environmental, health, and trade economics, policy makers use taxes to reduce the production/consumption volume in an industry, i.e., to correct an externality rather than to improve tax yield. This paper compares the two tax instruments with respect to equal corrective effect in a Dixit–Stiglitz setting with love of variety, entry, exit, and redistribution of tax revenues. We find that unit taxes lead to more firms in the industry, less output per firm, less tax revenue, but higher welfare compared to ad valorem taxes.      

When Production and Consumption Meet: Cultural Contradictions and the Enchanting Myth of Customer Sovereignty

ABSTRACT The central cultural contradiction of capitalism, argued Bell some 25 years ago, was the existence of rationalized, disciplined production alongside free and hedonistic consumption. This paper argues that this thesis, although overstated, has resonance within contemporary capitalism. The paper then considers the question of how this contradiction is managed when production and consumption meet directly within the service interaction. On the production-side rationalization is joined by customer-orientation, and on the consumption-side management promotes consumption of the enchanting myth of sovereignty. Here the customer is meant to experience a sense of being sovereign. At the same time the space is created for the customer to be, potentially, substantively directed and influenced to follow the requirements that flow from the rationalized elements of production. Key aspects of the service interaction, including the menu and its presentation, the display of empathy and aesthetic labour, and the use of naming within the service interaction, are analysed in terms of the promotion of the enchanting myth of sovereignty. Consumption, however, is a fragile process, and remains, to an important degree, 'unmanageable'. The analysis, therefore, also examines how the promotion of the enchanting myth of sovereignty systematically creates the conditions for the myth's negation.     

Family versus Non‐Family Firm Franchisors: Behavioural and Performance Differences

Drawing from resource‐based theory, we argue that family firm franchisors behave and perform differently compared to non‐family firm franchisors. Our theorizing suggests that compared to a non‐family firm franchisor, a family firm franchisor cultivates stronger relationships with franchisees and provides them with more training. Yet, we predict that a family firm franchisor achieves lower performance than a non‐family firm franchisor. We argue, however, that this performance relationship reverses itself when family firm franchisors are older and larger. We test our hypotheses with a longitudinal dataset including a matched‐pair sample of private U.S. family and non‐family firm franchisors.