Family control, board independence and earnings management: Evidence based on Hong Kong firms

In this study, we document that independent corporate boards of Hong Kong firms provide effective monitoring of earnings management, which suggests that despite differences in institutional environments, corporate board independence is important to ensure high-quality financial reporting. The findings also show that the monitoring effectiveness of corporate boards is moderated in family-controlled firms, either through ownership concentration or the presence of family members on corporate boards. The results based on firms reporting small earnings increases provide additional support for our finding that the monitoring effectiveness of independent corporate boards is moderated in family-controlled firms.     

A Reformulation of Social Action Theory

ABSTRACT.— This paper presents a limited number of concepts that comprise social action theory. By establishing greater precision in defining the basic concepts as goals, values, norms, means and social conditions, a reformulation of the "unit-act" is set forth. The interrelationships among these concepts for the manifestation of social volition are discussed in keeping with the voluntaristic orientation.     

Olio and intègraphy as method and the consumption of death

This article discusses strategies called olio and intègraphy as convenient terms for a multi-method approach to studying situations. Encompassing the familiar activities called ethnography, netnography, and symbolic analysis, as well as participant-observation and use of the media, the purpose is to integrate information, data, findings, and examples from a variety of sources in the environment that bear on topics of interest and to explicate what they mean to members of the culture, including the subjects, the researchers, and the audience. This is a classical behavioral science approach that makes explicit the role of the researcher as a participant–observer and an interpreter. It is rooted in symbolic interaction, the classic work of Mead [1934. Mind, Self, and Society, edited by Charles Morris. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press], who noted that “the reflective experience, the world, and things within it exist in the form of situations” (Becker, Howard, Blanche Geer, Everett C. Hughes, and Anselm L. Strauss. 1961. Boys in White. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press). In addition to summarizing case examples to illustrate the value of this approach, the “consumption of death” is extensively examined as an under-researched and multi-faceted complexity of circumstances and responses.     

The Role of Objective In Vivo Testing in the Product Development Process

New products managers are continually confronted by the challenge of coordinating flows of complex information during the product development process. Among the issues faced are unique problems in relating technical design of product attributes to customers' reactions, leading to an improvement of the product's benefits. Ronald Drozdenko and Sidney Weinstein describe a variety of tests which help to assess customers' reactions to products, thus providing information to improve the design or to substantiate advertising claims. The term "objective in vivo" is given to a category of tests which is employed to quantify consumers' evaluation of specific product attributes under controlled, simulated use conditions. This helps to bridge the gap between tests which are designed to measure the physical or functional aspects of new products and tests which measure the consumers' self-reported, subjective reactions. A test categorization model, illustrative case studies, and test selection criteria are presented.     

Currency Swaps and International Real Estate Investment

This paper examines the efficacy of currency swaps as a hedging mechanism for the exchange rate risk associated with foreign investment in real estate. Earlier studies have concentrated on short-term hedging instruments such as options and forward contracts. Currency swaps are better suited for use on investments with long-term holding periods such as real estate. The findings indicate that, although hedging United States real estate investments with currency swaps suppresses most of the risk induced by currency instability, the improvements are insufficient to produce diversification gains for foreign investors in the context of mean-variance portfolio performance.