Initial Impressions Determine Behaviours: Morality Predicts the Willingness to Help Newcomers

Prior research has demonstrated the impact of morality (vs. competence) information for impression formation. This study examines behavioral implications of people’s initial impressions based on information about their morality vs. competence in a workplace. School teachers and employees (N = 79) were asked to form an impression of a new school manager (i.e. a prospective boss), who was presented as High vs. Low in Morality and High vs. Low in Competence. Results showed that morality information rather than competence information determined initial emotional responses to the new manager, which mediated willingness to help the newcomer adjust in task and social contexts. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are outlined.     

Completing the technology transfer process: M&As of science-based IPOs

This paper investigates the valuation and merger and acquisition (M&A) dynamics of the population of 254 biotech firms that went public in Europe between 1990 and 2009. Among these, we identify a high proportion (40%) of firms affiliated with a university or another public research organization. After controlling for intellectual capital and other possible determinants, we find that affiliation with a university is recognized as beneficial by investors. This affiliation enhances the valuation of the firms and the probability of being targeted in subsequent M&As, particularly in cross-border deals. We conclude that following the initial public offering acquisitions by incumbent firms are mechanisms to finalize the technology transfer process started in a research institute. Our findings allow us to derive implications for venture investors, academic entrepreneurs, university managers, and policymakers.     

A Stock Flow Consistent Analysis of a Schumpeterian Innovation Economy

Schumpeter argued that boom and bust cycles are inherent to the rise of innovation and constitute an unavoidable consequence of the way the capitalist system reacts to the emergence of a wave of innovations. This contribution aims to describe Schumpeterian economic development in a ‘monetary theory of production’ framework, emphasizing the crucial role played by credit creation, conceived as ‘the monetary complement’ of innovation. By adopting a stock flow consistent analytical approach, we analyze both the structural change process triggered in the real economy by the emergence of innovation, and the monetary dynamics arising during the various stages of the development process.     

The early stages of reform in Polish manufacturingStructural adjustment, ownership and size

This paper argues that a significant adjustment process has taken place in Polish industry in the early stages of the market-oriented reforms. We analyse comprehensive data on two-digit and three-digit manufacturing industries, disaggregated by firm ownership and size. By focusing on a decomposition of labour productivity growth, we obtain results which suggest that structural determinants of the recovery have outweighed cyclical ones. With regard to firm ownership and economic performance, we find that the productive response of state enterprises has been markedly different from that of private firms, with the latter outperforming the former. Finally, our results indicate that size matters, at least among private firms, and our results provide mild evidence of increasing returns.
JEL classification: D21, E63, P21.     

Technological Regimes and Schumpeterian Patterns of Innovation

This paper proposes that the specific pattern of innovative activities in an industry can be explained as the outcome of different technological (learning) regimes . A technological regime is defined by the particular combination of technological opportunities, appropriability of innovations, cumulativeness of technical advances and properties of the knowledge base. Building upon the distinction between Schumpeter Mark I and Schumpeter Mark II industries, this paper provides empirical estimates of the relationships between indicators of the Schumpeterian patterns of innovation (concentration of innovative activities, stability in the hierarchy of innovators and importance of new innovators) and indicators of the variables defining technological regimes.     

The impact of outward FDI on the home country's labour demand and skill composition

The present paper adds to the literature investigating the effects of outward FDI on the home country employment and skill composition. Considering the “industrial region” as the unit of the analysis, we capture both direct and indirect effects of foreign production on the parent company and its environment. The empirical evidence refers to the internationalisation of production by Italian firms throughout the period 1996–2002, and it shows that foreign activities have a negative impact upon the demand for low skilled workers in the parent company's “industrial region”, but also on the demand for high skilled workers when FDI are addressed to high income countries.     

Supply Determinants of Mining Companies: Evidence for Gold and other Minerals in South Africa

Supply determinants of mining companies have been identified in several factors, with no consensus on their relative importance. These factors, which include mineral commodity prices, the institutional framework, geological characteristics, the scale of mine operations, and specific features of the controlling holdings, can influence the objectives of the mines, and their ability to achieve these objectives. Following a brief overview of alternative literature hypotheses concerned with mineral supply determinants, statistical and econometric analyses are applied to partly pooled cross-mine data over the period 1984–95, for gold and other major export minerals in South Africa. — Des déterminants de l’offre des sociétés minières ont été identifiés dans différents facteurs sans qu’un consensus se dégage quant à leur importance relative. Ces facteurs, au nombre desquels figurent les prix des produits minéraux, le cadre institutionnel, les caractéristiques géographiques, la taille de l’exploitation minière et les caractéristiques de la société de holding majoritaire, peuvent influer sur les objectifs des mines et sur leur aptitude à atteindre ces objectifs. Après une brève revue des hypothèses sous-tendant diverses théories relatives aux déterminants de l’offre des produits minéraux, une analyse statistique et économétrique est effectuée à partir de données partiellement communes, portant sur la période 1984–95, concernant l’or et d’autres importants produits minéraux d’exportation en Afrique du Sud.     

Stock‐bond return co‐movement and accounting information

I examine how an important attribute of financial reporting quality, i.e., accounting conservatism, affects the sensitivity of corporate bond returns to changes in the value of equity (i.e., the hedge ratio). The correlation between stock and bond returns (co‐movement) is a fundamental input for asset allocation decisions as it determines the diversification benefits of bonds relative to equities within an investment portfolio. According to structural models of credit risk, co‐movement should be generally positive, but lower when the risk of wealth transfers from bondholders to shareholders is severe. I find that firms that report conservative earnings and use covenants in their bond contracts exhibit on average stronger co‐movement. This result is consistent with conservatism providing bondholders with a credible and contractible signal that improves monitoring, thus preventing wealth transfers.     

The exact Taylor formula of the implied volatility

In a model driven by a multidimensional local diffusion, we study the behavior of the implied volatility \({\sigma}\) and its derivatives with respect to log-strike \(k\) and maturity \(T\) near expiry and at the money. We recover explicit limits of the derivatives \({\partial_{T}^{q}} \partial_{k}^{m} \sigma\) for \((T,x-k)\) approaching the origin within the parabolic region \(|x-k|\leq\lambda\sqrt{T}\), with \(x\) denoting the spot log-price of the underlying asset and where \(\lambda\) is a positive and arbitrarily large constant. Such limits yield the exact Taylor formula for the implied volatility within the parabola \(|x-k|\leq\lambda\sqrt{T}\). In order to include important models of interest in mathematical finance, e.g. Heston, CEV, SABR, the analysis is carried out under the weak assumption that the infinitesimal generator of the diffusion is only locally elliptic.