The Interaction of Post‐Acquisition Integration and Acquisition Focus in Relation to Long‐Run Performance

We examine the joint influence of post‐acquisition integration management and acquisition focus on long‐run post‐acquisition performance. We develop a financial measure related to integration that is based on changes in net purchases/disposals of physical assets. For a sample of acquisitions by Australian listed firms, we find that the main effects and the interaction of our integration measure and focus are related to performance in the direction suggested by theory. Our results suggest that inconsistencies in previous studies of the focus‐performance relation are partly explained by the failure to consider the post‐acquisition asset management strategies.     

Contingent Self‐Esteem,Self‐Presentational Concerns,and Compulsive Buying

The present study investigates the influence of contingent self‐esteem (CSE) on compulsive buying tendencies. It is argued that this influence is mediated by the self‐presentational concerns of fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and the importance of social identity (SI). These core propositions are tested using a multimethod approach that includes a survey of 402 US adults and two experiments with 160 and 243 subjects, respectively. Survey results find that CSE's impact on compulsive buying is fully mediated by FNE and SI. The two experiments deepen understanding of this effect. Only under high levels of anxiety do those high in CSE exhibit compulsive buying. High CSE leads to higher FNE and SI regardless of anxiety levels, but only at high anxiety levels do FNE and SI lead to compulsive buying. The study's results increase understanding of the role and process by which CSE impacts compulsive buying in adults of all ages.     

The contagion effect of default risk insurer downgrades: The impact on insured municipal bonds

Municipal bonds are often insured by insurance companies that promise to pay investors in the event of default on the part of the issuer. However, just as the financial strength of the insurer can provide assurance to investors, questions about insurer stability may heighten investor concerns. This paper considers three major downgrades to large municipal bond insurers and the effects of each downgrade on a large sample of municipal bonds. Results reveal the effects to be widespread: not only are risk premiums on bonds insured by the downgraded insurer affected, but so are those on bonds insured by other insurance companies.     

Disclosure responses to mining accidents: South African evidence

Mining activities generate significant social concerns in terms of employee safety and stakeholder scrutiny has increased considerably in recent years. Social and environmental accounting research is largely dedicated to environmental issues and the study of other components of social accounting is limited. This study examines safety disclosures in the annual reports, sustainability reports, and reactive corporate press releases of South African mining organisations following two major mining accidents occurring at Harmony Gold and Gold Fields’ mines. Results show that organisations react to perceived legitimacy threats through increased safety disclosures. The entire mining industry evidences an increase in disclosure levels after the incidents, suggesting that organisations do respond to increased stakeholder scrutiny threatening their legitimacy. Furthermore, our results provide evidence of an association between safety disclosure levels and firm size, social performance, risk, and number of fatalities, while the media attention devoted to mining accidents appears to be unrelated to safety disclosure levels. It is possible that stakeholder pressure, which motivates corporate social disclosures according to legitimacy and stakeholder theories, consists of various factors, which combined form the motivation to report. Media attention, therefore, cannot be considered in isolation as a driver of disclosure. Rather, a combination of variables such as size, social responsibility performance, number of fatalities, risk, and media attention could serve as a proxy for social pressure.     

Crop Price Indemnified Loans for Farmers: A Pilot Experiment in Rural Ghana

Farmers face a particular set of risks that complicate the decision to borrow. We use a randomized experiment to investigate (1) the role of crop‐price risk in reducing demand for credit among farmers and (2) how risk mitigation changes farmers’ investment decisions. In Ghana, we offer farmers loans with an indemnity component that forgives 50 percent of the loan if crop prices drop below a threshold price. A control group is offered a standard loan product at the same interest rate. Loan uptake is high among all farmers and the indemnity component has little impact on uptake or other outcomes of interest.     

When science meets strategic realpolitik: The case of the Copenhagen UN climate change summit

This paper argues that the impasse over tackling climate change at the 2009 climate change summit is a result of the outcome of the prevailing power and politics at the summit. The paper discusses the sociological literature on power and notes that the failure of the summit illustrates the fragility of legitimacy and authority. The paper rehearses key parts of the chronology of the summit and argues that the politics of domination often prevail over the politics of legitimacy. Moreover, the way in which both science and politics have failed to legitimate the issue of climate change is explored. The paper closes with a discussion of what is required to fix the issue as legitimate and meriting serious action by major international agencies and economies.     

A Major Environmental Tax Reform for the UK: Results for the Economy,Employment and the Environment

This paper reports the results of a major modelling exercise to gain insights into the possible economic and environmental effects of a large-scale environmental tax reform (ETR) in the UK. ETR involves a shift in the target of taxation away from labour or firms towards pollution or the use of natural resources, in such a way that overall tax revenues are unchanged. It is hoped that such a tax shift will deliver environmental improvements while having a neutral or positive effect on the economy. The modelling was set up to explore the extent to which this would be the case. The paper starts with a brief literature review identifying the theoretical hypotheses relating to ETR and summarising the results of some of the evaluations of ETRs that have been implemented. It then briefly describes the model used for the analysis in this paper. The main body of the paper then describes the scenarios set up to explore the main impacts and the results of modelling these scenarios. These results suggest that substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be achieved with minimal impacts on output and an overall increase in employment, such that ETR emerges as a very attractive policy for GHG emission reduction.     

The effects of donation button design on aid agency transactional trust

• The effects of web page donation link (donation button) design on aid agency transactional trust was examined in a survey and in two experiments. Experiment 1 compared three donation button designs, which were developed on the basis of study 1, which was a survey of 559 charity websites, and found no significant effects on rated transactional trust. Experiment 2 attempted to manipulate transactional uncertainty through donation button design by incorporating crisis/need and aid agency response photographs. These button design manipulations significantly increased rated transactional trust. In both experiments, transactional trust ratings were significantly correlated with donation compliance ratings. These results suggest that transactional trust can be enhanced through the considered design of the donation button, and increasing transactional trust in this manner may result in more online donations.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is There Room at the Bottom for CSR? Corporate Social Responsibility and Nanotechnology in the UK

Nanotechnologies are enabling technologies which rely on the manipulation of matter on the scale of billionths of a metre. It has been argued that scientific uncertainties surrounding nanotechnologies and the inability of regulatory agencies to keep up with industry developments mean that voluntary regulation will play a part in the development of nanotechnologies. The development of technological applications based on nanoscale science is now increasingly seen as a potential test case for new models of regulation based on future-oriented responsibility, lifecycle risk management, and upstream public engagement. This article outlines findings from a project undertaken in 2008–2009 for the UK Government’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) by BRASS at Cardiff University, involving an in-depth survey both of current corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in the UK nanotechnologies industry, and of attitudes to particular stakeholder issues within the industry. The article analyses the results to give an account of the nature of corporate social performance (CSP) within the industry, together with the particular model of CSR operating therein (‘do no harm’ versus ‘positive social force’). It is argued that the nature of emerging technologies requires businesses to adopt particular visions of CSR in order to address stakeholder issues, and that the nanotechnologies industry presents specific obstacles and opportunities in this regard.