In the Name of Merit: Ethical Violence and Inequality at a Business School

Journal of Business Ethics - This study examines how meritocracy as a collective social imaginary promoting social justice and fairness reproduces class and caste inequalities and fosters ethical...     

Bank accounting conservatism and bank loan pricing

This paper studies the effects of bank accounting conservatism on the pricing of syndicated bank loans. We provide evidence that banks timelier in loss recognition charge higher spreads. We go onto consider what happens to the relationship between spreads and timeliness in loss recognition during the financial crisis. During the crisis, banks timelier in loss recognition increase their spreads to a lesser extent than banks less timely in loss recognition. These findings are broadly consistent with the argument that conditional accounting conservatism serves a governance role. The policy implication is that banks timelier in loss recognition exhibit more prudent and less pro-cyclical loan pricing behaviour.     

The Political Economy of Convergence: The Case of IFRS for SMEs

This paper contributes to the discussion on the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises (IFRS for SMEs) in the academic literature by examining the political economy of convergence, and illuminating the processes used by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to achieve convergence and participation by developing economies. The IFRS for SMEs was developed to facilitate implementation of a two‐tier reporting regime in the developing economies. Since 2000, progress towards issuance of the IFRS for SMEs has been hindered by a lack of active engagement by SMEs and academics from developing economies. It is found that (1) a lack of grounded studies and empirical knowledge on SME users’ needs impeded the development of the IFRS for SMEs; (2) the capital market assumption adopted for the IFRS is clearly inappropriate; and (3) the under‐representation of developing economies in international standard setting remains an issue. It is recommended that the IASB ascertains the users of SME reports and their needs and then develops a coherent conceptual framework for SMEs (particularly those from developing economies). The IASB needs to take into consideration the needs, culture and regulatory infrastructures of the developing economies, the political agendas of the standard‐setting stakeholders, and barriers to implementation.     

Walking the tight rope of coopetition: Impact of competition and cooperation intensities and balance on firm innovation performance

This study empirically investigates an important question in the coopetition literature: to what extent does coopetition impact a firm's innovation performance? With a focus on the intensity of competition and intensity of cooperation of a focal firm with its alliance partners, our theory proposes that a moderate level of competition with alliance partners is more beneficial than a very high or a very low level of competition. We further develop the concept of “balance” in coopetition and examine how the interplay of competition and cooperation and the balance between the two matter for innovation performance. Results from our empirical study using data from the semiconductor industry show that competition and cooperation intensities have non-monotonic positive relationship with firm's coopetition-based innovation performance. Further, balanced coopetition (i.e., when competition is moderately high and cooperation is high) has a positive effect on innovation performance. A key contribution of this paper is the conceptualization and empirical demonstration of the effects of various aspects of coopetition such as competition dominant, cooperation dominant, and balanced coopetition on innovation performance.     

Frame Changes in Social Movements: A Case Study

Abstract

We examine the emergence and evolution of collective action frames in the palliative care movement in Kerala, India. We do so by leveraging secondary data published over seventeen years as well as interviews with thirty movement actors. Our findings suggest two key themes: First, frames that emerge at the grass-roots level, and in many occasions from bystanders, can become dominant frames of a movement. Second, frame alignment processes may be directed by non-elites towards the elites. These findings diverge from prior literature which emphasizes roles of movement leaders and key actors in framing issues and strategies.     

The nonprofit case for corporate volunteering: a multi-level perspective

ABSTRACT

This article argues that the nonprofit case for corporate volunteering is complex, requiring a multi-level perspective on the outcomes for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). To develop this perspective, we adopted an inductive research approach, conducting 39 exploratory semi-structured interviews with NPO staff. We argue that NPO scholars and practitioners should disentangle individual and organizational-level outcomes resulting from interactions between corporate volunteers and NPO staff, as such micro-dynamics ultimately affect NPO services. Moreover, these outcomes are subject to conditions at the organizational level (e.g. involvement of intermediaries), as well as at the individual level (e.g. type of assignment). Our study highlights the complexity that should be considered when addressing the fundamental question of whether corporate volunteering contributes to the ability of NPOs to provide their services, and under what conditions. We therefore propose that corporate volunteer management within NPOs is inherently, albeit contingently, intertwined with the services that these organizations provide.     

Negative accounting earnings and gross domestic product

Review of Accounting Studies - Konchitchki and Patatoukas Journal of Accounting and Economics 57 (1-2), 76–88, (2014a) show that aggregate accounting earnings growth predicts future nominal...     

The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures

With increasing attention being paid to corporate sustainability, pressure from stakeholders, especially customers, is forcing companies to implement sustainability strategies and practices that express their commitment to sustainable development, and engage with stakeholders through voluntary sustainability disclosure. To better understand the sustainability disclosure mechanisms from a business strategy perspective, this study investigates the influence of business strategy, formulated by customer groups, on online sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical observation of Malaysian public‐listed companies based on the combined lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Despite the comparatively low level of corporate sustainability disclosure in Malaysia, this content analysis of online sustainability information disclosure reveals that the companies with more diversified product lines disclose more sustainability information, and that the corporate sustainability effort is significantly related to brand name. Hence, companies should be encouraged to proactively improve their sustainability performance and disclose more sustainability information in order to strengthen their brand names. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Impacts of Rising Energy Prices on Saskatchewan Agriculture

Fuel and fertilizers are major energy-related inputs used in the production of food in Saskatchewan. Impacts of rising prices of energy-related inputs on Saskatchewan agriculture are estimated with the help of a quadratic programming model of the agriculture sector, using a comparative statics approach. The model predicts that increased energy prices would cause decreases in the level of production, product demand, energy use, consumer surplus, and net returns over energy-related inputs. An increase in product prices and a large decrease in the production of low-value crops (oats and barley) are predicted. The decline in production can be attributed to the estimated large decrease in fertilizer consumption. Unless appropriate government policies are designed to deflect the above impacts, producers would experience a decline in purchasing power and a resultant drop in living standards. The practice of summerfallowing is expected to become more attractive under a regime of rising energy prices, which may have long-run implications for increasing soil degradation on the Prairies. Parmi les facteurs de production qui supposent un apport ?énergie, le carburant et les engrais jouent un rôle majeur dans la production alimentaire en Saskatchewan. Nous avons évalué les incidences de ?augmentation des prix de ces facteurs de production sur le secteur agricole de cette province canadienne, avec ?aide ?un modèle quadratique du secteur agricole et ?une méthode de statique comparative. Les résultats obtenus laissent prévoir qu'une augmentation des prix de ?énergie provoquera une baisse de la production, de la demande, de ?utilisation ?énergie, des excédents à la consommation et des revenus nets par rapport à ?utilisation des facteurs de production supposant un apport ?énergie. On peut également prévoir une augmentation des prix des produits et une importante baisse de la production de cultures de faible valeur (avoine et orge). Cette baisse de la production pourrait être attribuable à ?importante baisse estimative de la consommation ?engrais. A moins que le gouvernement ne parvienne, au moyen de politiques appropriées, a empêcher les effets susmentionnés, les producteurs subiront une réduction de leur pouvoir ?achat et, par ricochet, une baisse de leur niveau de vie. Le recours à la jachère estivale devrait paraître plus attrayant dans des conditions de hausse des prix de ?énergie, ce qui pourrait avoir des incidences à long terme sur ?augmentation de la dégradation des sols dans les Prairies.