Allies or commitment devices? A model of appointments to the Federal Reserve

We present a model of executive‐legislative bargaining over appointments to independent central banks in the face of an uncertain economy with strategic economic actors. The model highlights the contrast between two idealized views of Federal Reserve appointments. In one view, politicians prefer to appoint conservatively biased central bankers to overcome credible commitment problems that arise in monetary policy. In the other, politicians prefer to appoint allies, and appointments are well described by the spatial model used to describe appointments to other agencies. Both ideals are limiting cases of our model, which depend on the level of economic uncertainty. When economic uncertainty is extremely low, politicians prefer very conservative appointments. When economic uncertainty increases, politicians’ prefer central bank appointees closer to their own ideal points. In the typical case, the results are somewhere in between: equilibrium appointments move in the direction of politician's preferences but with a moderate conservative bias.     

Additional evidence on monetary base and interest rate linkages in the EMS

Conclusion This note has examined interest rate and monetary base linkages within the EMS. Cointegration tests suggest the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between German and other EMS interest rates and German and other EMS country monetary bases in a number of cases. Bivariate VAR analysis suggested that Granger causality with respect to EMS interest rate linkages stemmed either from German to European markets or was bi-directional and that the monetary base linkages were overwhelmingly bi-directional. When allowance is made for the influence of US monetary policy developments, the pattern of Granger causality within the EMS is predominantly bi-directional. These findings may be attributable to integrated financial markets and the discipline of a formal exchange rate mechanism. Thus, our results fail to support the hypothesis that German monetary policy plays a dominant and independent role within the EMS. Rather, they suggest that monetary policies in the EMS mainly respond to each other and, to a very limited extent, to developments in US monetary policy.     

What explains the low profitability of Chinese banks?

This paper analyzes empirically what explains the low profitability of Chinese banks for the period 1997–2004. We find that better capitalized banks tend to be more profitable. The same is true for banks with a relatively larger share of deposits and for more X-efficient banks. In addition, a less concentrated banking system increases bank profitability, which basically reflects that the four state-owned commercial banks – China’s largest banks – have been the main drag for system’s profitability. We find the same negative influence for China’s development banks (so-called Policy Banks), which are fully state-owned. Instead, more market-oriented banks, such as joint-stock commercial banks, tend to be more profitable, which again points to the influence of government intervention in explaining bank performance in China. These findings should not come as a surprise for a banking system which has long been functioning as a mechanism for transferring huge savings to meet public policy goals.     

Industry Interactions in Innovation Systems: A Bibliometric Study

Assorted interactions among the agents in a territory are considered as key elements for its scientific, technological, and innovation development, thus fostering the competitiveness of its business fabric and enhancing the quality of life of its residents. In this context, this article analyses this phenomenon, specifically industry relations with innovation system players (academic, scientific, technological, financing, and facilitating agents) through a bibliometric analysis. The methodology used progresses in three stages: construction of the scientific papers search strategy (published in the ISI Web of Knowledge reference database between 2001 and 2014); its implementation; and the corresponding bibliometric analysis, using the Vantage Point® software as a support tool. Among other aspects, the findings present progress achieved in the research field, together with leading authors, organizations, and countries, as well as with cooperative efforts among them, highlighting the status of this topic in Latin America. Finally, the article concludes that industry relations in innovation systems is a topic that is steadily expanding worldwide, with large numbers of cooperative projects among countries. However, it also shows that this study theme is still incipient in Latin America, not just Brazil.     

Worldviews and leadership: Thinking and acting the bigger pictures

Leadership is about ideas and actions. Put simply, it is about implementing new ideas into creative actions to achieve desired results. Doing so, however, is far from simple. We know leadership requires considerable skills and abilities. It requires knowledge and insight—about one's organization or entity, its people, goals, strengths and market niche. Yet, something more is needed. Leadership also requires a kind of awareness beyond the immediate, an awareness of the larger pictures—of paradigms that direct us, beliefs that sustain us, values that guide us and principles that motivate us, our worldviews. This article will, first, briefly examine how the concept of worldviews is used in leadership study and the contexts in which it arises. Second, it will critically look at worldviews, recognizing that they are not always coherent and that our belief systems are often fragmented and incomplete. Third, it will argue for the relevance of the concept worldview in leadership study as a way to explore various visions of life and ways of life that may be helpful in overcoming the challenges we face today. Fourth, it will examine how national and global issues impact worldview construction, especially among the millennial generation. Our conclusions set some directions for leadership action in light of worldview issues.     

Are Corporate Career Development Activities Les Available to Female Than to Male Expatriates?

Despite the growing interest in female expatriates, few empirical studies have focussed on corporate career development activities available to women. Given the faltering corporate support for female business expatriates in general, one may presume that such organizational activities are less available to women than to men. To test this proposition, a large number of Western female and male business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey. Controlling for differences between the two gender groups, three significant gender differences were found, all indicating a lower availability of these corporate activities to women than to men, partially supporting expectations. These corporate career development activities were fast track programs, individual career counseling and career planning workshops. Implications of these findings for globalizing firms as well as for their female employees are discussed in detail.     

The relationship between the migration experience and risk perception: A factor in the decision to become an entrepreneur

This study examines the proposition that the migration experience influences perceptions of risk and, as such, the ‘migrant condition’ is a factor in explaining relatively high rates of entrepreneurship among immigrants in many host countries. The study analyses data obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Spain 2009 Survey with regard to perceptions of risk in beginning a new venture. The study finds that immigrants to Spain, irrespective of their origin or ethnicity, are less likely than native Spaniards to perceive business creation as a risky situation. Moreover, the findings suggest that the perception of risk has a significant impact on the decision to engage in business start-up activity.     

Social Shareholder Engagement: The Dynamics of Voice and Exit

Investors concerned about the social and environmental impact of the companies they invest in are increasingly choosing to use voice over exit as a strategy. This article addresses the question of how and why the voice and exit options (Hirschman 1970) are used in social shareholder engagement (SSE) by religious organisations. Using an inductive case study approach, we examine seven engagements by three religious organisations considered to be at the forefront of SSE. We analyse the full engagement process rather than focusing on particular tools or on outcomes. We map the key stages of the engagement processes and the influences on the decisions made at each stage to develop a model of the dynamics of voice and exit in SSE. This study finds that religious organisations divest for political rather than economic motives using exit as a form of voice. The silent exit option is not used by religious organisations in SSE, exit is not always the consequence of unsatisfactory voice outcomes, and voice can continue after exit. We discuss the implications of these dynamics and influences on decisions for further research in engagement.     

Post-Crisis Gender Gaps: Women Workers and Employment Precariousness

The Gender Gap Index (GGI) is very useful when it comes to international comparisons, and it offers diverse and interesting approaches to equality, human wellbeing, and development. The central goal of this paper is to demonstrate the way in which this index is indirectly related to the distribution of public expenditure in different strategic sectors of economic development. When reducing healthcare and education expenditures in order to service the external debt due to institutional investors of the shadow financial system (SFS), the gender gap widens because of the austerity policies implemented by the state. This contributes to deepening of the unpaid work within the household, alongside widening the gender gap.