Intra-national variation in organizational commitment: evidence from the Chinese context

This study demonstrates how organizational commitment can differ at the sub-national level. We develop and test hypotheses based on levels of economic development and related shifts from collectivism to individualism. The data comprise 1017 retail employees drawn from two economically distinctly different parts of China. We find that organizational commitment is higher in ‘less economically developed’ regions. Affective and normative commitment (NC) negatively predicted turnover intentions, whereas continuance commitment related positively to turnover intentions. Unlike earlier findings using Western samples, this study finds the effect of NC on turnover intentions considerably stronger, suggesting that NC is more predictive of turnover intentions. As expected, our results indicate that continuance commitment is more predictive of turnover intentions in the ‘more economically developed’ regions.     

Evaluating and tracking qualitative content coder performance using item response theory

Content analysis of traditional and social media has a central role in investigating features of media content, measuring media exposure, and calculation of media effects. The reliability of content coding is usually evaluated using “kappa-centric” agreement measures, but these measures produce results that aggregate individual coder decisions which obscure the performance of individual coders. Using a data set of 105 advertisements for sports and energy drinks media content coded by five coders, we demonstrate that Item Response Theory can track coder performance over time and give coder-specific information on the consistency of decisions over qualitatively coded objects. We conclude that IRT should be added to content analysts’ tool kit of useful methodologies to track and evaluate content coders’ performance.

     

Monetary Policy and Sectoral Bank Lending in Malaysia

Abstract

Unlike most studies on the effect of monetary policy on bank lending, this article intends to answer the question whether the tightening of monetary policy in Malaysia before and after the financial crisis in 1997 affected differently the commercial bank lending to various sectors of the economy. To achieve the objective, Vector Autoregressive Regression (VAR) method was used to generate impulse response function and variance decomposition to trace the impact of a shock in monetary policy on bank lending in Malaysia. The results show that a monetary policy tightening in Malaysia gives a negative impact on all the sectors. Analyzing sectoral responses to monetary shocks, evidence is found that some sectors are more affected than the others. The manufacturing, agricultural, and mining sector seems to decline more than the aggregate bank lending in response to interest rate shock.     

A Threshold Analysis of the Relationship Between Governance and Growth

Abstract

Quality of governance has been found to be significant in economic growth. We investigate, using a threshold technique, whether the quality of governance matters equally across all levels of economic development. We find that the quality of governance is most significant for only a subset of relatively poor countries, while education is most significant for the poorest countries, and region is most significant for the wealthiest.     

The Impact of Corruption on Firm Tax Compliance in Transition Economies: Whom Do You Trust?

Tax compliance is an important issue for governments and the public alike. To meet public needs and fund public mandates, firms around the world are expected to comply with tax laws. Factors that are related to organizational (firm) tax compliance have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. Owing to the increasing global influence of transition economies, factors associated with firm tax compliance in transition economies are particularly of interest. Based on a sample of over 5,000 firms from 22 former Soviet Bloc transition economies, we find that higher levels of corruption and higher levels of particularized trust (reliance on friends and family) are associated with lower levels of tax compliance. Interestingly, we also find that the negative relationship between corruption and tax compliance is weakened in situations of higher generalized trust (trust in strangers). Overall, our study’s results suggest that institutional factors play an important role and are related to firm tax compliance behavior in transition economies.     

Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey to Teach Poverty Measurement

Poverty measurement is often controversial, but good public policy relies crucially on a broadly supported and understood poverty measure. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau announced it would begin regular reporting of a new supplemental poverty measure in October 2011. The present article provides background information for a student exercise (available, on request, from the author) on alternative poverty measurement techniques. The exercise allows students to use current data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (available through the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/cex/; U.S. Department of Labor 2010 U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2011. Developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure Federal Register. May 26, Vol. 75, No. 101, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-12628.pdf (accessed May 15, 2011) [Google Scholar]) and other sources to calculate and compare several absolute and relative poverty thresholds. The exercise invites students to draw their own conclusions about the pros and cons of different measures, including the new supplemental measure. Data sources are easily updated as new information becomes available.     

Explaining Refinancing Decisions Using Microdata

This paper develops a model which explains how mortgage-rate movements, transactions costs, changes in borrower income and house value, personal financial opportunities and the prepayment option embedded in fixed-rate mortgages affect a financially flexible borrower's decision to refinance an existing loan while retaining the underlying home. Broadening the focus of previous analytical work, the model explains why households with similar mortgage loans may react differently as financial market conditions change. It contains definitive empirical predictions that are supported by an analysis of a choice-based sample of individual loan transactions. Results suggest that refinancings are motivated both by movements in the level of interest rates and by borrowers' desires to alter their capital structures in the face of changing income and housing wealth.