Role of international politics on agri‐food trade: Evidence from US–Canada bilateral relations

A well‐functioning trade relationship between Canada and the United States is crucial to the economic vitality of the Canadian agri‐food industry. However, agri‐food trade is more susceptible than other sectors to political interventions. The Trump presidency has strained Canada–US relations and his trade policy actions have significantly increased trade restrictions and trade policy uncertainty and undermined the rules‐based global trading system. We examine the pattern of agri‐food trade between the two countries and find that the upward trajectory of bilateral agri‐food trade ended in 2013. Although this flatlining predates the Trump administration, we show that Trump increased trade policy uncertainty starting in 2017 and likely impacted further expansion of trade. We examine what might change under the Biden presidency and argue that the new administration is likely to restore strong relationships with allies and work to rebuild important international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although protectionist forces will continue to impact bilateral agri‐food trade, we expect closer political ties between a Biden administration and the Canadian Prime Minister. This should have a positive effect on the Canadian agri‐food industry by reducing trade uncertainties, thereby increasing agri‐food trade between Canada and the United States.     

LGB+ identification and donations to Hurricane Irma victims: The role of empathy

Extant literature finds that discrimination promotes empathy towards other people in similar predicaments. We propose that discrimination increases empathy more generally—namely, LGB+ individuals, because of their experience with discrimination in society, which promotes empathy, are more charitable than heterosexual individuals. We recruited 5,131 American respondents of whom 378 identified as LGB+. LGB+ -identifying respondents scored higher on empathy, increasing their monetary donations to victims of Hurricane Irma, relative to heterosexual respondents. Importantly, greater experience with discrimination enhanced LGB+ respondents' empathy and charity. We situate our results within literature that has studied the charitable behaviors of LGB+ individuals. We acknowledge limitations to our study and suggest ideas for further research.     

Color me moral: White and black product colors influence prosocial behaviors

There are “moral meanings” that people ascribe to objects in white and black colors. Namely, it seems that people have been conditioned to see objects in white color as potentially “morally good” and those in black color as potentially “bad.” In the current inquiry, we would therefore hypothesize that consumers see buying a product in white color as an act that is morally good and buying a product in black color as an act that is morally bad. If so, then, in accordance with the moral regulation theory, those who buy white‐colored products should feel licensed to behave less prosocially afterward, while those who buy black‐colored products should be more prosocial as they feel a need to compensate for their initial misconduct. We investigate such a hypothesis in six studies, examining prosociality after buying white‐ or black‐colored products. The results are consistent with our hypothesizing and highlight a moral credentials framework in particular in explaining why the effect occurs. Consequently, product colors do not only satisfy the diversity of consumer tastes but they also impact consumers’ prosocial behavior well‐beyond product choice and outside of retail domains.     

Accuracy of management and security analysts' forecasts: Additional evidence

This paper provides further support for findings in studies by Basi, Carey, and Twark [2] and Ruland [5] which indicated no statistically significant superiority of management over analysts in forecasting earnings per share. These somewhat surprising findings are seen to flow from several possible sources. Lack of superior management forecasting performance may reflect (1) a considerable sharing of the forecast or forecast-related information by management with analysts, or (2) firm-specific data (to which management is more privy) may be less important in forecasting performance than data on economy-wide movements.     

Applying the principles of Gestalt theory to teaching ethics

Teaching ethics poses a dilemma for professors of business. First, they have little or no formal training in ethics. Second, they have established ethical values that they may not want to impose upon their students. What is needed is a well-recognized, yet non-sectarian model to facilitate the clarification of ethical questions. Gestalt theory offers such a framework. Four Gestalt principles facilitate ethical clarification and another four Gestalt principles anesthetize ethical clarification. This article examines each principle, illustrates that principle through current business examples, and offers exercises for developing each principle. Eugene H. Hunt is professor of management in the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. He has done advanced studies in organization development at the National Training Laboratories (NTL) and has studied Gestalt theory at the Gestalt Institute in Cleveland. He currently teaches a course in the history of management thought for doctoral students, in principles of management for masters students, and in organizational behavior for undergraduate students. For a number of years he wrote a column in Management World titled, Expanding Your Repertoire of Managerial Behavior.Ronald K. Bullis is Acting Head of Staff at a Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia. He has done advanced graduate work in clinical social work at Virginia Commonwealth University and is an adjunct faculty teaching law and religion at Virginia Union University, Richmond. He also teaches law and religion at the Institute of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He conducts individual, group and family counseling and is a certified sex educator.     

Income smoothing behavior of U.S. banks under revised international capital requirements

The use of the loan-loss provision to smooth reported income by large bank holding companies is a much-investigated practice. To the extent that the variability of net income is a measure of risk, income smoothing may reduce the perceived riskiness of the bank and thus increase stock value. Managers may have added incentive to smooth income in response to the structure of their compensation package. The Basel Accord of 1988 phased in new definitions of regulatory capital for banks. These changes have increased the incentives for income smoothing. Most previous studies on income smoothing and loan-loss reserves predate the implementation of the Basel Accord. Others use data that include the transition period. This study revisits the subject, using only post-Accord data. Results of this study are compared with previous results. The evidence confirms the continued existence of income smoothing and supports the proposition that banks have become more aggressive in using loan-loss reserves as a tool for income smoothing.     

How effective are public policy decissions?…The need for a general evaluation model

The successful inplementation of public policy decisions depends heavily upon knowing what information is required by the consumers and knowing the situational factors that determine whether or not the consumer will use the information. Implementation will only succeed if there is an attempt made to educate the consumer through methods other than “full disclosure.” The successful education of the consumer will only succeed if the policy decision makers are able to determine what the consumers need to know and how best to communicate this to them. The purpose of this paper is to present a general methodology for gathering information about groups of consumers or industries that will be affected by the policy decision. One of the major thrusts of the model is the emphasis placed on acquiring the information before the policy decision is made. The second major thrust is the proposal to “test market” policy decisions before they are actually made.     

How it all began: the rise of listing requirements on the London, Berlin, Paris, and New York stock exchanges

The issue of accounting standards for foreign securities listed on a stock exchange arose gradually over the period 1825-1914 among the leading exchanges in the first global financial market—London, New York, Paris, and Berlin. Comparing their listing requirements on the eve of World War I, we find that the London and New York exchanges were most detailed, reflecting their common-law legal environments and their status as self-regulating organizations. The evolution of listing requirements in London and New York therefore influenced the development of accounting standards in those countries. By contrast, Paris and Berlin relied on validation of a security by political authorities. One result of these differences in legal and political environments was that American railroads issued the only securities to be listed on each of the four exchanges.