Industry risk and market structure

This paper examines the relationship between industry risk and industry profitability. A three-equation model is employed in which profits, profit variability (total risk) and debt (financial risk) are simultaneously determined. One of the main findings of the study is that risk, as measured by profit variability, is not related to industryprofitability. One possible explanation is that risk-reducing strategies reduced profit variability and thus profit variability had little, role to play in explaining interindustry profitability. A second reason suggested by the results of the profit equation is that the equity/asset variable may be a better measure of risk.     

Projections Onto Efficient Frontiers: Theoretical and Computational Extensions to DEA

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been widely studied in the literature since its inception in 1978. The methodology behind the classical DEA, the oriented method, is to hold inputs (outputs) constant and to determine how much of an improvement in the output (input) dimensions is necessary in order to become efficient. This paper extends this methodology in two substantive ways. First, a method is developed that determines the least-norm projection from an inefficient DMU to the efficient frontier in both the input and output space simultaneously, and second, introduces the notion of the observable frontier and its subsequent projection. The observable frontier is the portion of the frontier that has been experienced by other DMUs (or convex combinations of such) and thus, the projection onto this portion of the frontier guarantees a recommendation that has already been demonstrated by an existing DMU or a convex combination of existing DMUs. A numerical example is used to illustrate the importance of these two methodological extensions.     

Investment in concealable information by biased experts

We study a persuasion game in which biased—possibly opposed—experts strategically acquire costly information that they can then conceal or reveal. We show that information acquisition decisions are strategic substitutes when experts have linear preferences over a decision maker's beliefs. The logic turns on how each expert expects the decision maker's posterior to be affected by the presence of other experts should he not acquire information that would turn out to be favorable. The decision maker may prefer to solicit advice from just one biased expert even when others—including those biased in the opposite direction (singular)—are available.     

Hunting while working: An expanded model of employed job search

Major theoretical models of job search fail to consider the changing nature of careers, the influence of the internet as a job search tool, and the diverse objectives for employed job search. Consequently, the study of employed job search has been largely confined to turnover research. We add to existing theory by providing a typology of employed search objectives based on modifying employment conditions (separation-seeking, change-seeking, leverage-seeking), contagion (mimetic-seeking) and employability (knowledge-seeking, network-seeking) and offer propositions related to the antecedents and implications for each objective. This classification offers an alternative explanation for previous research findings, provides a framework for future study, and has practical implications for employee retention and recruitment.     

A Protestant Rethinking of Economics for a Healthier World

Neoclassical economic theory delivered upon its promise. It showed how the liberation of markets from government constraints could bring about a rapid expansion in the production of consumer goods. That was a major accomplishment. However, it came with a price in terms of social fragmentation, economic inequality, and a planetary ecosystem that is now overwhelmed by human activity. Continuing to follow the course plotted by conventional economics is a path to disaster. The world needs alternatives. Marxism has been tried and found wanting in many respects, including its abysmal environmental record. This article offers help from an unlikely source: insights of Reformed Protestantism that can be traced back to John Calvin in the 16^th century. Although Calvin and Calvinism are better known for a harsh view of human sinfulness, Calvin also contributed to the development of liberal democracies by advocating representative government, universal education, and greater participation by more people. Reformed theology emphasizes the importance of widespread participation in decisions, including economic decisions, at every level of society, and provides a positive role for institutions, including government, to protect the common good. It also points toward the need to situate economic policy in the larger domains of social and ecological health. Above all, it denies the validity of any economic system that deifies economics as such, and provides criteria for judging the effectiveness of economic systems as well as the evils of externalizing social and environmental costs in the name of a false efficiency.     

The Wealth Effect of Corporate Water Actions: How Past Corporate Responsibility and Irresponsibility Influence Stock Market Reactions

Journal of Business Ethics - Companies increasingly recognize the importance of communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) including their engagement toward employees, the community, the...     

Cognitive Load in Collaboration: Convergence

Collaboration is inherent to complex participatory multi-actor and multi-agent social technical systems. Supporting collaborative problem solving is challenging, especially with the increased amount of data and information available for decision makers; they often experience information overload. Therefore, one of the key steps in problem solving is convergence; after considering many alternatives, the group converges their focus to a few for decision making. One of the key production factors in collaborative problem solving, and thus convergence is cognitive effort. Understanding cognitive load involved in convergence tasks is therefore important to the design of collaboration support. Convergence is a complex collaborative task, which is much less studied than the often preceding, divergence or brainstorming task. On the basis of an overview of convergence techniques and literature on convergence this paper presents a framework for the assessment of cognitive load during collaboration processes, and strategies to deal with cognitive load in convergence. Evaluation of the framework with experts and with participants in a convergence process provides the grounds for reflection on the use and implications of the framework.