Detecting Honest People’s Lies in Handwriting

Can managers detect honest people’s lies in a handwritten message? In this article, I will briefly discuss graphology and a basic model of interpersonal communication. I will then develop a fundamental theoretical framework of eight principles for detecting lies based on the basic communication model, handwriting analyses, and the following assumptions: For most people, it is easier to tell the truth than to tell lies. This applies to handwritings also. When most honest people lie, they try to hide their stressful emotions in the encoding process. As a consequence, they deviate from their own normal writing and violate their own personal moral standards. Interestingly enough, the art or science of detecting a lie in a handwritten sample is to focus not on what they write, but on how they write it. These 24 exhibits (cases) written in 11 languages—used in different parts of the world—help managers apply this important theoretical framework of interpersonal communication, understand the encoding process, pinpoint these sudden emotional changes, decode handwritten messages, unlock the secrets, reveal the message’s true meanings, and detect people’s lies.     

Process innovations and firm productivity growth

This article analyses the effect of process innovations on firm total factor productivity growth, explicitly considering the impact of firm size on the nature of this relationship. In particular, we analyse whether firm size affects the life span of the impact of process innovations on productivity growth. The data are drawn from a Spanish survey of manufacturing firms over the period 1991–1998. We use a fully non-parametric methodology based on the concept of stochastic dominance. Our results show that the implementation of process innovations produces an extra productivity growth both for large and small firms. However, this productivity growth is more persistent for large than for small firms.     

Robust Event Studies for Derogation from Suspension of Concentrations in Greece during the Period 1995–2008

This paper examines the possible effect of the derogation from suspension of concentrations by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) on the stock performance of the requested companies. For this reason, we examined 16 companies listed in the Athens Stock Exchange (A.S.E) that are involved to 13 requested derogations from suspension during the period 1995–2008 by applying and assessing the results of three different event study methodologies (market model, mean adjusted return model and market adjusted return model). From the empirical findings, we conclude that the argument of the requested companies concerning the subsequent negative effect on their stock performance if the derogation from suspension by the HCC is delayed or not granted does not hold. On the contrary, the average abnormal and cumulative returns of the requested companies are positive and statistical significant. In addition, the results of the three event study methodologies are robust.