Perceptions of Discrimination and Justice Among Employees with Disabilities

Despite the passage of almost two decades since the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act in the United States, individuals with disabilities are still underrepresented in the workforce, tend to hold lower status jobs, and receive lower wages. This study examines whether disabled workers also continue to encounter more negative workplace experiences in terms of discrimination and injustice. A sample of 1,880 employees of a large university, including 90 self-identified disabled individuals completed a work experience survey. Analyses indicate that disabled employees reported more overt and subtle discrimination and more procedural injustice than their non-disabled counterparts. Examination by the type of disability also revealed that those with non-physical disabilities reported more negative experiences than employees with physical disabilities. Perceived organizational and supervisory support were shown to have promise in reducing the effects of disability status on workplace attitudes and perceptions.     

Effects of debriefing in marketing research involving “Mild” deceptions

Although behavioral researchers in marketing frequently deceive their subjects, relatively few report postexperimental debriefings. We hypothesize that researchers may avoid debriefings because (a) they feel their deceptions are so minor that debriefings are unnecessary, and (b) they fear possible negative reactions when subjects learn of the deceptions. We present the results of an experiment in which we measured debriefing effects on subjects who received such “mild” deceptions. Our results suggest that researchers have little to fear from conducting debriefings in these situations. We conclude by making several suggestions for administering debriefings and by identifying several issues concerning the effects of debriefings and deceptions that warrant future research.     

The impact of selling aids on new prospects

Once a firm has called a list of good prospects, it is necessary to turn those prospects into first-time customers. Through an empirical investigation in the business forms industry, lunches, plant tours, advertising specialties, and printed promotional material were evaluated as selling aids. Plant tours and lunches were found to be especially effective in turning prospects into customers.     

Managed disability--past, present and future

This article discusses the overall development of managed disability. First, it explores historical factors that have influenced managed disability programs, followed by important considerations in current programs, and finally discusses future issues to contemplate for successful evolution to occur. The authors conclude by pointing out the opportunity for insurers to develop innovative and responsive products and the opportunity for employers to have a direct impact on reshaping disability benefit programs.     

Voter ID Laws and Voter Turnout

Atlantic Economic Journal - In recent years, many states have enacted laws imposing strict identification requirements for voting. Proponents contend such laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud...     

Child cash benefits and family expenditures: Evidence from the National Child Benefit

Income may improve child outcomes through two mechanisms: as a direct input into health and education, or indirectly, by reducing household financial stress. We exploit policy‐induced changes in refundable tax benefit income in Canada to study these two potential mechanisms. Our findings suggest that additional income may improve outcomes through both mechanisms: some benefit income is spent on direct education inputs, while some is spent on everyday items likely to improve the general conditions children face. Additionally, some families reduce spending on risky behaviour items. Spending responses to benefit generosity appear to vary by income and by child age.     

Auditor Independence and Fair Value Accounting: An Examination of Nonaudit Fees and Goodwill Impairments

Inadequate testing of fair value accounting estimates, including goodwill, is often cited as an audit deficiency in PCAOB inspection reports, and, in some cases, these deficiencies have led to enforcement actions against the auditor. As a result of these issues, the PCAOB recently proposed a new auditing standard for fair value accounting. While these regulatory actions suggest that auditors are challenged by the fair value regime of accounting for goodwill, they also highlight an area where the auditor could be influenced by their financial ties to a client. In this study, we test whether nonaudit fees are associated with goodwill impairment decision outcomes. Our results indicate that the nonaudit fees a client pays are inversely related to the likelihood of impairment in settings where goodwill is likely to be impaired. Additional examinations suggest that the negative relation between nonaudit fees and auditor independence is driven by clients who are most incentivized to exert their influence over the auditor.     

The Switch-Up: An Examination of Changes in Earnings Management after Receiving SEC Comment Letters

The SEC has long asserted that earnings management practices result in adverse consequences for investors. We examine whether SEC oversight affects firms' accounting quality in terms of earnings management trade-offs. We expect that increased firm-specific regulatory scrutiny, in the form of an SEC comment letter, will induce management to switch from accrual-based earnings management (AEM), which is a main focus of the SEC, to real-activities-based earnings management (REM), which is not likely to be commented on in the SEC's review process. Consistent with our predictions, we find that AEM is lower and REM is higher following the receipt of a comment letter, relative to non-comment-letter years and a propensity-score-matched sample of non-comment-letter firms. However, we do not find a significant difference in total earnings management (i.e., the sum of AEM and REM), suggesting that the higher REM acts as a substitute for lower AEM activity. We further find that our results are driven by accounting comments relating to estimates and accruals and not by classification-only comments, which suggests that a comment letter that does not question specific issues associated with estimates and accruals is not a strong enough signal to induce the firm to change earnings management behavior. Additionally, the shift to REM is attenuated for firms with high institutional ownership. These results collectively suggest that the comment letter process effectively constrains AEM but has the unintended consequence of firms, on average, switching to REM.