The Role of Information and Influence in Social Networks

A bstract .   This article examines two mechanisms through which social networks are related to job mobility: (1) access to diverse sources of information about job openings and (2) nonredundant sources of influence. Using data on job changing and social networks among television station managers, we assess the extent to which job information and influence variables mediate the relationship between social network structure and getting a better job. Results indicate that there is an association between job mobility and having nonredundant contacts, but our measures of the information and influence mechanisms are not significant mediators. We conclude by reexamining the network-resource model that forms the basis for much of the research on the relationship between social networks and job mobility.     

The Problem of Time Dependent Explanatory Variables at the Context-Level in Discrete Time Multilevel Event History Analysis: A Comparison of Models Considering Mobility Between Local Labour Markets as an Example

The paper deals with the question of how to include time dependent explanatory variables at the context-level in multilevel event history models. In general, context-level explanatory variables in multilevel models are assumed to be time constant. Only time constant context-level explanatory variables perform the task of reducing context-level error variance. Thus, it will be suggested that the analysis should be extended to a three-level model. In this model, time periods of persons constitute level 1 units, time periods of contexts constitute level 2 units and the contexts themselves constitute level 3 units – in which in turn level 2 units are clustered. Considering mobility between local labour markets as an example, four different ways of modelling time varying context-level variables are compared. The result is that the proposed three-level model leads to the most conservative results.     

Long-run underperformance following private equity placements: The role of growth opportunities

Our results show that the post-offering performance of private equity issuers is related to growth opportunities. We find significant long-run underperformance in stock returns following private placements only for firms with high Tobin's q. High-q firms experience not only poor stock price performance but also poor operating performance. Low-q firms, in contrast, do not display significant stock price or operating underperformance. We further examine three potential explanations for this relation: over-investment in assets by managers, investor skewness preference, and over-optimism about earnings prospects. Our results are consistent with the view that investors are overly optimistic about the prospects of high growth firms.     

Do liquidity induced changes in aggregate dividends signal aggregate future earnings growth?

Extant empirical literature does not provide abundant evidence for the information content hypothesis regarding firm-level dividend signaling. Although this is consistent with the argument against an optimal firm-level dividend policy, this does not imply an absence of an optimal aggregate dividend level. Aggregate dividends and earnings may exhibit stronger associations if aggregation filters out firm-specific earnings information and indicates macroeconomic trends. Using macroeconomic data, we show that aggregate payout ratios signal aggregate future earnings growth for horizons up to 4 years, and that excess aggregate liquidity plays an important role in this relationship.

The Obama effect

Many observers argued that Barack Obama’s candidacy in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 benefited from the financial crisis and recessionary economic conditions which voters blamed on the Republican administration. However, an empirical examination of stock price and public opinion data indicates that improvements in Obama’s electoral prospects led stock price declines and that gains by Obama were more likely to be followed by falling stock prices than by rising prices. This evidence suggests that the poor performance of the stock market in the days leading up to Obama’s victory was partly caused by, rather than causing, Obama’s success.

The Economic Deterioration of the Family: Historical Contingencies Preceding the Great Recession

The “Great Recession” in the United States exposed contradictions between the economic well‐being of families and capital that developed in the decades prior to this latest downturn. Using social structure of accumulation theory, a qualitative institutional analysis, and quantitative time‐series models, this article investigates historically contingent relations between the nature of public assistance, family economic deterioration, and capital accumulation. To sustain the circuit of capital, I argue that the family propped up economic growth first through public cash assistance and then through private expenditures, the latter of which lead to the economic deterioration of families dependent on unprecedented levels of debt.     

Elements in participation,teamwork and flexibility in South Africa

This research note involves an investigation of some conceptual issues which arise in the coexistence of direct and indirect forms of participation in three case studies of South African organizations. It is concluded that a managerial paradigm shift from a strong individualistic orientation towards collaborative or collective values could facilitate the process of achieving both economic growth and equity in the workplace.

Elements in participation, teamwork and flexibility in South Africa     

Developing a framework for network and cluster identification for use in economic development policy-making

Drawing on extensive academic research concerning clusters and networks, this paper seeks to create a framework capable of reviewing and monitoring different aspects of clusters and networks on an ongoing basis. The nine-element framework allows evaluation of the structures and processes for the eight basic cluster types identified from the literature. The use of this framework as a complimentary tool to the Multi-sectoral Qualitative Analysis (MSQA) methodology is then demonstrated using three examples (the construction, hardwood timber and higher education sectors). The data was gathered from three sets of key stakeholders (government, institutions and industry) provided from a recent study funded by the Welsh Assembly Government's Small Grants Research Programme. These cases illustrate the use of the framework in helping to generate the initial information necessary for subsequent cluster development policy (within overall regional economic development) by government to occur. The framework provides tools for reviewing and monitoring individual sectors. Information captured within the framework can also help in ameliorating problems in sectors likely to decline further. The need for further development research is also identified. Specifically at the level of the firm and network, there is a need to generate a more detailed framework of analysis of factors that contribute to successful processes of network management, learning and innovation, from which more detailed policy could be enacted in future.     

Demographic determinants of public service motivation: a meta-analysis of PSM-age and -gender relationships

ABSTRACT

Although age and gender are among the most analysed determinants of public service motivation (PSM), their effects on PSM development remain unclear due to contradictory findings among studies. To address this issue, we carried out a meta-analysis of PSM-age and -gender correlations, synthesizing findings from 30 independent samples, with pooled sample sizes as large as N = 86,958. Moreover, we considered the role of cultural context as a moderator of these relationships. Overall, we found that age and gender are indeed antecedents of PSM, but importantly, that these effects differ across cultural contexts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Immediate trends in Internet reporting

The Internet is increasingly used by companies to disseminate financial information. However, the extent to which the use of this new medium will change corporate reporting practice has received surprisingly little debate in the published literature. To widen the participation in the debate, this paper posits that the future of Internet-based financial reporting is contingent on technological and non-technological factors. This proposition is evaluated using the opinions of the immediate trends in online reporting obtained from seventeen UK experts in accounting and/or the Internet who responded to an open-ended questionnaire. These experts were drawn from academics, auditors, regulators, reporting companies and users of corporate reports. While the experts concur on some issues, they provide a range of different views in other areas. Some views are technology-driven, whereas others pay more attention to non-technological factors such as resistance to technological change, users' reluctance to read financial reports and the slow reaction of regulators. Some experts foresee minimum changes in financial reporting over the short term, while others adopt a more progressive or even radical perspective. This paper has synthesized these views into nine major categories which provide information on the role of the Internet in financial reporting. The results have important implications for all parties involved in financial reporting and also indicate avenues for further research.