Practical formalism: A new methodological proposal for business ethics

The traditional exposition of Kantian ethical theory in the business ethics literature is abstract, esoteric, and impractical compared to the more usable presentations of utilitarianism. This situation can be improved by identifying and describing the conceptual dimensions of formalistic ethical reasoning, as contained in the interplay between case and principle, with examples from the business/society literature. F. Neil Brady is Associate Professor of Management at San Diego State University. He has published several articles which appeared in Academy of Management Review.     

An Exploration into the Developmental Psychology of Ethical Theory with Implications for Business Practice and Pedagogy

This article is an attempt to understand ethical theory not just as a set of well-developed philosophical perspectives but as a range of moral capacities that human beings more or less grow into over the course of their lives. To this end, we explore the connection between formal ethical theories and stage developmental psychologies, showing how individuals mature morally, regarding their duties, responsibilities, ideals, goals, values, and interests. The primary method is to extract from the writings of Kohlberg and his students the cues that help to flesh out a developmental picture of a wide range of ethical perspectives. Thus, developmental psychology benefits from gaining a broader understanding of “morality” and “ethics,” and ethical theory benefits from a richer understanding of how moral maturity arises from youthful beginnings in juvenile and adolescent thinking. Results of this study offer insight into the difficulty of teaching ethics and a refined ability to assess moral maturity in business activity. F. Neil Brady is the Jack R. Wheatley Professor of Management Ethics in the Romney Institute of Public Management and a member of the Ethics Group at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He has published over thirty articles on ethics in a variety of journals including the Academy of Management Review, Administration & Society, and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. He has authored Ethical Managing (Macmillan 1990) and edited Ethical Universals in International Business (Springer Verlag 1996). For twenty years, his research has focused on the application of ethical theory to managerial decisions. David W. Hart is assistant professor of public management in the Romney Institute of Public Management and a member of the Ethics Group at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD from the State University of New York at Albany. His current research focuses on administrative ethics, business-government interaction, and the external environment of organizations. He has published in a variety of journals and is the co-author of a book. Wall Street Polices Itself: How Securities Firms Manage the Legal Hazards of Competitive Pressures (Oxford University Press, 1998).     

Efficiency audit: An assembly of rationalities and programmes

This paper focuses on the insertion of accounting and auditing knowledge into wider areas of practice, and examines the processes of auditing change through studying the development of “efficiency auditing” using events in one jurisdiction, the Province of Alberta, Canada, as an exemplar. These developments are interpreted through use of Miller and Rose's (1990; Rose & Miller, 1992) theoretical concerns with governmentality, and especially the links between generally stated political rationalities and more specific programmes for action. In studying the association of ideas of efficiency with auditing, and the developing belief that efficiency could be investigated or procured through audit scrutiny, it is argued that these events can be understood in terms of an intersection between wider discourse (concerning, for example, best management practice, appropriate auditing roles, etc.) and local circumstance. The specific interpretations that result are understood as providing one set of conditions by which auditing (and accounting are linked to the social (Burchell et al., 1985). Further research (Radcliffe, 1995) attends to the logistics of how one might audit for efficiency, using fieldwork to trace the technologies which provide practitioners with particular mechanisms for action (Miller & Rose, 1990). © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Negative word of mouth can be a positive for consumers connected to the brand

It is widely accepted, and demonstrated in the marketing literature, that negative online word of mouth (NOWOM) has a negative impact on brands. The present research, however, finds the opposite effect among individuals who feel a close personal connection to the brand—a group that often contains the brand’s best customers. A series of three studies show that, when self–brand connection (SBC) is high, consumers process NOWOM defensively—a process that actually increases their behavioral intentions toward the brand. Study 1 demonstrates this effect using an experimental manipulation of SBC related to clothing brands, and provides process evidence by analyzing coded thought listings. Study 2 provides convergent evidence by measuring SBC associated with smartphones, and followup analyses show that as SBC increases, the otherwise negative effect of NOWOM steadily transforms to become significantly positive. Study 3 replicates these results using a combination of a national survey conducted by J.D. Power investigating hotel stays and data drawn from TripAdvisor. Results of all three studies, set in product categories with varying levels of identity relevance, support the positive effects of NOWOM for high-SBC customers and have implications for both managers and researchers.     

Impacts of Decoupled Agricultural Support on Farm Structure,Biodiversity and Landscape Mosaic: Some EU Results

The decoupling of direct payments from production represents a substantial reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Farmers are no longer required to produce commodities to be entitled to support but only to keep land in Good Environmental and Agricultural Condition. If output declines as a result, there is concern that landscape services produced jointly with commodities will also decline. The aim of this paper is to assess the long‐term effects of the 2003 reform on farm structure, landscape mosaic and biodiversity for a sample of EU regions. Impacts are quantified using a spatial agent‐based modelling approach by simulating agricultural development with links to indicators of landscape value. Our results demonstrate that eliminating the link between support payments and production has possible negative consequences for the landscape, but only under particular circumstances. It is shown that these effects could be offset by strengthening (Pillar II) agri‐environmental schemes. Further the single payment scheme results in higher land rental prices which reduces its ability to achieve its goal of providing income security for farmers. Implications of these results for the direction of continued CAP reform are discussed.     

Food security and Canada's agricultural system challenged by COVID-19

The effect of COVID-19 on Canadian food security is examined from two different perspectives. COVID-19 creates a unique “income shock” that is expected to increase the prevalence of household food insecurity. This food insecurity can be measured by utilizing the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). More fundamentally, COVID-19 heightens household concern about the capacity of the Canadian food system to ensure food availability. Despite surges in demand and supply chain disruptions, we currently do not observe broad, rapid appreciation in food prices. This suggests that there is an adequate supply of food for the near term. There is less certainty over intermediate and longer time periods because so many factors are in flux, particularly the rate of increases in sicknesses and deaths across the country and globally. Data on these health factors and elements of the food supply chain are needed to predict beyond a short time frame. In this regard, we discuss three ongoing considerations—ease of capital flows, international exchange, and maintaining transportation—that will help ensure food availability in the longer run.     

The Roles of Gender and Marital Status on Risky Asset Allocation Decisions

We analyze data on asset allocations in individual retirement accounts to examine the roles of marital status and gender on investment decisions. We utilize data from two birth cohorts to understand the relationship over a wide age range. We find that, in their 30s and early 40s, men are more likely to hold a majority of their funds in stocks in individual retirement accounts compared to women. The gender difference disappears around retirement age; however, a significant difference by marital status emerges in that age group. Divorced and widowed individuals are less likely to hold a majority of their funds in stocks compared to married individuals in their 60s. While there exists a positive gap in stock holdings between married men and married women in their 30s, the gender gap is nonexistent among older individuals. Using paired data on stock holdings in the older birth cohort, we show that husbands' and wives' asset allocations in individual retirement accounts are strongly correlated, coinciding with the lack of a gender gap in stock holdings among older couples.     

BUSINESS CYCLES AND ADMISSIONS TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT

We study the effect of business cycles on admissions to specialty substance abuse treatment using administrative data between 1992 and 2015. We proxy business cycles with the state unemployment rate and apply a panel fixed‐effects model. While previous economic research has shown that substance abuse is counter‐cyclical, we observe no change in the total number of admissions across the business cycle. However, focusing on average effects misses important heterogeneity. In substance‐specific regressions we find statistically significant evidence that heroin‐related admissions are counter‐cyclical while stimulant‐related admissions are procyclical. Our findings add to the literature on business cycles and health. (JEL I1, J2)