Customer Preferences for Social Value over Economic Value in Restaurants

The purpose of this study was to examine a model of value proposition of benefits, willingness to disclose personal information, and customer loyalty in a restaurant context. The results of an empirical study indicated that social value proposition had a stronger positive effect on willingness to disclose information, behavioral, and attitudinal loyalty, respectively; whereas economic value proposition only had a positive effect on behavioral loyalty. Given that there have been few prior studies examining value proposition with decomposition of economic and social benefits, the model verified in this study serves as a guide for managerial strategies and future studies.     

Funding Status Projections for Southern Public Teaching Pension Plans

The average funding status for eleven southern state pension plans used by teachers as of 2005 is 86%, which translates into over a $40 billion shortfall. Employing Monte Carlo simulation, this study projects the expected future funding status along with confidence intervals for each of these states over the next 10 years. Projections suggest the average underfunding will remain virtually the same based on current state pension contributions and asset allocations. However, if underlying pension asset returns fail to meet expectations due to high funding risk, the average underfunding could fall to 73%, a shortfall of over $150 billion.

Accounting and governance in the final years of the Papal States: Dual roles in the papacy of Pius IX (1846–1870)

The Papal States represent a unique and long period in Italian government and in the government of the Roman Catholic Church prior to Italy's unification in 1870. The 25-year period prior to unification was a particularly tumultuous period when the Papal States struggled for survival, faced military and popular challenges and became increasingly indebted. Accounting could become an important tool to assist decision-making and enhance the Papal States' sustainability, as shown by the governance reforms promulgated by Pope Pius IX in this period. Nevertheless, accountants chose what to make visible and emphasised secular, rather than the sacred aspects of the Papal States. Despite reforms, there was a disconnection between the leaders and the accountants. This research therefore examines the role of accounting in such an institution, and extends the concept of a sacred-secular divide to a state government beset by resource constraints and challenged to fulfil its spiritual aims.     

Human resource outsourcing: Market and operating performance effects of administrative HR functions

Using event study methodology and two-stage regression analysis on a sample of firms announcing human resource outsourcing (HRO) contracts, this study tests the association between administrative HRO and firm-level capital market and long run operating performance, with archival financial data controlling for endogeneity and outsourcing decision optimality. The results demonstrate that the equity capital market responds positively to client firms announcing administrative HRO, particularly service firms and those outsourcing transactional HR tasks. Additional statistical analysis shows that suboptimal outsourcing is negatively associated with long run operating performance measured as return on assets and operating return on assets. This study contributes to outsourcing literature by more precisely quantifying outsourcing performance through archival financial data and employing capital market empirical tests. Further, it controls for outsourcing decision optimality in examining long run operating performance effects. This research focuses on HR, a critical function within the firm and value enhancing to the firm.     

History Repeats Itself: Child Labor in Latin America

Child labor occurs on almost every continent in the world. Very few countries seem to escape this exploitative phase as they develop into fully industrialized countries. Child labor began during the eighteenth century in Great Britain and it continues in the twenty-first century in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras. This paper offers an explanation for the persistence of child labor through history. The increase in the employment of children during industrialization is caused by an increase in the supply of children from poor and working-class families and an increase in the demand for child labor by the factory owners. Parents trapped in poverty have no other choice but to send their children off to work to contribute to the family income. Children’s wages, moreover, often make the difference between starvation and survival. Employers are happy to oblige the parents because children are more productive than adults in the new industrial regimen. As the principle of the division of labor has been applied to the production process, unskilled children replace skilled adults in factories, mills, and mines. Children are preferred to adults because they are cheap, submissive, uneducated and nimble. These economic forces are so strong that neither child labor laws nor mandatory schooling legislation are an effective deterrent against employers or families. Since history is repeating itself in the developing world by industrializing on the backs of children, alternative policies are recommend to cut this stage short so that the future generations of Latin America will become educated instead of exploited.

Public infrastructure provision and ethnic favouritism: Evidence from South Africa

Does coethnicity with the President affect public infrastructure provision in South Africa? Using municipal-level data for 52 district municipalities from 1996 to 2016, we find that municipalities coethnic with the President are associated with higher water infrastructure provision relative to non-coethnic municipalities. Taking into account various political considerations, results show that ethnic favouritism occurs due to ethnic altruism. Our findings remain robust to different specifications of coethnicity thresholds and are applicable to electricity infrastructure provision. Results suggest that in order to minimise ethnic favouritism, politically independent institutions should oversee the allocation of funding and provision of infrastructure.     

Flood insurance literacy and flood risk knowledge: Evidence from Portland,Oregon

Flood costs are escalating due to climate change and increased development in hazardous areas. Flood insurance plays a critical role in financial recovery, but there is very little research on how well consumers understand flood insurance policies. Poor insurance literacy could lead to suboptimal risk management decisions. This paper presents some of the first evidence on homeowner flood insurance literacy from a survey of residents in Portland, Oregon. We find that while a basic understanding of general insurance terms is widespread, details about flood insurance policies are not well-understood and many respondents do not know the specific terms of their policy. Residents of the 100-year floodplain are more likely to know that their homeowners’ insurance does not cover flooding, but do not have substantially better understanding or knowledge of specifics about their policy than those outside the floodplain. We also find that the majority of survey respondents did not learn about their flood risk or the cost of flood insurance until after making an offer on their property.     

CSR activity in response to the Paris Agreement exit

In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Although there were concerns that the exit would impede the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the environmental performance of U.S. firms in carbon-intensive sectors improved after the announcement at a significantly higher pace than firms in other sectors. Moreover, our findings are concentrated among firms exposed to higher public attention. One implication is that firms under greater public scrutiny used the United States' departure from the agreement as an opportunity to credibly signal their commitment to combating global climate change.