The Economic Significance of User-Generated Feedback

This paper examines the impact of user-generated feedback on price at a price comparison site or shopbot. It employs a modified hedonic price function to explore the use made by current potential consumers of the experience of past actual consumers in evaluating quality attributes that were not observable when the product was initially launched on to the market. Using a database of daily observations on 211 digital cameras traded on NexTag.com, we find that the product’s star rating, reflecting all the available individual assessments of the product, has a significant negative impact on the discount on the manufacturer’s recommended selling price at which the product is offered.     

Information processing and leadership styles: Constructive thinking and transformational leadership

Transformational leaders increase job satisfaction and well‐being among workers. According to the cognitive‐experiential self‐theory (CEST), all behavior is guided by two information‐processing systems: a rational and an experiential system. Study 1 examined the relationship between information processing and transformational leadership among experienced school leaders (N = 183). The rational system had a strong positive correlation with transformational leadership, whereas the experiential system was weakly correlated. Study 2 (N = 126) examined constructive thinking and transformational leadership. Global constructive thinking, emotional coping, and behavioral coping all had strong positive correlations with transformational leadership. These results suggest that improving leaders' awareness of their own information‐processing and thinking systems might encourage more productive transformational‐leadership techniques.     

Actions towards the joint production of knowledge: the risk of salmon aquaculture on American Lobster

Joint production of knowledge (JPK) is said to facilitate proactive mitigation of risks in marine resource management. However, lack of consensus on who should be involved, when it is happening and the exact mechanisms of sharing knowledge has precluded the development of an effective implementation framework. Here, we explore one approach to building a post-normal science, one that both includes local ecological knowledge and bridges scientific silos. We first identify several actions of knowledge production and then provide an Atlantic Canadian case study, drawn from an assessment of the impact of aquaculture on American lobster, to illustrate necessary actions on the road to JPK. Key actions include theorizing relationships, agreeing on key concepts, specifying, and interpreting required data, identifying principles and making evaluations. We fill a lacuna in the JPK literature by: first, defining knowledge as the result of a set of actions; second, using knowledge generating actions to explore how different knowledge sets come together to contribute to JPK; and third, identifying how knowledge actions can facilitate or inhibit JPK. We conclude that this list of the essential actions of knowledge production is necessary to the successful development of alternative approaches to risk.     

The impact of SEC investigations and accounting and auditing enforcement releases on firms’ cost of equity capital

I study the impact of an SEC investigation (as captured by accounting and auditing enforcement releases) on a firm’s cost of equity capital. AAERs are often used in accounting literature as a proxy for fraudulent financial reporting. Fraudulent financial reporting should lead to an increase in cost of equity capital as a firm’s future cash flows become less certain. Overall, this study provides evidence of changes in cost of equity capital for firms targeted by an SEC AAER on the date the investigation is first made public.     

Outcomes of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor cycling versus switching to a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug with a new mechanism of action among patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives: To examine treatment patterns, treatment effectiveness, and treatment costs for 1 year after patients with rheumatoid arthritis switched from a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) (adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, or infliximab), either cycling to another TNFi (“TNFi cyclers”) or switching to a new mechanism of action (abatacept, tocilizumab, or tofacitinib) (“new MOA switchers”).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used administrative claims data for a national insurer. Treatment persistence (without switching again, restarting, or discontinuing), treatment effectiveness (defined below), and costs were assessed for the 12-month post-switch period. Patients were “effectively treated” if they satisfied all six criteria for a treatment effectiveness algorithm (high adherence, no dose increase, no new conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, no subsequent switch in therapy, no new/increased oral glucocorticoids, and <2 glucocorticoid injections). Multivariable logistic models were used to adjust for baseline factors.

Results: The database included 581 new MOA switchers and 935 TNFi cyclers. New MOA switchers were 39% more likely than TNFi cyclers to persist after the switch (odds ratio [OR]?=?1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]?=?1.12–1.74; p?=?.003) and 36% less likely to switch therapy again (OR?=?0.64; 95% CI?=?0.51–0.81; p?p?=?.006). New MOA switchers had 16% lower drug costs than TNFi cyclers (cost ratio?=?0.84; 95% CI?=?0.79–0.88; p?p?Limitations: Claims payments may not reflect rebates or other cost offsets. Medical and pharmacy claims do not include clinical end-points or reasons that lead to new MOA switching vs TNFi cycling.

Conclusions: These results support switching to a new MOA after a patient fails treatment with a TNFi, which is consistent with recent guidelines for the pharmacologic management of established rheumatoid arthritis.     

Does the Gender Preference for Competition Affect Job Performance? Evidence from a Real Effort Experiment

Experimental evidence has documented that competition may enhance the performance of male subjects in some tasks when competition is imposed exogenously by the experimenter. This note describes data for a task where a simple agency relationship is established in the laboratory between two groups of agents, managers, and workers. The manager chooses from either the piece rate or tournament payment scheme for the worker. The results show that male performance decreases when the tournament is chosen for them by the manager and also suggests that the gender of the manager may be an important facet of the agency relationship. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The distance from external balance: Pacific Island states

This paper seeks to illustrate the potential relevance of the ‘distance from external balance’ concept as a calibration tool for use in the analysis of the external imbalances experienced by small island states. The paper draws on data from several Pacific Island countries to illustrate the measurement and policy issues involved. The paper defines the distance from external balance, provides estimates of its magnitude for the selected Pacific Island countries, and illustrates how the distance from external balance has changed over time. It is found that the small microstates are furthest from external balance. Finally, policy options to address cases of chronic external imbalance are identified.     

The Impact of Cultural Differences on the Convergence of International Accounting Codes of Ethics

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued a revised “Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants” (IFAC Code). The IFAC Code is intended to be a model code of ethics for national accounting organizations throughout the world. Prior research demonstrates that approximately 50% of IFAC member organizations have adopted the IFAC Code as their organizational code of conduct. There is therefore empirical evidence that international convergence of accounting ethical standards is occurring. We employ Hofstede’s (2008, http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php) cultural dimensions in an attempt to empirically explain accounting organizations’ decisions about whether to adopt the IFAC Code or to retain their organization-specific code. Our results indicate that accounting organizations in cultures with high levels of Individualism and Uncertainty Avoidance are less likely to adopt the model IFAC Code. Organizations in high Individualism and Uncertainty Avoidance societies are therefore less likely to surrender the setting of ethical standards to an outside, international organization.     

美国消费者眼中的企业社会责任

美国消费者最关注员工问题 消费者眼中认为的最重要的企业社会责任领域或许有别于那些社会责任投资者们所关注的领域。尽管社会责任投资者们在评估方法上远未达成一致,但运用更加广泛的评估方式已经逐渐成为一种趋势。美国著名的企业社会责任研究及咨询公司KLD,创建了一个名为“苏格拉底”的在线社会研究数据库,旨在帮助那些投资专业人士将环境、社会及管理因素纳入其投资决策中去。