Commentary on Hassenzahl's ‘The effect of uncertainty on “risk rationalizing” decisions’

Contemporary societies have been characterized as risk societies. While considerable research on individualized risk and risk management exists, voluntary risk taking has so far found less attention. This article explores the tensions between voluntary risk-taking at the individual level and risk management at the organizational level by analysing aid work as edgework. Between 1990s and 2009, the number of attacks on aid personnel including killing, kidnapping and armed attacks has steadily increased. Security and how to deal with it has become a central concern of aid organizations. While the increased insecurity of aid workers and the responses of aid organizations to security threats have been widely documented, less attention has been paid to the role risk-taking plays in aid workers lives. Edgework is a form of voluntary risk-taking and has been primarily studied in the context of risk-taking leisure such as action and adventure sport. Aid work encompasses a wide range of interventions, including development and emergency relief. Depending on assignment and region, people working in the aid industry find themselves in high- or low-risk situations. Based on biographical interviews with people working in aid, this article addresses motivations for getting involved in aid work and experiences of danger in Aidland. Contrasting individualized risks with security procedures of aid organizations, my article contributes to a better understanding of risk-taking behaviour in general and in the context of overseas aid in particular.     

Effects of Deposit Insurance Reform on Moral Hazard in US Banking

In cross sections of US banks before the deposit-insurance system was reformed in the early 1990s, bank risk-taking was positively associated with bank size and negatively associated with the value of bank charters and bank capital. These empirical associations have an easy theoretical interpretation. Bank size is positively related, while charter value and capital are negatively related, to the moral hazard associated with flat insurance premiums and other aspects of a laxly administered system. Hence the observed associations of risk-taking with size, charter value, and capital reflected the expected positive relation between moral hazard and risk-taking. We test the hypothesis that the three associations became weaker after reform. In the case of unsystematic risk, we find no evidence of significant changes for any of the three. In the case of systematic risk, we find that risk-taking associated with lower charter values and larger size is indeed significantly weaker after reform. Risk-taking associated with capital ratios is also weaker after reform, though not significantly so. Since systematic risk is undoubtedly the more appropriate measure, reform seems to have reduced moral hazard.     

中国商业银行规模、治理与风险承担的实证研究

基于2000-2010年中国13家商业银行的非平衡面板数据对中国商业银行规模、银行治理与风险承担关系进行的实证研究,结果表明银行规模与风险承担呈U形关系;银行治理水平与风险承担呈负向关系;大型商业银行治理引起的风险承担比股份制商业银行高。因此,必须适当限制商业银行的规模扩张,加强商业银行的安全网建设,加大对大型、系统重要性商业银行的监管力度,提高商业银行尤其是大型商业银行的治理水平。     

金融衍生品与企业风险承担——基于我国制造业上市公司的经验证据

以我国沪深A股上市的制造业企业2007-2012年数据为基础,剖析了金融衍生品对企业个体风险和系统风险的影响。研究表明,无论是整体的衍生品还是不同合约类型的衍生品,对个体风险和系统风险均产生了抑制效应。进一步分析显示,衍生品对个体风险的抑制效应在显著性水平上存在着结构性差异,其中外汇衍生品的影响在统计上显著,而商品衍生品和利率衍生品则不显著。此外,还发现整体衍生品和单一衍生品对系统风险的抑制效应均不显著。     

污水处理类上市公司战略、风险承担与研发投入

以污水处理类上市公司2013-2017年数据作为研究样本,以研发投入为被解释变量,以公司战略、风险承担为解释变量,结合污水处理行业的特点,运用多元回归模型分析了公司战略、风险承担对研发投入的影响。实证结果表明:公司战略和风险承担对研发投入均有显著的正向影响。最后,提出完善法律法规、转变发展战略、提升风险承担水平和加大研发投入等对策,以促进污水处理类公司的持续性发展。     

Risk-taking and relational perspective on turnover intentions

This study investigated risking-taking and network ties and their impact on an individual's intention to quit from a relational perspective. Using the social identity and social capital as the theoretical foundation, hypotheses were developed to examine how internal instrumental and external ties as well as ties with higher ranked individuals and their association with turnover intention. These hypotheses were empirically tested using data collected from 126 full-time employees in a Chinese setting. The results showed that high risk propensity was positively associated with turnover intention. Not only internal ties that binds, but external networking also matter in turnover decisions.     

Defining the Entrepreneurial Capital Construct

The purpose of this paper is to show preliminary results from an international research project on intellectual capital and value creation led by Lappeenranta University of Technology （Finland）. In the case of this paper, results from Italy will be reported and specifically. The Italian analysis focuses on the entrepreneurial capital （EC） and it analyses how large Italian companies develop and enhance this intangible element. The main research question is： What is the current level of EC in Italian organizations and how does it affect value creation.＇？ To this end, the research addressed the different definitions of EC that literature offers. As a secondary step, this paper analysed the variables suggested by previous literature and proposed an original definition for the research project. The definition is that EC is a stock of competences and the personnels＇ attributes related to proactive, risky, and aggressive decision-making and behaviour. This research provides researchers and managers with unique insights into the evolutionary nature of the relationships between distinct 1C variables and draws a picture on the state of art of corporate EC in the selected sample. This research highlights and improves companies＇ abilities to manage their EC. Furthermore, this research will set the agenda for improving the EC practices of Italian companies and will allow future comparison with firms from other countries that are participating in the same project identifying different pathways to success.     

会计信息透明度提高了企业风险承担吗? ——基于企业生命周期视角的经验证据

以2008—2018年A股上市公司为样本,基于企业生命周期理论,运用普通最小二乘法(OLS)实证检验会计信息透明度对企业风险承担的影响.结果表明:会计信息透明度显著提升了企业风险承担水平.进一步分析发现,对处于成长期和成熟期的企业,会计信息透明度对企业风险承担具有显著的正面影响,且前者提升效应大于后者;对处于衰退期的企业,会计信息透明度对企业风险承担具有一定的负面影响作用.     

CEO risk-taking incentives and socially irresponsible activities

This study examines the relationship between CEO risk-taking incentives, measured by the sensitivity of CEO wealth held in options to a change in stock return volatility or Vega, and socially irresponsible activities using a large sample of U.S. firms during the period 1992–2012. Our results for the period before the 2007 financial crisis suggest that CEO risk-taking incentives are positively related to socially irresponsible activities. In addition, we find that a firm's socially responsible actions may act as a moderator, strengthening the aforementioned relationship. The results after the 2007 financial crisis show no evidence of a significant relationship between CEO risk-taking incentives and socially irresponsible activities. This could be due to the increased scrutiny regarding compensation packages and the increased role of reputational issues in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Our results suggest that risk-taking incentives embedded in the CEO compensation scheme have implications for corporate policies toward socially irresponsible activities.     

Good for managers,bad for society? Causal evidence on the association between risk-taking incentives and corporate social responsibility

Using FAS 123R as an exogenous shock to stock options, I provide evidence that equity-based risk-taking incentives discourage corporate social responsibility (CSR). This finding suggests that compensation incentives can motivate managers not to pursue CSR strategies because CSR reduces firms’ risk and provides insurance-like benefits. Firms with a greater demand for CSR's risk reduction are more sensitive to changes in risk-taking incentives. I triangulate my results by confirming that CSR weaknesses are positively related to subsequent stock return volatility. Overall, using a robust empirical design, I find that risk-taking incentives are a determinant of firms’ CSR.