审计市场中的信号显示机制:理论与实证分析

本文首先给出了审计师声誉与“质量溢价”的理论模型,然后利用上市公司披露的2000~2002年三年的年报审计费用共2520家样本进行了实证分析。在控制住客户规模、业务复杂程度以及审计风险之后,从三年的回归结果可以看出,审计师声誉越高,审计服务价格中的“质量溢价”也越高。国际“五大”合作所的审计服务价格显著高于国内“五大”所,而国内“五大”所的审计服务价格又显著高于国内其他所。这说明审计师声誉和审计服务价格作为审计质量的显示信号,得到了市场的认同,虽然审计市场具有“二手车”市场的特征,但是由于多期博弈的存在,部分消除了审计市场中的信息不对称现象。     

Institutional determinants of ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions in Africa: The moderating role of geographic distance

We look at how emerging markets' institutional features affect ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) within Africa. Particularly, we show that the presence of shared colonial history between the home and host country and the extent of fractionalization distance and formal institutional distance influence the acquiring firm's decision regarding its ownership stake in the target. Moreover, we show that geographic distance between the home and host country, by augmenting uncertainty faced by acquiring firms, moderates the relationship between these institutional features and ownership stake. We test our hypotheses in a sample of 341 intra-Africa CBAs from 2001 to 2016. Generally, we find that greater ex ante uncertainty and ex post costs increase ownership stake. Specifically, greater geographic distance strengthens the positive relationship between shared colonial history and ownership stake and reverses the negative relationship between formal institutional distance and ownership stake. As for fractionalization distance, the relationship is more nuanced and needs to be further studied. We contribute to advance research on south–south CBAs in general, particularly within Africa, as well as to extend hostage theory in foreign market entry strategies in and from emerging markets.     

An examination of the effects of venture capitalists on the alliance formation activity of entrepreneurial firms

Research Summary : Alliances offer benefits such as access to capital, knowledge, and markets. Yet, due to their lack of legitimacy, entrepreneurial firms find it challenging to engage in alliances. Thus, it is important to examine which factors may drive alliance formation for entrepreneurial firms. We examine whether the presence of venture capitalists (VCs) is such a factor. Whereas current research suffers from endogeneity concerns that make the comparison of VC- and non-VC-backed firms problematic, our empirical design reduces this problem. Overall, we find that the presence of a VC and a VC's experience with taking firms public are positively associated with entrepreneurial firms’ alliance formation, and that VCs are more active in forming an alliance when the exit outcome is an acquisition, rather than going public. Managerial Summary : Alliances can be of fundamental importance to the growth of entrepreneurial firms. However, because entrepreneurial firms hold limited resources, their access to alliances may be limited. We study whether entrepreneurial firms backed by venture capitalists (VCs) are more likely to enter into alliances than firms without VC backing. A major problem with this sort of analysis is that VCs may cherry pick the best firms, which in turn are more likely to engage in alliances to begin with, irrespective of VCs. Accordingly, we control for the quality of funded firms, and therefore, isolate the VCs’ contribution to alliance formation. In doing so, we find support for the importance of the role VCs play in entrepreneurial firms’ alliance formations.     

Optimal Incentives on Multiple Prosocial Activities when Reputation Matters*

In this paper, we present a signaling model in which individuals engage in socially beneficial but costly activities in order to convey information about their willingness to cooperate with other agents. When several activities are available, the inclusion of monetary compensations in any one of them affects the relative costs of undertaking each activity and, therefore, their informative value for agents. We find the subsidies that maximize social welfare, which are shown to depend critically on the reputation gained from each activity. Finally, we use comparative statics analysis to study the effects on optimal subsidies of changes in their determinants.     

网络借贷中信息不对称缓解机制研究*——基于信号传递和双边声誉视角

本文借助于“人人贷”平台的微观数据从信号传递和双边声誉两个视角研究了网络借贷平台信息不对称问题的缓解机制。研究发现网络借贷平台的学历信号和双边声誉机制有助于减缓信息不对称程度，提高金融服务效率，增进资源的合理配置，降低融资后的道德风险。同时，本文还发现借款人的学历信号和双边声誉存在非对称的替代关系，高声誉更能弥补低学历借款人信誉信号的不足，因此低学历借款人更有激励建立自身的高声誉，但是随着借款人学历的提升，该非对称效应消失。进一步研究发现，学历信号和双边声誉机制在缓解借贷双方的信息不对称问题上存在较大的区域差异。本文的研究对于缓解“长尾人群”的融资约束提供了一种新的思路。     

How Seller and Product Characteristics Impact Promotion on eBay

This study draws on signaling theory to test whether seller and product characteristics impact the use of display-type versus informational-type promotion on eBay. The authors predict that display-type promotion is used by less-experienced sellers who cannot promote on the basis of their own seller ratings. The authors predict that experienced sellers, on the other hand, prefer informational promotion since their high ratings make seller-provided statements more credible. In addition to seller characteristics, the authors predict that product characteristics, such as price and product condition, also impact promotion. It is expected that higher prices drive greater investments in display-type promotions overall, even if such promotion is less effective. Finally, it is hypothesized that the better the condition of the product, the greater the use of informational promotion since this kind of disclosure is especially influential. The hypotheses were tested using a large data set of auction data from eBay and received excellent support. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Does It Pay to Promote on eBay?

Promotional upgrades to auction listings are now a ubiquitous feature of auction Web sites. We examine 705 auctions of a single consumer-electronic product on eBay and test whether use of various promotions results in a greater probability of sale or a higher realized price. We find that promotions that focus on display enhancements, such as border, bold, or highlight, are not worth the cost. However, the subtitle promotional tool is effective and worth the cost. We also find interesting results regarding seller reputation: although seller reputation does not increase the probability of a sale overall, it can result in higher realized price if a reputable seller is selected. Implications for promoting on eBay are discussed.     

Entry deterrence when the potential entrant is your competitor in a different market

In this article, we present a two‐period model in which one firm operates in two markets: a monopoly and a duopoly. Assuming that this firm has private information on the cross‐price elasticity of demand between the products sold in both markets, it limits its quantity supplied in the monopoly market in order to make its rival in the other market believe that entry into the monopolized market is unprofitable. As a result of this strategy, the average prices observed in both markets increase. This result suggests that the detrimental effects of entry deterrence on consumers' welfare are stronger than those predicted by previous literature.     

Unpacking functional alliance portfolios: How signals of viability affect young firms' outcomes

This article investigates how alliance portfolio composition affects young firms' outcomes. Drawing on signaling theory, we propose how alliance portfolio composition—number, functional domains (R&D, manufacturing, and marketing), and single‐purpose or multi‐purpose nature of alliances within the portfolio—may affect a firm's likelihood of achieving a liquidity event (IPO or acquisition). We study 8,600 U.S.‐based, VC‐backed firms during the period of 1990 to 2002 from 10 industry sectors. We find that alliance portfolios (to a certain extent) increase a firm's liquidity event likelihood. Further, firms with heterogeneous alliance portfolios, including portfolios emitting greater efficiency signals versus endorsement signals, are more likely to experience an IPO versus acquisition. Our findings lend support to the value of multi‐function alliances within portfolios. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.