Organisational consequences of asymmetries in task dependence: the moderating role of HR practices

This study integrates recent advances in interdependence theory with the literature on commitment‐based HR practices. New research on interdependence theory suggests that differences, or asymmetries, in task dependence among organisational members can cause interests to diverge. Prior research has shown that this can negatively affect interpersonal relations, individual outcomes and team processes. However, these insights gained on the dyadic, individual and team levels of analysis have not yet been explored at the organisational level and, until now, no research had yet connected these advances in interdependence theory to the field of HRM research. Hence, the current study investigates (a) whether asymmetries in task dependence do (or do not) matter at the organisational level and affect organisational effectiveness, (b) why this relationship may work by assessing a key mediator, namely, trust climate and (c) if and how these relationships can be altered by commitment‐based HR practices. Our moderated‐mediation model was tested and fully supported by a multi‐source data set of 8,390 employees from 67 organisations.     

Attention to Fairness versus Profits: The Determinants of Satisficing Pricing

We investigate determinants of the competitive behaviour of satisficing, non‐profit‐maximizing pricing. Taking a behavioural approach, we argue that pricing decisions are motivated by fairness objectives as well as the desire to achieve economic objectives. We draw from the attention‐based view to build our theoretical model explaining the contextual conditions that are most likely to be associated with attention to fairness relative to attention to achieving maximum profits when setting prices. Our hypothesized predictors of satisficing pricing decisions encompass the institutional context in which the firm is embedded, the exchange context with customers and suppliers, and the context internal to the firm. Hypotheses are tested with survey data of over 3000 firms from 15 countries. We find that the decision to set prices at a satisficing level is remarkably common, and its prevalence is associated with contextual factors that are consistent with greater attention to fairness concerns.     

Pure jump models for pricing and hedging VIX derivatives

Recent non-parametric statistical analysis of high-frequency VIX data (Todorov and Tauchen, 2011) reveals that VIX dynamics is a pure jump semimartingale with infinite jump activity and infinite variation. To our best knowledge, existing models in the literature for pricing and hedging VIX derivatives do not have these features. This paper fills this gap by developing a novel class of parsimonious pure jump models with such features for VIX based on the additive time change technique proposed in Li et al., 2016a, Li et al., 2016b. We time change the 3/2 diffusion by a class of additive subordinators with infinite activity, yielding pure jump Markov semimartingales with infinite activity and infinite variation. These processes have time and state dependent jumps that are mean reverting and are able to capture stylized features of VIX. Our models take the initial term structure of VIX futures as input and are analytically tractable for pricing VIX futures and European options via eigenfunction expansions. Through calibration exercises, we show that our model is able to achieve excellent fit for the VIX implied volatility surface which typically exhibits very steep skews. Comparison to two other models in terms of calibration reveals that our model performs better both in-sample and out-of-sample. We explain the ability of our model to fit the volatility surface by evaluating the matching of moments implied from market VIX option prices. To hedge VIX options, we develop a dynamic strategy which minimizes instantaneous jump risk at each rebalancing time while controlling transaction cost. Its effectiveness is demonstrated through a simulation study on hedging Bermudan style VIX options.     

浅析欧盟特种设备监管

文章就欧盟对特种设备的监管方法进行了研究,包括欧盟特种设备指令的适用范围、内容以及市场监督方式,并就欧盟新方法指令的特点进行了分析,提出了有关我国特种设备监管的建议对策。     

A decision analysis model for smart mobility system development under circular economy approach

Circular economy (CE) is recognized as one of the most popular theories of the decade. Its domain spreads to disciplines like production, environmental sciences, and transport/mobility sectors. This research corresponds to one of the essential questions in CE which look for effective solutions in smart mobility systems regarding eco-innovation indicators. We conducted a deep survey on CE and smart mobility literature and sorted out potential solutions (alternatives) and fundamental indicators based on the Quintuple Helix model. Then, a rough-based multiple criteria decision analysis model was adopted by the incorporation of LMAW (logarithm methodology of additive weights) and MARCOS (measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to the COmpromise Solution) methods. To analyse the potential solutions, ten experts from relevant sectors assisted us in composing an assessment platform through qualitative comparison. Initial results showed that public transport (good practices) and shared mobility services are amongst the best solutions for establishing a smart mobility plan. Our decision-making model was tested and showed that our ranking scores are highly confidential and stable. The outcome of this study can be benchmarked in urban planning, where policymakers should rethink the transport and mobility sectors, structuring, development, and economic remodelling which are top decision-making problems nowadays.     

Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China

Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in contributing to the realization of full employment in all countries around the world. By improving the efficiency of the flow of production factors, high-speed rail (HSR) has an important impact on regional economic development. However, little is known about whether HSR has improved urban entrepreneurial activity. This paper takes the opening of HSR as a quasi-natural experiment and constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model, using panel data on 284 prefecture-level cities in China for the period from 2005 to 2019, to systematically evaluate the impact of HSR openings on urban entrepreneurial activity. We find that the opening of HSR has increased the urban entrepreneurial activity, and that this effect is more obvious in cities at high administrative levels, with locational advantages, and highly developed economies, including service industries. HSR can enhance urban entrepreneurial activity by improving the level of talent aggregation and venture capital. These findings provide fresh perspectives on the connection between HSR and urban entrepreneurial activity.     

外出务工对流出地家庭生计策略的影响——来自西部山区的证据

本文首先基于可持续生计框架,引入劳动力迁移的视角,之后改进农户模型以分析劳动力外出务工对流出地家庭生计策略的影响机理,并利用陕西秦岭北麓地区1074户的调查数据进行验证。结果发现:外地打工虽然有利于家庭的资本积累,但会阻碍流出地非农生计活动的参与和劳动力供给;本地打工在促进资本积累的同时,对参与林(经济)作物种植、养殖和自营等生计活动有显著的促进作用,但过多的劳动力外出务工仍然会减少本地其它活动的收入水平。     

知识经济与中国经济增长方式的战略性转变

本文依据中国经济发展面临的问题与世界经济结构调整现状,分析了科技进步、知识经济对经济增长的作用和影响,阐释了知识经济作为推动经济增长方式转变新要素的重要地位,进而探讨了面向知识经济时代的经济增长结构的战略性调整等问题。     

The incremental time costs of children: An analysis of children's impact on adult time use in Australia

Abstract

Raising children takes both time and money. Scholars have sought convincing ways to capture the costs of children, but even when these estimates include indirect costs, such as mothers' foregone earnings, they fall short of the true time costs involved. This paper uses data from the 1997 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey to study how the allocation of time differs across households with varying numbers and ages of children and how households with children differ from those without children. It also examines the intra household division of time resources, showing how childcare, related unpaid work, and the total market and non-market workloads compare for a couple in the same household. It includes secondary activity in an analysis of total parental time commitments to give a more accurate picture of the time cost of children than is possible on the basis of analyzing “primary” activities alone.     

Firm financing and growth in the Arab region

This paper documents how firms in Arab countries use equity, corporate bond and syndicated loan markets to obtain financing and grow. Working with a new dataset on issuance activity in domestic and international markets and firm performance, the paper finds that capital raising through these markets has grown rapidly since the early 1990s and involved an increasing number of firms. Whereas the amounts raised in equity and loan markets (relative to gross domestic product) stand well relative to international standards, bond issuance activity lags behind. However, bond financing has gained importance over time. Equity issuances take place primarily in domestic markets, whereas bonds and loans are mostly issued internationally, display long maturities and entail low levels of credit risk. Issuing firms from the Arab region are very large compared to international standards. They also tend to be larger, faster growing and more leveraged than non-issuing firms in Arab countries.