How CEOs protect themselves against dismissal: A social status perspective

In this study, we address the question of why some CEOs stay in office during a performance downturn while others don't. Taking a social status perspective, we argue that an individual's board network embeddedness—as reflected in the number of outside directorships—plays an important role in dismissal decisions. We predict that a high status of the CEO relative to the chairman of the board protects an underperforming CEO against dismissal, while the relative salience of board network outsiders can counter this effect. Using longitudinal data of large German corporations, we find support for our predictions. Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do‐no‐harm versus do‐good social responsibility: Attributional thinking and the liability of foreignness

Research summary: The efforts of multinational corporations to be socially responsible do not always engender positive evaluations from overseas stakeholders. Drawing on attribution theory, we argue that two heuristics guide stakeholders in evaluating firms' social performance: foreignness and the valence of firms' social responsibility. We provide evidence from a field study of secondary stakeholders and an experimental study involving 129 non‐governmental organizations. Consistent with attribution theory, the liability of foreignness is minimized when firms engage in “do‐good” social responsibility (focused on proactive engagement creating positive externalities) but is substantial when firms engage in “do‐no‐harm” social responsibility (focused on attenuating negative externalities). In online supporting information, Appendix S1, we demonstrate that these evaluations have consequences for whether stakeholders subsequently cooperate, or sow conflict, with firms. Managerial summary: There is no guarantee that efforts to be socially responsible will improve multinational corporations' relations with overseas stakeholders, such as customers, governments, and activists. In a field study and an experiment, we unpack when foreign firms suffer from harsh stakeholder evaluations. Foreign firms especially suffer from harsh evaluations when they conduct “do‐no‐harm” CSR rather than “do‐good” CSR. Stakeholders attribute the motive for foreign firms' do‐no‐harm CSR to managerial interests and shareholder pressures, perceiving a wedge between managers and owners (who may be unmotivated to reduce the negative impacts of their business activities) and local stakeholders (who bear the social costs). A practical implication is that foreign firms gain more from highlighting do‐good rather than do‐(no)‐harm CSR initiatives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does experience imply learning?

Research summary : Research traditionally uses experiential learning arguments to explain the existence of a positive relationship between repetition of an activity and performance. We propose an additional interpretation of this relationship in the context of discrete corporate development activities. We argue that firms choose to repeat successful activities, thereby accumulating high experience with them. Data on 437 aircraft projects introduced through three governance modes show that the positive performance effect of the firm's experience with the focal mode becomes insignificant after accounting for experience endogeneity. We suggest that in a general case, experience with corporate development activities may be tinged with both learning and selection effects. Therefore, omitting to account for experience endogeneity may lead to incorrect conclusions from an “empirically observed” positive experience–performance relationship. Managerial summary : This paper emphasizes that firms generally choose to undertake the corporate development activities (new product introductions, diversification moves, international expansions, alliances, acquisitions, etc.) with which they have been the most successful in the past and that they expect to be the most successful in the future. Hence, if a firm possesses certain capabilities, it will repeatedly engage in certain activities corresponding to those capabilities, thereby simultaneously achieving high levels of activity experience as well as superior activity performance. This view suggests that an “empirically observed” positive experience–performance relationship may not be due solely to learning‐based enhanced capabilities but may also be driven by astute self‐selection. Overall, we provide a new interpretation of the relationship between experience and performance in the context of infrequent, heterogeneous, and causally‐ambiguous corporate development activities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

企业社会责任与企业治理整合研究

为了推动企业社会责任的发展,迫切需要将企业社会责任与企业治理相整合.这不仅是一个现实选择的问题,而且是一个理论上有待于研究并给予明确回答的问题.通过对这一问题的探讨,认为两者整合的客观基础是企业社会责任发展中存在的外部性问题;两者整合的理论是利益相关者理论;两者整合的实现机制是建立利益相关者共同治理模式.     

市场地位、内部控制与过度投资

基于公司战略的视角,以2007年一2013年沪深两市A股工业行业的上市公司为样本,探讨了企业在提高市场地位、扩大市场份额的过程中如何有效保障其投资效率不会受到损失。研究发现:市场地位较低的企业有着更高的过度投资动机与水平,良好的内部控制有助于降低企业在扩张过程中可能存在的过度投资行为,提高企业的投资效率,进而表明内部控制的完善对于促进公司战略的有效实施发挥了重要作用。另外,研究结果为内部控制的经济后果提供了一定的补充证据,也为企业如何通过提升内部控制质量,促进公司战略有效实施具有重要的借鉴意义,表明完善的内部控制能够通过促进公司战略有效实施的途径,促进企业经营效率的提升。     

区域创新政策对微观主体创新行为的影响 ——基于创新型城市建设的研究

以是否获批创新型城市建设试点单位为基本条件,采用多期双重差分法和三重差分法进行“准自然实验”,研究创新型城市建设对企业创新的促进作用及其作用机理。结果发现：创新型城市作为创新型国家建设的一个重要组成部分,能积极推动辖区内的企业创新活动;并且其主要通过增强企业集聚度、提高金融中介机构服务强度与扩大对外开放引进外商投资等途径对企业创新活动起到激励与保障作用。非试点城市应该借鉴这些先行经验,并结合自身的经济发展状况,推出系列政策以促进企业创新。     

环境执法监督对企业绿色创新的影响

以环保约谈制度实施为契机,基于合法性理论和遵从理论,考察环境执法监督对企业绿色创新的影响及其机制。研究发现：环境执法监督会有效地促进企业绿色创新,即环保约谈显著地提高了被约谈地区企业的绿色创新水平。拓展性检验与分析后发现,环境执法监督对企业绿色创新的促进作用主要表现在低融资约束企业和低代理成本企业中。影响机制探索后发现,环境执法监督通过提高企业环境成本、环境处罚力度和企业环保投资,进而促进企业绿色创新。     

Does the common law power to grant cross‐border insolvency assistance apply to an insolvency winding‐up that is voluntary? The reaction to Singularis from Singapore and Hong Kong

In many common law jurisdictions, the common law power of courts to grant assistance in respect of foreign insolvency proceedings exists independently of statute. The nature of the power, however, continues to generate debate. Obiter dicta of the Privy Council suggests that no assistance is available where the foreign proceeding is a voluntary winding‐up. This article evaluates the position by reference to Singapore and Hong Kong decisions and concludes that a refusal to grant assistance in circumstances involving an insolvent voluntary winding‐up is inconsistent with the principle of modified universalism and that a broader recognition test should be adopted.     

Bankers in the Boardroom and Firm Performance in China

We use a dataset comprising the appointments of commercial bankers as board of directors at Chinese listed firms and find that financially distressed firms are more likely to recruit a commercial banker as a director of the board. The presence of a banker on the board increases access to bank loans, yet many investors react negatively to announcements of such appointments. We also find that such appointments are typically followed by a drop in the appointing firm’s operating performance, and an increase in rent-seeking activities. This suggests that bank directors cannot strengthen corporate governance. Most financial resources are expropriated by corporate insiders.