Relationship Between Sustainable Development and Financial Performance: International Empirical Research

The aim of this paper is to clarify the relationship between companies' sustainable behavior and their financial performance (FP), which has been studied for several years without reaching a consensus on the effect and the direction of it. Hypotheses are tested for an unbalanced sample of 1960 multinational non‐financial listed companies from 25 countries and one administrative region for the period between 2002 and 2010. Due to the use of an international database and the differences among countries, it is possible to observe divergence between institutional settings. For this reason, a corporate governance system (Anglo‐Saxon, Germanic, Latin and Asian) is used as characteristic of the macro‐environment. Results obtained via the generalized method of moments estimator allow us to support the existence of a positive bidirectional relationship between corporate social responsibility and FP, evidencing the existence of a synergistic circle. The use of market value indicated that investors are able to identify economic, social and environmental practices generating a positive effect on FP. These relationships differ between corporate governance systems, due to the specific characteristics of each system. Findings are robust for each sustainable sub‐index (society, human rights, environmental and board). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Measuring the liquidity part of volume

Based on the concept that the presence of liquidity frictions can increase the daily traded volume, we develop an extended version of the mixture of distribution hypothesis model (MDH) along the lines of Tauchen and Pitts (1983) to measure the liquidity portion of volume. Our approach relies on a structural definition of liquidity frictions arising from the theoretical framework of Grossman and Miller (1988), which explains how liquidity shocks affect the way in which information is incorporated into daily trading characteristics. In addition, we propose an econometric setup exploiting the volatility–volume relationship to filter the liquidity portion of volume and infer the presence of liquidity frictions using daily data. Finally, based on FTSE 100 stocks, we show that the extended MDH model proposed here outperforms that of Andersen (1996) and that the liquidity frictions are priced in the cross-section of stock returns.     

中国绿色发展中企业环境责任立法探讨

经济活动过程和结果的绿色化主要靠企业承担环境责任来实现，但基于企业的营利本质，期望企业自觉承担环境责任并不现实，必须通过立法从内外部保障、强制其承担环境责任。我国环境保护法及企业法中无法容纳大量的企业环境责任条款，因此我国有必要制定专门的《企业环境责任法》，要求企业承担产品从设计、生产直至废弃的环境责任，并建立环境信息披露、税收优惠等企业承担环境责任的激励约束措施。同时我国应修改环境保护法，提高企业污染环境的成本、将企业环境成本内部化。     

浅析北京四合院与中华文化之联系

北京四合院是中国民居的代表,同时也蕴含中华文化的博大精深,本文从多个方面阐述四合院的文化价值以及对四合院与中华文化互相影响进行探讨。     

Internet-Based Relationship Marketing: A Sub-Saharan African Perspective

Establishing, maintaining, and enhancing relationships over the Internet have progressively gained global attention. Nevertheless, the dawn of this modernization draws many theoretical debates and practical concerns, some of which have received little research attention, especially within the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. On this premise, we explored the contemporary practice, challenges, and benefits of Internet-based relationship marketing (RM) within the Ghanaian telecommunication industry. Expert interviews with 12 employees from four telecommunication firms elicited a wealth of experiential data analyzed thematically to understand the practice, challenges, and emerging benefits of Internet-based RM. Our findings suggest that issues of privacy concerns, erosion of face-to-face communication, and the tendency of unsolicited communication do not necessarily militate Internet-based RM within the Ghanaian telecommunication industry. We also identified emerging benefits, including online “virality,” a discovery environment, and improved firm reputation. We suggest enhancing online personalization through empathy, creating value with analytic information and managerial openness, and supporting enhanced knowledge development within the area. Directions for future studies include the possibility of comparative studies across service industries and examining the role of content marketing in Internet-based relationships. The challenge of exploring Internet-based RM was similar to hitting a moving target, as the use of the Internet for relationship marketing activities is constantly evolving. Additionally, our findings and conclusion are confined to the knowledge contribution of the experts interviewed. As one of the few studies within the Sub-Saharan region, we expand contributions from the Sub-Saharan domain. The findings of this study also bring to light new insights for establishing, maintaining, and enhancing Internet-based relationships.     

论儿童阶段教师权威地位的重要性——对“师生平等”的反思

“平等”概念进入教育领域后，为我们解决了一些困扰已久的师生关系问题。但这种看似民主的师生平等观点，是否也夹杂着整个社会的权威退化值得探讨。在权威普遍丧失的今天，教育领域中万万不能丧失权威的概念，师生平等并不是师生关系最高标准，它甚至有弱化教师权威的倾向。如何建立起师生关系的最佳模式，如何帮助教师重塑在学生心目中应有的权威地位，阿伦特的权威观念也许可以作为一个指引。     

反腐倡廉环境下创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容探讨

反腐倡廉环境下创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容是一项新的课题。本文对探索创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容的必要性和我国法律规定的国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容进行了综述，并根据审计实践，提出了“探索开展国有企业绩效审计”等5项审计内容，对创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容进行了探讨，并针对目前创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容面临的困难提出了健全绩效审计法律法规和评价指标、完善企业增资扩股行为的法律法规、加强对基层审计人员的培训学习等3条对策。     

Decomposing Impression from Attitude in Relationship Management Outcomes

This study expands relationship management theory by testing the linkages between perceived relational quality, organizational impression, and attitude in affecting the behavioral intention of customer public of five major banks. A survey of 1,178 banking customers showed that perceived relational quality, organizational impression, and individual attitude, significantly affected supportive behaviors. Organizational impression was found to be almost three times more determinant than perceived relational quality in affecting individuals' attitudes, and subsequently, their supportive behaviors. By highlighting the role of organizational impression, linkages between the relationship management perspective and other theoretical frameworks, such as image repair, become apparent; bearing implications for scholarship and practice.     

The relationship between multinationality and performance: Knowledge-intensive vs. capital-intensive service micro-multinational enterprises

This research explores the relationship between multinationality and firm performance (M-P) in the context of micro-multinational enterprises (mMNEs) within the service sector. We examine the moderating effects of industry characteristics using a data set of 1082 Spanish service mMNEs over an eight-year period. The empirical results provide statistical evidence that knowledge-intensive service mMNEs exhibit an inverted U-shaped M-P relationship, while capital-intensive service mMNEs present a U-shaped relationship. Our findings demonstrate that knowledge-intensive service mMNEs increase their performance in the initial stage of multinationality, encounter a threshold of internationalization at relatively low levels of multinationality and have a propensity to over-internationalize. By comparison, capital-intensive service mMNEs experience negative performance effects at low levels of multinationality and positive ones as they further internationalize. Given that their operations are scale-sensitive, they tend to expand internationally by concentrating their operations in few foreign markets as a means to overcome the liabilities of internationalization and smallness. We contribute to the literatures on multinationality research in the service sector and on SME internationalization by showing that the effects of multinationality on the performance of mMNEs depend on industry characteristics and that such contextual factors provide a better understanding of the M-P relationship.     

“安倍经济学”与“李克强经济学”孰优孰劣

在外界看来,"安倍经济学"喜迎东风,"李究竟哪一种发展模式能够真正实现经济持续健康发展的神话?然而,哪一种发展模式更加适应本国国情,真正能实现国富民强?