Competition,firm size and returns to skills: Evidence from currency shocks and market liberalisations

We investigate the impact of product market competition on returns to skills in Italy using a longitudinal dataset on individual working histories. This impact is identified using three exogenous shocks affecting competition: the unforeseen devaluation of the Lira in 1992, its return to a fixed exchange regime in 1996 and the market liberalisation in the utility and transport sectors in the late 1990s–early 2000s. We analyse how firm heterogeneity and shocks of different types and signs affect the impact of competition on skill premia. We find that opposite shocks have opposite effects: an increase (resp. decrease) in international competition increases (resp. decreases) skill premia. Moreover, international shocks have greater effects on medium sized firms, while domestic liberalisation shocks have greater effects on large incumbents.     

Does CEO duality constrain board independence? Some evidence from audit pricing

This study examines whether CEO duality affects the association between board independence and demand for higher quality audits, proxied by audit fee. The findings show that there is a positive association between board independence and audit fees. This result is consistent with findings of Carcello et al. (2002) that more independent boards demand higher audit quality and effort. However, this positive association is only present in firms without CEO duality, thus suggesting that CEO duality constrains board independence. The results support recommendations against CEO duality by showing that dominant CEOs may compromise the independence of their board of directors. Additionally, evidence is provided that board size (the number of directors on the board) is positively associated with audit fee pricing. This is consistent with prior studies that indicate that larger board sizes are associated with inefficiency and negative firm performance.     

Effects of Firm Size,Financial Leverage and R&D Expenditures on Firm Earnings: An Analysis Using Quantile Regression Approach

As documented in the literature, the effects of firm size, financial leverage, and R&D expenditures on firm earnings are inclusive. Our hypothesis is that the inconsistent empirical results of such effects may be driven by the regression models implemented in data analysis. Using the quantile regression (QR) approach developed by Koenker and Basset (1978), this study analyses S&P 500 firms from 1996 to 2005. We find that the effects of firm size, financial leverage and R&D expenditures on firm earnings differ considerably across earnings quantiles. Comparing the results from the QR approach with those from the ordinary least squares (OLS) and least absolute deviation (LAD) methods, this study further explains the puzzling relationship between firm size, financial leverage, R&D expenditures and firm earnings.     

高大平房仓储粮减损增效探索

高大平房仓储粮第一年秋、冬低温季节利用小功率风机进行下行式机械通风降低基础粮温;储存稳定期在确保储存安全的前提下,进入第2年、第3年秋冬季节则采用自然通风;气温上升季节对仓房实施隔热密闭、仓顶喷淋等一系列控温措施,在低能耗的情况下,可有效控制粮温,且大大减少了因通风产生水分散失而造成的储粮损耗.经过3年的储藏,损耗率低至1.42‰,且稻谷品质达到要求,降低储粮保管费用.     

Rising real wages,mechanization and growing advantage of large farms: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines dynamic patterns of land use, capital investments and wages in agriculture using farm panel data from Indonesia. The empirical analysis shows that with an increase in real wages that prevailed in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in rural areas, relatively larger farmers increased the size of operational farm land by renting in land as well as used more hired-in machines through machine rental and/or service providers, which induces the substitution of labor by machines. Machines and land are complementary and, consistently, the inverse farm size-productivity relationship tends to be reversed among relatively large holders. The results support growing (diminishing) advantage of large (small) farms in the presence of rapidly rising real wages and have food security policy implications to many Asian countries where real wages are rapidly rising and small farms are predominant.     

财政赤字规模应把握社会承受力限度

平衡财政赤字有举债和银行透支两个途径，二者可兼用。举债要视当期财政收入状况为前提，银行透支超越社会承受力一定限度将致发通胀。因此，必须关注财政赤字规模的社会承受力。从全国看，财政赤字规模---一定限量银行透支应以一定限量社会闲置货币资金的存在---社会承受力为依托。财政赤字宜用积极手段平衡。     

Corporate Cash Holding in Asia

In this paper, we analyze the determinants of corporate saving in the form of changes in cash holdings for 11 Asian economies using firm‐level data from the Oriana Database for the 2002–2011 period. We find some evidence that cash flow has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings (i.e. that the cash flow sensitivity of cash is positive) and that the positive impact of cash flow on the change in cash holdings is larger and more significant in the case of smaller and presumably more constrained firms than in the case of larger and presumably less constrained firms in both developed and developing economies. Both of these findings corroborate the importance of financial constraints in Asian firms. In addition, we find that the cash flow sensitivity of cash declined after the global financial crisis and that Tobin's q has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings, especially in the case of larger and presumably unconstrained firms.     

Listen to their heart: Why does active listening enhance customer satisfaction after a service failure?

A service employee’s active listening plays a crucial role in restoring a damaged customer relationship. However, previous studies reveal little about how listening to customer complaints operates in recovering a service failure. The purpose of this research is to explore when and why the employee’s active listening has a positive influence on customer response. We define active listening as (1) listening to customers’ concerns before apologizing and (2) verbally acknowledging them. Using scenario-based experiments, we demonstrate that active listening improves customer satisfaction, which in turn increases tip size (Study 1). Moreover, we find that active listening fosters customers’ perceptions of preferential treatment, which lead to greater customer satisfaction (Study 2). Yet, such positive effects of active listening diminish when customers are unexpectedly offered a complimentary service such as a room upgrade. The implications for academic researchers and marketing managers are discussed.     

基于能量消耗分析的乳状液液滴粒径计算关系式

在油水混输管道中,存在着大量粒径大小不一的乳状液液滴,液滴粒径及分布对油水混合液的粘度有重要影响,从而在很大程度上影响管道的压降。因此,研究乳状液液滴粒径的计算关系式对于描述油水两相的流动特性以及准确计算管道压降具有重要意义。针对4种原油,通过油水体系的乳化实验,研究了搅拌转速、温度及含水率对乳状液液滴粒径的影响。研究发现,搅拌转速增大,乳状液液滴粒径减小;温度升高,乳状液液滴粒径增大,并且在低温下增大的趋势较显著;含水率增加,乳状液液滴粒径有减小趋势,但减小的幅度不大;以火用损率来表征剪切过程中的能量消耗,建立了基于剪切火用损率分析的乳状液液滴粒径计算关系式。