The CSR-Quality Trade-Off: When can Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Ability Compensate Each Other?

This paper investigates under what conditions a good corporate social responsibility (CSR) can compensate for a relatively poor corporate ability (CA) (quality), and vice versa. The authors conducted an experiment among business administration students, in which information about a financial services company’s CA and CSR was provided. Participants indicated their preferences for the company’s products, stocks, and jobs. The results show that for stock and job preferences, a poor CA can be compensated by a good CSR. For product preferences, a poor CA could not be compensated by a good CSR, at least when people thought that CA is personally relevant to them. Furthermore, a poor CSR could be compensated by a good CA for product, stocks, and job preferences. Guido Berens is Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include corporate branding, corporate social responsibility, and reputation management. His research has been published in the Journal of Marketing and the Corporate Reputation Review, as well as in several international books. Cees B. M. van Riel is Professor of Corporate Communication at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include organizational identity, reputation management, and corporate branding. He is the author of several books, and his research has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Marketing, among others. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Corporate Reputation Review, and has been working as a consultant for many large international companies in the last 15 years. Johan van Rekom is Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he also received his PhD. His research interests include organizational identity, the effects of organizational identity on the motivation of organization members, cognitive structures at the individual and at the organizational level, and the essence of brands. His research has appeared in the Journal of Management Studies and the European Journal of Marketing, among others.     

Marginal Rates and Two-dimensional Level Curves in DEA

Of great importance to management, the computation of trade-offs presents particular difficulties within DEA since the piecewise linear nature of the envelopment surfaces does not allow for unique derivatives at every point. We present a comprehensive framework for analyzing marginal rates, and directional derivatives in general, on DEA frontiers. A useful characterization of these derivatives at given points can be provided in terms of the ranges they can take; equivalently, the bounds of these ranges correspond to derivatives to the rightand to the left at these points. We present two approaches for their computation: first, the dual equivalents calculation of minimum and maximum multiplier ratios / finite differences, and then a modified simplex tableau method. The simplex tableau method provides a more general application of the method introduced by Hackman et al. (1994) to generate any two-dimensional section of the isoquant and is a practical tool to generate level plots of the frontier. By giving a complete picture of trade-offs and allowing a better visualization of high dimensional production possibility sets, these tools can be very useful for managerial applications.     

For Better or for Worse? Local Impacts of the Decentralization of Indonesia’s Forest Sector

This paper quantifies the local impacts of mechanized logging on forest-dependent communities in Indonesia, before and after decentralization. A conceptual framework incorporates financial, social, enforcement, rent-seeking, and environmental impacts. Using data from 60 communities in East Kalimantan, the empirical results suggest that significantly more households received financial and in-kind benefits after decentralization compared to before. Many communities engaged in self-enforcement activities against firms both before and after decentralization. Post-decentralization, a significantly higher proportion of households perceived community forest ownership. There were few significant differences in perceived environmental impacts. Little evidence exists of a post-decentralization trade-off between environmental and financial contractual provisions.     

Sustainability indicators,alternative strategies and trade-offs in peasant agroecosystems: analysing 15 case studies from Latin America

In view of the urgent need to improve agroecosystem sustainability, several efforts have been made to evaluate the effect of alternative strategies on key environmental and socioeconomic variables at the farm, community and regional levels. Most peasant farmers manage complex and diverse agroecosystems, and constantly adapt management strategies with multiple aims. A sustainability evaluation framework for peasant systems has been applied in over 40 case studies in Latin America, from which 15 were analysed, focusing on the choice of indicators, the effect of alternative strategies on agroecosystem sustainability and the trade-offs involved. Common indicators include yields, income, agrodiversity and external input dependence. Alternative strategies include crop/product diversification and soil conservation practices. Yields, income and agrodiversity improved in most cases, but in some cases the establishment costs increased external input use. Trade-offs observed include improved performance of a subsystem (i.e. crops) vs. decreased one in others (livestock, forestry) and increases in productivity vs. decreases in stability, resilience and reliability. The difficulty of assessing systems in transition towards alternative management was acknowledged by some evaluation teams. Applying the framework to such a variety of cases allowed making the sustainability concept operational, promoted alternative strategies and generated knowledge on agroecosystem processes among stakeholders.     

Target zones and exchange rate management: A stability analysis of the European Monetary System

Since the creation of the EMS in 1979 and the Louvre Accord in 1987, economists and policy makers have debated whether exchange rate management can actually secure better economic performance. This paper supplies some empirical evidence to help answer that question in the context of an environment free of unanticipated shocks. Our results identify the important design characteristics of a target zone or EMS type system focusing on the width of the bands, the length of time between realignments, and the choice of exchange rate parity. Secondly we examine the popular conservation of variance theory: that reducing exchange rate instability will just cause greater instability in the underlying monetary controls. Finally we produce evidence to support the claim that the method of exchange rate management is important because gross or persistent misalignments cause large welfare losses whereas moderate misalignments would impose only small costs. Work on the EMS relative robustness to shocks is under way.     

规制定价机制的激励强度权衡与模型设计--以我国电信产业的规制定价总体模型设计为例

自然垄断产业中，由于规制机构与被规制企业之间存在着信息不对称。价格规制政策的实施效果受到制约，而制度背景和经济发展程度是设计一个适合国情的规制定价机制必须考虑的前提因素。本文分析了我国目前的制度特征如何影响我国自然垄断产业规制定价机制激励强度的权衡。在此基础上，尝试提出适合我国目前制度特征的电信产业规制定价总体模型——基于收益率规制并加入动态激励因素的规制定价模型．最后对未来的规制定价机制做出展望．     

东北地区生态系统服务及权衡/协同关系时空演变特征与功能分区研究

研究目的：探究东北地区长时间序列下生态系统服务及权衡与协同关系时空演变特征，划分生态系统服务功能区，为国土空间差异化治理与生态系统管理政策有效制定提供参考。研究方法：InVEST模型、Theil-Sen+Mann-Kendall、偏相关分析、自组织特征映射神经网络。研究结果：（1）1992—2020年，东北地区整体生境质量显著下降，产水量、粮食产量与其他生态系统服务均呈权衡关系且权衡强度逐渐增加；（2）大兴安岭北部、小兴安岭、长白山脉生境质量呈下降趋势，产水量与水质净化、土壤保持、碳储量、生境质量权衡程度增加，其他生态系统服务间权衡程度降低、协同程度增加；（3）大兴安岭南部、松嫩平原、三江平原与辽河平原水质净化、土壤保持、碳储量、生境质量均呈下降趋势，且与粮食产量权衡强度显著增加；（4）根据服务簇聚类结果，东北地区划分为复合均衡区、生态保育区、生态过渡区、农业生产区，针对各分区提出差异化生态管控建议。研究结论：未来东北地区亟待针对各生态系统服务功能区，因地制宜地实施生态管控措施以协同提高多种生态系统服务，平衡经济发展、粮食生产与生态保护之间的关系。