Linear Programming Models for the Measurement of Environmental Performance of Firms—Concepts and Empirical Results

I use linear programming models to define standardised, aggregate environmental performance indicators for firms. The best practice frontier obtained corresponds to decision making units showing the best environmental behaviour. Results are obtained with data from U.S. fossil fuel-fired electric utilities, starting from four alternative models, among which are three linear programming models that differ in the way they account for undesirable outputs (pollutants) and resources used as inputs. The results indicate important discrepancies in the rankings obtained by the four models. Rather than contradictory, these results are interpreted as giving different, complementary kinds of information, that should all be taken into account by public decision-makers.     

Unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies

This research examines whether investments in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), robotics, etc., are more likely to lead to improved performance if they are supported by improvements in the manufacturing infrastructure of the company. This question is evaluated using data gathered from 202 manufacturing plants chosen from industries generally considered to have relatively high investments in technology.Multiple item scales are developed and adapted from sources in the literature to measure investments in technology, infrastructure, and the performance of the plant. Evidence supporting the reliability and validity of these scales is provided. Hierarchical regression is used to analyze the relationship between technology, infrastructure, and performance. The results suggest that there is an important interaction between the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and investments in infrastructure. Firms that invest in both AMTs and infrastructure perform better than firms which only invest in one or the other. Separate analyses on sub-samples of firms with the highest and lowest investments in AMTs show that infrastructural investments have a stronger relationship with performance in the high investment group. Thus, the data indicate that infrastructural investments provide a key to unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies.     

我国商业上市公司的股权结构与公司业绩——基于市净值指标的实证分析

文章以沪深两市55家商业上市公司为样本,对股权结构与公司业绩的关系进行回归分析。结论表明:商业上市公司国有股比例对公司业绩并没有显著的影响,但法人股比例与公司业绩显著正相关,流通股比例与公司业绩显著负相关。同时,第一大股东持股比例与公司业绩没有显著关系,但前五大股东持股比例与公司业绩显著正相关;另外,第一大股东的控制能力对公司业绩有显著的负面影响。     

城镇市政设施投资项目特点与后评价

明确了城镇市政设施及城镇市政设施投资项目的定义,分析了城镇市政设施投资项目的特点,揭示了城镇市政设施投资项目后评价的必要性及意义,呼吁全社会重视和关注城镇市政设施项目后评价及城镇市政设施项目的投资效果。     

Implications of variant efficiency measures for policy evaluations in UK higher education

Policy goals in UK higher education encourage the publicly funded universities to become more-specialised and larger in size without compromising output quality. Efficiency gains are expected to flow from this increased specialisation in accordance with universities’ comparative research and teaching strengths. Mergers to reap further gains from economies of scale are also being actively encouraged. Given this scenario, the paper investigates whether best-practice efficiency measurement based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) provides empirical support for the current policy goals. It also assesses whether such support is dependent on the specific type of efficiency measure used in the DEA modelling. This assessment finds that a selection of (nine) commonly used, variant efficiency measures generally support the current policy goals. The paper also uses the principal-agent framework to explore the issues involved in using computed DEA-based efficiency scores for policy evaluations and possible funding guidance in UK higher education. This highlights empirically how policy-makers and universities can have very different preferences about which efficiency measure is to be used for policy evaluations and possible funding guidance.     

独立董事、战略审计与公司绩效

关于独立董事与公司绩效呈现弱相关关系的一个假说性解释是:独立董事对于作为关键绩效驱动因素的公司战略管理过程参与不足。独立董事积极参与公司战略管理的功能定位是战略监督与评价,而战略审计作为正式的战略监督与评价程序,是独立董事深入公司战略管理过程以提高其绩效贡献的有效途径。本文认为,在我国推行独立董事战略审计制度,必须解决独立董事人数与比例、审计委员会设置、独立董事来源与结构以及激励与权益保护等相关问题。     

运用GAHP法建立研发人员绩效考评体系

本文运用群体层次分析法(GAHP)结合研发人员自身的特点,建立多级研发人员绩效考评体系,运用Hadamard凸组合集结判断矩阵,解决了考评体系制定过程中受决策者主观偏好影响较大,考评指标难以定量描述的问题。并结合该体系在一家企业的应用,说明了其在研发人员绩效考评方面应用的有效性。     

Understanding resource deployment efficiency for ESG and financial performance: A DEA approach

COVID-19 has stimulated additional research interest on economic sustainability and ESG in both academia and industry. This study adopts a DEA approach to examine the efficiency of achieving ESG targets and their relationships with financial performance. Using MSCI ESG data from 2015 to 2019 on 1108 Chinese firms, we examine the ESG proportional and pillar mix efficiencies. The dominant strategies for our sampled firms are to improve overall ESG performance by enhancing the E and S pillars through sacrificing G’s performance. The second result shows a positive relationship between proportional efficiency and financial performance while a mixed relationship between pillar mix efficiency and financial performance. However, for the technology sector, there exists some trade-offs between ESG performance and financial performance. Specifically, relative to non-technology firms, improving proportional and pillar mix efficiencies for technology firms could result in some sacrifice in stock valuation.     

差异化人才管理对员工创新绩效的“双刃剑”效应

基于调节焦点理论和公平启发理论,运用结构方程模型考量差异化人才管理对员工创新绩效的影响机制。结果显示：促进定向工作重塑在差异化人才管理与员工创新绩效之间起正向中介作用,防御定向工作重塑在二者间起负向中介作用;组织公平感正向调节差异化人才管理与促进定向工作重塑之间的关系,负向调节差异化人才管理与防御定向工作重塑之间的关系;组织公平感增强促进定向工作重塑的正向中介作用,削弱防御定向工作重塑的负向中介作用。     

“民主化”改革与地区经济表现

依据Polity IV数据库数据,考量20世纪90年代以来“第三波民主化浪潮”中,发展中国家朝着西方价值标准“民主”的重大转变对其经济表现的影响。结果显示,没有证据支持“民主化”改革促进了经济增长;相反,“民主化”改革引致国家治理能力下降,阻碍了经济发展。异质性分析表明,“民主化”改革对经济发展的负效应主要出现在撒哈拉以南非洲地区,且激进的“民主化”改革和被殖民国家的“民主化”改革对经济发展的负面影响更大。鉴于此,西方价值标准的民主既非一国经济发展的充分条件,也非一国经济发展的必要条件,一国选择何种国家治理模式与政治体制应考虑自身的历史、文化、发展阶段等实际国情,而不是盲目推行西式“民主化”。