Hierarchical power in personnel negotiations

Hierarchical Power (HP), a model for power asymmetry, is used in conjunction with other principles of personnel management to analyze the behavior of professionals during negotiations in an organization. Hierarchical Power involves the ability of a decision maker to choose in the knowledge of the opponent's choice. The methodology of HP is applied to a representative conflict in which a professional employee prefers to remain in the status quo position, and would rather leave the organization than accept a transfer to another position. An analysis of this conflict using HP is consistent with observed outcomes. HP is then used to study whether and how an alternate plan can help to eliminate the possible deadlock between the decision makers.     

Climate,carbon, civil war and flexible boundaries: Sudan's contested landscape

The confluence of climate change, oil development, farmer–nomad interaction, and civil war has given rise to serious contestation over land and water resources in the heart of Sudan. Here we report on direct involvement in the very difficult and protracted efforts to resolve these land-use conflicts. Repeated efforts to define and implement “hard demarcation” of boundaries in agroecological regions characterized by great temporal variability across space have been unsuccessful for many reasons. In semi-arid and savanna environments, where nomads share the use of land with sedentary communities, boundary disputes are minimized by the existence of flexible demarcations. Flexible boundaries are identifiable but subject to change in response to negotiation and agreement among resource users. It seems that the struggle is always over “rights” to particular areas of land. But it is necessary to understand the distinction between interests and rights. Each individual – and each group – has interests that they will seek to protect and, very often, enhance. But the conversion of interests into rights is a more difficult matter. As long as the need to deal with risk and uncertainty dominate livelihood strategies, flexible adaptation rather than rigid boundaries remains the optimal strategy in agro-pastoral economies.     

内蒙古草原旅游核心利益相关者共赢机制研究

随着内蒙古草原旅游业的不断发展,当地政府、居民、旅游者等开始从草原旅游业的发展中获益,与此同时,矛盾和冲突也逐步显现出来。因此,了解草原旅游发展中涉及的利益主体的需求,探究如何协调他们之间的关系成为人们关注的焦点。本文以希拉穆仁草原为例,基于大量调研,界定了草原旅游核心利益相关者,分析总结了各核心利益主体间的利益诉求及冲突矛盾关系,最后,根据共生理论提出了草原旅游共生单元的利益共享机制、共生环境的联动配合机制、共生界面多样化发展机制以及一体化共生模式的控制与保持机制。     

自然保护区相关利益者分析及其冲突管理 --以天目山自然保护区为例

通过对天目山自然保护区管理局、西天目乡政府、周边社区不同类型村民代表等主要相关利益者的12个小组访谈,及104个农户和59个社会公众的问卷调查,分析了天目山自然保护建设中,自然保护区管理者、当地政府、以农林收入为主的社区农民和以非农林收入为主的社区农民等主要相关利益者的需求取向;指出自然保护区与周边社区居民之间主要冲突是:⑴野生竹笋抚育经营受限,社区居民经济收入减少;⑵补偿措施不到位,社区居民预期收益未能兑现;⑶保护区总体规划滞后,当地项目投资开发受限。最后,提出了自然保护区与周边社区冲突管理的基本框架和重点内容。     

加强心理冲突管理 提高财务人员素质

有效管理财务人员的心理冲突,对于提高其整体素质,保障企业目标的实现具有十分重要的现实意义。文章分析了财务人员心理冲突的主要表现,并在此基础上,提出了管理财务人员心理冲突,提高财务人员素质的应对措施。     

Controlling shareholder share pledging and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from China

We propose and test the incentive view—that the margin call pressure and ownership-control discrepancy associated with insider share pledging increase investors’ perceived risk, and thus also the cost of equity capital, in an emerging market. Using a controlling shareholder share pledging sample for Chinese listed firms, we find that firms with share pledging have a cost of equity capital that is 23.7 basis points higher than firms without share pledging. Further, share pledging increases the cost of equity capital through the information risks and agency conflicts channels. Cross-sectional analyses show that share pledging has a stronger effect on the cost of equity capital in non-state-owned enterprises, firms without monitoring of multiple large shareholders, firms with controlling shareholders assuming the position of chairperson, and firms with a weak institutional environment. In addition, using the global financial crisis and the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) as quasi-natural experiments, we disentangle the potential confounding effect of firm fundamentals and show that share pledging is positively associated with the cost of equity capital. Overall, the results are consistent with our incentive view that share pledging increases the cost of equity capital in an emerging market.     

Dividend taxes and investment efficiency: Evidence from the 2003 U.S. personal taxation reform

We examine the effect of a large dividend tax cut on corporate investment efficiency by exploiting the 2003 personal taxation reform in the U.S. as a quasi-natural experiment. Using a difference-in-differences approach based on the probability that a firm’s marginal investor was an individual investor, we show that the 2003 dividend tax cut significantly improved the investment efficiency of U.S. listed firms. However, we find no evidence that the dividend tax cut increased the level of investment of U.S. listed firms. Further, we show that the tax cut increased investment efficiency by mitigating agency problems associated with the excessive free cash flows of overinvesting firms and by relaxing the financial constraints of underinvesting firms.     

COVID-19, economic crises and digitalisation: How algorithmic management became an alternative to automation

The COVID-19 crisis witnessed a major rise in investment in software for the digital organisation and rationalisation of work, while investment in robotics is continuously lagging behind expectations. This article argues that we can understand this development as the continuation of the rise of algorithmic management as a technological fix for profitability crises. Thus, in the face of falling wage rates and a structural overaccumulation of capital since the 1970s, algorithmic management has become an alternative to automation. The article reconstructs the history of algorithmic management in connection to economic crises. This allows for periodisation of the rise of algorithmic management from 'computer-integrated manufacturing' to remote work in four waves. In times of crisis, algorithmic management functions as a substitute for investment in 'tangible capital' such as robots. Structural economic forces thus interact with labour conflicts at the company level, shaping the rise of algorithmic management.     

Trade dependence and stock market reaction to the Russia-Ukraine war

Using data from 83 countries, we show that the decline in the value of stock market indices in response to the Russia-Ukraine war was sharper in countries that have stronger trade ties (both exports and imports) with Russia and Ukraine. We also find the relationship between trade dependency and market drop is weaker in countries with more trade openness.