The power of positivity? The influence of positive psychological capital language on crowdfunding performance

We extend the entrepreneurship literature to include positive psychological capital — an individual or organization's level of psychological resources consisting of hope, optimism, resilience, and confidence — as a salient signal in crowdfunding. We draw from the costless signaling literature to argue that positive psychological capital language usage enhances crowdfunding performance. We examine 1726 crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter, finding that entrepreneurs conveying positive psychological capital experience superior fundraising performance. Human capital moderates this relationship while social capital does not, suggesting that costly signals may, at times, enhance the influence of costless signals. Post hoc analyses suggest findings generalize across crowdfunding types, but not to IPOs.     

Twenty-Five Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: An Empirical Revisit of West German Consumers' Attitudes Toward Products and Brands from Former East Germany

More than 25 years after the German reunification, data show that products/brands from the eastern regions of Germany (“Neue Länder”) still do not have significant shares in the country's western part (“Alte Länder”). To analyze potential reasons for this phenomenon, our current study replicates a previous study that investigated selected attitudes of Alte Länder consumers toward products/brands from the Neue Länder. It is shown that factors such as consumer ethnocentrism, product judgment, willingness to buy, and economic animosity continue to influence consumer behavior and as such our study offers potential explanation for the failure of Neue Länder products/brands in the western regions of Germany.     

Estimating the Impact of Transgenic Bt Cotton on West and Central Africa: A General Equilibrium Approach

West and Central Africa (WCA)’s cotton sector is experiencing rising production costs and lower yields, reversing decades of growth. Declining input use, soil fertility and inefficient chemical pest controls are contributing factors. We evaluate the potential impact of Bt cotton on WCA using a multiregion general equilibrium model and multicountry estimates of Bt-induced productivity. We find that Bt cotton raises growers’ returns, land value and welfare. Released labor from cotton is shifted to food crops hence reducing labor shortage constraints. Overall, results indicate that potential gross benefits from Bt cotton are substantial for WCA cotton sector, and that the economic costs of nonadoption are equally significant.     

西部开发与企业家精神

西部开发给新一代的大学生提供了广阔的发展空间，大学生到西部创业体现了我国当代大学生具有了一定的企业家精神，西部开发给我们提供了培养我国具有冒险精神的企业家的沃土，但大学生到西部创业并不是一帆风顺的，他们必须具有一定的素质条件，才有可能在西部开发的大环境中有所作为。     

推进西部大开发亟待全面深化对内开放

要实现西部大开发的伟大战略构想,改变西部经济落后面貌,缩小东西部差距最终实现西部地区的经济现代化,市场化和国际化,亟待全面深化对内开放,打破地区封锁,建立统一开放竞争有序的国内大市场,优化资源配置,调整产业结构,发挥区域优势,东西部进行合理分工,增强企业竞争力,使西部的发展融入全国全球的经济体系中.     

社会资本理论综述

社会资本概念首先是由布迪厄明确进行界定的,在此之后,科尔曼对社会资本理论进行了系统研究,而把它全面引入经济和政治研究领域并得到广泛关注则是由普特南实现的。本文对社会资本的各种主要概念和主要测量方法进行综述,并专门引述了有关专家对社会资本的中西方差异的阐释。     

渝西地区小城镇建设问题研究

以渝西地区为例，根据该地区的实际情况，从宏观、微观相结合的角度提出该地区小城镇建设的构想，并具体分析了小城镇建设过程中应该做好的对内、对外两方面的工作及应该注意的问题，鉴于小城镇建设离不开一二三产业的发展，因此本也对相关的产业发展问题进行了探讨。     

西部物流产业发展中的政府宏观调控

在入世的背景下，物流日益得到了全社会和各企业的高度重视，这不仅符合现代经济的发展趋势，也是值得我国大力发展的领域。但是，与此同时，我们也应看到，现代物流产业的发展决不是一件简单的事情，也并非一蹴而就，它是经济发展到一定程度，在政府的宏观调控下以及企业的积极实践和不断努力的结果。因此，在西部物流产业的发展中，政府应当发挥其重要的规划、引导、协调作用，使西部物流管理水平得到极大提高，使西部物流实现现代化。     

西部大开发税收优惠政策实施效果评估

本文通过对西部开发税收优惠政策与地区经济增长、企业生产经营行为以及地方财政收入关系的评估分析,认为西部开发税收优惠政策对经济增长具有明显促进作用,对企业资产利润率提高也具有显著正效应.但从2002年到2004年西部开发税收政策对西部经济增长促进效应不断降低.最主要的原因是政策涉及的垄断企业多,市场化企业少;能源开发、环境污染严重企业享受多,实现地方可持续发展企业享受少;优惠税额主要促进了中央大型能源开采垄断企业,大多数有利于西部地区经济可持续发展的支柱产业得不到有效支持.所以提出:西部开发税收优惠政策在覆盖面上应做有增有减,并做出延长政策时效等调整.