Benjamin Blau and Tyler J. Brough
The purpose of this paper is to investigate what is denoted as episodes of concentrated short‐selling activity, or consecutive days of abnormal short‐sale activity in a particular…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate what is denoted as episodes of concentrated short‐selling activity, or consecutive days of abnormal short‐sale activity in a particular stock. The motivation to do so is two fold. First, US regulators and regulators in other countries have restricted short selling in order to protect the integrity of markets. Second, there is some conflicting academic research determining whether short sellers are manipulative in nature.
Design/methodology/approach
After defining these episodes by concentrated short selling, the paper examines returns before and after to determine whether these episodes target struggling stocks and whether these episodes predict negative returns.
Findings
Contrary to the argument that episodes of concentrated shorting activity target struggling stocks, it is found that these episodes follow periods of positive returns. Further, it is found that abnormal volatility and high trading volume also predict the occurrence of these episodes. These results suggest that concentrated shorting occurs in stocks that are increasing in price during periods of heterogeneity among investors expectations (Berkman et al.). It is also found that short sellers during bear raids are able to predict when prices reverse as returns become negative the day after the last day of the raid. Combined, the results suggest that bear raids by short sellers are important for the efficiency of markets.
Originality/value
The results from this study have important regulatory implications as well as implications regarding the informational efficiency of stock prices.
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Samuel Jebaraj Benjamin and Pallab Biswas
This study aims to examine whether CEO duality affects the association between board gender composition, dividend policy and cost of debt (COD).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether CEO duality affects the association between board gender composition, dividend policy and cost of debt (COD).
Design/methodology/approach
The S&P 1500 firms’ data for this study were collected from the Bloomberg professional service terminal for the period 2010-2015.
Findings
The results show that board gender composition positively impacts both a firm’s propensity to pay dividends and the level of payouts. However, this positive association is only present in firms with CEO duality. The authors find no significant association between board gender composition and COD, but when the authors split the sample into firms with and without CEO duality, the authors find a negative association in firms without CEO duality.
Practical implications
The empirical results highlight important issues for policymakers, managers and investors. The study provides positive feedback on corporate governance rejuvenation efforts that seek to engender and advocate the appointments of female directors to corporate boards. Market participants, such as financial analysts and lenders, could recognize the empirical specifics related to the influence of board gender composition on firms’ dividend policy and COD in the context of CEO duality.
Originality/value
This study fills an important gap in the literature on the relationship between board gender composition and its relation with dividend policy and COD.
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Gavin M. Schwarz and David M. Brock
Organizational change in an evolving technological age is reconsidered here. Extant organization theory focuses largely on technologically‐induced transformation. This paper…
Abstract
Organizational change in an evolving technological age is reconsidered here. Extant organization theory focuses largely on technologically‐induced transformation. This paper argues that this focus is inappropriate. With the proliferation of information technology in the workplace, change literature propounds a particular view of the organization: a lean, flat and networked organization. Reevaluating future change and future shock literature prediction, we establish a more realistic account of technology and the organization and question the accuracy of the “altered organization” expectation. In developing a conceptualization of a “limited reality of change,” we imply that predicted changes are not as clear cut as certain proponents would have us believe. Though there is a willingness throughout technology change literature to slip into the language of organizational transformation, this paper indicates that the reality of change is far more restrictive than has largely been previously acknowledged We conclude by proposing the coexistent organization as an alternative—arguing that hierarchical organizational forms can coexist with a networked organization—and discuss implications for organization change theory.
The study's objective is to measure the gender gap in quit behavior, consider whether it has changed over time and determine whether parenthood affects the gender gap in quit…
Abstract
Purpose
The study's objective is to measure the gender gap in quit behavior, consider whether it has changed over time and determine whether parenthood affects the gender gap in quit decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative study design leverages two separate USA data sources to analyze the gender gap in quits over time. Two separate cohorts confirm the study's results in Logit, ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effects estimations, using the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY).
Findings
After controlling for demographic and job characteristics, individual and geographic fixed effects and local unemployment rates, the study finds that the gender gap in voluntary turnover has declined over time and that parenthood's effect on quit behavior has converged between genders.
Originality/value
Women earn less than men. One common explanation is women's propensity to interrupt their careers, often voluntarily, more so than men. Yet, the determinants and trends of this gender gap in quit behavior has not been given much attention in the literature, including the role of parenthood.
Government service delivery is undergoing change as a result of innovations in information technology (IT). Scholars and practitioners have paid attention to electronic-government…
Abstract
Government service delivery is undergoing change as a result of innovations in information technology (IT). Scholars and practitioners have paid attention to electronic-government (e-government) as a strategic tool for delivering services through the Internet and thus enhancing service quality, as well as streamlining internal operations (Council for Excellence in Government [CEG], 2000; Center for Technology in Government, 1999; Ho, 2002; Norris & Moon, 2005; West, 2004). Many local governments have also initiated e-government development and taken advantage of internet-based applications to facilitate community development and communication with constituents (Benjamin, 2001; Modesitt, 2002), as well as to provide online application services (Ho, 2002; Norris & Moon, 2005). E-government brings with it the potential for greater cost-efficiency, enhanced citizen involvement, improved service quality, and increased transparency. Although e-government has the potential to provide many benefits, little research has been conducted on e-government performance and the influence of public management on e-government performance in local government.
Consumption is a new central issue, globally, driven by more visible consumption concerns of citizens. For instance, entertainment and the environment rise as political issues…
Abstract
Consumption is a new central issue, globally, driven by more visible consumption concerns of citizens. For instance, entertainment and the environment rise as political issues, while workplace issues decline. To link individual choice with public and urban context, we outline a theory of consumption in specific propositions. They start with individual and personal influence characteristics in shopping and political decisions, then add socio/cultural characteristics. Three cultural types adapted from Elazar are Moralistic, Individualistic, and Traditional – which shift individual patterns. For instance moralistic persons favor more environmentally sensitive consumption, even boycotting cars, TV, and paper towels, backing green groups and parties. Such protest acts via personal consumption are ignored by many past theories. Individualists instead favor more conspicuous, status-oriented consumption, à la Veblen, or the modernism of Baudelaire and Benjamin. For traditionalists, consumption reinforces the past, via family antiques and homes, ritualized and less individualized. The three types help interpret differences in consumption politics by participants in different social movements, cities, and countries.
Nicole E. Plenge, Robin Adair Erickson and Michael E. Roloff
This article aims to examine how situational constraints impact clients' valuations of the task and socio‐emotional resources exchanged when interacting with consultants. In…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine how situational constraints impact clients' valuations of the task and socio‐emotional resources exchanged when interacting with consultants. In consultant‐client relationships, the emphasis on economic resources has commodified these interactions into explicit exchanges of time, money, and deliverables.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of five hypotheses were tested using a within‐subjects experimental design. Subjects consisted of 110 adult professionals who were presented with five different scenarios in a random sequence and asked to rank order and evaluate a list of professional‐service resources.
Findings
The valuation of resources was found to change when situational constraints were present. Regardless of the context, task resources were generally valued more than socio‐emotional resources. When relational constraints were salient, socio‐emotional resources were valued more in long‐term than short‐term relationships. When faced with time pressure or budgetary constraints, task needs were valued more than socio‐emotional needs.
Research limitations/implications
There is potential bias due to snowball sampling, and the hypothetical nature of the experimental scenarios limits the generalizability of this study.
Practical implications
For clients, this research indicates that the context surrounding consultant‐client interactions plays an important role in shaping clients' valuation of resources, both individually and collectively. For consultants, these findings suggest that a “one‐size‐fits‐all” strategy is not the most effective way to approach consultant‐client interactions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to our knowledge about how situational constraints impact clients' valuation of the task and socio‐emotional resources offered by consultants.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perception of training, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Moreover, the study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perception of training, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Moreover, the study examines the moderating role of power distance on the relationship between perception of training and organizational commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Using stratified sampling technique, the data were obtained from 379 employees working at branches of public and private banks located in five metropolitan cities in Pakistan. To test the established hypotheses, structural equation modeling technique was adopted using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 21.0.
Findings
The findings stated a significant relationship between perception of training and organizational citizenship behavior, but there was no relationship found between perception of training and organizational commitment. Moreover, organizational commitment partly mediated the relationship between perception of training and organizational citizenship behavior. The results also described that power distance moderates the relationship between perception of training and organizational commitment.
Practical implications
The results of the study can be beneficial for banking sector and strategy makers who have extended vision and anticipate organizational citizenship behavior from their employees. The study also offers the scope and space for the prospective researchers and scholars to carry out further research.
Originality/value
There is extensive literature available on the relationship between perception of training, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. However, it is observed that very few studies took the opportunity to examine the moderating role of power distance on the relationship between perception of training and organizational commitment, particularly in the context of Pakistan. Therefore, this study can be considered as original and have a great value in understanding the developed relationships in the scenario of Pakistan.
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Benjamin Bader, Sebastian Stoermer, Anna Katharina Bader and Tassilo Schuster
The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace gender harassment of female expatriates across 25 host countries and consider the role of institutional-level gender…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace gender harassment of female expatriates across 25 host countries and consider the role of institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition. Further, the study investigates the effects of workplace gender harassment on frustration and job satisfaction and general job stress as a moderator.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample is comprised of 160 expatriates residing in 25 host countries. The authors test the model using partial least-squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show that female expatriates experience more workplace gender harassment than male expatriates. This effect is particularly pronounced in host countries with strong institutional-level gender discrimination. Moreover, the authors found significant main effects of gender harassment on expatriates’ frustration and job satisfaction. Further, the authors identified a significant association between frustration and job satisfaction. No significant moderation effect of general job stress was found.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s data are cross-sectional. Future studies are encouraged to use longitudinal research designs. Further, future studies could center on perpetrators of harassment, different manifestations of harassment, and effective countermeasures.
Practical implications
The study raises awareness on the challenges of harassment of female expatriates and the role of the host country context. Further, the study shows the detrimental effects of gender harassment on female expatriates’ job satisfaction which is a central predictor of variables crucial to international assignments, for example, performance or assignment completion.
Originality/value
The study is among the first endeavors to include institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition of workplace gender harassment of female expatriates, and therefore puts the interplay between macro- and micro-level processes into perspective.
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The purpose of his paper is to define the role of cyber‐intermediaries based on several theories such as transaction cost analysis, agency, social exchange, and relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of his paper is to define the role of cyber‐intermediaries based on several theories such as transaction cost analysis, agency, social exchange, and relationship marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual piece that uses arguments from well‐established theories in marketing and management
Findings
This paper suggests that cyber‐intermediaries will continue to add value to the producer‐consumer chain, benefiting both the producers and the consumers.
Practical implications
The nature and type of products and services will define the role of the intermediary. They may be more useful in the low cost but frequently purchased product categories.
Originality/value
The paper presents an integration of existing theories to understand the role of cyber‐intermediaries.