Lori Dickes, Elizabeth Crouch and Thomas C. Walker
Entrepreneurship is argued to be a critical driver of economic growth for both individual communities and the nation. Regional scientists, economists, and policy makers underscore…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurship is argued to be a critical driver of economic growth for both individual communities and the nation. Regional scientists, economists, and policy makers underscore the importance of a diverse economy that supports recruitment of new firms, existing firms, and entrepreneurship efforts. However, there remains evidence that many states and localities prefer traditional industrial recruitment efforts and that local and state entrepreneurial efforts may be less coordinated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This research explores the commitment and priorities of local and regional developers to entrepreneurial policy and other economic development policy efforts. This study uses a statewide survey to local economic developers and logistic regression to determine the likelihood of local entrepreneurial program efforts across South Carolina.
Findings
The model results reveal that the probability of local or regional entrepreneurial development programming is complex and dependent on the type of organization involved in economic development along with other community and state characteristics. However, results further confirm that barriers to entrepreneurship, like access to seed capital, and the influence of perceived alternative policies affect local and regional support of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The policy priorities of local economic developers appear to play a significant role in the probability of having local entrepreneurship policy and programs. This confirms that the signals local policymakers receive from the state may impact the programming choices and policy emphasis at the local and regional level. In conclusion, if states want entrepreneurial efforts to be a critical driver of economic growth and development, there must be a coordinated and focused state driver supporting these efforts.
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Uma V. Sridharan, Lori Dickes and W. Royce Caines
Between October and November 2001 the world witnessed the collapse of Enron, a major US publicly traded corporation with global operations. The Enron case highlights the impact…
Abstract
Between October and November 2001 the world witnessed the collapse of Enron, a major US publicly traded corporation with global operations. The Enron case highlights the impact corporate failure has on American society and capital markets and underscores the need for better enforcement of regulations and ethical business behavior. This paper discusses the role played by Enron’s senior management, its board of directors, Enron’s auditors, consultants, bankers, Wall Street and the government, in the spectacular rise and fall of this corporate giant. It also examines the impact of Enron’s failure on its employees, the employees of Andersen, and on thousands of ordinary Americans who invested in the stock via their pensions and mutual funds. This paper highlights the conflicts of interest that pervade the financial system and discusses the social and financial impact of a combined business and oversight failure. Students and teachers of finance, corporate governance, and business strategy may be interested in this paper as a pedagogical tool to teach undergraduate finance, business ethics, business strategy, and corporate governance.
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Elizabeth Crouch and Lori Dickes
Numerous scholars have studied the propensity and related determinants of marital infidelity across socioeconomic and demographic groups. However, the broader social and economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Numerous scholars have studied the propensity and related determinants of marital infidelity across socioeconomic and demographic groups. However, the broader social and economic consequences of infidelity remain an unexplored question, particularly the macroeconomic consequences from the individual impacts on families and households. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using income data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze the relationship between the probability of infidelity and income and second, to quantify the cost of marital infidelity on individual families and taxpayers. The results confirm that infidelity makes individual households poorer, but goes further to reveal widespread negative externalities that fall to taxpayers from the consequences of family fragmentation.
Findings
The results of this study indicate a review of government policy since numerous government policies contradict the incentive to stay married. Future research should consider additional estimations of the full range of costs related to infidelity and family fragmentation with particular focus on the public programs that may absorb the brunt of the negative externalities resulting from divorce.
Research limitations/implications
This research confirms earlier research that infidelity has a high probability of causing divorce. Combined with this research, the analysis confirms a statistically significant negative relationship between infidelity and income and that when infidelity causes divorce, the results are substantial public economic and social costs. By definition public economic and social costs are borne by society, resulting in increased taxpayer burdens for society at large.
Practical implications
Previously, the consequences of infidelity were a largely unexplored question. There had been some work on the probability of infidelity but little beyond this. Further, there had been minimal literature on the social efficiency of infidelity, especially research focussing on the external costs imposed on third parties such as children and taxpayers (Smith, 2012). This work took earlier research further by first confirming the negative impact on household income based on the probability of infidelity. Additionally, this is the only study that has examined the economic consequences of divorce due to infidelity. This research confirms that the presence of infidelity, especially when it leads to divorce, results in substantial economic and social externalities resulting from family fragmentation. Future research would benefit from a more in depth understanding of the characteristics that relate to the increased probability of infidelity, separate from and in conjunction with divorce. Furthermore, examining costs as they relate to specific programs, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, may clarify the impact of family fragmentation on specific programs. Additionally, the results from this study can be incorporated into larger sets of findings focussing on government policy to better understand the full range of social implications from infidelity.
Social implications
Future research should consider additional estimations of the full range of costs related to infidelity and family fragmentation, with particular focus on the public programs that may absorb the brunt of the negative externalities resulting from divorce. The most pertinent policies influencing the rate of marriage and divorce in the USA are the income tax code, Social Security spousal and survivor benefits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, child support enforcement, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, food stamps, Medical, Supplemental Security Income, and WIC (Burstein, 2007). A review of these policies and their incentive structure related to family cohesiveness should be considered as a part of larger cost/benefit analysis of these programs.
Originality/value
This work took earlier research further by first confirming the negative impact on household income based on the probability of infidelity. Additionally, this is the only study that has examined the economic consequences of divorce due to infidelity. This research confirms that the presence of infidelity, especially when it leads to divorce, results in substantial economic and social externalities resulting from family fragmentation.
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In the words of Business Week, we occasionally witness scandals so vast that they profoundly shock our most deeply held beliefs about the honesty and integrity of corporate…
Abstract
In the words of Business Week, we occasionally witness scandals so vast that they profoundly shock our most deeply held beliefs about the honesty and integrity of corporate conduct. There is unlikely to be a more devastatingly spectacular demonstration of this than the collapse of US energy giant Enron. As recently as two years ago, investors could hardly have been more confident in Enron’s direction. Here we had a firm led by 17 directors with impeccable records, MBA qualifications and hundreds of years in combined business experience. In this environment how could things possibly go wrong? But wrong they certainly went and the furor surrounding this catastrophe is likely to persist for months, if not years, to come. Surely among the embers of what remains of one of the world’s largest energy firms and the lives that ran it there are some fundamental lessons to be learned in order to ensure nothing of this magnitude is ever allowed to happen again.