Three strikes and you are out?

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carriger
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Market Valuation ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Measures ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
Three Strikes ◽  
Underlying Disorder ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Much has been written in both the management and finance literatures about the impact of downsizing on the financial health and market valuation of companies. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the frequency of downsizing and the impact of frequent downsizings. The purpose of this paper is to look at trends in downsizing, asking the question are companies that downsize once more likely to downsize again. The paper also looks at the impact of frequent downsizing, asking the question are frequent downsizers differentially impacted compared to less frequent downsizers. Design/methodology/approach Companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 in 2014 and were also on the list in 2008 were assessed for the impact of repeat downsizings on financial measures (profitability, efficiency, debt, and revenue) and market valuation. A trend analysis was conducted to assess the trend in downsizing and repeated downsizing from 2008 through 2014. A series of univariate analysis of variances were conducted to assess the impact of repeated downsizings on the financial and market valuation indicators. Findings Findings indicate that companies that downsize between 2008 and 2009 were more likely to downsize again in future years. And this repeat downsizing happened at a higher rate than would be expected by the percentage of companies that initially downsized. Findings also indicate that multiple downsizings had a significantly negative impact on the company’s financial performance as measured by two profitability ratios (return on assets and return on investment) and a borderline significant negative impact on the company’s market valuation as measured by stock equity, regardless of industry or initial financial health of the company. Originality/value Two competing theories were considered and the evidence found here support both. However, the “band-aid solution” theory, that downsizing may function as a band-aid addressing the symptoms that lead to the downsizing but not the underlying disorder or cause may be a more parsimonious explanation for the results here. It is hoped that these findings will inform both scholars and practitioners, giving both a clearer picture of the impact of multiple downsizings on corporate performance.

Improving China's alfalfa industry development: an economic analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenxin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

PurposeThis study analyzes the factors which affect the alfalfa cultivation acreage in China and estimates the development of alfalfa planting by the supply model.Design/methodology/approachBased on the characteristics and actual conditions of alfalfa cultivation in China, a naïve empirical model was created to analyze the impact of various influencing factors on the cultivation acreage of alfalfa.FindingsThe analysis of influential factors shows that China's alfalfa planting conforms to naïve price behavior. The prices of alfalfa and per capita arable land occupancy have a positive effect on the cultivation acreage, while the price of competitive crops and transportation costs have a negative effect on the production of alfalfa. Lastly, the 2012 alfalfa subsidy policy has a significant negative impact on alfalfa cultivation acreage.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the limited research on alfalfa supply in China, there is a lack of available research data and statistical data. A large number of data in this study are mainly indirect data derived and calculated from other industrial data. The measurement results may not be fully accurate.Originality/valueThis study represents the first empirical analysis of the characteristics of the factors influencing alfalfa cultivation acreage in China. The secondary data were used to analyze the influence of various control variables on the cultivation acreage of alfalfa, which is different from existing research.

The effect of weather on the European stock market

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 943-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Sariannidis ◽  
Grigoris Giannarakis ◽  
Xanthi Partalidou
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Weather Variables ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Macroeconomic Indicators ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether weather variables can explain the stock return reaction on the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index by employing a number of macroeconomic indicators as control variables. Design/methodology/approach The authors incorporate the generalized autogressive conditional heteroskeasticity model in methodology for the period August 26, 2009 to May 30, 2014 using daily data. Findings The empirical results indicate that not only do changes in humidity and wind levels seem to affect positively the European stock market but changes in returns oil and gold prices as well. However, the results show that the volatility of the US dollar/Yen exchange rate and ten-year bond value exerts significant negative impact on companies’ stock returns. Originality/value This study adds to the international literature by documenting the impact of weather variables on socially responsible companies.

Corporate misconduct, trade credit and charitable donations: evidence from Chinese listed companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-686
Author(s):  
Zheming Liu ◽  
Saixing Zeng ◽  
Xiaodong Xu ◽  
Han Lin ◽  
Hanyang Ma
Keyword(s):  
Trade Credit ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Corporate Misconduct ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Charitable Donations ◽  
Chinese Listed Companies ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Laws And Regulations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how revelations of corporate misconduct are associated with trade credit. Specifically, it investigates how this association varies in different regions, in different types of industries and in response to companies’ subsequent charitable donations. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically tested various hypotheses using a sample of 2,725 Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2014 based on signaling theory. Fixed effect models underpinned the methods used. Findings The authors found that corporate misconduct has a significant negative impact on an irresponsible company’s trade credit received and granted, and the negative impact is heterogeneous for different regions and industries. There is no evidence that charitable donations mitigate the effect on the trade credit of irresponsible companies following revelations of corporate misconduct. Practical implications The results suggest that listed companies in China should obey national and local laws and regulations if they wish to avoid the risk of significant trade credit loss. If a company’s violation of these laws and regulations is disclosed, making charitable donations is not an effective strategy for safeguarding trade credit. Originality/value This study enriches understanding on the consequences of corporate misconduct and extends the literature on trade credit. It fills a research gap by identifying the impact of corporate misconduct on trade credit.

Do we have to downsize – does the empirical evidence suggest any alternatives?

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carriger
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Outcomes ◽  
Cost Cutting ◽  
Financial Decline ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Given a growing literature indicating that downsizing is not an effective way to address financial decline, having either little impact or negative impact on the financial health or market valuation of financially troubled companies, what is the alternative for those companies in financial trouble? Three sets of alternatives to downsizing are available to companies suffering financial trouble: strategies addressing personnel/fix costs, strategies focused on addressing cost cutting/variable costs and strategies addressing strategic planning/revenue. Although alternatives to downsizing have been identified, little research has been conducted comparing the impact of downsizing vs alternatives to downsizing on firm performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This present study looked solely at strategies focused on addressing personnel/fix costs. Focusing primarily on forced attrition (downsizing) vs temporary attrition and/or natural attrition, this research attempts to determine whether specific groupings of alternatives to downsizing are more effective at addressing financial decline that companies find themselves in as compared to downsizing. This included relying on temporary attrition, natural attrition or doing nothing at all. Findings The research presented here indicates that various alternatives to downsizing have an immediate positive impact on measures of profitability and a positive long-term impact on one measure of efficiency: revenue per employee. Evidence shows that temporary attrition leads to better financial outcomes than natural attrition than forced attrition or downsizing. Originality/value The research presented here indicates that various alternatives to downsizing have an immediate positive impact on measures of profitability and a positive long-term impact on one measure of efficiency: revenue per employee. This has implications for managers put in the position of having to make a decision whether to downsize or not.

Reducing transphobia: comparing the efficacy of direct and indirect contact

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 445-460
Author(s):  
Nitya Rani ◽  
Anand A. Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Direct Contact ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The transgender community faces prejudice and stigma and is one of the most ostracised groups in society. One of the ways to reduce prejudice is through intergroup contact. This may be achieved through direct or indirect contact. The purpose of this paper is to compare the impact of direct and indirect contact on reducing transphobia. Design/methodology/approach Direct contact was achieved through a transgender speaker panel and indirect contact involved a video presentation. In total, 159 students enroled in undergraduate courses at a prominent university in India were enlisted for this study. Perceptions regarding transgenders were measured using the genderism and transphobia scale. Perceptions were measured at three different time points – before the contact, immediately after the contact and one month post contact. Findings Results indicate that both direct and indirect contact cause a significant immediate decrease in transphobia at the post intervention stage. However, only direct contact caused significant reduction at the follow-up stage (one month after the intervention). Direct contact also effected a greater reduction in transphobia than indirect contact. Research limitations/implications This study extends previous research that shows that speaker panels involving sexual minority speakers can result in reducing stigma (e.g. Croteau and Kusek, 1992). The present study shows that such speaker panels can also be useful for reducing stigma against transgender individuals. Another important outcome of this study is the relative effectiveness of direct contact in reducing transphobia compared to indirect contact. Direct contact resulted in greater reduction in transphobia both at the post-test and follow-up stages compared to indirect contact. Practical implications The results of this study may benefit HR practitioners and policy makers in designing workplace initiatives and policies in creating an inclusive workplace. This study shows that meaningful interaction with transgenders would be a key step in reducing stigmatisation. Since direct contact is rarely expensive or time consuming, it can be a valuable tool to improve the integration of transgender individuals within society. Therefore, students and employees may be encouraged to interact with transgender individuals through panel discussions and workshops. Indirect contact may be used as a preliminary intervention in certain cases where direct contact may be difficult to organise. Social implications The stigma faced by transgender individuals has a significant negative impact on their quality of life (Grant et al., 2014; Reisner and Juntunen, 2015). It is, therefore, necessary to recognise and reduce prejudice against transgenders at both the college and school levels as well as in work organisations. Educators and managers have a significant role to play in this societal change. This study shows that stigma reduction can be achieved in a fairly simple way through contact theory. Originality/value This study is one of the first to investigate Indian students’ perceptions of transgenders. It improves on earlier studies using similar interventions in two main ways. First, this study includes a follow-up assessment, which was not performed in most studies. Second, random assignment of participants to one of two conditions improves the reliability of the findings.

To downsize or not to downsize – what does the empirical evidence suggest?

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carriger
Keyword(s):  
Financial Health ◽  
Senior Leaders ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Measures ◽  
Return On Equity ◽  
Company Valuation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
A Company

Purpose There has been much written about the effects of downsizing on the financial health and the valuation of companies that engage in this practice. But this literature is fragmented, focusing on various aspects of companies, various reasons for downsizing, and various financial and market outcome measures. The purpose of this paper is to try and address some of this fragmentation by comparing those companies that downsized in 2008, whether financially healthy or not, with those companies that did not downsize. Design/methodology/approach The impact of the downsizing event was assessed by using various financial measures as well as a measure of company valuation over the short term (2009-2011) and long term (2009-2014). Findings Findings indicate that across all financial measures, except return on equity, downsizing makes no difference to the financial health of a company either in the short term (up to three years after the downsizing) or in the long term (up to six years after the downsizing). And with regards to return on equity, downsizing companies did more poorly immediately after the downsizing in efficiently using their equity. Originality/value The hope is that this work will better inform, not only scholars, but also senior leaders faced with a decision to downsize or not to downsize.

Availability of private credit – does culture matter?

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-223
Author(s):  
Bree Dority ◽  
Frank Tenkorang ◽  
Nacasius U. Ujah
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
High Income ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
Private Credit ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of national culture on private credit availability. The authors particularly focus on the masculinity dimension, as previous studies have not been able to reconcile this dimension in terms of results aligning with expectations. Design/methodology/approach Least-squares regression with country-cluster standard errors is used to estimate the impact of a nation’s cultural dimensions. Culture is assessed using Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions: masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, long-term orientation and indulgence. Estimation controls for country-level measures of economic growth and development, inflation, financial market development and the institutional, legal and bank environments. Data on more than 70 countries were collected from 2005 to 2014. Findings The authors find the masculinity dimension of culture has a significant negative impact on private credit access. Moreover, this result is driven by middle-income versus high-income countries. Interestingly, the authors also find the power distance dimension has a significant negative impact; however, this result is driven by high-income versus middle-income countries. Overall, these results are consistent with the authors’ argument that masculinity may be capturing traditionally defined gender roles, that masculinity (as the authors define it) is different from what power distance is capturing and that the impact of masculinity is influenced by a country’s economic stage. Originality/value The authors’ interpretation of masculinity, coupled with their results, presents researchers with an alternative perspective of a cultural dimension that previous studies have not been able to reconcile in terms of results aligning with expectations. Moreover, the authors show that the impact of the cultural dimensions on private credit differs for high- and middle-income countries, and thus has important implications.

Does size matter? The impact of the size of downsizing on financial health and market valuation

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carriger
Keyword(s):  
Relative Size ◽  
Fortune 500 ◽  
Market Valuation ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Size Matter ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Although the management and financial literature is replete with much research looking at the impact of downsizing on the financial health and market valuation of companies employing this practice, there has been very little attention paid to the size of the downsizing effort and its impact. The purpose of this paper is to try and address this lack by looking at companies that downsized in 2008, considering the relative size of the downsizing, and the ongoing financial health and market valuation of the companies. Design/methodology/approach The impact of the size or severity of the downsizing event was assessed using various financial measures as well as a measure of market valuation from one to five years after the downsizing event. A data set of 251 companies that were in the Fortune 500 in 2014 and also in the Fortune 500 in 2008, that either did not change or decreased headcount were assessed longitudinally over a five-year period. Findings Findings indicate that the size or severity of the downsizing did not impact any measures of profitability or efficiency or market valuation, with one exception. The size of the downsizing event was negatively related to return on investment, one year after the downsizing. On the other hand, the size or severity of the downsizing had a positive relationship on the companies’ ability to have enough cash at hand to cover expenses (current ratio) from one to four years after the downsizing. Originality/value This work may provide additional support for the “band-aid solution” theory of downsizing, as suggested by Carriger (2016), downsizing may stop the bleeding but does not address the underlying financial or strategic issue leading to the need to downsize. The hope is that this work will better inform scholars and practitioners, providing a more nuanced picture of the impact of downsizing on corporate financial health and market valuation.

scholarly journals The Influence of Urban Sprawl on Air Pollution and the Mediating Effect of Vehicle Ownership

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1261
Author(s):  
Aiping Tao ◽  
Qun Liang ◽  
Peng Kuai ◽  
Tao Ding
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Vehicle Ownership ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Effect Model ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
The Impact

Based on the panel data of 224 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2003 to 2016, this paper empirically studies the impact of urban sprawl on air pollution and introduces a mediating effect model to test the mediating role of vehicle ownership concerning the impact of urban sprawl on air pollution. The research in this paper arrives at three conclusions. First, urban sprawl has a significant positive effect on air pollution, and this conclusion is still valid after solving the endogeneity problem and conducting a robustness test. Second, the results of mediating effect test show that urban sprawl indirectly affects air pollution through the partial mediating effect of vehicle ownership. By removing the mediating effect, urban sprawl has a significant negative impact on air pollution, indicating that the mediating effect of vehicle ownership is higher concerning the impact of urban sprawl on air pollution. Third, further panel quantile regression results show that the higher the level of air pollution, the weaker the mediating effect of vehicle ownership and the stronger the direct effect of urban sprawl on air pollution. These conclusions can provide some empirical support for solving the air pollution problems caused by urban sprawl in China.

The Impact of the Business Environment on the Formalization of Informal Firms. The Case of Kosovo

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-529
Author(s):  
Kujtim Zylfijaj ◽  
Dimitar Nikoloski ◽  
Nadine Tournois
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Characteristics Analysis ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe research presented here investigates the impact of the business environment on the formalization of informal firms, using firm-level data for 243 informal firms in Kosovo. The findings indicate that business-environment variables such as limited access to financing, the cost of financing, the unavailability of subsidies, tax rates, and corruption have a significant negative impact on the formalization of informal firms. In addition, firm-level characteristics analysis suggests that the age of the firm also exercises a significant negative impact, whereas sales volume exerts a significant positive impact on the formalization of informal firms. These findings have important policy implications and suggest that the abolition of barriers preventing access to financing, as well as tax reforms and a consistent struggle against corruption may have a positive influence on the formalization of informal firms. On the other hand, firm owners should consider formalization to be a means to help them have greater opportunities for survival and growth.

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