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Item Open Access Collecting badges: Understanding the gold rush for business excellence awards(Wiley, 2022-03-02) Asante, Shadrack; Sarpong, David; Bi, Jianxiang; Mordi, ChimaBusiness excellence awards (BEAs) have become all too commonplace. Entering and winning one has now become part of contemporary organising. However, scholarly work examining these awards remains scattered, with the dominant narrative focusing on what could even be described as the intense obsession with award ceremonies. In this paper, we articulate the mechanisms through which the dual demands for managing competitive pressures and achieving competitive advantage drive organisations to enter these awards. In doing this, we integrate and expand upon prior work to explicate an integrative framework for examining how the interactions between various contextual and environmental factors may induce organisations to enter BEAs and the potential outcomes, particularly for those who win or are shortlisted for these awards. We go on to present a set of propositions constituting a contribution, after which our study's implications for the theory and practice of BEAs are outlined.Item Metadata only A stochastic Fermatean fuzzy-based multi-choice conic goal programming approach for sustainable supply chain management in end-of-life buildings(Elsevier, 2022-12-05) Deliktaş, Derya; Karagoz, Selman; Simić, Vladimir; Aydin, NezirDue to natural disasters, urban transformations and many other factors, sustainable end-of-life buildings (ELBs) waste management is gaining importance within the last decades, which is vigorous for both economic and conservation matters. Turkey is located on active zones in terms of natural disasters and faced numerous destructive events. Therefore, the government initiated a program to renew the ELBs. Even though several studies analyzed post-disaster debris management, there are not many studies focusing on pre-disaster debris management. Thus, this study proposes a two-stage stochastic model to optimize the supply chain network of ELBs and manage the debris stemmed from the destruction of the ELBs. With this aim, the criteria and the alternatives for evaluating the objectives are defined, experts’ evaluations for objectives are integrated into the model, Fermatean fuzzy-based weighting approach is introduced to transfer the experts’ views on the importance of the objectives, and the stochastic Fermatean fuzzy-based multi-choice conic goal programming (FF-MCCGP) and the revised-MCGP methods are used to provide optimal facility locations, and the amount of debris to transfer within the network. The stochastic FF-MCCGP approach outperforms the revised-MCGP in most cases, where they are compared. Furthermore, a sustainable management strategy is offered to control the economic, pollution, land-use stress and population health factors. This study is one of the pioneer studies that eases the consequences of diseases, urban transformation, wars, and other factors by considering the renewal of ELBs, and method can be upgraded dynamically regarding the potential needs and conditions as it offers a global road map.Item Metadata only Political risk, hedge fund strategies, and returns: Evidence from G7 countries(Elsevier, 2022-10-21) Rungmaitree, Pattamon; Boateng, Agyenim; Ahiabor, Frederick; Lu, QinyeIn this study, we examine the effects of political risk across a group of seven industrialised countries (G7) on hedge fund returns and further explore whether the effects of political risk on hedge fund returns vary according to hedge fund strategies employed by fund managers. Employing factor analysis to quantify political risk across the G7 countries, our results evince two interesting aspects. First, we find political risk to exert a negative and significant impact on hedge fund returns, suggesting that hedge fund performance tends to decrease as political risks across G7 nations increase. Second, the effects of political risk on hedge fund returns appear to vary with different hedge fund strategies employed by fund managers. Our results appear robust after employing three different analytical approaches and controlling a set of factors previously identified to affect hedge fund returns.Item Open Access CEO hubris and corporate carbon footprint: The role of gender diversity(Wiley, 2024-08-12) Kwabi, Frank; Fulgence, Samuel; Adamolekun, GbengaThis paper investigates the effect of an overconfident CEO on firm greenhouse gas emissions. Using panel data of 160,115 firm‐year observations from 41 countries for 2000–2021, we find a negative relationship between CEO overconfidence and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, drawing on the theories of gender socialisation and diversity, we find that great representation of females on the board further compels overconfident CEOs to reduce firm carbon emissions. Our findings are robust to varying estimation techniques and identification strategies. These findings offer important insights to green investors, corporate boards, managers and policymakers on the role of overconfident CEOs and female leadership in the carbon abatement efforts of public companies.Item Metadata only Social framing effects in leadership by example: Preferences or beliefs?(Wiley, 2024-08-10) Cartwright, Edward; Drouvelis, MichalisWe study the impact of framing on leading-by-example. Our 2 × 2 design consists of group level frames (Wall Street vs. Community) and individual level frames (First/Second Movers vs. Leader/Followers). We report on two studies where we elicit participants' beliefs allowing us to evaluate whether framing effects are driven by beliefs or preferences. Across both studies, average contributions are significantly lower in the Community—First Mover frame. This is primarily because leaders contribute less, pulling down followers' contributions. We find that contributions are strongly related to first order and second order beliefs but framing effects remain once we control for beliefs.Item Metadata only Deception in double extortion ransomware attacks: An analysis of profitability and credibility(Elsevier, 2023-12-27) Cartwright, Edward; Meurs, Tom; Cartwright, Edward; Junger, Marianne; Abhishta, AbhishtaRansomware attacks have evolved with criminals using double extortion schemes, where they signal data exfiltration to inflate ransom demands. This development is further complicated by information asymmetry, where victims are compelled to respond to ambiguous and often deceptive signals from attackers. This study explores the complex interactions between criminals and victims during ransomware attacks, especially focusing on how data exfiltration is communicated. We use a signaling game to understand the strategies both parties use when dealing with uncertain information. We identify five distinct equilibria, each characterized by the criminals' varied approaches to signaling data exfiltration, influenced by the strategic parameters inherent in each attack scenario. Calibrating the game parameters with real-world like values, we identify the most probable equilibrium, offering insights into anticipated ransom amounts and corresponding payoffs for both victims and criminals. Our findings suggest criminals are likely to claim data exfiltration, true or not, highlighting a strategic advantage for intensifying attack efforts. The study underscores the need for victims' caution towards criminals' claims and highlights the unintended consequences of policies making false claims costlier for criminals.Item Open Access Unblocking the Pipeline: Supporting the Retention, Progression and Promotion of Early Career Black Academics(HEPI, 2024-08-01) Franssen, Becca; Freeman, Josh; Aiyenitaju, Opeoluwa; Babajide, Bola; Denedo, Mercy; Kator lorfa, Steven; Oyedijo, AdeThis report explores the experiences of Black early-career academics (ECAs) in higher education. Based on a survey of nearly 100 Black ECAs and 24 interviews with staff working on initiatives to support them, this report examines the challenges faced by Black ECAs in securing a post and advancing their careers. By evaluating the initiatives currently implemented, this report then investigates how higher education institutions can effectively support Black ECAs. In our discussion of the challenges faced by Black ECAs, we find that: • Most survey respondents feel they have good relationships with their colleagues (68%), but only a minority feel their pay is fair (32%), their workplace is inclusive (34%) and they are supported with their mental and physical wellbeing (38%). • The biggest barriers to career progression identified by respondents are unconscious bias, a lack of community and a lack of clarity around promotion criteria. • Black ECAs often feel ‘invisible’, in that they are passed over for promotion or not acknowledged for the work they do. But they are also expected to do more additional work, such as sitting on interview panels and mentoring colleagues. • They also feel distanced from conversations around promotion and progression, which may partly be because Black staff are often poorly represented at the top levels of university leadership. They particularly value mentorship as a way of advancing their careers. In our exploration of the initiatives used to support Black ECAs, we find that: • Less than two-fifths of survey respondents (38%) would feel comfortable reporting bullying or harassment to their institution, and a quarter (27%) feel race is a taboo topic where they work. • The interventions seen as most effective are the active recruitment of Black academics and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training. Survey respondents also wanted more targeted grants to fund PhD places for Black candidates. The most effective strategies were not just about supporting candidates to find a post; they also involved providing support for Black ECAs throughout their roles. We recommend that higher education institutions looking to support their Black ECAs formalise existing informal processes around promotion and mentorship, which have patchy availability and are of inconsistent quality. Higher education institutions should: • Provide mentorship programmes for ECAs of all ethnicities, standardised across the institution. Mentors should receive training and be recognised for this work when allocating workloads and considering promotion prospects. • Provide studentships and scholarships targeted at candidates who face disadvantages developing their careers in higher education, coupled with ongoing support for those candidates throughout their period of work. • Show leadership on this issue by sharing best practice, following through on interventions and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of initiatives.Item Metadata only Analyzing monetary policies and bank credit in Indonesia’s provincial clusters amidst COVID-19 pandemic(Taylor and Francis, 2024-06-04) Safuan, Sugiharso; Sugandi, Eric Alexander; Habibullah, Muzafar Shah; James, Gregory A.This research investigates the impact of monetary policy instruments employed by the Bank of Indonesia (BI), including reserve requirement (GWM), policy rate, and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, on bank credit by sector in Indonesia. We utilize FMOLS and DOLS techniques to estimate the effects of policy instruments and COVID-19 variables on bank credit across six clusters of provinces. Our findings indicate that the GWM exhibits a negative impact, while the policy rate positively influences bank credit in all non-household sectors in Indonesia. The LTV instrument significantly affects bank credit in household sectors. Furthermore, The Covid-19 pandemic’s influence on the relationship between each policy instrument and bank credit varies across economic sectors and provincial clusters. We recommend BI to utilize the GWM and LTV instruments more frequently and exercise caution in reducing the policy rate to very low levels, as excessively low interest rates may not incentivize banks to increase lending.Item Embargo Impacts of disease pandemics on corporate cash holdings: Evidence from US firms(now publishers, 2024-06-14) Lartey, Theophilus; Danso, Albert; Uddin, Moshfique; Boateng, AgyenimPandemic disease outbreaks generate economic disruptions and impact on liquidity needs of firms. However, how pandemics affect liquidity management policies of firms has received relatively little attention. In this study, we examine whether U.S. firms hold more cash during disease pandemics. We find that U.S. firms increase their cash holdings in response to high disease pandemic exposure. The increase is more pronounced for firms that are small, young, or highly exposed to the uncertainty through their greater reliance on government spending. However, expected cash holdings decrease significantly for firms with male CEOs, or more able (or specialist) CEOs who possess more specific rather than general knowledge of their business to make better judgements. In particular, holding more cash in the presence of high disease uncertainty alleviates the negative impact of disease pandemics on capital investment and corporate payout targets. Our findings demonstrate that cash holdings represent a vital channel in mitigating the negative effect of disease pandemics on firm strategic outcomes.Item Open Access Reliability of the audit committee in weak institutional environments: Evidence from Nigeria(2024) Ashiru, Folajimi; Adegbite, Emmanuel; Frecknall-Hughes, Jane; Daodu, OlabisiRelying on institutional theory, this article presents external stakeholders’ perspectives on the factors that influence audit committees’ independence and reliability in a weak institutional context. We conducted 37 semi-structured interviews with two critical external stakeholder groups (27 experienced professional investors and 10 senior regulatory officials) in the Nigerian banking sector. Our study finds that the independence of audit committee members, being an ‘a posteriori’ rather than an ‘a priori’ accountability verification, bears institutional contextual bias. Consequently, we unpack five factors (allegiance to the dominant owner; poor professional conduct; corruption; nepotism and opportunism; and impunity) that influence external stakeholders’ perception of the reliability of the audit committee’s independence in Nigeria.Item Metadata only Social networks, empowerment, and wellbeing among Syrian refugee and Jordanian women: Implications for development and social inclusion(Elsevier, 2023-06-28) Eggerman, Jannik J.; Dajani, Rana; Kumar, Praveen; Chui, Susanna L. M.; Qtaishat, Lina; Kharouf, Amal El; Panter-Brick, CatherineIn response to large-scale refugee crises, frameworks for development assistance have promoted women’s empowerment, wellbeing, and social inclusion. A productive research agenda lies in analyzing social networks: it is unknown how women structure their social ties within refugee and host communities, and whether social networks matter for their sense of empowerment and wellbeing. In 2022, we surveyed Syrian refugee (n = 106) and Jordanian (n = 109) women from poor households across five neighborhoods in Amman. We implemented a standard network survey instrument (PERSNET) to assess network structure and composition. We tested associations with six measures (PE, MRS, MTL, Cantril, PWB, MSPSS) of psychological empowerment and wellbeing. We then conducted participatory network mapping (Net-Map) to assess local meanings of empowerment and visually map the pathways between social actors, community-based work, and psychological outcomes. Survey data show that networks were highly homogeneous, smaller for Syrians than Jordanians (p = 0.0001), and smaller for women in very poor households (p < 0.0001). As network size increased, so did levels of psychological empowerment (p = 0.02), motivation to lead (p = 0.007) and perceived social support (p = 0.001). Notably, as networks became increasingly kin-based, empowerment levels decreased (p = 0.003). Networks were more diverse for community volunteers, who named fewer female, married, and kin-based peers (p ≤ 0.05), and reported higher levels of resourcefulness (p = 0.01) and psychological wellbeing (p = 0.002). Qualitative data show that women, who described empowerment as “ability” and “proof of existence,” drew upon volunteering work to diversify their networks outside the home. Such evidence matters for development initiatives that build programs for women to work, learn, and socially interact. We conclude that expanding opportunities for volunteer work is one way of diversifying social networks and empowering urban poor women. Our research helps better understand how women can be supported to diversify their social ties, take community leadership roles, and respond to social change.Item Metadata only International differences in employee silence motives: Scale validation, prevalence, and relationships with culture characteristics across 33 countries(Wiley, 2021-05-04) Knoll, Michael; Götz, Martin; Adriasola, Elisa; Al‐Atwi, Amer Ali; Arenas, Alicia; Atitsogbe, Kokou A.; Barrett, Stephen; Bhattacharjee, Anindo; Blanco, Norman D.; Bogilović, Sabina; Bollmann, Grégoire; Bosak, Janine; Bulut, Cagri; Carter, Madeline; Černe, Matej; Chui, Susanna L. M.; Di Marco, Donatella; Duden, Gesa S.; Elsey, Vicki; Fujimura, Makoto; Gatti, Paola; Ghislieri, Chiara; Giessner, Steffen R.; Hino, Kenta; Hofmans, Joeri; Jønsson, Thomas S.; Kazimna, Pazambadi; Lowe, Kevin B.; Malagón, Juliana; Mohebbi, Hassan; Montgomery, Anthony; Monzani, Lucas; Pieterse, Anne Nederveen; Ngoma, Muhammed; Ozeren, Emir; O'Shea, Deirdre; Ottsen, Christina Lundsgaard; Pickett, Jennifer; Anna A. Rangkuti; Retowski, Sylwiusz; Ardabili, Farzad Sattari; Shaukat, Razia; Silva, Silvia A.; Šimunić, Ana; Steffens, Niklas K.; Sultanova, Faniya; Szücs, Daria; Tavares, Susana M.; Tipandjan, Arun; van Dick, Rolf; Vasiljevic, Dimitri; Wong, Sut I.; Zacher, HannesEmployee silence, the withholding of work-related ideas, questions, or concerns from someone who could effect change, has been proposed to hamper individual and collective learning as well as the detection of errors and unethical behaviors in many areas of the world. To facilitate cross-cultural research, we validated an instrument measuring four employee silence motives (i.e., silence based on fear, resignation, prosocial, and selfish motives) in 21 languages. Across 33 countries (N = 8,222) representing diverse cultural clusters, the instrument shows good psychometric properties (i.e., internal reliabilities, factor structure, and measurement invariance). Results further revealed similarities and differences in the prevalence of silence motives between countries, but did not necessarily support cultural stereotypes. To explore the role of culture for silence, we examined relationships of silence motives with the societal practices cultural dimensions from the GLOBE Program. We found relationships between silence motives and power distance, institutional collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. Overall, the findings suggest that relationships between silence and cultural dimensions are more complex than commonly assumed. We discuss the explanatory power of nations as (cultural) units of analysis, our social scientific approach, the predictive value of cultural dimensions, and opportunities to extend silence research geographically, methodologically, and conceptually.Item Embargo The impact of export VAT rebates on firm productivity: Evidence from China(Wiley, 2020-12-14) Tang, Baoqing; Gao, Bo; Ma, JingThis paper studies the impact of export VAT rebates on firm productivity with Chinese firm-product-level data. We find that higher VAT rebates significantly raise firm productivity. The results are robust to various estimations of firm productivity. Moreover, this paper finds that the impact of export VAT rebates on firm productivity is significantly different across firms and sectors. More specifically, our results suggest that the impact is mainly driven by firms with small export intensive margins and large export extensive margins, new exporters, financially constrained firms and low-productivity firms. Furthermore, in high-tech sectors, the impact is significantly large with a one percentage point increase of the firm rate of VAT rebates nearly raising firm productivity by 6%.Item Open Access CEO tenure and cost of debt(Springer, 2022-06-21) Owusu, Andrews; Kwabi, Frank; Ezeani, Ernest; Owusu-Mensah, RuthIn this study, we investigate the relationship between CEO tenure and cost of debt. Using a sample of the FTSE All-Share Index firms listed on the London Stock Exchange for the period 2009 to 2018 and the ordinary least squares regression (OLS) estimation method, we find that cost of debt is higher for firms with CEOs in their early tenure in office than those in their later tenure in office. Further analysis shows that board independence attributes including (1) the proportion of independent directors on the board, (2) full (100 per cent) independent audit committee members, and (3) a lead independent director representation on the board interact with CEO early tenure in office to reduce cost of debt due to the board’s effective monitoring ability when the CEO is new and risk-seeking. Our study extends CEO tenure and corporate outcomes in general and in particular CEO risk-taking incentives and cost of debt literature, and has important implications for firms seeking to raise finance from the debt market when their CEO is new as well as identifying the control mechanisms that they need to put in place to lower the cost of debt.Item Open Access COVID-19 and credit risk variation across banks: International insights(Wiley, 2024-05-26) Acheampong, Albert; Ibeji, Ngozi; Danso, AlbertThis paper focuses on utilizing non-performing loans (NPLs) as the primary indicator of credit risk to analyze how various bank and country-level characteristics influence changes in credit risk within and between banks across China, Europe, and the U.S. during the COVID-19 period. Over 4959 bank-quarter observations (from Q4 2019 to Q4 2021), it becomes evident that COVID-19 significantly contributes to the variation in NPLs, underscoring its adverse impact on credit risk. This pattern is consistent across all countries; however, Chinese banks exhibit more robust capabilities in managing credit risk exposure compared to their European and U.S. counterparts. These findings offer significant implications for policymakers, investors, and regulators who are concerned about the repercussions of global pandemics on financial institutions.Item Open Access A classroom market experiment: Data and reflections(2024-06-02) Cartwright, Edward; Cartwright, AnnaIn this article, the authors analyze data accumulated over 10+ years of teaching market interaction using a simple classroom experiment. The experiment is designed to teach first-year undergraduate students the basics of supply and demand and market efficiency. In total, they analyze data from 85 teaching sessions and 243 individual markets. They find that traded prices typically (90% of the time) move in accordance with market equilibrium comparative statics. They also find that average traded prices are rarely (5% of the time) consistent with market equilibrium but typically (70% of the time) “close” to the equilibrium. The traded quantity is often (60% of the time) more than equilibrium, which results in a loss of efficiency. The law of one price is strongly rejected.Item Embargo Board Demographic, Cognitive Diversity and Firm Performance: A Quantile Regression Approach(World Scientific Publishing Company, 2024-05-30) Wang, Yan; Demiralay, Sercan; Babajide, BolaThis chapter examines the implications of board demographic diversity (e.g., gender, age) and cognitive diversity (e.g., education and financial background) on performance of tourism firms using a novel quantile regression method. Using a sample of the tourism companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2010 and 2019, we find that gender diversity is associated with tourism performance using the quantile regression method. Our results suggest that board representation of women has a greater positive impact on tourism performance in good-performing firms (average or above average) compared to poor-performing firms. Further, age and educational diversity have a positive association with firm performance and the impacts are greater on good-performing firms compared to poor-performing firms. Finally, financial background diversity is negatively and significantly associated with firm performance, but the relationship is nonlinear. Overall, our evidence indicates that the impact of board demographic and cognitive diversity is not constant along the quantiles of firm performance distributionItem Embargo Column Generation based solution for Bi-objective Gate Assignment Problems(Springer, 2024-04-29) Das, Gulesin Sena; Gzara, FatmaIn this paper, we present a column generation-based algorithm for the bi-objective gate assignment problem (GAP) to generate gate schedules that minimize squared slack time at the gates while satisfying passenger expectations by minimizing their walking distance. While most of the literature focuses on heuristic or metaheuristic solutions for the bi-objective GAP, we propose flow-based and column-based models that lead to exact or near optimal solution approaches. The developed algorithm calculates a set of solutions to approximate the Pareto front. The algorithm is applied to the over-constrained GAP where gates are a limited resource and it is not possible to serve every flight using a gate. Our test cases are based on real data from an international airport and include various instances with flight-to-gate ratios between 23.9 and 34.7. Numerical results reveal that a set of solutions representing a compromise between the passenger-oriented and robustness-oriented objectives may be obtained with a tight optimality gap and within reasonable computational time even for these difficult problems.Item Open Access Structural changes in contagion channels: the impact of COVID-19 on the Italian electricity market(Springer, 2024-03-15) Ahelegbey, Daniel Felix; Casarin, Roberto; Fianu, Emmanuel; Grossi, LuigiOperating on electricity markets requires accurately identifying, quantifying, and measuring risk coupled with their corresponding return: this appears as a crucial point, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present paper is twofold. First, we propose a novel econometric approach to identifying relevant market factors that capture several elements of the risk transmission mechanism inherent in energy systems. The proposed model extends Bayesian graphical models with change points to a multiple-layer set-up. Multilayer graphs encompass the two relevant channels of shock transmission: volatility and price contagion effects. The choice of these two layers seems natural because electricity 2 prices and their spiky nature, coupled with inherent volatility, constitute essential influential elements for market players to maximize their profits. The change-point specification allows for detecting relevant changes in the electricity market. Second, we apply the proposed econometric framework to the Italian zonal markets analyzing the effects of returns and volatility contagion in several periods detected by the model. The last time intervals identified by the change-point methodology overlap the COVID-19 pandemic period. The model captures relevant abrupt changes in prices and volatility in the zonal electricity market and provides new evidence of interconnections in the zones of the Italian market related to the risk alone, price process alone, and risk versus price process relationship and their interactions.Item Embargo The impact of political uncertainty on the cost of capital(Springer, 2024-01-20) Kwabi, Frank; Owusu, Andrews; Ezeani, Ernest; Boateng, AgyenimWe investigate the impact of political uncertainty on the relationship between foreign equity portfolio flow and the cost of capital. Using panel data from 40 countries from 2001 to 2016, our results show that the year before a national election is associated with a higher cost of capital. Further analyses show that the relationship between international equity portfolio flow and the cost of capital is sensitive to political uncertainty. In line with the institutional quality channel, we find that checks and balances interact with political uncertainty to reduce the negative effects of political uncertainty on the cost of capital. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that foreign investors strategically reduce their equity portfolio investment to the recipient country before a national election which reduces risk-sharing between domestic and foreign investors.