Majority size and conformity behavior in charitable giving: Field evidence from a donation-based crowdfunding platform in Japan

A charitable donor typically imitates the majority contribution of other donors. This study examines the relationships between majority size and this so-called donor’s conformity behavior, by empirically investigating the impacts of multiple earlier donations on the donation of a subsequent donor to JapanGiving, a donation-based crowdfunding platform in Japan. This analysis is possible because the platform’s webpage displays the previous donation amounts in chronological order, thus allowing us to examine the modal amount of more recent donations. By using data on 9989 actual donations, our dynamic panel analysis suggests that when the number of most recent continuous modal donations increases, the likelihood that a subsequent donor matches the modal amount increases. This result supports the notion that a donor’s conformity behavior is more likely to occur when a greater proportion of other donors give a similar amount. Furthermore, the effects of continuous modal donations are strongly observed for low monetary ranges. We interpret that initiating further cooperation among a large number of less cooperative other donors would become harder, or individuals would obtain an excuse for less cooperation due to the others’ behaviors. Finally, we discuss how our findings connect economic studies of charity and social psychology studies of conformity and could help improve the effectiveness of fundraising by charities.     

Do changes in patent policy influence firms’ technology strategy? Evidence from manufacturing in India

India made patent policy changes to comply with TRIPs agreement that increased the rights of patent owners. Considering that such policy changes influence both in-house research and development investments and technology licensing from external sources, the firms have to accordingly devise their technology strategy. This study employs a simple and fixed effects multinomial logit regression models to study the impact of policy changes on the technology strategy of 402 firms operating in Indian manufacturing sector from 1999 to 2014. The results show that changes in patent policy have a significant impact on technology strategy of firms.     

Business reform outcomes: Why so different?

Post-crisis policy making increasingly focuses on doing business reforms. We argue that the effects of those reforms will be different across countries. To understand the reasons for the reform outcome divergence, we advance a novel firm-size distribution (FSDs) argument. At the center of the argument is the fact that FSDs are different across countries and stable over time. Then, if a given doing business reform induces firms of different size to grow differently, this will produce a variety of reform outcomes across countries. To advance the argument, we set up a tractable general equilibrium (GE) model and study how firms of different size grow after a doing business reform. The model predicts that larger firms will grow faster than smaller firms after the reform. The model predictions are tested on the Enterprise Surveys (ES) data, merged with the Doing Business indicators. We confirm that firms of different size grow differently after a Doing Business reform. Thus, based on the notable differences of firm size distributions across countries, identical reforms to start, operate and close a business will produce a variety of reform outcomes across countries.     

3-6岁学前儿童情绪与行为问题的调查与分析——以惠州市为例

摘 要：应用儿童长处与困难（SDQ）问卷（父母版），采用分层随机抽样方法，对惠州市1528名3-6岁儿童的情绪与行为问题进行调查。研究发现：惠州市3-6岁儿童情绪与行为问题异常情况比较严峻，儿童心理健康状况值得重视；不同地域、年龄学前儿童存在不同的情绪与行为问题，需要分类干预。其中农村儿童的情绪与行为问题异常情况尤为严重，需要得到广泛的关注和解决。     

研发过程中知识产权风险的控制

企业知识产权包括商标、专利和著作权等，它是企业重要的无形资产。目前，国内大多数企业还不够重视企业的知识产权保护，尤其是专利保护。在研发过程中的专利申请及保护不及时、不到位，导致企业从项目研发到市场占有的整个过程蒙受巨大风险。从知识产权保护角度，探讨了企业研发过程中有关风险的防范措施。     

Goal attainability and performance: Evidence from Boston marathon qualifying standards

In this paper we test if performance improves once goals become more attainable. Goal-setting literature suggests that workers respond to challenging but achievable goals with increased performance. Empirical evidence supports the notion of goals increasing performance; however the evidence on how attainability of goals affects performance is mixed. This paper tests whether efforts increase, improving performance as the goals become more attainable. We are employing a unique set of publicly available marathon data from 1970 to 2015 to directly analyze the effect of goal attainability on performance. With the probable goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, we test if runners increase their effort, and consequently improve their performance if they enter a new age group and as a result have a more attainable goal. We find that runners who enter a new age group perform better than the runners whose qualifying time did not change. This effect is seen with runners in younger age groups, but not found in the results of runners in more advanced years.     

Curved versus straight scissors to avoid 3rd and 4th degree perineal tears: A randomised feasibility study

BackgroundSevere perineal tears sustained during childbirth cause significant distress and morbidity amongst women. The objective of this study was to compare the use of straight scissors for cutting an episiotomy with the use of curved scissors, which are designed to curve away from the anal sphincter.MethodsWe used a single-centre, randomised feasibility trial. The intervention was the use of curved scissors. Women were recruited during a prenatal visit and randomised in the delivery suite, when it became clear that an episiotomy was required. The feasibility outcomes were the proportion of women able to be recruited, randomised and followed up. We also calculated the incidence of obstetric anal sphincter injury when either straight or curved scissors were used to cut an episiotomy. Other outcomes assessed were pain, length of hospital stay, perineal infection and perineal dehiscence.ResultsOf the 155 patients recruited in the prenatal period, only 20 (12.9%) were eventually randomised at birth. The main reasons for the high loss were that women either did not have a vaginal delivery (38, 24.5%), or they did not need an episiotomy (72, 46.5%). Rates of obstetric anal sphincter injury and other outcomes were similar between groups.DiscussionAnal sphincter injury during childbirth remains an important problem. Although the use of curved scissors provides a theoretical solution, we found that the high attrition rate made feasibility of conducting a suitably powered, randomised trial using the current design untenable. Alternative strategies have been suggested to make any future study more viable.     

On sequential closed testing dose groups with a control

Methods for a sequential test of a dose-response effect in pre-clinical studies are investigated. The objective of the test procedure is to compare several dose groups with a zero-dose control. The sequential testing is conducted within a closed family of one-sided tests. The procedures investigated are based on a monotonicity assumption. These closed procedures strongly control the familywise error rate while providing information about the shape of the dose-responce relationship. Performance of sequential testing procedures are compared via a Monte Carlo simulation study. We illustrae the procedures by application to a real data set.     

What Survey Data Reveal about Price and Wage Rigidity in Portugal

This paper exploits the information collected from a survey conducted on a sample of Portuguese firms to study the patterns of firms’ price and wage adjustments and the extent of nominal price and wage rigidities. The evidence shows that the frequency of price changes varies substantially across sectors and depends on the intensity of competition, the share of labor costs and firms’ price reviewing behavior. The results also suggest that the constraint imposed by the presence of downward nominal wage rigidity is less important in firms where the fraction of permanent and high‐skilled workers is lower and the share of flexible pay components is higher.     

LABOR SUPPLY OF POLITICIANS

Using data on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we examine the impact of salaries on the composition and the behavior of legislators. Employing a differences‐in‐differences approach, we exploit the introduction of a law that equalized MEPs' salaries which had previously differed by as much as a factor of 10. Increasing salaries raises the fraction of MEPs who run for re‐election but decreases the quality of elected MEPs (proxied by college quality). Salary has no discernible impact on effort or legislation output. Higher salaries induce more political competition.