审计在基金会治理中能够有效发挥作用吗?

本文以2005年至2009年中国全国基金会为样本,研究基金会捐赠收入与外部审计师选择之间的关系,即在中国慈善市场上,外部监督机制之一的外部审计是否具有治理效应及治理职能如何有效实现。实证结果表明:当基金会选择百强事务所审计时,能够有效实现审计的治理职能,吸引更多的捐赠者进行捐赠;当基金会选择民政部中标事务所审计时,不能有效实现审计的治理职能,从而不能显著增加捐赠收入。上述结论在一定程度上验证了在慈善市场中,外部审计具有治理效应,其有效治理效应依赖于高质量的审计。     

Strategic issues for charities and philanthropies

This article explores the need for charities and philanthropic bodies to develop strategies which emphasize efficiency and service and the examples and evidence presented highlight some important issues for fundraisers. The most obvious implication is the need for charitable bodies to institute environmental scanning and strategic planning.     

Exploring Strategic Positioning in the UK Charitable Sector: Emerging Evidence from Charitable Organizations that Provide Public Services

The UK voluntary sector operates in an arguably enabling policy context. Yet, other external environmental influences have posed major challenges for charitable organizations within the wider voluntary sector. This paper aims to rectify the current lack of empirical research on how charitable organizations have responded in terms of their strategic positioning to the changing external operating environment and policy context. It both explores the positioning strategies adopted by two contrasting British charities that deliver public services in different ways, and investigates the factors that have influenced their choice of positioning strategies. The cases studied extend our knowledge of strategic positioning in organizations other than commercial (for-profit) ones. The findings provide new evidence that charities have begun to strategically position themselves in response to both internal organizational factors and external environmental influences. Emerging lessons from the experiences of the case study organizations provide guidance to charity managers in planning and implementing strategic positioning in their organizations. The findings also underscore the need to develop theoretical and conceptual management models specific to non-profit organizations, such as charities.     

DO SUBSIDIES INCREASE CHARITABLE GIVING IN THE LONG RUN? MATCHING DONATIONS IN A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Subsidizing charitable giving—for example, for victims of natural disasters—is very popular, not only with governments but also with private organizations. Many companies match their employees' charitable contributions, hoping that this will foster the willingness to contribute. However, systematic analyses of the effect of such a matching mechanism are still lacking. This article tests the effect of matching charitable giving in a randomized field experiment in the short and the long run. The donations of a randomly selected group were matched by contributions from an anonymous donor. The results support the hypothesis that a matching mechanism increases contributions to a public good. However, in the periods after the experiment, when matching donations have been stopped, the contribution rate declines for the treatment group. The matching mechanism leads to a negative net effect on the participation rate. The field experiment therefore provides evidence suggesting that the willingness to contribute may be undermined by a matching mechanism in the long run. (JEL: C93, D64, H00)     

The Transfer of ‘International Best Practice’ in a Brazilian MNC: A Consideration of the Convergence and Contingency Perspectives

This study examines the transfer of a Brazilian MNC's HR model to its subsidiaries in the UK, Canada, Switzerland and Norway. It enquires where the model was sourced from, to what extent it bore a distinct Brazilian complexion, and whether it was adapted to meet the strictures of host institutional constraints and traditions. The paper uses these questions to address an important theoretical debate in the international business literature; that is, whether the pattern of diffusion of management practices within MNCs will lead to a convergence of practices across companies and countries à la the convergence perspective, or whether this is unlikely given the variety of social and political constraints limiting such a process as suggested by the contingency perspective. We find that the MNC imposed a unitary (US-sourced) model of HR ‘best practice’ on all of its subsidiaries. Thus our empirical findings support the convergence thesis. However, we argue that these outcomes are largely explained by relations of power and economic dependence; specifically, the co-existence of dominant-country (US) practices and a dominant sectoral firm operating in economically dependent regions. Where similar circumstances are replicated one might foresee convergence within sectors across countries, but otherwise pluralism and eclecticism between sectors and across countries might be the predominant pattern along the lines envisaged in the conceptualization of “converging divergences”.     

Governance Choices for Corporate Social Responsibility: to Contribute,Collaborate or Internalize?

Within a competitive business environment where resources are limited, it is increasingly important for senior management to make every investment count. Measuring ‘return on investment’ occurs at every level of operations—so why not also in the arena of Corporate Social activity? Until now, much research has focused on finding the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and increased business performance. Researchers have not examined the cost implications associated with the different forms of governance utilized by companies to implement their CSR activities, e.g., outsourcing through charitable contributions, developing an in-house program, or creating a more collaborative model, which benefits both the company and the partner nonprofit organization. Careful examination and evaluation of these costs will help senior management choose the governance structure that will maximize the benefits they reap from CSR activities.Drawing upon insights from organizational economics, this article develops a framework to compare the alternative modes of CSR governance and identifies the key drivers that affect governance choice, including associated costs. Most importantly, it provides a decision-making tool that can guide senior management in this vital choice as a way to contribute to the competitive advantage of the firm.     

Potential Pitfalls for the Purchasing‐Power‐Parity Puzzle? Sampling and Specification Biases in Mean‐Reversion Tests of the Law of One Price

The PPP puzzle is based on empirical evidence that international price differences for individual goods (LOOP) or baskets of goods (PPP) appear highly persistent or even nonstationary. The present consensus is these price differences have a half‐life that is of the order of five years at best, and infinity at worst. This seems unreasonable in a world where transportation and transaction costs appear so low as to encourage arbitrage and the convergence of price gaps over much shorter horizons, typically days or weeks. However, current empirics rely on a particular choice of methodology, involving (i) relatively low‐frequency monthly, quarterly, or annual data, and (ii) a linear model specification. In fact, these methodological choices are not innocent, and they can be shown to bias analysis towards findings of slow convergence and a random walk. Intuitively, if we suspect that the actual adjustment horizon is of the order of days, then monthly and annual data cannot be expected to reveal it. If we suspect arbitrage costs are high enough to produce a substantial “band of inaction,” then a linear model will fail to support convergence if the process spends considerable time random‐walking in that band. Thus, when testing for PPP or LOOP, model specification and data sampling should not proceed without consideration of the actual institutional context and logistical framework of markets.     

中国区域房地产价格异质收敛与调控政策研究

通过研究区域房价的异质收敛为实施区域差异化房地产市场调控提供政策依据.采用非线性时变因子模型对全国30个省市自治区2001M1~2013M12的房价进行实证得出,传统的经济或行政区域划分对区域房地产市场不适用,中国区域房地产价格存在异质收敛,可划分为3个收敛子群.地理因素或经济因素不是区域房价收敛的主导因素,重要的房地产调控政策能够本质性地改变区域房价的收敛情况,而且这种作用一般生效于政策发布后的4~5个月.     

Stochastic Learning Dynamics and Speed of Convergence in Population Games

We study how long it takes for large populations of interacting agents to come close to Nash equilibrium when they adapt their behavior using a stochastic better reply dynamic. Prior work considers this question mainly for 2 × 2 games and potential games; here we characterize convergence times for general weakly acyclic games, including coordination games, dominance solvable games, games with strategic complementarities, potential games, and many others with applications in economics, biology, and distributed control. If players' better replies are governed by idiosyncratic shocks, the convergence time can grow exponentially in the population size; moreover, this is true even in games with very simple payoff structures. However, if their responses are sufficiently correlated due to aggregate shocks, the convergence time is greatly accelerated; in fact, it is bounded for all sufficiently large populations. We provide explicit bounds on the speed of convergence as a function of key structural parameters including the number of strategies, the length of the better reply paths, the extent to which players can influence the payoffs of others, and the desired degree of approximation to Nash equilibrium.     

Multilateral Contracting with Externalities

This paper proposes a model for multilateral contracting, where contracts are written and renegotiated over time, and where contracts may impose externalities on other agents. Equilibria always exist and the equilibrium value function is linear and monotonically increasing on the contracts. If the grand coalition, or contracting among all agents, is inefficient, we show that bargaining delays arise in positive‐externality games and equilibrium inefficiency may remain bounded away from zero even as bargaining frictions converge to zero. Otherwise, if the grand coalition is efficient, there are no bargaining delays, convergence to the grand coalition occurs in a finite number of contracting rounds, and the outcome becomes efficient as players become more patient.     

我国能源效率地区差异及收敛性分析——基于随机前沿分析和面板单位根的实证研究

探究我国能源效率地区差异现状及趋势是实现"十二五"节能目标的前提条件。在随机前沿分析框架下,对1980-2010年29个省市自治区的能源效率进行测算,并对能源效率地区差异、影响因素进行分析,最后运用面板单位根法对我国地区能源效率进行随机收敛分析。结果显示我国能源效率地区差异较为明显,呈现先扩大后缩小的趋势;在1%显著水平下,煤炭消费比重每下降1%,能源效率将提高0.335%,而产权结构、能源价格指数、出口依存度等每上升1%,能源效率将分别提高0.672%、0.166%、0.518%;东部随机性趋同不存在,而中西部在10%显著水平出现俱乐部收敛,但西部随机性收敛是低水平的。因此,制定差别化的能源消费结构、产权结构、能源价格与出口依存度目标等有利于缩小地区间的能源效率差距并改善东中西部的收敛水平。     

考虑消费者参照效应与策略行为的多产品动态定价

在考虑客户同时表现出参照依赖和策略行为的场景下，本文构建了一个垄断厂商两阶段的多产品动态定价模型。该模型将易逝品的销售分为正常价格阶段和促销价格阶段，每个阶段又分为多期。客户分为短视型和策略型，其中策略型客户会根据两个阶段价格的差异和获得商品的概率，决定是在第一阶段和等到第二阶段购买商品。基于随机动态规划的结构属性和超模理论，得到了两个阶段稳态价格的解析解，并且证明最优价格路径是单调且随着初始参照价格变化而变化。最后，通过对两种产品的数值实验，分析了各种参数对最优稳态价格的影响。结果显示，零售商可以采取多产品联合定价策略，即基于商店水平的定价策略，并通过调整核心产品的比重来获得更高的利润。     

Transition Modeling and Econometric Convergence Tests

A new panel data model is proposed to represent the behavior of economies in transition, allowing for a wide range of possible time paths and individual heterogeneity. The model has both common and individual specific components, and is formulated as a nonlinear time varying factor model. When applied to a micro panel, the decomposition provides flexibility in idiosyncratic behavior over time and across section, while retaining some commonality across the panel by means of an unknown common growth component. This commonality means that when the heterogeneous time varying idiosyncratic components converge over time to a constant, a form of panel convergence holds, analogous to the concept of conditional sigma convergence. The paper provides a framework of asymptotic representations for the factor components that enables the development of econometric procedures of estimation and testing. In particular, a simple regression based convergence test is developed, whose asymptotic properties are analyzed under both null and local alternatives, and a new method of clustering panels into club convergence groups is constructed. These econometric methods are applied to analyze convergence in cost of living indices among 19 U.S. metropolitan cities.     

考虑属性关联的两阶段获胜者确定模型

研究了多属性逆向拍卖的获胜者确定问题。考虑属性之间的两两关联，以定义在2-可加模糊测度上的Choquet积分表达拍卖人的偏好，其中模糊测度的值由拍卖人提供的偏好信息推测得出。由于一般情况下与偏好信息一致的模糊测度取值并不唯一，考虑所有一致的评分函数提出了两阶段获胜者确定方法。首先采用线性规划挑选出在任意评分函数下可能获胜的报价，再通过混合整数规划确定一个与所有一致的评分函数的评价结果最为接近的报价排序，以得分最高者为稳健获胜报价。仿真实验表明，大量的报价为不可能获胜报价，说明了在第一阶段进行筛选的必要性。与现有方法的比较表明了该方法的有效性，且在拍卖轮数较大、报价数目较多时，该方法在计算效率上更有优势。     

Optimal Work-Rest Schedules with a Set of Fixed-Duration Rest Periods

This paper demonstrates that the problem of optimizing the work output of an individual employee, subject to a set of fixed-duration rest periods over a continuous time horizon, can be modeled with a quadratic programming formulation. Exogenous determination of break period durations may result from union contracts, management policies, or necessary lower bounds on break time due to transportation or other requirements. Although the new formulation is more complex than that required for previous models, an efficient solution procedure is presented which avoids the complexities of nonlinear programming. The number of iterations required for convergence is bounded from above by the number of rest periods to be scheduled and all computations are simple. An illustration of the procedure demonstrates that it may be effectively used without computer support. While this research was motivated by the fact that previous work-rest models were not applicable to work horizons which contained a fixed-duration meal break, the procedure can be used to obtain optimal placement for a set of fixed-duration rest periods which may or may not include a meal break. The characteristics of optimal strategies for a set of fixed-duration breaks proofs are shown to have implications for the design of shifts which are potentially more attractive and productive than shifts based upon typical practice. These characteristics are also compared to the general characteristics of optimal policies associated with endogenously determined break durations. This comparison provides insight into the possible consequences of exogenous determination of break durations. This paper concludes with suggestions for additional research.     

Nonstationary Binary Choice

This paper develops an asymptotic theory for time series binary choice models with nonstationary explanatory variables generated as integrated processes. Both logit and probit models are covered. The maximum likelihood (ML) estimator is consistent but a new phenomenon arises in its limit distribution theory. The estimator consists of a mixture of two components, one of which is parallel to and the other orthogonal to the direction of the true parameter vector, with the latter being the principal component. The ML estimator is shown to converge at a rate of n^3/4 along its principal component but has the slower rate of n^1/4 convergence in all other directions. This is the first instance known to the authors of multiple convergence rates in models where the regressors have the same (full rank) stochastic order and where the parameters appear in linear forms of these regressors. It is a consequence of the fact that the estimating equations involve nonlinear integrable transformations of linear forms of integrated processes as well as polynomials in these processes, and the asymptotic behavior of these elements is quite different. The limit distribution of the ML estimator is derived and is shown to be a mixture of two mixed normal distributions with mixing variates that are dependent upon Brownian local time as well as Brownian motion. It is further shown that the sample proportion of binary choices follows an arc sine law and therefore spends most of its time in the neighborhood of zero or unity. The result has implications for policy decision making that involves binary choices and where the decisions depend on economic fundamentals that involve stochastic trends. Our limit theory shows that, in such conditions, policy is likely to manifest streams of little intervention or intensive intervention.     

Using Sustainable Production Indicators to Measure Progress in ISO 14001, EHS System and EPA Achievement Track

This case study presents results from testing a new tool — indicators of sustainable production (ISPs) — at Acushnet Rubber of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The authors demonstrate how the tool can be used to measure continual improvement and how it fits within the current system for reporting compliance to regulations; and performance under ISO 14001 (environmental management system standard), the environmental, health and safety (EHS) system, and EPA Achievement Track.Developed at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (LCSP), this tool includes both core (common for all companies) and supplemental (production-specific) indicators, and aims to raise awareness, support decision-making, and promote continuous improvement toward sustainability. Indicators such as energy use, water use, global warming potential, lost work time case rate, turnover rate, community spending and charitable contributions, among others, were tested at both facility and corporate levels. Results showed the company's progress in EHS as well as the areas that need improvement. The paper concludes with a summary of key lessons learned and recommendations for further use of the tool.     

产品市场竞争影响企业慈善捐赠的实证研究

基于企业慈善捐赠的动机视角,利用我国沪深两市的676家上市公司作为研究样本,检验产品市场竞争是否对企业慈善捐赠产生影响,研究结果表明:与处于正常竞争程度行业企业相比,处于强竞争行业的企业和处于弱竞争行业的企业都趋向捐赠更少,产品市场竞争程度与企业捐赠之间呈"∩"型关系。检验了规模、盈利能力、负债水平、直接接触消费者、所有制等因素对企业捐赠的影响,研究结果进一步支持企业慈善捐赠的经济动机观点。     

基于专利指标的中国区域创新趋同的时空演变特征分析

本文以中国31个省级行政区1990-2008年专利数据为资料,基于空间马尔可夫链方法,研究中国区域创新趋同的时空动态演变特征。结果表明:(1)1990年以来中国区域创新一直存在"俱乐部趋同"现象,在2000-2008年期间更为显著。(2)区域自身和周围邻居同时向上转移的区域基本集中于东南沿海地区,而区域自身或周围邻居有一方或双方均向下转移的区域绝大多数位于中西部。(3)中国区域创新类型转移显著受到地理背景的制约,创新高水平的区域背景对区域转移起到了正面影响,而创新低水平的区域背景则产生了负面影响,进一步为中国区域创新"俱乐部趋同"现象的存在提供了空间上的解释。     

基于混合蚁群算法的冷链物流配送路径优化研究

基于绿色物流发展理念，为企业寻求经济与环境达到双赢的局面，本研究将节能减排转化为绿色成本，融入路径优化问题中，建立以总成本最小为研究目标的冷链物流路径优化数学模型。针对蚁群算法初始阶段由于信息素不足导致收敛速度慢的问题，将A*算法与蚁群算法相结合，利用A*算法的全局收敛性和蚁群算法的正反馈性构造了一种混合蚁群算法。通过对实例进行仿真优化与对比分析，验证了模型和算法的有效性。