基于公平偏好理论的激励机制研究

传统委托-代理模型都是建立在代理人纯粹自利假设基础上的,本文将公平偏好理论融入传统委托-代理模型进行研究,分析委托人雇佣公平偏好代理人情况下的最优激励机制.研究表明公平偏好因素改变了传统委托-代理模型的许多结论,传统委托.代理模型仅是本文所建立模型的一种特殊形式.     

基于累积前景理论的报酬契约模型设计与分析

传统报酬契约的机制设计以委托代理模型为依据,并基于期望效用理论加以分析、讨论。实证研究认为,委托代理模型中决策者的行为偏好更符合累积前景理论假设,即委托人与代理人均会依据不同预期收益呈现相应的风险偏好,并对收益的概率估计赋以非线性的决策权重。本文引入累积前景理论重构报酬契约模型,通过构建价值函数、决策权重函数,设置参照点,研究委托人、代理人均无明显风险偏好表征下的决策行为。模型结果表明,在参照点为0的情况下,代理人的最优努力水平与自身风险态度系数或决策权重系数无关;在信息透明情形下,委托人制定的最优利润分享系数,完全由自身的风险态度系数与决策权重系数决定。据此,本文提出系列激励机制优化对策。     

基于公共偏好理论的激励机制研究——兼顾横向公平偏好和纵向公平偏好

基于公平偏好理论,本文改进了"经济自利人"的假设,并拓展了委托代理的分析框架,以此对传统HM模型有所发展。本文同时考虑横向和纵向的公平偏好,完善了单边维度公平偏好下的委托代理分析。研究表明,伴随着代理人公平偏好程度的增大,代理人努力水平的提升和代理成本的降低揭示了公平偏好理论对于优化委托代理合作的重要作用,这对现实的委托代理合作有很强的指导意义。     

存在主次委托人条件下的委托-代理问题:理论模型和实验研究

在传统委托-代理理论基础上, 根据主次委托人在委托-代理关系中的不同作用, 建立存在主次委托人条件下的委托-代理模型, 并利用实验数据对模型结果进行实验检验。研究结果表明, 当代理人为次委托人付出的努力水平对主委托人存在外部性时, 主委托人支付给代理人的最优激励性报酬和代理人为主委托人付出的最优努力水平都将高于单一委托人条件下的情况;当代理人为次委托人付出的努力水平对主委托人存在正(负)外部性时, 主委托人获得的预期收益将大于(小于)其在单一委托人条件下获得的预期收益;代理人在存在主次委托人条件下获得的预期总收益将高于其在单一委托人条件下获得的预期总收益。论文基于主次委托人在委托-代理关系中的不同地位拓展和深化了传统委托-代理理论。     

基于公平偏好理论的激励机制与代理成本分析

基于现代经济学公平偏好理论,通过扩展双代理人与注入刻画代理人之间关于收益比较的横向公平性偏好因素,改进传统经济学纯粹自利性假设下的单代理人的HM模型,设计包括横向公平偏好因素在内的新委托-代理激励机制,并分析非对称信息下的代理成本.结果显示:为了降低"道德风险",委托人无需采取监督与控制的办法,只要雇佣横向公平性偏好程度尽可能高的代理人,就会尽可能减少代理成本,增加委托人的期望收益,这为解决传统经济学理论中由于信息非对称所带来的高监督成本难题,提供了一条有效的新思路.     

公平偏好下的多任务目标与国企高管薪酬激励

通过将委托人和代理人公平偏好同时引入到多任务的委托代理模型中,研究国企高管和政府主管部门均具公平偏好下的国企高管最优薪酬机制。研究发现,在企业经营任务目标激励方面,当多任务成本函数为独立关系、互补关系或者替代性足够小的,国企委托人和代理人公平偏好将通过直接和间接的影响途径共同促进高管最优薪酬向公平工资回归,其中,间接影响表现为公平偏好先影响最优薪酬激励强度进而间接地影响总体薪酬水平;在此过程中,政府主管部门公平偏好和高管同情偏好对最优薪酬激励强度的影响,呈现出替代效应。在社会责任任务目标激励方面,显性薪酬激励不是有效的激励方式,因此政府应该借助于隐性激励方式来激励该任务目标的实现。研究还发现教育程度较高的高管具有更强的公平偏好心理。     

基于代理人过度自信的委托-代理关系模型研究

本文研究代理人过度自信条件下的委托-代理关系以及过度自信对委托-代理关系的作用机理.研究结果表明,当代理人的效益工资和委托人的监督成本都不为0时,代理人的最优努力水平将随着其过度自信程度的增大而提高,委托人的最优监督力度将随着代理人过度自信程度的增大而减弱;当代理人没有效益工资时,代理人的过度自信在委托-代理关系中不发挥作用.另外,代理人的最优努力水平和委托人的最优监督力度都将随着委托人监督成本的增大而降低,而且前者还将总是随着代理人固定报酬和效益工资的增加而提高,后者虽然也将随着代理人固定报酬的增加而提高,但并不总是随着代理人效益工资的增加而加强.     

考虑公平偏好的委托模式融通仓银行对3PL激励

第三方物流（Third party logistics,3PL）努力工作和积极参与是融通仓有效运作的重要因素,因此促使其努力工作是一个非常重要的问题。本文在传统委托代理模型中加入“公平偏好”因素,并从是否考虑“公平偏好”因素两个方面,研究银行对3PL的激励问题。研究发现,考虑“公平偏好”因素后。银行给3PL的固定报酬高于传统委托代理模型中最优固定支付时,3PL会在最优努力程度上再增加一定数量的额外努力以回报银行的善意,且3PL“公平偏好”行为越强,增加的努力数量就越多,从而使银行收益高于传统委托代理模型中3PL选择最优努力水平时的收益。本文意义在于银行可以根据3PL“公平偏好”的强弱,合理设计报酬机制,以进一步增加自身收益。     

公平偏好下双代理人激励契约设计研究

具有多个代理人的机制设计问题通常讨论代理人之间的竞争关系,并且假设代理人的行为不受情感因素的影响和代理人的偏好只追求自己收益最大化而不考虑他人的收益。然而在实践中存在大量多个代理人之间可能合作的现象,并且代理人行为受情感因素影响和采用公平偏好。本文考虑人的行为受情感因素影响下,探讨信息不对称下具有公平偏好的双代理人选择竞争或合作行为时的委托代理问题。给出了激励代理人竞争或合作的条件、提出了代理人选择合作后的分配方式以及分析了人的情感因素和公平偏好对信息租金的影响。在不同偏好下得到如下结论:(1)代理人选择竞争时均有更大的最优努力水平。(2)激励代理人竞争或合作的条件会随着公平偏好而发生改变。(3)竞争系数、单位产出带来的收入、自豪强度越大,信息租金减少量越大;嫉妒强度、同情强度越大,信息租金减少量越小。(4)外部环境不确定性增加将促进代理人合作。研究结论可以应用于解决实际社会生产生活中委托人需要激励代理人去竞争或合作的两类委托代理问题。     

委托─代理理论中自然状态的不确定性对最优契约影响的研究

本文考虑了委托─代理理论中代理人和委托人对于不确定的自然状态可能会有不同的概率,另外还考虑了自然状态对代理人努力负效用的影响,对委托─代理模型进行了拓展研究,使原有模型成为一个特例。通过一个简化的委托─代理框架进行分析,结果表明,代理人对自然状态的概率与代理人可能付出的努力水平有正相关关系,而且代理人和委托人对自然状态的概率对最优契约有不可忽视的影响。     

The moderating role of social support in Karasek's job strain model

This paper examines whether social support is a boundary-determining criterion in the job strain model of Karasek (1979). The particular focus is the extent to which different sources of social support, work overload and task control influence job satisfaction, depersonalization and supervisor assessments of work performance. Hypotheses are tested using prospective survey data from 80 clerical staff in a university setting. Results revealed 3-way interactions among levels of support (supervisor, co-worker, non-work), perceived task control and work overload on levels of work performance and employee adjustment (self-report). After controlling for levels of negative affect in all analyses, there was evidence that high levels of supervisor support mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of job satisfaction and reduced reported levels of depersonalization. Moreover, high levels of non-work support and co-worker support also mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of work performance. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of social support networks both at, and beyond, the work context.     

Job insecurity, coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.     

Dermal Uptake of 18 Dilute Aqueous Chemicals: In Vivo Disappearance‐Method Measures Greatly Exceed In Vitro‐Based Predictions

Average rates of total dermal uptake (K_up) from short‐term (e.g., bathing) contact with dilute aqueous organic chemicals (DAOCs) are typically estimated from steady‐state in vitro diffusion‐cell measures of chemical permeability (K_p) through skin into receptor solution. Widely used (“PCR‐vitro”) methods estimate K_up by applying diffusion theory to increase K_p predictions made by a physico‐chemical regression (PCR) model that was fit to a large set of K_p measures. Here, K_up predictions for 18 DAOCs made by three PCR‐vitro models (EPA, NIOSH, and MH) were compared to previous in vivo measures obtained by methods unlikely to underestimate K_up. A new PCR model fit to all 18 measures is accurate to within approximately threefold (r = 0.91, p < 10^?5), but the PCR‐vitro predictions (r > 0.63) all tend to underestimate the K_up measures by mean factors (UF, and p value for testing UF = 1) of 10 (EPA, p < 10^?6), 11 (NIOSH, p < 10^?8), and 6.2 (MH, p = 0.018). For all three PCR‐vitro models, log(UF) correlates negatively with molecular weight (r² = 0.31 to 0.84, p = 0.017 to < 10^?6) but not with log(vapor pressure) as an additional predictor (p > 0.05), so vapor pressure appears not to explain the significant in vivo/PCR‐vitro discrepancy. Until this discrepancy is explained, careful in vivo measures of K_up should be obtained for more chemicals, the expanded in vivo database should be compared to in vitro‐based predictions, and in vivo data should be considered in assessing aqueous dermal exposure and its uncertainty.     

Systems Resilience for Multihazard Environments: Definition,Metrics, and Valuation for Decision Making

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction reported that the 2011 natural disasters, including the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, resulted in $366 billion in direct damages and 29,782 fatalities worldwide. Storms and floods accounted for up to 70% of the 302 natural disasters worldwide in 2011, with earthquakes producing the greatest number of fatalities. Average annual losses in the United States amount to about $55 billion. Enhancing community and system resilience could lead to massive savings through risk reduction and expeditious recovery. The rational management of such reduction and recovery is facilitated by an appropriate definition of resilience and associated metrics. In this article, a resilience definition is provided that meets a set of requirements with clear relationships to the metrics of the relevant abstract notions of reliability and risk. Those metrics also meet logically consistent requirements drawn from measure theory, and provide a sound basis for the development of effective decision‐making tools for multihazard environments. Improving the resiliency of a system to meet target levels requires the examination of system enhancement alternatives in economic terms, within a decision‐making framework. Relevant decision analysis methods would typically require the examination of resilience based on its valuation by society at large. The article provides methods for valuation and benefit‐cost analysis based on concepts from risk analysis and management.     

Job strain and psychotropic drug use among white-collar workers

The main objective of this study was to measure the association between simultaneous exposure to high psychological demand and low decision latitude at work and the use of psychotropic drugs among white-collar workers. A second objective was to determine whether social support at work modified this association. A cross-sectional study was performed that included 2786 workers from the public sector in the Greater Quebec City area. A self-administered questionnaire was used in order to evaluate psychological demand, decision latitude and social support at work. Psychotropic drug use was measured over a period of 2 days. The prevalence of psychotropic drug use among the participants was found to be 3.9%, even though 20.5% were exposed to job strain. The association between job strain and psychotropic drug use, after adjustment for social support at work, age, gender, education, family income, employment status, occupation, stressful life events, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity, was statistically significant (odds ratio: 4.5, 95% CI 1.7?12.2). Social support did not appear to modify this association. The results of this study suggest that job strain might be a determinant of psychotropic drug use among white collar workers. Social support at work does not appear, however, to modify this association.     

Role clarity, work overload and organizational support: multilevel evidence of the importance of support

The present study extended the demands-control-support model used in occupational stress research in two ways. First, it hypothesized that role clarity (i.e. role ambiguity), like control, would moderate the relationship between demands and psychological strain. Second, the study assessed support (from leaders) as a macro characteristic of the work-group environment. Data were drawn from a large study of US army soldiers, the study sample consisting of 1786 lower enlisted male soldiers. The inclusion of support as a work-group characteristic lead to a multilevel test of the model. A three-way multilevel interaction among work demands, role clarity and support was observed. As predicted, the relationship between demands and psychological strain was moderated by role clarity; however, this moderating relationship was found only when work-group support was high.     

Leadership, levels of analysis, and déjà vu: Modest proposals for taxonomy and cladistics coupled with replication and visualization

In the inaugural issue of LQ's Yearly Review of Leadership, Hunt and Dodge (2000, p. 442) note that, “Within the last two decades, one of the crucial developments in organizational research in general, and in leadership research specifically, is the articulation of specific levels of analysis and their implications for theory building, measurement, and observation.” Their original observations are updated by extending the inferential logic of Yammarino, Dionne, Chun and Dansereau (2005) to determine if any increase in the utilization of a level of analysis perspective has occurred in the last five years. The possible evolution of leadership theory and analysis is discussed, especially with reference to Relational Leadership Theory, Leader–Member Exchange, and Individualized Dyadic Theory. Proposals incorporating taxonomic and visualization tools as a means to help bridge the stakeholder gap are also offered.     

Information Frictions in Trade

It is costly to learn about market conditions elsewhere, especially in developing countries. This paper examines how such information frictions affect trade. Using data on regional agricultural trade in the Philippines, I first document a number of observed patterns in trade flows and prices that suggest the presence of information frictions. I then incorporate information frictions into a perfect competition trade model by embedding a process whereby heterogeneous producers engage in a costly sequential search process to determine where to sell their produce. I show that introducing information frictions reconciles the theory with the observed patterns in the data. Structural estimation of the model finds that information frictions are quantitatively important: roughly half the observed regional price dispersion is due to information frictions. Furthermore, incorporating information frictions improves the out‐of‐sample predictive power of the model.     

The Economics of Density: Evidence From the Berlin Wall

This paper develops a quantitative model of internal city structure that features agglomeration and dispersion forces and an arbitrary number of heterogeneous city blocks. The model remains tractable and amenable to empirical analysis because of stochastic shocks to commuting decisions, which yield a gravity equation for commuting flows. To structurally estimate agglomeration and dispersion forces, we use data on thousands of city blocks in Berlin for 1936, 1986, and 2006 and exogenous variation from the city's division and reunification. We estimate substantial and highly localized production and residential externalities. We show that the model with the estimated agglomeration parameters can account both qualitatively and quantitatively for the observed changes in city structure. We show how our quantitative framework can be used to undertake counterfactuals for changes in the organization of economic activity within cities in response, for example, to changes in the transport network.     

Modelling end-of-life product recovery chains - a case study

European Union legislation, and existing national legislation of many European countries, mandates that manufacturers take back and recover their electronic and electrical equipment. If manufacturers are to comply with legislation, models need to be developed for these activities. Whilst infrastructural and technological deficits exist and must be addressed, so too must the organization of recovery, from a business perspective. In this paper, models of resource recovery are presented and a case study described.