Empathic emotion and leadership performance: An empirical analysis across 38 countries

The purpose of our research is to examine the relationship between subordinate ratings of a target-leader's empathic emotion and boss ratings of performance of that target-leader. Furthermore, using hierarchical linear modeling, we assess whether the cultural background of the target-leader moderates this relationship. Our results show that leaders who are rated by their subordinates as engaging in behaviors that signal empathic emotion are perceived as better performers by their bosses. In addition, we found that the GLOBE societal culture dimension of power distance was a significant cross-level moderator of the relationship between empathic emotion and performance. Implications for leading in cross-cultural and multicultural contexts are discussed.     

Intensity, timeliness, and success of incumbent response to technological discontinuities: a synthesis and empirical investigation

The extant literature highlights numerous different factors influencing the timeliness and intensity of incumbent response to discontinuous technological change. However, this literature has so far not been synthesized and is therefore limited in its analytical, predictive, and normative power. We develop a comprehensive model of incumbent response that organizes different explanatory factors into the three distinct dimensions of (1) identification and interpretation, (2) decision making, and (3) organizational implementation. We also conceptualize how response intensity and timeliness affect business performance in new technological domains. We test the model against data from 320 firms from the German dental lab industry, finding substantial support for the majority of our hypotheses. This study offers unique empirical insight in observing that cognitive constructs such as framing and management flexibility have the strongest impact on both intensity and timeliness of incumbent response to technological, and thus, strategic discontinuities. Together, our findings have important implications for both theory and practice.     

Die Rolle des Luftverkehrsrechts und der Haftung bei Flugzeugkatastrophen: Eine Finanzmarktanalyse

Zusammenfassung  Rechtsansprüche gegen Fluggesellschaften und Flugzeughersteller in Folge einer Flugzeugkatastrophe richten sich nach einer Flut rechtlicher Bestimmungen, die aus internationalen Abkommen, Vereinbarungen zwischen Fluglinien sowie aus Bundes- und Landesrecht resultieren. Die jeweilige Rechtsgrundlage in einem spezifischen Fall h?ngt von verschiedenen Umst?nden ab, die mit einem Unfall verbunden sind. Es überrascht daher nicht, dass zugesprochene Schadensersatz- und Schmerzensgeldzahlungen an die Angeh?rigen der Opfer von Fall zu Fall erheblich divergieren. In unserer Studie mit U.S.-amerikanischen Daten untersuchen wir, inwieweit der kurz- und langfristige Erfolg von Fluggesellschaften und Flugzeugherstellern durch Flugzeugkatastrophen beeinflusst wird und wir eruieren diejenigen Determinanten, die Performanceunterschiede erkl?ren k?nnen. Verwandte Untersuchungen haben sich weitgehend auf Effekte für Markennamen oder steigende Versicherungspr?mien als Ursachen für Aktienkursverluste konzentriert. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen darüber hinaus, dass das regulatorische Umfeld einer spezifischen Unglückssituation erheblichen Einfluss darauf hat, wie Finanzm?rkte reagieren. Die Reaktionen der Marktteilnehmer weisen darauf hin, dass die unterschiedlichen Berechnungsgrundlagen für die Opferentsch?digung recht klar erkannt werden.

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The role of aviation laws and legal liability in airplane accidents: A financial market perspective

Summary  Legal liability claims against airlines and airplane manufacturers following an aviation disaster are determined through a myriad of international treaties, intercarrier agreements, and federal and state laws. Which law applies in a specific situation depends on various circumstances surrounding the accident. As a result, pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage awards for the families of the accident victims may vary substantially from case to case. Using U.S. data, our study examines how aviation disasters affect the short and long-term performance of airlines and airplane manufacturers and explores the factors that drive the performance differences. While prior research has largely focused on brand name effects and rising insurance premiums as possible determinants of stock price losses, our results suggest that the regulatory environment that applies to a given aviation accident has a significant impact on how the market reacts to its announcement. Inequities in the valuation of a human life are clearly reflected in stock price reactions. While recent regime changes have helped eliminate some of these imbalances further reform may be necessary.

     

Trend effects on perceived avalanche hazard

Hazard-level forecasts constitute an important risk mitigation tool to reduce loss of economic values and human life. Avalanche forecasts represent an example of this. As for many other domains, avalanche risk is communicated using a color-coded, categorical risk scale aimed at informing the public about past, current, and future risk. We report the results from three experiments in which we tested if an irrelevant past trend in forecasted avalanche danger affects perceptions of current and future avalanche risk. Our sample consisted of individuals from three different populations targeted by national avalanche warning services. All three experiments showed that the perception of avalanche risk is influenced by the trend, but that the effect is opposite for perceptions of current and expectations of future avalanche risk. While future avalanche risk is extrapolated in the same direction as the change from the previous day, we found that perceived current risk appears to be based on an average of past and current risk. These effects diminish when we provide participants with a scale indicating the exact level of avalanche danger. For most of our measurement instruments, however, the effects remain significant. These results imply that targeted populations may consider historic information more than was intended by the sender. As such, our results have implications for both avalanche warning services and risk communication in general.     

Embedded cultural values and international transaction cost advantages

Culturally embedded differences in self-interested behavior and perceptions of trust violate the universal assumption of moral hazard held by transaction cost economic theorists. A model of transaction cost advantage is derived and propositions developed using the cultural value diversity literature to test the universal assumptions of transaction cost economics.     

Modified Wald statistics for generalized linear models

Summary: Wald statistics in generalized linear models are asymptotically ² distributed. The asymptotic chi–squared law of the corresponding quadratic form shows disadvantages with respect to the approximation of the finite–sample distribution. It is shown by means of a comprehensive simulation study that improvements can be achieved by applying simple finite–sample size approximations to the distribution of the quadratic form in generalized linear models. These approximations are based on a ² distribution with an estimated degree of freedom that generalizes an approach by Patnaik and Pearson. Simulation studies confirm that nominal level is maintained with higher accuracy compared to the Wald statistics.