A Test of the Functional Theory of Human Values in Egypt

This study attempted to test the functional theory of values using the Basic Value Survey (BVS) and a new instrument named the Egyptian Basic Value Survey (EBVS) in Egypt. In study one, the BVS was used to test the content, structure, and compatibility hypotheses with a sample of 563 business students. In study two, the same hypotheses were tested with the EBVS and a new sample of 466 business students. In both studies, participants completed the paper and pencil survey in the classroom. Results supported the content and structure hypotheses. With regards to the compatibility hypothesis, all values were compatible, though age did not affect the degree of compatibility. Overall, the functional theory of values was partially supported. Notably, the study showed how central values can be a reference source for other values. Additionally, the study indicated the weakness of the thriving/survival dimension. Recommendations for future research directions are provided.     

Embedding value-for-money in practice: A case study of a health pooled fund programme implemented in conflict-affected South Sudan

In recent times, there has been an increasing drive to demonstrate value for money (VfM) for investments made in public health globally. However, there is paucity of information on practical insights and best practices that have helped implementing organisations to successfully embed VfM in practice for programming and evaluation. In this article, we discuss strengths and weaknesses of approaches that been used and insights on best practices to manage for, demonstrate, and compare VfM, using a health pooled fund programme implemented in conflict-affected South Sudan as case study supported by evidence reported in the literature while critiquing adequacy of the available approaches in this setting. An expanded and iterative process framework to guide VfM embedding for health programming and evaluation is then proposed. In doing so, this article provides a very relevant one-stop source for critical insight into how to embed VfM in practice. Uptake and scale-up of the proposed framework can be essential in improving VfM and aid effectiveness which will ultimately contribute to progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.     

Think rich,feel hurt: the critique of capitalism and the production of affect in the making of financial subjects in South Korea

This article describes the process of financial subjectification by observing a private educational programme on financial self-management in South Korea. ‘Wealth-tech’ is a popular Korean term that refers to techniques of personal finance and money-management. Ethnographic research on a private educational programme on the subject of wealth-tech brings to light justifying mechanisms of financial investments and moral foundations for the pursuit of wealth whereby laypeople’s engagement with, and attachment to, financial markets are (re-)vitalized. In particular, this study highlights the role of critiques about capitalism as well as the production of affect in the making of financial subjects. By re-appropriating critiques of capitalism and employing therapeutic narratives, the wealth-tech pedagogy redefines financial investment as an act of resistance against the ills of capitalism and foreign capital. Moreover, this case study shows that wealth-tech is legitimized not solely by risk calculations per se, but also by feelings of hurt. Participants tend to transform themselves into active wealth-tech practitioners by cultivating the kind of affect that I call here ‘thinking rich, feeling hurt’. Therefore, the financial subjects configured in this wealth-tech pedagogy are those who feel hurt, and in this emotive state are led to think from the perspective of the rich. Moreover, they are configured not only as self-governing individuals but also as collective beings who resist foreign capital through their own engagement with financial markets. In this process of financial subjectification, the beliefs that finance can make them rich become consolidated. By illustrating these Korean experiences, this article calls attention to critical and affective practices in the process of financial subjectification, in particular those that take shape at the encounter between market rationality and ordinary experiences, memories, and feelings whereby laypeople translate discourses and techniques of financial capitalism into their own values and judgments.     

The Failure of Roy Bhaskar's Explanatory Critique

According to Roy Bhaskar, social science can derive values from social facts by a process called “explanatory critique.” Bhaskar offers two different versions of explanatory critique: a belief-based version and a need-based version. Both versions are faced with a difficult objection. They seem either to employ an invalid inference or to assume the values that they are attempting to derive. I argue that at least the need-based version of Bhaskar's explanatory critique falls to the objection, and that the belief-based version on its own is insufficient. Bhaskar anticipates the objection and offers a defense. I show that his defense is unsuccessful. I also suggest a Baskar-inspired alternative explanatory critique.     

Expanding theory-based evaluation: Incorporating value creation in a theory of change

Evaluations of policies and programs often use a theory of change to articulate how the intervention is intended to function and the mechanisms by which it is supposed to generate outcomes. When an evaluation includes cost and efficiency considerations, economic and other concepts can be added to a theory of change to articulate a theory of value creation that articulates the mechanisms by which the intervention should use resources efficiently, effectively and create sufficient value to justify the resource use.This paper introduces some theories of value creation that are often implicit in program designs. Making these theories explicit can support clearer evaluative thinking about value for money - including specification of criteria and standards that are aligned with the theory, methods of inquiry that test the theory, and well-reasoned judgements that answer evaluative questions about value for money. Implications for evaluation practice will be discussed.     

中国企业的战略困惑与战略提升

国际化视野下的中国企业,由于低度化的陷阱,表现为边缘化、同构化、无序化的矛盾, 并且成为国际资本扩展的主要目标。摆脱陷阱的对策是:价值创新,集聚创新和功能创新。     

知识产权产品价值测算研究——以专利增加值测算为例

随着经济社会迅速发展,知识产权在创新发展中的作用日益突出。但关于知识产权的测算却一直停留在数量上,对于其价值量的度量则缺少规范可行的方法。2008年国民账户体系(SNA)的修订,将研究与试验发展(R&D)支出资本化,明确了知识产权产品(IPPs)与R&D的联系,这既为R&D资本纳入GDP核算指明了方向,也为知识产权产品价值量的测算提供了契机。本文以后者为研究对象,从知识产权产品中的专利产品着手,利用有关部门专利抽样数据,对我国专利产品增加值进行了测算。结果显示,2019年,我国有效专利新增价值和服务价值合计达到 8655.65 亿元,占GDP比重为0.87%。其中,新增价值为5297.42亿元,占比为0.54%,服务价值为3358.23亿元,占比为0.34%。近三年的测算结果证明了该方法的可行性和推广价值。     

市场化进程对自愿披露与公司价值调节效应的统计验证

本文从关系经济、新兴市场特征角度出发,验证了市场化进程在自愿性信息披露对公司价值影响中的调节作用。采用面板数据回归详细分析了我国上市公司自愿性信息披露与公司价值的关系,以及在不同市场化进程下,上市公司自愿性信息披露与公司价值之间的关系。研究发现,总体上公司价值与自愿性信息披露显著负相关;但是在市场化进程较高的地区,二者关系发生了变化,呈现显著的正相关关系。本文的贡献在于验证了市场化进程的调节效应,揭示了我国上市公司自愿性信息披露与公司价值之间关系的特殊性。     

The value relevance of accounting:: The rest of the story

When a story appears in the media reporting ‘restatements, frauds, and investigations,' how do reported dollar effects relate to value? Declines to about half the pre-event levels are observed, even when the overall market has been increasing significantly. The declines in price (cum dividend) are significantly associated with the amount of the event's effect, as reported in the media, when concurrently controlling for earnings, industry, market, and scalar (book value) effects. The Value Line evaluations of these companies' safety, financial strength, price stability, and technical ranking all deteriorate significantly post-event. Managers evaluating their accounting and controls should consider such consequences.     

Demand-side strategy and business models: Putting value creation for consumers center stage

Value creation for consumers, as the conditio sine qua non for value capture, is at the heart of demand-side strategy research and is a core element of almost any business model. In this paper, we discuss the unique ideas that demand-side strategy and business model research jointly contribute to the strategy literature, and we elaborate on the potential for cross-fertilization between both areas of study. We argue that both the demand-side perspective and the business model concept could jointly promote a better understanding of strategy-making by mutually relying on the distinctive insights from each stream; specifically, while research on demand-side strategy can help business model scholars gain a more robust and granular understanding of effective value propositions, business models can serve as a “bridging concept” that links the shared ideas of both areas of study to resource-based streams of strategy research.