Executive remuneration in blockholder-dominated firms. How do Italian firms use stock options?

The aim of this study is to explore how stock options are used for executive remuneration in blockholder-dominated listed firms. By analysing how stock options granted to executive directors were designed, this paper sheds light on how stock options are used in Italian blockholder-dominated listed firms. Empirical evidence from a unique hand-collected dataset comprising stock options granted by Italian non-financial listed firms between 2004 and 2006 suggests that stock option design seems to be better explained by rent-extraction theory than by optimal contracting theory. Our results suggest that board independence, particularly in terms of minority shareholders?? representation, seems to have a positive influence on stock option design. These findings are consistent with rent-extraction theory: stock option designs that are not explained by optimal-contracting theory are likely to reflect governance/agency problems. This study provides insights on executive remuneration to policy-makers. It is recommended that codes of best practice should stress the importance of stock option design and of remuneration committees?? independence, in particular in terms of minority shareholders?? representation. Last but not least, this study points out the importance of enforcing substantial compliance with the codes?? recommendations.     

Retrospective Paternal and Maternal Parenting Styles,Regulatory Self-Efficacy and Adolescent Risk Taking

This study aims to calculate a scaled risk-taking behavior index and to test a model in which maternal and paternal parenting styles affect risk-taking behavior with a mediation of adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy. Participants were 816 adolescents (44% males) responding to a self-report questionnaire about their risk-taking behavior, regulatory self-efficacy, and retrospective memories of paternal and maternal parenting styles. Results suggested an item rating in the index showing that behaviors considered less risky referred to alcohol use and the unplanned first sexual intercourse, whereas behaviors considered more risky referred to the lack of use of contraceptives and the age of the first sexual intercourse. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of authoritative and authoritarian styles on risk-taking behavior. These styles shaped the adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy, which in turn predicted adolescent risk-taking behavior. Results underline the complex interplay of relationships between parents and their children.     

The many moods of inter‐organizational imitation: A critical review

The management literature is paying increasing attention to the phenomenon of imitation. However, there are several gaps in understanding what drives firms’ imitative behaviors. Furthermore, a fragmented array of disciplinary perspectives has investigated imitation phenomena in the past. This paper reviews the literature on imitation and offers a unifying framework to understand what theory has said about the predictors of imitative behaviors, in terms of purposes, driving forces and target. At the end of the review, two over‐arching rationales for imitation seem to emerge: risk reduction and search for effectiveness. Next, the review distinguishes between what drives the general propensity for imitation of a firm and what makes a specific decision more likely to be imitated by the same firm. Implications and indications for future research are offered in the final section.

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Asymptotic Inference for Jump Diffusions with State‐Dependent Intensity

We establish the local asymptotic normality property for a class of ergodic parametric jump‐diffusion processes with state‐dependent intensity and known volatility function sampled at high frequency. We prove that the inference problem about the drift and jump parameters is adaptive with respect to parameters in the volatility function that can be consistently estimated.     

The role of gender stereotypes in the social acceptability of the expression of intimacy

This study explores the proposition that similar to the way that it is more acceptable for women than men to express traits that suggest vulnerability, such as loneliness or depression, it is also more acceptable for women to express emotional intimacy. Participants view an interaction between two men, two women, or a man and a woman, and evaluate the interpersonal attraction of the person expressing emotional intimacy. In Study 1, men gave the most negative evaluations to the man being intimate. In Study 2, thematic analysis of interview content suggests that participants hold gender stereotypes about intimacy and also that men frequently risk social rejection and may be perceived as gay when they engage in intimate expression, particularly when with other men. Overall, findings suggest that gender and related stereotypes have an observable role in the perceptions of an individual who is expressing intimacy.     

The tone of business model disclosure: an impression management analysis of the integrated reports

The rising emphasis on the business model (BM) as a reportable element reflects the view that it constitutes one of the key starting points for investors’ analysis. In spite of this, recent academic and professional studies describe current reporting on BMs as uninformative: too optimistic, generic and incomplete. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) claims that these limitations may be overcome by means of an “Integrated Report”, an innovative report which is expected to offer a complete and balanced representation of how organizations create value by mean of their BMs. The paper investigates the informativeness of BM disclosure questioning whether companies adopt impression management (IM) strategies by manipulating the tone of the BM disclosures provided in their reports. We perform a manual content analysis of all the reports identified in the IIRC website and a multivariate statistical analysis to assess if a positive tone of BM disclosure is significantly associated with weak corporate governance, bad performance and low verifiability of the disclosure itself. Our findings support the idea that managers use BM disclosure as an IM strategy. This evidence has relevant implications for both accounting scholars and practitioners, since it questions the role of integrated reporting in improving corporate reporting on BMs.     

Debt and Financial Expectations: An Individual- and Household-Level Analysis

In this article we show that optimistic financial expectations impact positively on both the quantity of debt and the growth in debt at the individual and household levels. Our theoretical model shows that this association is predicted under a variety of plausible scenarios. In the empirical analysis we explore the determinants of debt and of growth in debt using British data. We find convincing support for our theoretical priors and show that it is optimistic financial expectations per se that are important in influencing debt, rather than the accuracy of individuals' predictions regarding their future financial situation.