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The Spillover Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Which Subsectors of Tourism Have Been Affected More?
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of COVID-19 pandemic-related uncertainty focusing on the US tourism subsectors, including airlines, hotels, restaurants, and travel companies. Using daily stock price data, we compute connectedness indices that quantify the financial distress in the tourism and hospitality industry and link these indices with a measure of COVID-19-induced uncertainty. Our empirical results show that some subsectors of tourism are affected more than others. The connectedness of tourism companies has severely increased after March 2020. Restaurants are the most heavily influenced subsectors of tourism, while airline companies come the next. Besides, our quantile regression suggests that higher quantile COVID-19 uncertainty index has more effect on the connectedness of tourism companies. Our results guide the policymakers and investors to detect the stress accumulated in each subsectors of tourism and to take more informed and timely decisions.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of COVID-19 pandemic-related uncertainty focusing on the US tourism subsectors, including airlines, hotels, restaurants, and travel companies. Using daily stock price data, we compute connectedness indices that quantify the financial distress in the tourism and hospitality industry and link these indices with a measure of COVID-19-induced uncertainty. Our empirical results show that some subsectors of tourism are affected more than others. The connectedness of tourism companies has severely increased after March 2020. Restaurants are the most heavily influenced subsectors of tourism, while airline companies come the next. Besides, our quantile regression suggests that higher quantile COVID-19 uncertainty index has more effect on the connectedness of tourism companies. Our results guide the policymakers and investors to detect the stress accumulated in each subsectors of tourism and to take more informed and timely decisions.
Journal: Tourism Economics
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Oguzhan Cepni
Theorising Work-life Balance Endeavours as a Gendered Project of the Self: The Case of Senior Executives in Denmark
Abstract: Recent work-life balance (WLB) studies offer considerable insight into the challenges and strategies of achieving WLB for senior managers. This study shifts the focus from asking how to asking why individuals are so invested in pursuing a particular kind of WLB. Through analysing 62 life history interviews with male and female senior executives in Denmark, we develop the concept of the gendered project of the self to theorise WLB. We show how for the executives, WLB was not simply an instrumental process of time or role management; instead, pursuing WLB in a certain way was a key part of acquiring and maintaining a particular desired subjectivity or a sense of self as a better person, better worker, and better parent. We argue that theorising WLB as the gendered project of the self allows us to explicate the mechanisms through which gendered social and cultural expectations translate into how male and female executives can and want to pursue their WLB goals—firstly by driving one’s desire for WLB and, secondly, by shaping and restricting what is desired. In doing so we highlight the importance of scrutinising the role of broader WLB discourses in shaping the experience and uptake of organisational WLB policies.
Abstract: Recent work-life balance (WLB) studies offer considerable insight into the challenges and strategies of achieving WLB for senior managers. This study shifts the focus from asking how to asking why individuals are so invested in pursuing a particular kind of WLB. Through analysing 62 life history interviews with male and female senior executives in Denmark, we develop the concept of the gendered project of the self to theorise WLB. We show how for the executives, WLB was not simply an instrumental process of time or role management; instead, pursuing WLB in a certain way was a key part of acquiring and maintaining a particular desired subjectivity or a sense of self as a better person, better worker, and better parent. We argue that theorising WLB as the gendered project of the self allows us to explicate the mechanisms through which gendered social and cultural expectations translate into how male and female executives can and want to pursue their WLB goals—firstly by driving one’s desire for WLB and, secondly, by shaping and restricting what is desired. In doing so we highlight the importance of scrutinising the role of broader WLB discourses in shaping the experience and uptake of organisational WLB policies.
Journal: Human Relations
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Sara Louise Muhr
Responses to Eliminating Saving Commitments: Evidence from Mortgage Run-offs
Abstract: We study consumers’ responses to removing a saving constraint. Mortgage run-offs predictably relax a saving constraint for borrowers whose mortgage committed them to save by paying down principal. Using the entire Danish population, we identify mortgages on track to run off between 1995 and 2014. We measure the effect of run-offs on earnings and the household balance sheet. We find that borrowers use 39% of previous mortgage payments to decrease labor income and use 53% to pay down other debts. Borrowers run up nonmortgage debt prior to the run-off and this run-up stops once the mortgage is repaid.
Abstract: We study consumers’ responses to removing a saving constraint. Mortgage run-offs predictably relax a saving constraint for borrowers whose mortgage committed them to save by paying down principal. Using the entire Danish population, we identify mortgages on track to run off between 1995 and 2014. We measure the effect of run-offs on earnings and the household balance sheet. We find that borrowers use 39% of previous mortgage payments to decrease labor income and use 53% to pay down other debts. Borrowers run up nonmortgage debt prior to the run-off and this run-up stops once the mortgage is repaid.
Journal: Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Steffen Andersen, Jimmy Martínez-Correa
“We Go Together”: Understanding Social Cause-related Purchase Intentions of Young Adults
Abstract: Building on social identity theory, this study sheds light on the interplay of social connections and emotion regulation in determining social cause-related purchase intentions. The focus of the study is on young adults, an age segment whose active role in solving social problems is appreciated today. We examine the context of three South-East European countries with varying levels of familiarity with social cause-related purchases and test the conceptual model using multi-group structural equation modeling. The results show that social connections are positively related to young adults’ social cause-related purchase intentions, while emotion regulation strengthens this relationship in countries where young adults have more opportunities for social cause-related purchases. The study has both theoretical and policy-related implications for multiple stakeholders, including managers, policy makers, and advocacy group representatives.
Abstract: Building on social identity theory, this study sheds light on the interplay of social connections and emotion regulation in determining social cause-related purchase intentions. The focus of the study is on young adults, an age segment whose active role in solving social problems is appreciated today. We examine the context of three South-East European countries with varying levels of familiarity with social cause-related purchases and test the conceptual model using multi-group structural equation modeling. The results show that social connections are positively related to young adults’ social cause-related purchase intentions, while emotion regulation strengthens this relationship in countries where young adults have more opportunities for social cause-related purchases. The study has both theoretical and policy-related implications for multiple stakeholders, including managers, policy makers, and advocacy group representatives.
Journal: Journal of Business Research
Published: February 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Selma Kadic-Maglajlic
Inefficiency Patterns in Family-owned Banks in Bangladesh
Abstract: Purpose: Multi-directional efficiency analysis (MEA) is an alternative methodology to data envelopment analysis (DEA) that investigates the improvement potentials in each input and output dimension and identifies a benchmark proportional to these potential improvements. This results in a more nuanced picture of the sources of the inefficiency providing opportunities for additional conclusions about which variables the inefficiency is mainly located on. MEA provides insights into not only the level of the inefficiency but also the patterns within the inefficiency, i.e. its sources and location. This paper applies this methodology to Bangladeshi banks to understand the differences in the inefficiency patterns between different subgroups.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the difference in the pattern of inefficiency between the older family-dominated banks and the newer non-family-owned banks in Bangladesh using the recently developed MEAs technology, which enables analysis of patterns within inefficiencies rather than only levels of (in)efficiency. The empirical results show that whilst there are few significant differences in the levels of variable-specific efficiency scores between the two subgroups, there are clearer differences on the inefficiency contributions from particular outputs in most of the study period and also on most variables in the time window of 2007–2009. This finding provides clues to differences in business models and management practice between the two types of banks in Bangladesh.
Findings: The empirical results show that whilst there are few significant differences in the levels of variable-specific efficiency scores between the two subgroups (older family-dominated banks and the newer non-family-owned banks), there are clearer differences on the inefficiency contributions from particular outputs in most of the study period and also on most variables in the time window of 2007–2009, during the Global Financial Crisis (GFCs). This finding provides clues to differences in business models and management practice between the two types of banks in Bangladesh.
Practical implications: DEA is a conventional tool for benchmarking in management science. However, conventional benchmarking exercises based on DEA do not reveal significant differences in the sources of inefficiency that show differences in business models. While DEA remains the most utilized technique in the efficiency literature, we think that a more flexible and deeper analysis requires something like MEA.
Originality/value: The contribution is twofold. First, examination of performances of family-owned firms is a well-established but analysis of performances of family-dominated banks is relative scarce. Secondly, isolating the sources of inefficiency which differs between types of banks even if there is no difference in inefficiency levels is absolutely new for a complete data set of conventional banks in Bangladesh. It turns out that there are few (significant) differences between the groups in terms of the inefficiency levels, whereas clear patterns emerge in terms of differences in inefficiency contributions between family-dominated and non-family-owned banks, during the Global Financial Crisis.
Abstract: Purpose: Multi-directional efficiency analysis (MEA) is an alternative methodology to data envelopment analysis (DEA) that investigates the improvement potentials in each input and output dimension and identifies a benchmark proportional to these potential improvements. This results in a more nuanced picture of the sources of the inefficiency providing opportunities for additional conclusions about which variables the inefficiency is mainly located on. MEA provides insights into not only the level of the inefficiency but also the patterns within the inefficiency, i.e. its sources and location. This paper applies this methodology to Bangladeshi banks to understand the differences in the inefficiency patterns between different subgroups.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the difference in the pattern of inefficiency between the older family-dominated banks and the newer non-family-owned banks in Bangladesh using the recently developed MEAs technology, which enables analysis of patterns within inefficiencies rather than only levels of (in)efficiency. The empirical results show that whilst there are few significant differences in the levels of variable-specific efficiency scores between the two subgroups, there are clearer differences on the inefficiency contributions from particular outputs in most of the study period and also on most variables in the time window of 2007–2009. This finding provides clues to differences in business models and management practice between the two types of banks in Bangladesh.
Findings: The empirical results show that whilst there are few significant differences in the levels of variable-specific efficiency scores between the two subgroups (older family-dominated banks and the newer non-family-owned banks), there are clearer differences on the inefficiency contributions from particular outputs in most of the study period and also on most variables in the time window of 2007–2009, during the Global Financial Crisis (GFCs). This finding provides clues to differences in business models and management practice between the two types of banks in Bangladesh.
Practical implications: DEA is a conventional tool for benchmarking in management science. However, conventional benchmarking exercises based on DEA do not reveal significant differences in the sources of inefficiency that show differences in business models. While DEA remains the most utilized technique in the efficiency literature, we think that a more flexible and deeper analysis requires something like MEA.
Originality/value: The contribution is twofold. First, examination of performances of family-owned firms is a well-established but analysis of performances of family-dominated banks is relative scarce. Secondly, isolating the sources of inefficiency which differs between types of banks even if there is no difference in inefficiency levels is absolutely new for a complete data set of conventional banks in Bangladesh. It turns out that there are few (significant) differences between the groups in terms of the inefficiency levels, whereas clear patterns emerge in terms of differences in inefficiency contributions between family-dominated and non-family-owned banks, during the Global Financial Crisis.
Journal: Journal of Economic Studies
Published: 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Dorte Kronborg
Towards Blockchain-IoT Based Shared Mobility: Car-sharing and Leasing as a Case Study
Abstract: The shared mobility concept is seen as disruptive and transformative for the automotive industry. Shared mobility is changing the way we choose our travel mode, from just owning a car to e-hailing, car-sharing, and other relevant mobility solutions. There is a growing interest of car manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) in car-sharing as an expansion strategy. Similarly, blockchain technology is seen as another disruptive technology, which can potentially change how the data is stored and accessible via its immutable, transparent, and trustworthy features. Motivated by these two current trends, this paper aims to explore how blockchain and IoT technologies together can drive shared mobility forward. We have presented a high-level architecture for a blockchain-IoT-based platform for promoting shared mobility combining car-sharing and car-leasing. We also demonstrated a prototype implemented from the OEM’s point of view by developing a blockchain-IoT-based platform streamlining car-sharing and leasing processes by taking into consideration of primary stakeholders (such as OEMs, a peer-to-peer car-sharing provider, leasing company and insurance provider as well as public authorities). This work also demonstrates that the design of such an integrated platform depends on the right balance between the key design principles (such as security and privacy, authenticity, traceability and reliability, scalability, and interoperability) in the context of car-sharing platforms.
Abstract: The shared mobility concept is seen as disruptive and transformative for the automotive industry. Shared mobility is changing the way we choose our travel mode, from just owning a car to e-hailing, car-sharing, and other relevant mobility solutions. There is a growing interest of car manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) in car-sharing as an expansion strategy. Similarly, blockchain technology is seen as another disruptive technology, which can potentially change how the data is stored and accessible via its immutable, transparent, and trustworthy features. Motivated by these two current trends, this paper aims to explore how blockchain and IoT technologies together can drive shared mobility forward. We have presented a high-level architecture for a blockchain-IoT-based platform for promoting shared mobility combining car-sharing and car-leasing. We also demonstrated a prototype implemented from the OEM’s point of view by developing a blockchain-IoT-based platform streamlining car-sharing and leasing processes by taking into consideration of primary stakeholders (such as OEMs, a peer-to-peer car-sharing provider, leasing company and insurance provider as well as public authorities). This work also demonstrates that the design of such an integrated platform depends on the right balance between the key design principles (such as security and privacy, authenticity, traceability and reliability, scalability, and interoperability) in the context of car-sharing platforms.
Journal: Journal of Network and Computer Applications
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Somnath Mazumdar, Raghava Rao Mukkamala
Experimenting with Open Innovation in Science (OIS) practices: A Novel Approach to Co-developing Research Proposals
Abstract: Co-producing scientific research with those who are affected by it is an emerging phenomenon in contemporary science. This article summarizes and reflects on both the process and outcome of a novel experiment to co-develop scientific research proposals in the field of Open Innovation in Science (OIS), wherein scholars engaged in the study of open and collaborative practices collaborated with the “users” of their research, i.e., scientists who apply such practices in their own research. The resulting co-developed research proposals focus on scientific collaboration, open data, and knowledge sharing and are available as an appendix to this article.
Abstract: Co-producing scientific research with those who are affected by it is an emerging phenomenon in contemporary science. This article summarizes and reflects on both the process and outcome of a novel experiment to co-develop scientific research proposals in the field of Open Innovation in Science (OIS), wherein scholars engaged in the study of open and collaborative practices collaborated with the “users” of their research, i.e., scientists who apply such practices in their own research. The resulting co-developed research proposals focus on scientific collaboration, open data, and knowledge sharing and are available as an appendix to this article.
Journal: CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Christoph Grimpe, Marion Poetz
Reversals of the Mirror Stage: Lacan and Blanchot on the Precariousness of Reality
Abstract: This essay ofers a refection on the porosity of borders, edges, frames, thresholds, and other liminal phenomena. The aim of this refection is to trace out the limits of the subject who utters ‘I’ and the principles of its reality, which Lacan in his seminar L’éthique de la psychanalyse characterizes as “essentially precarious”. It will be argued that the exposure to such precariousness of reality may cause a certain ‘reversal of the mirror stage,’ which strips the subject of its ability to speak in the frst person singular. Moreover, it is suggested that indications of such a reversal may be found at certain limit points of Lacan’s psychoanalytic discourse at which it brushes up against Maurice Blanchot’s writing of the neuter. In pursuit of these liminal points, the main body of the essay is divided into three sections each of which takes as its point of departure three key sentences from Lacan’s tenth seminar L’angoisse (1962-1963). The efort is to bring each of these sentences into a conversation (infnite no doubt) with diferent aspects of Blanchot’s writing of the neuter as these are put forward mainly in his L’espace littéraire (1955). Before entering into this conversation, however, a brief remark on the ‘mirror stage’ and a preliminary indication of its reversal is called for.
Abstract: This essay ofers a refection on the porosity of borders, edges, frames, thresholds, and other liminal phenomena. The aim of this refection is to trace out the limits of the subject who utters ‘I’ and the principles of its reality, which Lacan in his seminar L’éthique de la psychanalyse characterizes as “essentially precarious”. It will be argued that the exposure to such precariousness of reality may cause a certain ‘reversal of the mirror stage,’ which strips the subject of its ability to speak in the frst person singular. Moreover, it is suggested that indications of such a reversal may be found at certain limit points of Lacan’s psychoanalytic discourse at which it brushes up against Maurice Blanchot’s writing of the neuter. In pursuit of these liminal points, the main body of the essay is divided into three sections each of which takes as its point of departure three key sentences from Lacan’s tenth seminar L’angoisse (1962-1963). The efort is to bring each of these sentences into a conversation (infnite no doubt) with diferent aspects of Blanchot’s writing of the neuter as these are put forward mainly in his L’espace littéraire (1955). Before entering into this conversation, however, a brief remark on the ‘mirror stage’ and a preliminary indication of its reversal is called for.
Journal: Lamella – Tidsskrift for teoretisk psykoanalyse
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen
On Sparse Optimal Regression Trees
Abstract: In this paper, we model an optimal regression tree through a continuous optimization problem, where a compromise between prediction accuracy and both types of sparsity, namely local and global, is sought. Our approach can accommodate important desirable properties for the regression task, such as cost-sensitivity and fairness. Thanks to the smoothness of the predictions, we can derive local explanations on the continuous predictor variables. The computational experience reported shows the outperformance of our approach in terms of prediction accuracy against standard benchmark regression methods such as CART, OLS and LASSO. Moreover, the scalability of our approach with respect to the size of the training sample is illustrated.
Abstract: In this paper, we model an optimal regression tree through a continuous optimization problem, where a compromise between prediction accuracy and both types of sparsity, namely local and global, is sought. Our approach can accommodate important desirable properties for the regression task, such as cost-sensitivity and fairness. Thanks to the smoothness of the predictions, we can derive local explanations on the continuous predictor variables. The computational experience reported shows the outperformance of our approach in terms of prediction accuracy against standard benchmark regression methods such as CART, OLS and LASSO. Moreover, the scalability of our approach with respect to the size of the training sample is illustrated.
Journal: European Journal of Operational Research
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Dolores Romero Morales
Market Entrance, Patents, and Preliminary Injunctions: A Model of Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation
Abstract: The Patent Holder wishing to enforce her patent has several ways of doing so. In the world of patent litigation, however, one of the most important remedies is the preliminary injunction (PI), whereby an allegedly infringing competitor is forced to stop selling the goods in the market in the interim period before the court reaches its final decision on the merits. In spite of this, the economic literature has afforded little attention to PIs. This article uses a simple economic model to investigate how a Patent Holder and an Alleged Infringer will behave with and without the PI instrument. We show that party behavior depends on the probability that the Patent Holder does indeed have a valid patent and will prevail in a final court decision and on the extent to which courts can determine damages correctly. We find that while patent rights benefit the Patent Holder, the PI instrument to a large extent benefits the Alleged Infringer. It does so by insuring him against large damages payments and allowing him to receive compensation for actions not taken, i.e. for not being on the market in the interim period before the final court decision. Finally, we discuss different decision rules a court could use to decide whether to grant a PI, and propose a decision rule whereby courts can take into account the social benefits or losses of an erroneous PI decision.
Abstract: The Patent Holder wishing to enforce her patent has several ways of doing so. In the world of patent litigation, however, one of the most important remedies is the preliminary injunction (PI), whereby an allegedly infringing competitor is forced to stop selling the goods in the market in the interim period before the court reaches its final decision on the merits. In spite of this, the economic literature has afforded little attention to PIs. This article uses a simple economic model to investigate how a Patent Holder and an Alleged Infringer will behave with and without the PI instrument. We show that party behavior depends on the probability that the Patent Holder does indeed have a valid patent and will prevail in a final court decision and on the extent to which courts can determine damages correctly. We find that while patent rights benefit the Patent Holder, the PI instrument to a large extent benefits the Alleged Infringer. It does so by insuring him against large damages payments and allowing him to receive compensation for actions not taken, i.e. for not being on the market in the interim period before the final court decision. Finally, we discuss different decision rules a court could use to decide whether to grant a PI, and propose a decision rule whereby courts can take into account the social benefits or losses of an erroneous PI decision.
Journal: European Journal of Law and Economics
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Bogetoft
Subjective Bond Returns and Belief Aggregation
Abstract: This paper proposes an aggregation scheme of subjective bond return expectations based on the historical accuracy of professional interest rate forecasters. We use disaggregated survey data on bond returns and document large disagreement in the cross-sectional distribution and persistence in forecast accuracy. Our aggregate subjective belief proxy outperforms equal weighting schemes, and its dynamics are significantly different from statistical forecasting models. With this measure in hand, we study the relationship between quantities of risk and subjective expectations of excess returns and demonstrate a strong link between the two, even if such a relationship is difficult to detect using realized returns.
Abstract: This paper proposes an aggregation scheme of subjective bond return expectations based on the historical accuracy of professional interest rate forecasters. We use disaggregated survey data on bond returns and document large disagreement in the cross-sectional distribution and persistence in forecast accuracy. Our aggregate subjective belief proxy outperforms equal weighting schemes, and its dynamics are significantly different from statistical forecasting models. With this measure in hand, we study the relationship between quantities of risk and subjective expectations of excess returns and demonstrate a strong link between the two, even if such a relationship is difficult to detect using realized returns.
Journal: Review of Financial Studies
Published: October 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Paul Whelan
Measuring the Welfare Effects of Shame and Pride
Abstract: Public recognition is frequently used to motivate desirable behavior, yet its welfare effects—such as costs of shame or gains from pride— are rarely measured. We develop a portable empirical methodology for measuring and monetizing social image utility, and we deploy it in experiments on exercise and charitable behavior. In all experiments, public recognition motivates desirable behavior but creates highly unequal image payoffs. High-performing individuals enjoy significant utility gains, while low-performing individuals incur significant utility losses. We estimate structural models of social signaling, and we use the models to explore the social efficiency of public recognition policies.
Abstract: Public recognition is frequently used to motivate desirable behavior, yet its welfare effects—such as costs of shame or gains from pride— are rarely measured. We develop a portable empirical methodology for measuring and monetizing social image utility, and we deploy it in experiments on exercise and charitable behavior. In all experiments, public recognition motivates desirable behavior but creates highly unequal image payoffs. High-performing individuals enjoy significant utility gains, while low-performing individuals incur significant utility losses. We estimate structural models of social signaling, and we use the models to explore the social efficiency of public recognition policies.
Journal: American Economic Review
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Luigi Butera
The Gradual Corporatization of Transport Infrastructure: The Danish Case
Abstract: Pending
Abstract: Pending
Journal: Public Administration
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Lene Tolstrup Christensen
Misconduct Risks, Legal Enforcement, and Venture Capital Networks
Abstract: This study investigates the differing role of enforcement on the formation of venture capital (VC) syndication networks. We conjecture that public enforcement, with strong investigative powers against any syndicate member, discourages the formation of denser syndication networks due to misconduct risk by a member. By contrast, private enforcement, with strong disclosure and liability standards, enables denser syndication networks, through clear liability rules, standardized securities contracts, and cost sharing amongst syndicate members. Our VC data from 31 countries show a negative impact of public enforcement on VC networks, and partially support the positive impact of private enforcement depending on cultural conditions.
Abstract: This study investigates the differing role of enforcement on the formation of venture capital (VC) syndication networks. We conjecture that public enforcement, with strong investigative powers against any syndicate member, discourages the formation of denser syndication networks due to misconduct risk by a member. By contrast, private enforcement, with strong disclosure and liability standards, enables denser syndication networks, through clear liability rules, standardized securities contracts, and cost sharing amongst syndicate members. Our VC data from 31 countries show a negative impact of public enforcement on VC networks, and partially support the positive impact of private enforcement depending on cultural conditions.
Journal: European Financial Management
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Ali Mohammadi
Understanding the Rise in Life Expectancy Inequality
Abstract: We provide a novel decomposition of changing gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor into differential changes in age-specific mortality rates and differences in “survivability”. Declining age-specific mortality rates increases life expectancy, but the gain is small if the likelihood of living to this age is small (ex-ante survivability) or if the expected remaining lifetime is short (ex-post survivability). Lower survivability of the poor explains half of the recent rise in inequality in the US and the entire rise in Denmark. Declines in cardiovascular mortality benefited rich and poor, but inequality increased because of differences in lifestyle-related survivability.
Abstract: We provide a novel decomposition of changing gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor into differential changes in age-specific mortality rates and differences in “survivability”. Declining age-specific mortality rates increases life expectancy, but the gain is small if the likelihood of living to this age is small (ex-ante survivability) or if the expected remaining lifetime is short (ex-post survivability). Lower survivability of the poor explains half of the recent rise in inequality in the US and the entire rise in Denmark. Declines in cardiovascular mortality benefited rich and poor, but inequality increased because of differences in lifestyle-related survivability.
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Benjamin Ly Serena
Round Table. From Lisbon to Porto: Taking Stock of Developments in EU Social Policy: Opening up the Pandora’s Box of EU Social Rights
Abstract: Pending
Abstract: Pending
Journal: Transfer: European review of Labour and Research
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Caroline de la Porte
Public-Private Partnership for the Climate: From a Plastic Pollution Perspective
Abstract: In March 2020, the EU announced that it should be climate neutral by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, multiple regulations will be necessary. However, this article argues that regulation will not be enough. Rather, the EU should work towards stronger partnerships and more cooperation between public and private parties. This article presents a kind of partnership that is called a Public-Private Partnership for the Climate – a partnership in which the parties (public and private) work towards achieving the EU´s ambitious climate goals. The climate and handling climate change are the focal points in Public-Private Partnerships for the Climate.
Abstract: In March 2020, the EU announced that it should be climate neutral by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, multiple regulations will be necessary. However, this article argues that regulation will not be enough. Rather, the EU should work towards stronger partnerships and more cooperation between public and private parties. This article presents a kind of partnership that is called a Public-Private Partnership for the Climate – a partnership in which the parties (public and private) work towards achieving the EU´s ambitious climate goals. The climate and handling climate change are the focal points in Public-Private Partnerships for the Climate.
Journal: European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Sarah Maria Denta
Wage Differences between Polish and Romanian Intra-EU Migrants in a Flexi-Secure Labour Market: An Over-Time Perspective
Abstract: By merging longitudinal register data and a customised survey, this article explores whether sectoral segmentation, migrants’ pre- and post-migration human capital and social structures, shape wages of Polish and Romanian long-term migrants to Denmark. Pronounced wage differences in favour of Polish migrants are evident in the first two years in Denmark, notwithstanding the same regulatory context under the free movement of labour in the EU. Wage differences persist – albeit at a considerably lower level – throughout the eight-year period, mainly because of significant sectoral segmentation. Sectoral segmentation not explained by demographics, pre-migration human capital or crisis effects, might indicate categorical stereotyping by employers. Regarding (co-ethnic) social networks, at least for the early stages of migration, the study does not find significant effects on wages. While the evidence shows a positive return on wages of formal higher education taken post migration, this is not the case for further training and Danish language education.
Abstract: By merging longitudinal register data and a customised survey, this article explores whether sectoral segmentation, migrants’ pre- and post-migration human capital and social structures, shape wages of Polish and Romanian long-term migrants to Denmark. Pronounced wage differences in favour of Polish migrants are evident in the first two years in Denmark, notwithstanding the same regulatory context under the free movement of labour in the EU. Wage differences persist – albeit at a considerably lower level – throughout the eight-year period, mainly because of significant sectoral segmentation. Sectoral segmentation not explained by demographics, pre-migration human capital or crisis effects, might indicate categorical stereotyping by employers. Regarding (co-ethnic) social networks, at least for the early stages of migration, the study does not find significant effects on wages. While the evidence shows a positive return on wages of formal higher education taken post migration, this is not the case for further training and Danish language education.
Journal: Work, Employment and Society
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Janine Leschke
How Important Is Affiliation Between Mutual Funds and Distributors for Fund Flows?
Abstract: We quantify the importance to mutual fund flows of affiliation between funds and their distributors. Bank failures create exogenous variation in retail customers’ exposure to bank-affiliated mutual funds. When a bank fails, its customers are moved to other banks that distribute their own affiliated mutual funds. Following such exogeneous bank shifts, customers sell their fund holdings and replace them with funds affiliated with their new banks. Customers react sequentially over time. After four years, a third of customers’ investments have been reallocated. In spite of large reallocations, investors do not end up with better-performing fund portfolios.
Abstract: We quantify the importance to mutual fund flows of affiliation between funds and their distributors. Bank failures create exogenous variation in retail customers’ exposure to bank-affiliated mutual funds. When a bank fails, its customers are moved to other banks that distribute their own affiliated mutual funds. Following such exogeneous bank shifts, customers sell their fund holdings and replace them with funds affiliated with their new banks. Customers react sequentially over time. After four years, a third of customers’ investments have been reallocated. In spite of large reallocations, investors do not end up with better-performing fund portfolios.
Journal: Review of Finance
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Bjarne Florentsen, Ulf Nielsson, Jesper Rangvid
Reframing Chinese Business History
Abstract: Business history is expanding to include a greater plurality of contexts, with the study of Chinese business representing a key area of growth. However, despite efforts to bring China into the fold, much of Chinese business history remains stubbornly distal to the discipline. One reason is that business historians have not yet reconciled with the field's unique origins and intellectual tradition. This article develops a revisionist historiography of Chinese business history that retraces the field's development from its Cold War roots to the present day, showing how it has been shaped by the particular questions and concerns of “area studies.” It then goes on to explore five recent areas of novel inquiry, namely: the study of indigenous business institutions, business and semi-colonial context, business at the periphery of empire, business during socialist transition, and business under Chinese socialism. Through this mapping of past and present trajectories, the article aims to provide greater coherence to the burgeoning field and shows how, by taking Chinese business history seriously, we are afforded a unique opportunity to reimagine the future of business history as a whole.
Abstract: Business history is expanding to include a greater plurality of contexts, with the study of Chinese business representing a key area of growth. However, despite efforts to bring China into the fold, much of Chinese business history remains stubbornly distal to the discipline. One reason is that business historians have not yet reconciled with the field's unique origins and intellectual tradition. This article develops a revisionist historiography of Chinese business history that retraces the field's development from its Cold War roots to the present day, showing how it has been shaped by the particular questions and concerns of “area studies.” It then goes on to explore five recent areas of novel inquiry, namely: the study of indigenous business institutions, business and semi-colonial context, business at the periphery of empire, business during socialist transition, and business under Chinese socialism. Through this mapping of past and present trajectories, the article aims to provide greater coherence to the burgeoning field and shows how, by taking Chinese business history seriously, we are afforded a unique opportunity to reimagine the future of business history as a whole.
Journal: Business History Review
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Adam K. Frost
Compliance and Cooperation in Global Value Chains: The Effects of the Better Cotton Initiative in Pakistan and India
Abstract: The Better Cotton Imitative (BCI), the world's largest multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI) for sustainable cotton production, is a prime example of a hybrid “cooperation-compliance” model used by some MSIs to engage farmers and on-farm workers in the global South. Using a mixed methods approach, we investigate the impacts of this hybrid model on economic, environmental, and labor conditions of farmers and on-farm workers on irrigated cotton farms in Pakistan and India. In one of few cross-national comparisons of BCI impacts, we find evidence that farmers participating in BCI's “cooperation-compliance” model report (a) higher gross incomes and (b) lower input costs than comparison farmers. However, (c) BCI had no positive impacts upon labor conditions on cotton farms, as compared to conventional peers. Finally, (d) BCI's impacts are mediated by institutional and geographic differences across the study sites. We conclude that effects of MSIs are hard to generalize but can most meaningfully be understood within particular institutional designs, value chains, specific time periods, and institutional contexts.
Abstract: The Better Cotton Imitative (BCI), the world's largest multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI) for sustainable cotton production, is a prime example of a hybrid “cooperation-compliance” model used by some MSIs to engage farmers and on-farm workers in the global South. Using a mixed methods approach, we investigate the impacts of this hybrid model on economic, environmental, and labor conditions of farmers and on-farm workers on irrigated cotton farms in Pakistan and India. In one of few cross-national comparisons of BCI impacts, we find evidence that farmers participating in BCI's “cooperation-compliance” model report (a) higher gross incomes and (b) lower input costs than comparison farmers. However, (c) BCI had no positive impacts upon labor conditions on cotton farms, as compared to conventional peers. Finally, (d) BCI's impacts are mediated by institutional and geographic differences across the study sites. We conclude that effects of MSIs are hard to generalize but can most meaningfully be understood within particular institutional designs, value chains, specific time periods, and institutional contexts.
Journal: Ecological Economics
Published: March 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Lund-Thomsen
From Individual to Organizational Bias: A Norm-critical Proposition for Unconscious Bias Intervention in Organizations
Abstract: It is generally accepted in organization and management studies that individuals are implicitly biased, and that biased behavior has organizational consequences for diversity, equality, and inclusion. Existing bias interventions are found not to lead to signifi cant changes in terms of eliminating individual bias, reducing discrimination, or increasing the numbers of underrepresented minorities in organizations. This article links the absence of positive change to a lack of engagement with the structural-organizational contexts, processes, and practices that reproduce bias. We identify three concrete shortcomings in the literature: that interventions are: 1) largely ignorant of broader societal power structures; 2) detached from specifi c organizational contexts; and 3) decoupled from concrete organizational action. By combining insights from unconscious bias research with norm critique and design thinking, we develop a proposition for a new intervention model that forgoes the individualization of unconscious bias and extends to a structural understanding of bias as embedded in organizational norms. The article draws on data from an action research project that included a workshop series developed and organized in three Scandinavian countries over one year. The data provide the basis for an empirically grounded conceptualization of the organizational bias intervention advanced by the authors.
Abstract: It is generally accepted in organization and management studies that individuals are implicitly biased, and that biased behavior has organizational consequences for diversity, equality, and inclusion. Existing bias interventions are found not to lead to signifi cant changes in terms of eliminating individual bias, reducing discrimination, or increasing the numbers of underrepresented minorities in organizations. This article links the absence of positive change to a lack of engagement with the structural-organizational contexts, processes, and practices that reproduce bias. We identify three concrete shortcomings in the literature: that interventions are: 1) largely ignorant of broader societal power structures; 2) detached from specifi c organizational contexts; and 3) decoupled from concrete organizational action. By combining insights from unconscious bias research with norm critique and design thinking, we develop a proposition for a new intervention model that forgoes the individualization of unconscious bias and extends to a structural understanding of bias as embedded in organizational norms. The article draws on data from an action research project that included a workshop series developed and organized in three Scandinavian countries over one year. The data provide the basis for an empirically grounded conceptualization of the organizational bias intervention advanced by the authors.
Journal: Kvinder, Køn & Forskning
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Bontu Lucie Guschke, Jannick Friis Christensen
Consumer Food Sustainability Before and During the Covid-19 Crisis: A Quantitative Content Analysis and Food Policy Implications
Abstract: Sustainability is one of the major challenges that societies are facing. The question of why and how consumer food sustainability related issues (e.g., food waste, sustainable food shopping behavior, among others) are placed on the public agenda is therefore of high interest to food policy makers. Drawing from media agenda setting theory, this study provides the first analysis of how relationships between consumer food sustainability-related frames appear in the media. Focusing on the COVID-19 crisis, it is examined how the media framed food sustainability issues in 2019 and 2020. 271 newspaper stories are investigated through a rather new approach to quantitative content analysis that incorporated binary coding, optimal scaling, and path analysis. The study’s findings point to various significant relationships between frame contents and implications and similarly bring to light the moderating effects of the COVID-19 crisis and ‘article authorship’ on a number of these relationships. The findings contribute to the understanding of how public opinion regarding food sustainability develops and can help food policymakers and authorities seeking to develop, position, and address issues relevant to food sustainability.
Abstract: Sustainability is one of the major challenges that societies are facing. The question of why and how consumer food sustainability related issues (e.g., food waste, sustainable food shopping behavior, among others) are placed on the public agenda is therefore of high interest to food policy makers. Drawing from media agenda setting theory, this study provides the first analysis of how relationships between consumer food sustainability-related frames appear in the media. Focusing on the COVID-19 crisis, it is examined how the media framed food sustainability issues in 2019 and 2020. 271 newspaper stories are investigated through a rather new approach to quantitative content analysis that incorporated binary coding, optimal scaling, and path analysis. The study’s findings point to various significant relationships between frame contents and implications and similarly bring to light the moderating effects of the COVID-19 crisis and ‘article authorship’ on a number of these relationships. The findings contribute to the understanding of how public opinion regarding food sustainability develops and can help food policymakers and authorities seeking to develop, position, and address issues relevant to food sustainability.
Journal: Food Policy
Published: February 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Torben Hansen
Who Do the People Want to Govern?
Abstract: Relative to the well-developed theory and extensive survey batteries on people’s preferences for substantive policy solutions, scholarly understanding of people’s preferences for the mechanisms by which policies should be adopted is disappointing. Theory rarely goes beyond the assumption that people would prefer to rule themselves rather than leave decisions up to elites and measurement rests largely on four items that are not up to the task. In this article, we seek to provide a firmer footing for “process” research by 1) offering an alternative theory holding that people actually want elites to continue to make important political decisions but want them to do so only after acquiring a deep appreciation for the real-world problems facing regular people, and 2) developing and testing a battery of over 50 survey items, appropriate for cross-national research, that extend understanding of how the people want political decisions to be made.
Abstract: Relative to the well-developed theory and extensive survey batteries on people’s preferences for substantive policy solutions, scholarly understanding of people’s preferences for the mechanisms by which policies should be adopted is disappointing. Theory rarely goes beyond the assumption that people would prefer to rule themselves rather than leave decisions up to elites and measurement rests largely on four items that are not up to the task. In this article, we seek to provide a firmer footing for “process” research by 1) offering an alternative theory holding that people actually want elites to continue to make important political decisions but want them to do so only after acquiring a deep appreciation for the real-world problems facing regular people, and 2) developing and testing a battery of over 50 survey items, appropriate for cross-national research, that extend understanding of how the people want political decisions to be made.
Journal: Party Politics
Published: October 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: David Fortunato
The Wisdom and Madness of Crowds: How Information Networks and Board Cognition Help or Hinder Firm Performance Across the Business Cycle
Abstract: We know little of why a minority of firms pursue counter-cyclical strategies and consequently outperform competitors during recessions. Based on the theory of institutional isomorphism, we hypothesize that these firms avoid the mimetic and normative pressures that promote strategic convergence during uncertainty. We demonstrate these effects at the board-level in a sample of 1,615 U.S. firms. Mimetic processes are evident, with firms' connectedness in board interlock networks attenuating profitability and decreasing firm value during recessions—a reversal of the positive effects during expansions. Normative pressures arise from homogeneity in directors’ educational and professional experience, with greater consequences for long-term performance. Overall, recessionary performance is improved when firms occupy relatively isolated positions in informational networks and appoint directors from a range of backgrounds.
Abstract: We know little of why a minority of firms pursue counter-cyclical strategies and consequently outperform competitors during recessions. Based on the theory of institutional isomorphism, we hypothesize that these firms avoid the mimetic and normative pressures that promote strategic convergence during uncertainty. We demonstrate these effects at the board-level in a sample of 1,615 U.S. firms. Mimetic processes are evident, with firms' connectedness in board interlock networks attenuating profitability and decreasing firm value during recessions—a reversal of the positive effects during expansions. Normative pressures arise from homogeneity in directors’ educational and professional experience, with greater consequences for long-term performance. Overall, recessionary performance is improved when firms occupy relatively isolated positions in informational networks and appoint directors from a range of backgrounds.
Journal: Long Range Planning
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Robert E. Morgan
Technology, Market Structure and the Gains from Trade
Abstract: We study the gains from trade in a model with oligopolistic competition, heterogeneous firms and innovation. Our key finding is that a trade-induced increase in market concentration can be an important source of the gains from trade. Foreign competition puts downward pressure on profitability which reduces the equilibrium number of firms, but increases their size. This rise in concentration increases welfare via two channels: increasing returns in production, and a scale effect on innovation. In a calibrated version of the model we show that concentration is a main driver of the gains from trade, mostly via its stimulating effect on innovation – the contribution of increasing returns is small. Moreover, lowering trade costs reduce the inefficiency produced by “reciprocal dumping”, leading to substantial gains. In contrast, the associated reduction in markup dispersion has only a negligible effect.
Abstract: We study the gains from trade in a model with oligopolistic competition, heterogeneous firms and innovation. Our key finding is that a trade-induced increase in market concentration can be an important source of the gains from trade. Foreign competition puts downward pressure on profitability which reduces the equilibrium number of firms, but increases their size. This rise in concentration increases welfare via two channels: increasing returns in production, and a scale effect on innovation. In a calibrated version of the model we show that concentration is a main driver of the gains from trade, mostly via its stimulating effect on innovation – the contribution of increasing returns is small. Moreover, lowering trade costs reduce the inefficiency produced by “reciprocal dumping”, leading to substantial gains. In contrast, the associated reduction in markup dispersion has only a negligible effect.
Journal: Journal of International Economics
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Pontus Rendahl
Understanding How Managers Balance the Paradoxical Nature of Occupational Safety Through a Practice-driven Institutional Lens
Abstract: There is an increasing interest in integrating occupational safety into contemporary organizations’ management systems for the continual prevention of work-related injury, ill-health, and death. However, we know little about the micro-processes of managerial safety practices, particularly in understanding how organizational members enact competing organizational goals in their everyday work activities. This paper examines the mundane day-to-day practices by which construction site and project managers balance seemingly paradoxical demands in their everyday work. Using a combination of observational, interview and documentary data collected from three Danish construction projects, this study shows how institutional complexity (logics of professionalism, production, and regulation) affects managers’ safety-related thinking, motivation, and practice, and how managers beneficially bridge multiple institutional logics through: 1) Silent acknowledgment, 2) A collaborative relational network, and 3) Dynamic decision-making. The paper contributes to the literature on safety management by outlining how managers on the ground balance safety paradoxes and, thus, transcend either-or understandings of safety. These insights are highly relevant as they show concrete ways in which managers attend to competing demands simultaneously and how safety can be integrated into managerial safety practices.
Abstract: There is an increasing interest in integrating occupational safety into contemporary organizations’ management systems for the continual prevention of work-related injury, ill-health, and death. However, we know little about the micro-processes of managerial safety practices, particularly in understanding how organizational members enact competing organizational goals in their everyday work activities. This paper examines the mundane day-to-day practices by which construction site and project managers balance seemingly paradoxical demands in their everyday work. Using a combination of observational, interview and documentary data collected from three Danish construction projects, this study shows how institutional complexity (logics of professionalism, production, and regulation) affects managers’ safety-related thinking, motivation, and practice, and how managers beneficially bridge multiple institutional logics through: 1) Silent acknowledgment, 2) A collaborative relational network, and 3) Dynamic decision-making. The paper contributes to the literature on safety management by outlining how managers on the ground balance safety paradoxes and, thus, transcend either-or understandings of safety. These insights are highly relevant as they show concrete ways in which managers attend to competing demands simultaneously and how safety can be integrated into managerial safety practices.
Journal: Safety Science
Published: March 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Katharina N. Jeschke
The Inflation Response to Government Spending Shocks: A Fiscal Price Puzzle?
Abstract: Standard New Keynesian models predict that expansionary fiscal policy is inflationary. In contrast, this paper presents empirical evidence that prices do not increase in response to a positive government spending shock. Instead, the response of prices is flat or even negative. This finding is robust across a wide range of specifications of our Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model and across different price indices. The puzzling response of prices is accompanied by an increase in output and private consumption, as found in most of the existing literature, as well as an increase in Total Factor Productivity. We show that the introduction of variable technology utilization can enable an otherwise standard New Keynesian model to account for our empirical findings. The model implies that the government spending multiplier is substantially lower when the economy is in a fundamental liquidity trap, as compared to normal times, in contrast to the predictions of standard New Keynesian models.
Abstract: Standard New Keynesian models predict that expansionary fiscal policy is inflationary. In contrast, this paper presents empirical evidence that prices do not increase in response to a positive government spending shock. Instead, the response of prices is flat or even negative. This finding is robust across a wide range of specifications of our Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model and across different price indices. The puzzling response of prices is accompanied by an increase in output and private consumption, as found in most of the existing literature, as well as an increase in Total Factor Productivity. We show that the introduction of variable technology utilization can enable an otherwise standard New Keynesian model to account for our empirical findings. The model implies that the government spending multiplier is substantially lower when the economy is in a fundamental liquidity trap, as compared to normal times, in contrast to the predictions of standard New Keynesian models.
Journal: European Economic Review
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Lihn Jørgensen
Trying Out Loud: Leadership Development as Experimentalism
Abstract: Where does leadership development turn if its heroic ideals are no longer tenable? This study takes leadership practice, not the classroom, as its point of departure. Leadership studies have demonstrated the romance in leadership theory of an individual, stable, and coherent leadership figure, even if this figure does not connect to actual practices. In other streams of research, practice increasingly appears to be a resource for less presumptuous theorizing about leadership. These more situationally sensitive approaches call for equivalent leadership development practices, and extant literature in particular has escaped the confines of the executive management classroom to only a limited extent. While experiential learning has proved an efficient means of instigating and harvesting in-classroom experiences for subsequent reflection and learning, translating these experiences into (later) leadership practice has proved problematic. The mundanity of practice rarely corresponds to the theoretical exposés emanating from classrooms. Using a leadership development program (LDP) as our case, we explore accounts from managers carrying out in-practice experiments and analyze these processes in light of Dewey’s notion of experimentalism. Identifying a series of attributes associated with the experimental intervention, we illuminate some future avenues for situated leadership development as well as offer considerations for leadership development practice.
Abstract: Where does leadership development turn if its heroic ideals are no longer tenable? This study takes leadership practice, not the classroom, as its point of departure. Leadership studies have demonstrated the romance in leadership theory of an individual, stable, and coherent leadership figure, even if this figure does not connect to actual practices. In other streams of research, practice increasingly appears to be a resource for less presumptuous theorizing about leadership. These more situationally sensitive approaches call for equivalent leadership development practices, and extant literature in particular has escaped the confines of the executive management classroom to only a limited extent. While experiential learning has proved an efficient means of instigating and harvesting in-classroom experiences for subsequent reflection and learning, translating these experiences into (later) leadership practice has proved problematic. The mundanity of practice rarely corresponds to the theoretical exposés emanating from classrooms. Using a leadership development program (LDP) as our case, we explore accounts from managers carrying out in-practice experiments and analyze these processes in light of Dewey’s notion of experimentalism. Identifying a series of attributes associated with the experimental intervention, we illuminate some future avenues for situated leadership development as well as offer considerations for leadership development practice.
Journal: Leadership
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Annemette Kjærgaard, Frank Meier
Strategiske overvejelser for nordisk leksikografi
Abstract: Pending
Abstract: Pending
Journal: LexicoNordica
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Henrik Køhler Simonsen
The Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Tourists’ Personal Prestige: An Experimental Study
Abstract: Purpose:
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has drastically affected the public discourse on tourism in news reporting and on social media, potentially changing social perceptions of travel and its utility for conspicuous consumption. Prestige enhancement is a common tourist motivation, yet, as tourists have been portrayed as irresponsible and even dangerous during the pandemic, the benefits of travel for personal prestige may have been affected. The purpose of this study is to monitor changes in tourists’ personal prestige during the early pandemic in 2020.
Design/methodology/approach:
The authors developed an innovative study design implicitly measuring the personal prestige of tourists shown on experimentally manipulated social media posts. Three measurement waves were issued to compare the personal prestige of tourists just before, during and after the first lockdown situation in Germany.
Findings:
Differences regarding evaluations of tourists’ prestige were found for prestige dimensions of hedonism, achievements, wealth and power, suggesting that prestige ascription to tourists has been affected by the changing discourse on leisure travel.
Originality/value:
This study contributes to the discussion of the socio-psychological effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on customer benefits of leisure travel. It exposes possible impacts of the pandemic on tourisms’ value for conspicuous consumption and prestige enhancement.
Abstract: Purpose:
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has drastically affected the public discourse on tourism in news reporting and on social media, potentially changing social perceptions of travel and its utility for conspicuous consumption. Prestige enhancement is a common tourist motivation, yet, as tourists have been portrayed as irresponsible and even dangerous during the pandemic, the benefits of travel for personal prestige may have been affected. The purpose of this study is to monitor changes in tourists’ personal prestige during the early pandemic in 2020.
Design/methodology/approach:
The authors developed an innovative study design implicitly measuring the personal prestige of tourists shown on experimentally manipulated social media posts. Three measurement waves were issued to compare the personal prestige of tourists just before, during and after the first lockdown situation in Germany.
Findings:
Differences regarding evaluations of tourists’ prestige were found for prestige dimensions of hedonism, achievements, wealth and power, suggesting that prestige ascription to tourists has been affected by the changing discourse on leisure travel.
Originality/value:
This study contributes to the discussion of the socio-psychological effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on customer benefits of leisure travel. It exposes possible impacts of the pandemic on tourisms’ value for conspicuous consumption and prestige enhancement.
Journal: International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Published: October 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Florian Kock
Constraints on Hours Within the Firm
Abstract: Firms often impose contraints on working hours. While many believe that these constraints shape labor supply decisions, little evidence exists to support such views. We explore this relationship using linked employer-employee data on hours worked and the variation in tax rates derived from the 2010 Danish tax reform. We show that hours worked are unresponsive to individual tax changes in firms with strict constraints, whereas they respond to these changes, directly and through spillovers, in firms with looser constraints. Starting from these findings, we discuss the determinants of hours constraints between firms' technologies and coordination of hours among coworkers.
Abstract: Firms often impose contraints on working hours. While many believe that these constraints shape labor supply decisions, little evidence exists to support such views. We explore this relationship using linked employer-employee data on hours worked and the variation in tax rates derived from the 2010 Danish tax reform. We show that hours worked are unresponsive to individual tax changes in firms with strict constraints, whereas they respond to these changes, directly and through spillovers, in firms with looser constraints. Starting from these findings, we discuss the determinants of hours constraints between firms' technologies and coordination of hours among coworkers.
Journal: Journal of Labor Economics
Published: April 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Dario Pozzoli
Care in Creative Work: Exploring the Ethics and Aesthetics of Care through Arts-based Methods
Abstract: This article investigates creative work from an ex-centric perspective, bringing insights from experiences of work in the Ghanaian creative industries to bear on the understanding of creative work as a relational labour of care and caring. We argue that the ethics and aesthetics of care in creative work can best be captured and appreciated through the use of innovative arts-based methodologies that afford researchers the opportunity to explore care-fully the relational aspects of creative work. Accordingly, we base our findings on insights generated from the organisation of and participation in an artistic research workshop in Ghana. We show that artistic workshops themselves constitute a caring and socially useful form of empirical research that upholds the principles of “creative justice” by fostering more respectful, attentive, and affective relationships among research participants and between researchers and participants.
Abstract: This article investigates creative work from an ex-centric perspective, bringing insights from experiences of work in the Ghanaian creative industries to bear on the understanding of creative work as a relational labour of care and caring. We argue that the ethics and aesthetics of care in creative work can best be captured and appreciated through the use of innovative arts-based methodologies that afford researchers the opportunity to explore care-fully the relational aspects of creative work. Accordingly, we base our findings on insights generated from the organisation of and participation in an artistic research workshop in Ghana. We show that artistic workshops themselves constitute a caring and socially useful form of empirical research that upholds the principles of “creative justice” by fostering more respectful, attentive, and affective relationships among research participants and between researchers and participants.
Journal: Cultural Trends
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Thilde Langevang, Ana Alacovska, Robin Steedman
Omnichannel Business
Abstract: The widespread diffusion of digital technologies along with evolving consumer behaviors and requirements have fostered the emergence of omnichannel businesses, i.e., firms that can exploit integrated processes and information systems to realize a seamless and consistent consumer experience across a plenitude of digital and physical channels. To date, omnichannel research has been cluttered and characterized by significant terminological ambiguity that creates unnecessary challenges for researchers and markeeters trying to navigate and advance research and practice in this area. This fundamentals article seeks to address this problem by presenting a definition of omnichannel business that is grounded in its unique characteristics involving technology, organizational, and market perspectives and clearly distinguishes omnichannel from other terms, such as multi-channel or cross-channel. We leverage this conceptual clarity to analyze and structure the previous research on omnichannel business and conclude with an integrated framework that signifies fields of interest for future omnichannel business research.
Abstract: The widespread diffusion of digital technologies along with evolving consumer behaviors and requirements have fostered the emergence of omnichannel businesses, i.e., firms that can exploit integrated processes and information systems to realize a seamless and consistent consumer experience across a plenitude of digital and physical channels. To date, omnichannel research has been cluttered and characterized by significant terminological ambiguity that creates unnecessary challenges for researchers and markeeters trying to navigate and advance research and practice in this area. This fundamentals article seeks to address this problem by presenting a definition of omnichannel business that is grounded in its unique characteristics involving technology, organizational, and market perspectives and clearly distinguishes omnichannel from other terms, such as multi-channel or cross-channel. We leverage this conceptual clarity to analyze and structure the previous research on omnichannel business and conclude with an integrated framework that signifies fields of interest for future omnichannel business research.
Journal: Electronic Markets
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Christiane Lehrer
Benign Effects of Automation: New Evidence from Patent Texts
Abstract: Researchers disagree over whether automation is creating or destroying jobs. This column introduces a new indicator of automation constructed by applying a machine learning algorithm to classify patents, and uses the result to investigate which US regions and industries are most exposed to automation. This indicator suggests that automation has created more jobs in the US than it has destroyed.
Abstract: Researchers disagree over whether automation is creating or destroying jobs. This column introduces a new indicator of automation constructed by applying a machine learning algorithm to classify patents, and uses the result to investigate which US regions and industries are most exposed to automation. This indicator suggests that automation has created more jobs in the US than it has destroyed.
Journal: Centre for Economic Policy Research
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Katja Mann
«Голод-ные игры»: Rолод 1932–1933 гг. в исторической полити-ке Украины и России
Abstract: The modern historical policy of Ukraine and the Russia is analysed. The study uses the methodology of historical memory studies, specifically, research of historical consciousness, collective and historical memory. The methodology is based on the analysis of a situation when ideas about the past as national history depend on the mentality and goal setting of a particular social, national or other group. The object of the study is the modern socio-political situation in Ukraine and Russia associ-ated with the understanding and assessment of the famine of 1932–1933 both in the Soviet Union as a whole, and in Ukraine in particular. The authors consider the modern memorial culture of the two nations, highlight issues of regional and national identity and the formation of myths of national memory as central issues in the paper. The transformation of memorial practices and the legal framework of the Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union is considered. The authors arrive at the conclusion that the discussion between the Russian and Ukrainian sides to this day has turned into constructing a scheme of the «reverse history» based on the projection of the present state of affairs into the past. It is not possible to find any fundamentally new evidence as long as the Russian archives remained classified, and the parties increasingly resort to a nationalist type of argumentation. Punning on the name of the famous Hollywood blockbuster, we can say that the «hunger games» have become a reality in the modern politics of memory of post-Soviet states.
Abstract: The modern historical policy of Ukraine and the Russia is analysed. The study uses the methodology of historical memory studies, specifically, research of historical consciousness, collective and historical memory. The methodology is based on the analysis of a situation when ideas about the past as national history depend on the mentality and goal setting of a particular social, national or other group. The object of the study is the modern socio-political situation in Ukraine and Russia associ-ated with the understanding and assessment of the famine of 1932–1933 both in the Soviet Union as a whole, and in Ukraine in particular. The authors consider the modern memorial culture of the two nations, highlight issues of regional and national identity and the formation of myths of national memory as central issues in the paper. The transformation of memorial practices and the legal framework of the Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union is considered. The authors arrive at the conclusion that the discussion between the Russian and Ukrainian sides to this day has turned into constructing a scheme of the «reverse history» based on the projection of the present state of affairs into the past. It is not possible to find any fundamentally new evidence as long as the Russian archives remained classified, and the parties increasingly resort to a nationalist type of argumentation. Punning on the name of the famous Hollywood blockbuster, we can say that the «hunger games» have become a reality in the modern politics of memory of post-Soviet states.
Journal: Journal of the Belarusian State University. History
Published: November 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Lizaveta Dubinka-Hushcha
Female Executives and Multinationals’ Support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract: We examine the effect of female representation in multinationals’ top management teams (TMTs) on firms’ support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the central importance of multinationals in achieving the SDGs, there has been little research on what drives their adoption by multinationals. We draw on social role theory and the literature on team decision-making to argue that female representation in TMTs increases multinationals’ support of the SDGs. We also find that the effect of female representation in TMTs on multinationals’ support of the SDGs varies with the level of international diversification.
Abstract: We examine the effect of female representation in multinationals’ top management teams (TMTs) on firms’ support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the central importance of multinationals in achieving the SDGs, there has been little research on what drives their adoption by multinationals. We draw on social role theory and the literature on team decision-making to argue that female representation in TMTs increases multinationals’ support of the SDGs. We also find that the effect of female representation in TMTs on multinationals’ support of the SDGs varies with the level of international diversification.
Journal: Journal of World Business
Published: April 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Christian Schumacher
Bureaucracy for the 21st Century: Clarifying and Expanding Our View of Bureaucratic Organization
Abstract: This review aims to redress the growing gap between the receding discourse on bureaucracy and bureaucracy’s persistence as an organizational form in our era. Reviewing organizational research on bureaucracy, we find three main perspectives, which developed in succession but persist in parallel: bureaucracy as an organizing principle, as a paradigmatic form of organization, and as one type of structure among others. We argue that these three perspectives should be expanded and brought into closer dialogue to overcome the de-contextualized, reified, and narrow ways bureaucracy is often viewed. We offer three pathways for future research and discuss how we can make better sense of the various guises in which bureaucracy appears today.
Abstract: This review aims to redress the growing gap between the receding discourse on bureaucracy and bureaucracy’s persistence as an organizational form in our era. Reviewing organizational research on bureaucracy, we find three main perspectives, which developed in succession but persist in parallel: bureaucracy as an organizing principle, as a paradigmatic form of organization, and as one type of structure among others. We argue that these three perspectives should be expanded and brought into closer dialogue to overcome the de-contextualized, reified, and narrow ways bureaucracy is often viewed. We offer three pathways for future research and discuss how we can make better sense of the various guises in which bureaucracy appears today.
Journal: Academy of Management Annals
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Pedro Monteiro
Digital Tourism Communication and Democracy
Abstract: Political philosophy is applied to analyze the democratic potential of tourism social media. This study shows that while these media have deliberative potential, they also reflect the post-political and post-democratic condition in tourism digital communication. This analysis is illustrated through the discussion of three metaphors: the menu, the stranger, and the tourist-light. The menu represents the increased invasion of lifeworlds by the commercialization and corporate regulation of the tourism social Web. The stranger symbolizes the weak accountability of online communities. The tourist-light embodies the relevance of hedonism in virtual worlds. Social media contributes to digital narcissism and support consumer centricity. Digital communication produces a sanitized version of tourism and entails a subtle constraint of political citizenship.
Abstract: Political philosophy is applied to analyze the democratic potential of tourism social media. This study shows that while these media have deliberative potential, they also reflect the post-political and post-democratic condition in tourism digital communication. This analysis is illustrated through the discussion of three metaphors: the menu, the stranger, and the tourist-light. The menu represents the increased invasion of lifeworlds by the commercialization and corporate regulation of the tourism social Web. The stranger symbolizes the weak accountability of online communities. The tourist-light embodies the relevance of hedonism in virtual worlds. Social media contributes to digital narcissism and support consumer centricity. Digital communication produces a sanitized version of tourism and entails a subtle constraint of political citizenship.
Journal: Tourism Culture & Communication
Published: August 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Ana Maria Munar
Use of Labels and Certificates as Award Criteria: Sophia Group v Parliament (T-578/19)
Abstract: Discusses the ruling in Sophia Group v European Parliament (T-578/19) (GC) on the extent to which labels and certificates may be used as award criteria for public procurement contracts, highlighting the court's distinctions between qualitative award criteria and selection criteria.
Abstract: Discusses the ruling in Sophia Group v European Parliament (T-578/19) (GC) on the extent to which labels and certificates may be used as award criteria for public procurement contracts, highlighting the court's distinctions between qualitative award criteria and selection criteria.
Journal: Public Procurement Law Review
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Grith Skovgaard Ølykke
Change of Selection Criteria During the Procurement Procedure: Intering and Others v Commission (T-525/19)
Abstract: Comments on Intering v European Commission (T-525/19) (GC) on whether, in the course of the procurement process, a contracting authority is permitted not to apply selection criteria specified in its contract notice. Reviews the facts of the case, the arguments of the parties, and the implications of the ruling.
Abstract: Comments on Intering v European Commission (T-525/19) (GC) on whether, in the course of the procurement process, a contracting authority is permitted not to apply selection criteria specified in its contract notice. Reviews the facts of the case, the arguments of the parties, and the implications of the ruling.
Journal: Public Procurement Law Review
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Grith Skovgaard Ølykke
Conducting Research in Difficult, Dangerous, and/or Vulnerable Contexts: Messy Narratives from the Field
Abstract: Organizational communication scholars have historically conducted research in large for-profit businesses, governmental agencies, and a few high-profile nonprofits/NGOs—all of which are relatively easy to access and presumably “safe” to study. It is largely unsurprising, then, that limited scholarship addresses the challenges associated with conducting research in less standard contexts that are often perceived to be difficult, dangerous, and/or vulnerable (DDV). In this forum, we offer lived stories—unfiltered messy narratives—to demystify three core ethical challenges inherent in conducting research of this nature and share how we (imperfectly) navigated them. In addition, we offer practical strategies for conducting research in DDV contexts. Taken together, our overall collective aim is to successfully prepare future scholars to conduct research projects in DDV contexts.
Abstract: Organizational communication scholars have historically conducted research in large for-profit businesses, governmental agencies, and a few high-profile nonprofits/NGOs—all of which are relatively easy to access and presumably “safe” to study. It is largely unsurprising, then, that limited scholarship addresses the challenges associated with conducting research in less standard contexts that are often perceived to be difficult, dangerous, and/or vulnerable (DDV). In this forum, we offer lived stories—unfiltered messy narratives—to demystify three core ethical challenges inherent in conducting research of this nature and share how we (imperfectly) navigated them. In addition, we offer practical strategies for conducting research in DDV contexts. Taken together, our overall collective aim is to successfully prepare future scholars to conduct research projects in DDV contexts.
Journal: Management Communication Quarterly
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Oana B. Albu
Bridge over Troubled Water: Is It Possible to Define other Comprehensive Income?
Abstract: Although other comprehensive income did not exist in the conceptual framework until 2018, it has been a part of IFRS for many years, and it has not been defined based on accounting theory. This paper considers arguments for the current use of other comprehensive income under IFRS and finds that matching and prudence are at the core of other comprehensive income in IFRS despite not being elements of the conceptual framework. This suggests that the concept of other comprehensive income exists because the IFRS standards are founded on a mix of balance sheet-based and income statement-based accounting principles. Based on the characteristics of other comprehensive income and the IASB’s arguments for the recognition of gains and losses in other comprehensive income, this paper proposes a definition of other comprehensive income that can be used to ensure a uniform application of the concept across accounting standards and to reduce risks of inconsistency.
Abstract: Although other comprehensive income did not exist in the conceptual framework until 2018, it has been a part of IFRS for many years, and it has not been defined based on accounting theory. This paper considers arguments for the current use of other comprehensive income under IFRS and finds that matching and prudence are at the core of other comprehensive income in IFRS despite not being elements of the conceptual framework. This suggests that the concept of other comprehensive income exists because the IFRS standards are founded on a mix of balance sheet-based and income statement-based accounting principles. Based on the characteristics of other comprehensive income and the IASB’s arguments for the recognition of gains and losses in other comprehensive income, this paper proposes a definition of other comprehensive income that can be used to ensure a uniform application of the concept across accounting standards and to reduce risks of inconsistency.
Journal: Financial Reporting
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Thomas Ryttersgaard
Yritysten arvoketjupäästöjen hallinta, sääntely ja vastuu
Abstract: The apportionment of greenhouse gas emissions from transnational production to specific private actors, to say nothing of related governance, regulatory and liability issues, poses a challenge for the current, primarily state-centric approach to climate change mitigation. The current approach, allocating emissions to sites of production, has been criticized for not reflecting the reality of transnational consumption or control of production. We propose that global value chain theory provides a useful heuristic tool for the legal conceptualization of greenhouse gases from a holistic, transnational production perspective as a crucial complement to current state-centric approaches. Using global value chain theory as our starting point, we show how emissions from transnational production constitute a phenomenon that can be tackled on the level of law through a combination of private governance, regulation and private law doctrine.
Abstract: The apportionment of greenhouse gas emissions from transnational production to specific private actors, to say nothing of related governance, regulatory and liability issues, poses a challenge for the current, primarily state-centric approach to climate change mitigation. The current approach, allocating emissions to sites of production, has been criticized for not reflecting the reality of transnational consumption or control of production. We propose that global value chain theory provides a useful heuristic tool for the legal conceptualization of greenhouse gases from a holistic, transnational production perspective as a crucial complement to current state-centric approaches. Using global value chain theory as our starting point, we show how emissions from transnational production constitute a phenomenon that can be tackled on the level of law through a combination of private governance, regulation and private law doctrine.
Journal: Oikeus
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Jaakko Salminen
Modularity Design Rules for Architecture Development: Theory, Implementation, and Evidence from the Development of the Renault–Nissan Alliance “Common Module Family” Architecture
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a set of rules for developing modular architectures. We first consider the well-known concept of “Design Rules” advanced by Baldwin and Clark. We then propose a broader conceptualization called “Modularity Design Rules” that is derived from later studies of the strategic, managerial, and organizational processes that must also be undertaken to implement successful modular development projects. We elaborate the critical role that the proposed Modularity Design Rules play in strategically grounding, organizing, and managing modular architecture development processes. We also identify key roles that top management must fulfill in supporting implementation of the proposed rules. We then provide evidence in support of the proposed Modularity Design Rules through a case study of the Renault–Nissan Alliance’s successful development and use of a modular “Common Module Family” architecture between 2009 and 2014. We then suggest some important implications of the Modularity Design Rules for open innovation processes in new product development
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a set of rules for developing modular architectures. We first consider the well-known concept of “Design Rules” advanced by Baldwin and Clark. We then propose a broader conceptualization called “Modularity Design Rules” that is derived from later studies of the strategic, managerial, and organizational processes that must also be undertaken to implement successful modular development projects. We elaborate the critical role that the proposed Modularity Design Rules play in strategically grounding, organizing, and managing modular architecture development processes. We also identify key roles that top management must fulfill in supporting implementation of the proposed rules. We then provide evidence in support of the proposed Modularity Design Rules through a case study of the Renault–Nissan Alliance’s successful development and use of a modular “Common Module Family” architecture between 2009 and 2014. We then suggest some important implications of the Modularity Design Rules for open innovation processes in new product development
Journal: Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Ron Sanchez
Politicised Opinion Leaders in the Younger Generation: To Meat or Not to Meat?
Abstract: Purpose: The consumption of animal-based food products faces several sustainability challenges. To date, however, meat intake plays an important role in everyday food choices. With their ability to change the opinions of a critical mass, opinion leaders in food choices are assumed to play a predominant role in influencing future dietary styles. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify opinion leaders in food choices and their personal meat consumption behaviour as well as their attitude towards policy interventions aiming to meat reduction.
Design/methodology/approach: The sample consisted of 1,479 German participants aged between 15 and 29 years who were online surveyed in autumn 2020. A latent profile analysis (LPA) identified three distinct groups of opinion leader in the younger generation labelled “non-opinion leaders”, “weak opinion leaders” and “opinion leaders”. The identified profiles were used to understand opinion leaders and their food choices by using chi-square tests as well as univariate ANOVA with Tukey or Games-Howell post hoc tests.
Findings: Opinion leadership in food choices was associated with a higher interest in meat-reduced dietary styles and with more positive attitudes towards innovative food ideas. Moreover, opinion leaders were associated with politicised food decisions, indicating that their food choices align with their political and social interests.
Originality/value: The results contribute to a better understanding of the development of future dietary styles, provide evidence for a shift towards more sustainable dietary patterns in the near future and highlight that food decisions are no longer solely decisions on an individual basis but rather becoming of political relevance.
Abstract: Purpose: The consumption of animal-based food products faces several sustainability challenges. To date, however, meat intake plays an important role in everyday food choices. With their ability to change the opinions of a critical mass, opinion leaders in food choices are assumed to play a predominant role in influencing future dietary styles. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify opinion leaders in food choices and their personal meat consumption behaviour as well as their attitude towards policy interventions aiming to meat reduction.
Design/methodology/approach: The sample consisted of 1,479 German participants aged between 15 and 29 years who were online surveyed in autumn 2020. A latent profile analysis (LPA) identified three distinct groups of opinion leader in the younger generation labelled “non-opinion leaders”, “weak opinion leaders” and “opinion leaders”. The identified profiles were used to understand opinion leaders and their food choices by using chi-square tests as well as univariate ANOVA with Tukey or Games-Howell post hoc tests.
Findings: Opinion leadership in food choices was associated with a higher interest in meat-reduced dietary styles and with more positive attitudes towards innovative food ideas. Moreover, opinion leaders were associated with politicised food decisions, indicating that their food choices align with their political and social interests.
Originality/value: The results contribute to a better understanding of the development of future dietary styles, provide evidence for a shift towards more sustainable dietary patterns in the near future and highlight that food decisions are no longer solely decisions on an individual basis but rather becoming of political relevance.
Journal: British Food Journal
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Maureen Schulze
Organizational Space as Sites of Contention: Unravelling Relations of Dis/Order in a Psychiatric Hospital
Abstract: For some time now, scholars have advanced an interest in the unruly and emerging aspects of organizational space while arguing for theoretical integration, wayfinding, and synthesis to overcome conceptual fragmentation of the field. Taking inspiration from recent work focusing on the tensions that emerge from the interplay of architectural design and organizational action, our paper investigates organizational space by drawing on Mary Douglas’ work on purity and danger to unravel relations of dis/order in a newly built psychiatric hospital designed with a ‘healing architecture’. Using ethnographic data, we analyze the everyday ordering work of nursing staff within two inpatient wards and describe how it unfolds as a response to the patients’ use of the hospital design, which amplifies experiences of disorder for the nursing staff. We argue that the tensions between the ordering efforts of architects, nursing staff, and patients to make ward spaces conform to particular ideas also are an important reminder of the key insight in classic organization theory that organization involves perpetual negotations over purpose and concerted action. Unravelling such tensions through Douglas’ approach, we contribute with greater insight across theoretical preferences and conceptual differences into how but also why organizational spaces are continuously cast as ‘sites of contention’.
Abstract: For some time now, scholars have advanced an interest in the unruly and emerging aspects of organizational space while arguing for theoretical integration, wayfinding, and synthesis to overcome conceptual fragmentation of the field. Taking inspiration from recent work focusing on the tensions that emerge from the interplay of architectural design and organizational action, our paper investigates organizational space by drawing on Mary Douglas’ work on purity and danger to unravel relations of dis/order in a newly built psychiatric hospital designed with a ‘healing architecture’. Using ethnographic data, we analyze the everyday ordering work of nursing staff within two inpatient wards and describe how it unfolds as a response to the patients’ use of the hospital design, which amplifies experiences of disorder for the nursing staff. We argue that the tensions between the ordering efforts of architects, nursing staff, and patients to make ward spaces conform to particular ideas also are an important reminder of the key insight in classic organization theory that organization involves perpetual negotations over purpose and concerted action. Unravelling such tensions through Douglas’ approach, we contribute with greater insight across theoretical preferences and conceptual differences into how but also why organizational spaces are continuously cast as ‘sites of contention’.
Journal: Ephemera: Theory & politics in organization
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Signe Vikkelsø
The Termination of Central Government Internal Auditing and the Emergence of the Innovation Society
Abstract: For over two decades, the literature has characterized contemporary Western societies as audit societies. These societies are characterized by an approach to governance that is shaped by the idea and practice of auditing. This paper shows that with regard to public governance, the audit society has started to give way to a program of government innovation, or what we theorize to be the emergence of a new form of society: the innovation society. The paper builds this theorization on a longitudinal case study of the past 40 years of Danish central government administrative policy developments with a focus on internal auditing. The paper shows that internal auditing has transitioned from being a macro actor of public governance to becoming a micro actor and ultimately terminated. The paper further shows that this dissociation process was instigated not by elected politicians but by highly positioned civil servants who managed to remove what they identified as an obstacle to the stability of the innovation program.
Abstract: For over two decades, the literature has characterized contemporary Western societies as audit societies. These societies are characterized by an approach to governance that is shaped by the idea and practice of auditing. This paper shows that with regard to public governance, the audit society has started to give way to a program of government innovation, or what we theorize to be the emergence of a new form of society: the innovation society. The paper builds this theorization on a longitudinal case study of the past 40 years of Danish central government administrative policy developments with a focus on internal auditing. The paper shows that internal auditing has transitioned from being a macro actor of public governance to becoming a micro actor and ultimately terminated. The paper further shows that this dissociation process was instigated not by elected politicians but by highly positioned civil servants who managed to remove what they identified as an obstacle to the stability of the innovation program.
Journal: Financial Accountability & Management
Published: January 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Skærbæk, Tim Neerup Themsen
Compliance and Resistance: How Performance Measures Make and Unmake Universities
Abstract: How individuals comply with, and resist performance measures and metrics can be seen as a key concern in management and organization. Recent literature has advanced our understanding of compliance as a social practice which is often related to resistance. Yet, compliance is seen as something we equate with simply yielding to power without any agency. We address this theme with a study of the effects of managerialism on academic work. More specifically, we investigate the introduction of measures and controls to improve PhD completion times in a research-intensive UK university. Our findings show that despite most of our respondents voicing concerns about the reductionist nature of the target and the consequences for quality, the large majority of academics we talked to complied with the measure. We identify three compliance types that demonstrate compliance is an interpretative process. We make two principal contributions with this paper. First, we offer insights into why compliance deserves analytic attention as a social practice in its own right, as something that goes beyond mere consent. Second, we analyze the impact of managerialism on higher education through the lens of compliance. We use these insights to reflect on how compliance was linked to resistance and the effects of different compliance practices on academic work which ranged from shifting responsibilities to challenging academic integrity.
Abstract: How individuals comply with, and resist performance measures and metrics can be seen as a key concern in management and organization. Recent literature has advanced our understanding of compliance as a social practice which is often related to resistance. Yet, compliance is seen as something we equate with simply yielding to power without any agency. We address this theme with a study of the effects of managerialism on academic work. More specifically, we investigate the introduction of measures and controls to improve PhD completion times in a research-intensive UK university. Our findings show that despite most of our respondents voicing concerns about the reductionist nature of the target and the consequences for quality, the large majority of academics we talked to complied with the measure. We identify three compliance types that demonstrate compliance is an interpretative process. We make two principal contributions with this paper. First, we offer insights into why compliance deserves analytic attention as a social practice in its own right, as something that goes beyond mere consent. Second, we analyze the impact of managerialism on higher education through the lens of compliance. We use these insights to reflect on how compliance was linked to resistance and the effects of different compliance practices on academic work which ranged from shifting responsibilities to challenging academic integrity.
Journal: Organization
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Christian Huber
Why Would You Buy an Electric Car on Jetski Friday? Or, a Critique of Financial Markets from an Options Trading Room
Abstract: This article presents a close, dialogue-based ethnographic account of a group of contemporary options market makers making a decision about pricing options in Tesla, Inc. Careful attention to their deliberations reveals how the rise of algorithms and automation on financial markets have rendered traders alienated and estranged from the markets they work on for their livelihood. This alienation arises, in part, due to novel cascade effects between futures and underlying equities, which algorithmic and automated trading seems to afford, and which also relate to news events as well as the actions of politicians and prominent business people. Emerging from this alienation, traders produce a critique of how highly automated financial markets allocate capital and how ripe they are for political manipulation.
Abstract: This article presents a close, dialogue-based ethnographic account of a group of contemporary options market makers making a decision about pricing options in Tesla, Inc. Careful attention to their deliberations reveals how the rise of algorithms and automation on financial markets have rendered traders alienated and estranged from the markets they work on for their livelihood. This alienation arises, in part, due to novel cascade effects between futures and underlying equities, which algorithmic and automated trading seems to afford, and which also relate to news events as well as the actions of politicians and prominent business people. Emerging from this alienation, traders produce a critique of how highly automated financial markets allocate capital and how ripe they are for political manipulation.
Journal: Finance and Society
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Daniel Souleles
Socialism Isn’t Just About State Ownership — It’s About Redistributing Power
Abstract: An interview with Pelle Dragsted. Throughout decades of neoliberal counterreforms, the most resilient parts of the Nordic welfare state have been the ones under direct popular control. Their experience shows that the best way to push back against capital is to democratize power in society.
Abstract: An interview with Pelle Dragsted. Throughout decades of neoliberal counterreforms, the most resilient parts of the Nordic welfare state have been the ones under direct popular control. Their experience shows that the best way to push back against capital is to democratize power in society.
Journal: Jacobin Magazine
Published: October 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Rune Møller Stahl
How Digital Platforms Compete Against Diverse Rivals
Abstract: Digital platform competition is an ongoing and unpredictable endeavor with platforms competing simultaneously against diverse competitors on several battlefronts. Based on a study of MobilePay, a prominent digital payment platform in Denmark, we propose the Digital Platform Competition Grid, which outlines four competitive approaches that platform owners can take when facing competitors with diverse characteristics. Within each approach, a platform owner can mix and match several competitive actions when competing offensively or defensively on various battlefronts.
Abstract: Digital platform competition is an ongoing and unpredictable endeavor with platforms competing simultaneously against diverse competitors on several battlefronts. Based on a study of MobilePay, a prominent digital payment platform in Denmark, we propose the Digital Platform Competition Grid, which outlines four competitive approaches that platform owners can take when facing competitors with diverse characteristics. Within each approach, a platform owner can mix and match several competitive actions when competing offensively or defensively on various battlefronts.
Journal: MIS Quarterly Executive
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Jan Damsgaard
Tragedy of the Facilitated Commons: A Multiple Case Study of Failure in Systematic Horizontal Logistics Collaborations
Abstract: Horizontal logistics collaboration can increase environmental sustainability and reduce shipping costs. Given these benefits—and the fact that few shippers actually opt to collaborate—public sector agencies and industry associations have attempted to sponsor and support the facilitation of horizontal logistics collaboration projects over the past 20 years. The literature, however, has yet to reveal the fact that these efforts have largely failed. Here, we introduce systematic horizontal logistics collaboration and apply Ostrom’s theory of the commons and agency theory to extract antecedents on why these projects failed. We present a multiple case study on unsuccessful horizontal logistics collaboration projects in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. We address a gap in supply chain literature with regard to systematic collaboration; we also demonstrate the utility of commons theory in the supply chain domain and contribute to the literature on supply chain collaboration with facilitators. Finally, we discuss managerial implications, both for the practitioners attempting systematic horizontal logistics collaboration and for the policymakers seeking to promote it.
Abstract: Horizontal logistics collaboration can increase environmental sustainability and reduce shipping costs. Given these benefits—and the fact that few shippers actually opt to collaborate—public sector agencies and industry associations have attempted to sponsor and support the facilitation of horizontal logistics collaboration projects over the past 20 years. The literature, however, has yet to reveal the fact that these efforts have largely failed. Here, we introduce systematic horizontal logistics collaboration and apply Ostrom’s theory of the commons and agency theory to extract antecedents on why these projects failed. We present a multiple case study on unsuccessful horizontal logistics collaboration projects in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. We address a gap in supply chain literature with regard to systematic collaboration; we also demonstrate the utility of commons theory in the supply chain domain and contribute to the literature on supply chain collaboration with facilitators. Finally, we discuss managerial implications, both for the practitioners attempting systematic horizontal logistics collaboration and for the policymakers seeking to promote it.
Journal: Journal of Supply Chain Management
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Günter Prockl
Competition for Funding or Funding for Competition? Analysing the Dissemination of Performance-based Funding in European Higher Education and its Institutional Effects
Abstract: Mass higher education has promoted the development of larger, costlier, and more heterogeneous systems. Like many public services, HE faced tight competition for funding, alongside pressures to become more efficient in their use of public funds. One major development in public funding has been the introduction of performance-based funding. In this paper, we analyse the dissemination of PBF in European HE and discuss its main institutional effects. We will start by discussing the rationales for the introduction of these financial incentives regarding the behaviour of HEIs and their organizational response to externally led stimuli. We then present the dissemination of PBF across European higher education and reflect about the main institutional effects of the dissemination of PBF. We present some concluding remarks about the management challenges created by the emphasis on competitive rationales in public HE.
Abstract: Mass higher education has promoted the development of larger, costlier, and more heterogeneous systems. Like many public services, HE faced tight competition for funding, alongside pressures to become more efficient in their use of public funds. One major development in public funding has been the introduction of performance-based funding. In this paper, we analyse the dissemination of PBF in European HE and discuss its main institutional effects. We will start by discussing the rationales for the introduction of these financial incentives regarding the behaviour of HEIs and their organizational response to externally led stimuli. We then present the dissemination of PBF across European higher education and reflect about the main institutional effects of the dissemination of PBF. We present some concluding remarks about the management challenges created by the emphasis on competitive rationales in public HE.
Journal: International Journal of Public Administration
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Vera Rocha
Time for Climate Action? Political Actors’ Uses of Twitter to Focus Public Attention on the Climate Crisis During the 2019 Danish General Election
Abstract: This article examines civil society uses of Twitter to promote the climate crisis as an issue in the 2019 national election campaign in Denmark. Theoretically, we draw on Cammaerts’s notion of the mediation opportunity structure and Wright, Nyberg, De Cock, and Whiteman’s notion of climate imaginaries. Methodologically, we draw on Bennett and Segerberg’s approach to studying networked interactions on Twitter. Our findings show that neither the legacy press nor MP candidates used climate-related hashtags promoted by civil society actors. MP candidates did frequently use climate-related hashtags. Nonetheless, these were mainly center-left candidates who mostly called for climate action to be propelled by green growth and technological solutions, while civil society actors called for climate action to be propelled by solidarity and systemic change. We discuss how these articulations of the climate crisis have implications for climate imaginaries and, ultimately, possibilities to act.
Abstract: This article examines civil society uses of Twitter to promote the climate crisis as an issue in the 2019 national election campaign in Denmark. Theoretically, we draw on Cammaerts’s notion of the mediation opportunity structure and Wright, Nyberg, De Cock, and Whiteman’s notion of climate imaginaries. Methodologically, we draw on Bennett and Segerberg’s approach to studying networked interactions on Twitter. Our findings show that neither the legacy press nor MP candidates used climate-related hashtags promoted by civil society actors. MP candidates did frequently use climate-related hashtags. Nonetheless, these were mainly center-left candidates who mostly called for climate action to be propelled by green growth and technological solutions, while civil society actors called for climate action to be propelled by solidarity and systemic change. We discuss how these articulations of the climate crisis have implications for climate imaginaries and, ultimately, possibilities to act.
Journal: International Journal of Communication
Published: 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Julie Uldam
Complementary Currencies for Humanitarian Aid
Abstract: The humanitarian sector has gone through a major shift toward injection of cash into vulnerable communities as its core modality. On this trajectory toward direct currency injection, something new has happened: namely the empowerment of communities to create their own local currencies, a tool known as Complementary Currency systems. This study mobilizes the concepts of endogenous regional development, import substitution and local market linkages as elaborated by Albert Hirschman and Jane Jacobs, to analyze the impact of a group of Complementary Currencies instituted by Grassroots Economics Foundation and the Red Cross in Kenya. The paper discusses humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance programs and compares them to a Complementary Currency system using Grassroots Economics as a case study. Transaction histories recorded on a blockchain and network visualizations show the ability of these Complementary Currencies to create diverse production capacity, dense local supply chains, and data for measuring the impact of humanitarian currency transfers. Since Complementary Currency systems prioritize both cooperation and localization, the paper argues that Complementary Currencies should become one of the tools in the Cash and Voucher Assistance toolbox.
Abstract: The humanitarian sector has gone through a major shift toward injection of cash into vulnerable communities as its core modality. On this trajectory toward direct currency injection, something new has happened: namely the empowerment of communities to create their own local currencies, a tool known as Complementary Currency systems. This study mobilizes the concepts of endogenous regional development, import substitution and local market linkages as elaborated by Albert Hirschman and Jane Jacobs, to analyze the impact of a group of Complementary Currencies instituted by Grassroots Economics Foundation and the Red Cross in Kenya. The paper discusses humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance programs and compares them to a Complementary Currency system using Grassroots Economics as a case study. Transaction histories recorded on a blockchain and network visualizations show the ability of these Complementary Currencies to create diverse production capacity, dense local supply chains, and data for measuring the impact of humanitarian currency transfers. Since Complementary Currency systems prioritize both cooperation and localization, the paper argues that Complementary Currencies should become one of the tools in the Cash and Voucher Assistance toolbox.
Journal: Journal of Risk and Financial Management
Published: November 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Leanne Ussher
Ideologies of Corporate Responsibility: From Neoliberalism to “Varieties of Liberalism”
Abstract: Critical scholarship often presents corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a reflection or embodiment of neoliberalism. Against this sort of sweeping political characterization we argue that CSR can indeed be considered a liberal concept but that it embodies a “varieties of liberalism.” Building theoretically on the work of Michael Freeden on liberal languages, John Ruggie and Karl Polanyi on embedded forms of liberalism, and Michel Foucault on the distinction between classical liberalism and neoliberalism, we provide a conceptual treatment and mapping of the ideological positions that constitute the bulk of modern scholarly CSR debate. Thus, we distinguish between embedded liberalism, classical liberalism, neoliberalism, and re-embedded liberalism. We develop these four orientations in turn and show how they are engaged in “battles of ideas” over the meaning and scope of corporate responsibilities—and how they all remain relevant for an understanding of contemporary debates and developments in the field of CSR and corporate sustainability.
Abstract: Critical scholarship often presents corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a reflection or embodiment of neoliberalism. Against this sort of sweeping political characterization we argue that CSR can indeed be considered a liberal concept but that it embodies a “varieties of liberalism.” Building theoretically on the work of Michael Freeden on liberal languages, John Ruggie and Karl Polanyi on embedded forms of liberalism, and Michel Foucault on the distinction between classical liberalism and neoliberalism, we provide a conceptual treatment and mapping of the ideological positions that constitute the bulk of modern scholarly CSR debate. Thus, we distinguish between embedded liberalism, classical liberalism, neoliberalism, and re-embedded liberalism. We develop these four orientations in turn and show how they are engaged in “battles of ideas” over the meaning and scope of corporate responsibilities—and how they all remain relevant for an understanding of contemporary debates and developments in the field of CSR and corporate sustainability.
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
Published: December 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Steen Vallentin
Sidst opdateret: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 11/07/2023