We provide the first test of and find support for the Hoff and Stiglitz (2004a,b) model predicting under what conditions mass privatizations are accompanied by asset stripping. We also test and do not find support for the main prediction of the Campos and Giovannoni (2006) model. In addition to testing the theory, we tackle an important policy-oriented issue of why a large number of efficient firms disappeared during mass privatization in the booming economy of Montenegro. Econometrically, we present the first study to look at firms that disappeared during a mass privatization transition, improving upon prior studies that focused only on existing firms and ignored survival bias. Our analysis suggests that asset stripping and firm disappearance were present, and that asset stripping was a likely reason for the loss of efficient firms. We show that because more productive firms were liquidated, it is important to model survival bias in the selection of firms remaining in samples when estimating the effects of privatization or other ownership changes. We also show that one needs to distinguish between true start-ups and liquidated firms that re-appear as start-ups. In the absence of the rule of law, many firms that appear to have disappeared were in fact appropriated by managers and politically connected individuals.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22361574
In this paper, we present and test a theory of how political connectedness (often linked to political corruption) affects corporate governance and productive efficiency of firms. Our model predicts that underdeveloped democratic institutions that do not punish political corruption result in political connectedness of firms that in turn has a negative effect on performance. We test this prediction on an almost complete population of Slovenian joint-stock companies with 100 or more employees. Using the data on supervisory board structure, together with balance sheet and income statement data for 2000–2010, we show that a higher share of politically connected supervisory board members leads to lower productivity.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22586598
Building on social identity theory, this study develops and tests—in two countries—a conceptual model that assesses the relative influence of consumer ethnocentrism, national identity, and consumer cosmopolitanism on consumers' product judgments and willingness to buy domestic and foreign products. The findings reveal several undiscovered patterns regarding the interplay of consumer ethnocentrism, national identity, and consumer cosmopolitanism as drivers of consumer behavior and offer managerial guidance on their relevance as segmentation variables.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22492134
Digital piracy as a continuing problem significantly impacts various stakeholders, including consumers, enterprises, and countries. This study develops a three-level mechanism of determinants of consumer digital piracy behavior, with personal risk as an individual factor, susceptibility to interpersonal influence as an inter-personal factor, and moral intensity as a broad societal factor. Further, it explores the role of rationalization and future piracy intent as outcomes of past piracy behaviors. The authors use survey data from four countries in the European Union to test the system of structural relationships. With an exception of the effect of consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence on piracy behavior, the conceptual model receives remarkably consistent support across the four countries. Specifically, perception of personal risk and moral intensity negatively affected the reported piracy behavior in all four countries. The results further support the negative influence of moral intensity and the positive influence of past digital piracy behavior on consumers’ use of rationalization. Lastly, personal risk, rationalization, and past digital piracy behavior directly influenced consumers’ intention to engage in digital piracy in the future. The study also discusses implications of the findings and identifies areas of future research.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21953510
Appeals to people’s pro-environmental values have been shown to trigger pro-environmental behavior across a range of contexts. The present study tests the potential of such interventions in a hedonic context where behavioral change does not generate utilitarian benefits (tourism). Results from a field experiment in a four-star hotel in Slovenia indicate that appeals to people’s pro-environmental values fail to significantly increase tourists’ hotel towel reuse and decrease room electricity consumption. Our results are suggesting that we need further testing of efficiency of appeals in hedonic contexts—such as tourism— and also consider the use of more tangible benefits in order to change behavior.
COBISS.SI-ID: 23457766
In this paper we propose and implement an integral approach to corporate environmentalism. Our integral model accounts not only for corporate environmentalism motivation and conception but also for corporate environmentalism mode and speed of implementation. A broad range of identified corporate environmentalism dimensions helps characterize five basic groups of companies we propose to name “noncompliers”, “legalistic incrementalists”, “greenwashers”, “incremental innovators” and “radical innovators”. We then seek to empirically verify the soundness of the proposed integral typology by surveying a large sample of Slovenian manufacturing companies.
COBISS.SI-ID: 20881894
The significant challenge of trying to simultaneously manage social, environmental and financial performance is one of the most critical challenges in the field of corporate sustainability. This paper explores how large, complex, for-profit organizations are actually integrating this challenge into decision-making and implementing sustainability. Based on field research with interviews at Nike, Procter & Gamble, The Home Depot and Nissan North America, the study specifically investigates how managers at various levels are making the trade-offs and simultaneously managing social, environmental and financial performance. We find that, while the companies' informal systems strongly promote sustainability, their formal systems seemingly have a very traditional focus on financial performance. But, the managers operating under these paradoxical systems do not believe these systems to be in conflict, and they do not perceive a high level of tension. They recognize the financial value of stakeholder reactions to social and environmental performance, and this minimizes the magnitude of the loss in a “win-lose” scenario, or, when the value of these impacts exceeds the cost of an initiative, turns it into a “win-win” scenario.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21351910
Most companies today have some commitment to corporate social responsibility, but implementing these initiatives can be particularly challenging. While a lot has been written on ethical and strategic factors,there is still a dearth of information on the practical nuts and bolts. And whereas with most other organizational initiatives the sole objective is improved financial performance, sustainability broadens the focus to include social and environmental performance, which is much more difficult to measure. This is the ultimate “how-to-do-it” guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually putting sustainability ideas into practice and making sure they accomplish their goals.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21957350
Authors analyze the use of bibliometric methods in scientific works in the field of management and organization. The purpose of their article is to develop a single-source reference and recommendations for researchers who plan to use bibliometric methods in the field of management and organization. The use of bibliometric analysis is obviously growing rapidly since more than half of the analyzed works were published in the last three years. To demonstrate the use of bibliometrics the authors have performed a citation and co-citation analysis to map the intellectual structure of the Organizational Research Methods journal.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22633446
Comparative study for 40 countries worldwide has shown the optimal level of fertility from economic point of view i.e. to maximize the per-capita consumption. The simulations have been done on the calculated patterns of public and private transfers and taking into accounts that workers have to be equipped with capital. In general, it has turned out that the optimal level of fertility is somewhat below the replacement level of 2.1 children. However, in Slovenia fertility level is so low that it is under the optimal level.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22246886