Spotlight on new research publications in September
09/01/2022
Photo: Bjarke MacCarthy
Are you a journalist, researcher or simply interested in academic articles on business and culture?
Sign up for this newsletter to receive a monthly update on the latest research publications at CBS.
The following is a rough list. If you need more information, please contact the researcher.
The academic articles have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been judged by other researchers within the same area.
THE FOLLOWING IS THIS MONTH’S PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH – ENJOY YOUR READING:
Find the abstracts under each heading.
How Connected Is the Agricultural Commodity market to the News-based Investor Sentiment?
Abstract: Previous studies indicate a substantial time-variation in the co-movement of commodity futures markets and economic fundamentals. This paper examines the connectedness and directional spillovers for both the agricultural commodity futures markets and the corresponding sentiment indices. We first construct dynamic timevarying connectedness measures both for the agricultural commodity returns and sentiments. Then, we use panel data regressions and time-varying Granger causality tests to evaluate whether the spillovers between these returns and sentiments are influenced by the economic and financial uncertainties, including the global COVID19 pandemic. In particular, we document that the COVID-19 induced uncertainty influences agricultural commodity returns and sentiments significantly around the first cycle of the pandemic in 2020. Last but not least, economic policy and financial market uncertainty are also found to be significant determinants of the connectedness between agricultural commodity returns and sentiment spillovers.
Abstract: Previous studies indicate a substantial time-variation in the co-movement of commodity futures markets and economic fundamentals. This paper examines the connectedness and directional spillovers for both the agricultural commodity futures markets and the corresponding sentiment indices. We first construct dynamic timevarying connectedness measures both for the agricultural commodity returns and sentiments. Then, we use panel data regressions and time-varying Granger causality tests to evaluate whether the spillovers between these returns and sentiments are influenced by the economic and financial uncertainties, including the global COVID19 pandemic. In particular, we document that the COVID-19 induced uncertainty influences agricultural commodity returns and sentiments significantly around the first cycle of the pandemic in 2020. Last but not least, economic policy and financial market uncertainty are also found to be significant determinants of the connectedness between agricultural commodity returns and sentiment spillovers.
Journal: Energy Economics.
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Oguzhan Cepni
And the Subsidiary Lives On: Harnessing Complex Realities in the Contemporary MNE
Abstract: pending
Abstract: pending
Journal: Journal of International Business Studies
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Phillip C. Nell
Hyperloop, une mythologie de marchés
Abstract: This paper studies how a market is being structured around Hyperloop, the hyper-speed train proposed in 2013 by Elon Musk. We show that Hyperloop carries the mythology, in the Barthian sense, of the possibility for humans to master time and space. We link semiology and materiality and show that meaning is constructed through texts and narrative. Their specificity can influence the structure of markets and what circulates in them. We develop the concept of ambiguous materiality: a dichotomy between the materiality of a technological object and its markets, enabled by the mythological nature of the object.
Abstract: This paper studies how a market is being structured around Hyperloop, the hyper-speed train proposed in 2013 by Elon Musk. We show that Hyperloop carries the mythology, in the Barthian sense, of the possibility for humans to master time and space. We link semiology and materiality and show that meaning is constructed through texts and narrative. Their specificity can influence the structure of markets and what circulates in them. We develop the concept of ambiguous materiality: a dichotomy between the materiality of a technological object and its markets, enabled by the mythological nature of the object.
Journal: Revue Francaise de Gestion
Published: May 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Elise Berlinski
Ten Theses on Technology and Organization: Introduction to the Special Issue
Abstract: We advance ten theses on the nature of technology and organization studies. We suggest there has been very little theorizing and reflection on technology (as technology) in the study of organization. Though technology has been addressed extensively, it is nearly always as a tool deployed for organizational ends; technology itself is assumed to have no consequence. In contrast, the ten theses state, in various ways, what it is to think organization through the mediation of technology, and to think of technology as more than an array of (mute) material objects.
Abstract: We advance ten theses on the nature of technology and organization studies. We suggest there has been very little theorizing and reflection on technology (as technology) in the study of organization. Though technology has been addressed extensively, it is nearly always as a tool deployed for organizational ends; technology itself is assumed to have no consequence. In contrast, the ten theses state, in various ways, what it is to think organization through the mediation of technology, and to think of technology as more than an array of (mute) material objects.
Journal: Organization Studies
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mikkel Flyverbom, Robin Holt
Toward a Sociology of Machine Learning Explainability: Human–machine Interaction in Deep Neural Network-based Automated Trading
Abstract: Machine learning systems are making considerable inroads in society owing to their ability to recognize and predict patterns. However, the decision-making logic of some widely used machine learning models, such as deep neural networks, is characterized by opacity, thereby rendering them exceedingly difficult for humans to understand and explain and, as a result, potentially risky to use. Considering the importance of addressing this opacity, this paper calls for research that studies empirically and theoretically how machine learning experts and users seek to attain machine learning explainability. Focusing on automated trading, we take steps in this direction by analyzing a trading firm’s quest for explaining its deep neural network system’s actionable predictions. We demonstrate that this explainability effort involves a particular form of human–machine interaction that contains both anthropomorphic and technomorphic elements. We discuss this attempt to attain machine learning explainability in light of reflections on cross-species companionship and consider it an example of human–machine companionship.
Abstract: Machine learning systems are making considerable inroads in society owing to their ability to recognize and predict patterns. However, the decision-making logic of some widely used machine learning models, such as deep neural networks, is characterized by opacity, thereby rendering them exceedingly difficult for humans to understand and explain and, as a result, potentially risky to use. Considering the importance of addressing this opacity, this paper calls for research that studies empirically and theoretically how machine learning experts and users seek to attain machine learning explainability. Focusing on automated trading, we take steps in this direction by analyzing a trading firm’s quest for explaining its deep neural network system’s actionable predictions. We demonstrate that this explainability effort involves a particular form of human–machine interaction that contains both anthropomorphic and technomorphic elements. We discuss this attempt to attain machine learning explainability in light of reflections on cross-species companionship and consider it an example of human–machine companionship.
Journal: Big Data & Society
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Bo Hee Min
The Role of Investor Sentiment in Forecasting Housing Returns in China: A Machine Learning Approach
Abstract: This paper analyzes the predictive ability of aggregate and dis-aggregate proxies of investor sentiment, over and above standard macroeconomic predictors, in forecasting housing returns in China, using an array of machine learning models. We find that our new aligned investor sentiment index has greater predictive power for housing returns than the a principal component analysis (PCA)-based sentiment index, used earlier in the literature. Moreover, shrinkage models utilizing the dis-aggregate sentiment proxies do not result in forecast improvement indicating that aligned sentiment index optimally exploits information in the dis-aggregate proxies of investor sentiment. Furthermore, when we let the machine learning models to choose from all key control variables and the aligned sentiment index, the forecasting accuracy is improved at all forecasting horizons, rather than just the short-run as witnessed under standard predictive regressions. This result suggests that machine learning methods are flexible enough to capture both structural change and time-varying information in a set of predictors simultaneously to forecast housing returns of China in a precise manner. Given the role of the real estate market in China’s economic growth, our result of accurate forecasting of housing returns has important implications for both investors and policymakers.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the predictive ability of aggregate and dis-aggregate proxies of investor sentiment, over and above standard macroeconomic predictors, in forecasting housing returns in China, using an array of machine learning models. We find that our new aligned investor sentiment index has greater predictive power for housing returns than the a principal component analysis (PCA)-based sentiment index, used earlier in the literature. Moreover, shrinkage models utilizing the dis-aggregate sentiment proxies do not result in forecast improvement indicating that aligned sentiment index optimally exploits information in the dis-aggregate proxies of investor sentiment. Furthermore, when we let the machine learning models to choose from all key control variables and the aligned sentiment index, the forecasting accuracy is improved at all forecasting horizons, rather than just the short-run as witnessed under standard predictive regressions. This result suggests that machine learning methods are flexible enough to capture both structural change and time-varying information in a set of predictors simultaneously to forecast housing returns of China in a precise manner. Given the role of the real estate market in China’s economic growth, our result of accurate forecasting of housing returns has important implications for both investors and policymakers.
Journal: Journal of Forecasting
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Oguzhan Cepni
Preparing the Show: Organizational Ventriloquism as Autocommunication
Abstract: The notion that communication is constitutive of organization has been developed in interesting ways, especially by the ventriloqual perspective and its observation that organizations are made present when human and non-human figures speak on their behalf. So far, this perspective has mainly been used as an analytical approach to study conversations. However, understood as a specific type of show or performance act, the ventriloquism metaphor has further potential to elucidate how organizations are constituted in communication. Ventriloqual shows are often meticulously prepared and rehearsed, especially when intended to be performed in front of an outside audience. In this conceptual paper, we extend research on organizational ventriloquism by discussing how such preparations influence organizations. To that purpose, we draw on the notion of autocommunication understood as communication through which collectives are animated by their own constructs. Specifically, we focus on those backstage settings where official presentations of organizations are contemplated and planned. In such settings, organizational ventriloquists engage in careful deliberations over the appropriateness of specific figures and discussions about how organizational presentations might be perceived by critical stakeholders. Conceptualizing such preparation as autocommunicative ventriloquism, we discuss how figures invoked in such settings can influence organizations and shape their future practices.
Abstract: The notion that communication is constitutive of organization has been developed in interesting ways, especially by the ventriloqual perspective and its observation that organizations are made present when human and non-human figures speak on their behalf. So far, this perspective has mainly been used as an analytical approach to study conversations. However, understood as a specific type of show or performance act, the ventriloquism metaphor has further potential to elucidate how organizations are constituted in communication. Ventriloqual shows are often meticulously prepared and rehearsed, especially when intended to be performed in front of an outside audience. In this conceptual paper, we extend research on organizational ventriloquism by discussing how such preparations influence organizations. To that purpose, we draw on the notion of autocommunication understood as communication through which collectives are animated by their own constructs. Specifically, we focus on those backstage settings where official presentations of organizations are contemplated and planned. In such settings, organizational ventriloquists engage in careful deliberations over the appropriateness of specific figures and discussions about how organizational presentations might be perceived by critical stakeholders. Conceptualizing such preparation as autocommunicative ventriloquism, we discuss how figures invoked in such settings can influence organizations and shape their future practices.
Journal: Organization Theory
Published: April 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lars Thøger Christensen
How Experiments in the Fuzzy Front End Using Prototyping Generates New Options
Abstract: The fuzzy front in product development is frequently mentioned as the most critical phase of the innovation process, and the five cases of successful design innovations here indicate that experiments and an experimental approach are generating positive outcomes. The experiments in the cases can be characterized as various forms of prototyping. Interestingly the prototyping and experiments took place in the very early phases of the innovation process, rather than later as often advised and interestingly experimentation in the cases here appears to be a vehicle for creating new options. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that prototyping can be considered as a punctuation device, as it offers those involved the option of opting out of ongoing processes, routines and engage in playful behavior by allowing for a freer experimentation with materials, processes, methods to challenge existing knowledge and explore potential solutions. In science, by contrast, experimentation generally is carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis, in other words it seems to be associated with testing options rather than creating them.
Abstract: The fuzzy front in product development is frequently mentioned as the most critical phase of the innovation process, and the five cases of successful design innovations here indicate that experiments and an experimental approach are generating positive outcomes. The experiments in the cases can be characterized as various forms of prototyping. Interestingly the prototyping and experiments took place in the very early phases of the innovation process, rather than later as often advised and interestingly experimentation in the cases here appears to be a vehicle for creating new options. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that prototyping can be considered as a punctuation device, as it offers those involved the option of opting out of ongoing processes, routines and engage in playful behavior by allowing for a freer experimentation with materials, processes, methods to challenge existing knowledge and explore potential solutions. In science, by contrast, experimentation generally is carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis, in other words it seems to be associated with testing options rather than creating them.
Journal: CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation
Published: 2017
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: John K. Christiansen, Marta Gasparin
Multi-project Work and Project Performance: Friends or Foes?
Abstract:
Research summary
While multi-project work (MPW) is becoming an increasingly popular work arrangement, its relationship with project performance is understudied. On the one hand, MPW is deployed to increase employee worktime utilization and productivity, which should be reflected in more timely project completion. On the other hand, MPW also brings switching costs due to attention residue and cognitive setup. Based on this trade-off, we derive an inverted U-shaped relationship between MPW and project performance. We find support for this relationship in a longitudinal dataset containing 9,649 project-month-employee observations. More specialized experience, project similarity, and employee familiarity positively moderate the inverted U-shape. Furthermore, the results are robust to a host of model specifications, data structures, assumptions, and alternative explanations.
Managerial summary
How many projects can you work on simultaneously? We study this question in the context of new product development (NPD) projects in a multinational organization. We suggest that multi-project work (MPW) might be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, MPW academics or engineers can be more productive by filling the gaps in their schedules and developing time management practices. On the other hand, MPW also carries switching costs. This trade-off creates an inverted U-shaped relationship between MPW and project performance. So, how can MPW be more beneficial or less costly? We find that more specialized employees can benefit more from productivity gains while working with familiar members or similar projects can alleviate switching costs.
Abstract:
Research summary
While multi-project work (MPW) is becoming an increasingly popular work arrangement, its relationship with project performance is understudied. On the one hand, MPW is deployed to increase employee worktime utilization and productivity, which should be reflected in more timely project completion. On the other hand, MPW also brings switching costs due to attention residue and cognitive setup. Based on this trade-off, we derive an inverted U-shaped relationship between MPW and project performance. We find support for this relationship in a longitudinal dataset containing 9,649 project-month-employee observations. More specialized experience, project similarity, and employee familiarity positively moderate the inverted U-shape. Furthermore, the results are robust to a host of model specifications, data structures, assumptions, and alternative explanations.
Managerial summary
How many projects can you work on simultaneously? We study this question in the context of new product development (NPD) projects in a multinational organization. We suggest that multi-project work (MPW) might be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, MPW academics or engineers can be more productive by filling the gaps in their schedules and developing time management practices. On the other hand, MPW also carries switching costs. This trade-off creates an inverted U-shaped relationship between MPW and project performance. So, how can MPW be more beneficial or less costly? We find that more specialized employees can benefit more from productivity gains while working with familiar members or similar projects can alleviate switching costs.
Journal: Strategic Management Journal
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Torben Pedersen
The Gender Reveal: The Effect of Sons on Young Fathers’ Criminal Behavior and Labor Market Activities
Abstract: Based on New Zealand’s administrative court charges data, we document child gender-specific differences in future criminal behavior of young fathers. The deterrent impact of having a son on the future likelihood of receiving convictions persists for as long as ten years post-childbirth. Utilizing population-wide monthly tax registers and Census data, we provide key insights into the role model hypothesis. We show that young fathers with a son have (i) a higher likelihood of being in employment, (ii) higher wages & salaries, (iii) lower benefit dependency, (iv) better qualification, and (v) a higher likelihood of being in a partnered relationship.
Abstract: Based on New Zealand’s administrative court charges data, we document child gender-specific differences in future criminal behavior of young fathers. The deterrent impact of having a son on the future likelihood of receiving convictions persists for as long as ten years post-childbirth. Utilizing population-wide monthly tax registers and Census data, we provide key insights into the role model hypothesis. We show that young fathers with a son have (i) a higher likelihood of being in employment, (ii) higher wages & salaries, (iii) lower benefit dependency, (iv) better qualification, and (v) a higher likelihood of being in a partnered relationship.
Journal: Labour Economics
Published: October 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Tom Kirchmaier
Politics as a Confession: Confronting the Enemy Within
Abstract: In this article, we claim, firstly, that the turn to an “ethical” politics focused on subjectivity and its transformation, announced by post-structuralist theorists in the 1970s, can be found today in forms of progressive politics, illustrated by struggles against racism and their articulation by consultants and educators. Secondly, this turn entails targeting the “enemy within,” whether it be the inner fascist (Guattari, Foucault) or white privilege (Di Angelo, Kendi). Rather than an extension of Lasch’s therapeutic “culture of narcissism,” it is a turn to practices reminiscent of public rituals of expiation of guilt and acts of purification (exomologesis) characterizing what Weber referred to as “sects.” Pace Foucault, the “main danger” lies not in the “subjectifying” practices of the human sciences descended from auricular confession and the Christian pastorate, but rather the displacement of formal politics and attendant “civil religion” (Bellah) by conflicts between charismatic sects claiming exemplary subjectivity and virtuosity.
Abstract: In this article, we claim, firstly, that the turn to an “ethical” politics focused on subjectivity and its transformation, announced by post-structuralist theorists in the 1970s, can be found today in forms of progressive politics, illustrated by struggles against racism and their articulation by consultants and educators. Secondly, this turn entails targeting the “enemy within,” whether it be the inner fascist (Guattari, Foucault) or white privilege (Di Angelo, Kendi). Rather than an extension of Lasch’s therapeutic “culture of narcissism,” it is a turn to practices reminiscent of public rituals of expiation of guilt and acts of purification (exomologesis) characterizing what Weber referred to as “sects.” Pace Foucault, the “main danger” lies not in the “subjectifying” practices of the human sciences descended from auricular confession and the Christian pastorate, but rather the displacement of formal politics and attendant “civil religion” (Bellah) by conflicts between charismatic sects claiming exemplary subjectivity and virtuosity.
Journal: Political Theology
Published: August 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mitchell Dean
Mapping the Regions, Organizations and Individuals that Drive Inclusion in the Innovation Economy
Abstract: Innovation is essential for economic growth, prosperity and social progress. However, there is strong evidence of persistent inequality and exclusion of women in the U.S. innovation economy. We develop a framework to map the inventor (patentee) gender gap and identify contexts and catalysts for inclusion. Our approach has three main goals. First, to build inventor inclusivity metrics that capture the presence of women in the flow of new inventors, allowing comparisons across regions, organizations, and individuals. Second, to identify the overall gap between the rate of female new STEM graduates and the rate of female new inventors, emphasizing that the inventor gender gap is more than a supply problem. Third, to understand the variation in inventor inclusivity across top patenting regions, organizations and individuals, providing a window into policy and regional and organizational catalysts for change.
Abstract: Innovation is essential for economic growth, prosperity and social progress. However, there is strong evidence of persistent inequality and exclusion of women in the U.S. innovation economy. We develop a framework to map the inventor (patentee) gender gap and identify contexts and catalysts for inclusion. Our approach has three main goals. First, to build inventor inclusivity metrics that capture the presence of women in the flow of new inventors, allowing comparisons across regions, organizations, and individuals. Second, to identify the overall gap between the rate of female new STEM graduates and the rate of female new inventors, emphasizing that the inventor gender gap is more than a supply problem. Third, to understand the variation in inventor inclusivity across top patenting regions, organizations and individuals, providing a window into policy and regional and organizational catalysts for change.
Journal: Paper presented at DRUID21 Conference
Published: 2021
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mercedes Delgado
The Cost of Capital for Banks: Evidence from Analyst Earnings Forecasts
Abstract: We extract cost of capital measures for banks using analyst earnings forecasts, which we show are unbiased. We find that the cost of equity and the cost of debt decrease in the Tier 1 ratio, whereas total cost of capital is uncorrelated with the Tier 1 ratio. These findings suggest that investors adjust their return expectations for banks in accordance with the Modigliani–Miller conservation-of-risk principle. Hence, increased capital requirements are not made socially costly based on a notion that market pricing violates risk conservation. Equity can nevertheless still be privately costly for banks because of reduced subsidies.
Abstract: We extract cost of capital measures for banks using analyst earnings forecasts, which we show are unbiased. We find that the cost of equity and the cost of debt decrease in the Tier 1 ratio, whereas total cost of capital is uncorrelated with the Tier 1 ratio. These findings suggest that investors adjust their return expectations for banks in accordance with the Modigliani–Miller conservation-of-risk principle. Hence, increased capital requirements are not made socially costly based on a notion that market pricing violates risk conservation. Equity can nevertheless still be privately costly for banks because of reduced subsidies.
Journal: The Journal of Finance
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Jens Dick-Nielsen
Political Institutions and Their Role in the Foreign Policy of Denmark
Abstract: This article focuses on the historical development of political institutions in Denmark after the Second World War and their influence on foreign policy decision-making. This is in line with an emergent trend in the second half of the 20th century reflected in the increasing power of Folketing (the Danish Parliament) driven by a growing number of special parliamentary commissions responsible for particular aspects of foreign policy. It follows from the study that the political system of Denmark has been characterized by continuity, stability and predictability since the Second World War. The example of Danish foreign policy demonstrates that socio-political stability and a high level of economic development combined with an active multilateral diplomacy is one of the most efficient soft power instruments to enhance the international image of a country. The article distinguishes institutional prerequisites for this development based on the analysis of the political actors and their involvement in the formation of the foreign policy. The unique decision-making system has allowed Denmark to achieve a remarkable success in defending and promoting its national interests, skillfully manoeuvring between great powers and ensuring the continuity of its foreign policy regardless of the coalition in power. In spite of its relevance, there is still a gap in the studies of foreign policy of small states in post-Soviet historiography. The empirical base of this research is comprised of publications in Nordic languages as well as in Polish and Russian, collected and studied by the author in the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen, the National library of Russia in Saint Petersburg, the National Library of Poland, the National Library of Iceland, and from online resources.
Abstract: This article focuses on the historical development of political institutions in Denmark after the Second World War and their influence on foreign policy decision-making. This is in line with an emergent trend in the second half of the 20th century reflected in the increasing power of Folketing (the Danish Parliament) driven by a growing number of special parliamentary commissions responsible for particular aspects of foreign policy. It follows from the study that the political system of Denmark has been characterized by continuity, stability and predictability since the Second World War. The example of Danish foreign policy demonstrates that socio-political stability and a high level of economic development combined with an active multilateral diplomacy is one of the most efficient soft power instruments to enhance the international image of a country. The article distinguishes institutional prerequisites for this development based on the analysis of the political actors and their involvement in the formation of the foreign policy. The unique decision-making system has allowed Denmark to achieve a remarkable success in defending and promoting its national interests, skillfully manoeuvring between great powers and ensuring the continuity of its foreign policy regardless of the coalition in power. In spite of its relevance, there is still a gap in the studies of foreign policy of small states in post-Soviet historiography. The empirical base of this research is comprised of publications in Nordic languages as well as in Polish and Russian, collected and studied by the author in the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen, the National library of Russia in Saint Petersburg, the National Library of Poland, the National Library of Iceland, and from online resources.
Journal: Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta, Istoriya
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lizaveta A. Dubinka-Hushcha
Overlit: Digital Architectures of Visibility
Abstract: Despite the ubiquity of digital technologies, data-driven approaches and algorithms, organization theory so far only engages with these developments in limited ways. A deeper engagement with the organizational ramifications of a digital, datafied world is urgently needed and must start from mappings of the phenomenon and the development of better theoretical vocabularies that can guide future research. Complementing the essays by Zuboff and Power in this exchange, my essay suggests a research agenda based on how digital technologies, data and algorithms impact and shape our lives in and around organizations by making us visible in novel ways. I unpack the technological and operational underpinnings of this phenomenon in two steps. The first is a broad conceptualization of the overall shape of what I term ‘digital architectures’. The second is a more granular theorization of how data-driven, algorithmic approaches make the ‘management of visibilities’ a central concern for humans, organizations and societies, as well as some reflections on possible responses to these developments. Taken together, these discussions highlight how digital ubiquity calls for novel theoretical perspectives and research avenues for organization theory to explore.
Abstract: Despite the ubiquity of digital technologies, data-driven approaches and algorithms, organization theory so far only engages with these developments in limited ways. A deeper engagement with the organizational ramifications of a digital, datafied world is urgently needed and must start from mappings of the phenomenon and the development of better theoretical vocabularies that can guide future research. Complementing the essays by Zuboff and Power in this exchange, my essay suggests a research agenda based on how digital technologies, data and algorithms impact and shape our lives in and around organizations by making us visible in novel ways. I unpack the technological and operational underpinnings of this phenomenon in two steps. The first is a broad conceptualization of the overall shape of what I term ‘digital architectures’. The second is a more granular theorization of how data-driven, algorithmic approaches make the ‘management of visibilities’ a central concern for humans, organizations and societies, as well as some reflections on possible responses to these developments. Taken together, these discussions highlight how digital ubiquity calls for novel theoretical perspectives and research avenues for organization theory to explore.
Journal: Organization Theory
Published: May 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mikkel Flyverbom
Sustained Decline in Tobacco Purchasing in Denmark during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract: Background: An estimated 8 million people die every year due to tobacco use. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the health consequences of smoking, which is a leading risk factor for more severe COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, and death. The pandemic has also led to reductions in physical activity, increases in stress and declines in mental well-being, all factors commonly associated with triggering higher tobacco use.
Methods: Using a longitudinal data set of purchasing behavior from 2019-2020 among a national sample of the Danish population (n = 4042), we estimate changes in tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis compares tobacco purchases prior to the pandemic to purchases during the pandemic, at the individual level. We also examine effects within subgroups based on smoking behavior in 2019 prior to the pandemic. We estimate effects for smokers and non-smokers and, within smokers, for occasional smokers and regular smokers.
Results: We find large, sustained decreases in tobacco purchases during COVID-19. We estimate that weekly tobacco purchase rates decline by 24% and average quantities decline by 12% during the period spanning the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 through the end of the year. The declines are driven by regular smokers with little change in behavior among nonsmokers and increases in purchases among occasional smokers. Among regular smokers, purchase rates decline by about 30%, tobacco purchases decline by about 20% and quitting rates increase by about 10 percentage points.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to sustained reductions in smoking.
Abstract: Background: An estimated 8 million people die every year due to tobacco use. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the health consequences of smoking, which is a leading risk factor for more severe COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, and death. The pandemic has also led to reductions in physical activity, increases in stress and declines in mental well-being, all factors commonly associated with triggering higher tobacco use.
Methods: Using a longitudinal data set of purchasing behavior from 2019-2020 among a national sample of the Danish population (n = 4042), we estimate changes in tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis compares tobacco purchases prior to the pandemic to purchases during the pandemic, at the individual level. We also examine effects within subgroups based on smoking behavior in 2019 prior to the pandemic. We estimate effects for smokers and non-smokers and, within smokers, for occasional smokers and regular smokers.
Results: We find large, sustained decreases in tobacco purchases during COVID-19. We estimate that weekly tobacco purchase rates decline by 24% and average quantities decline by 12% during the period spanning the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 through the end of the year. The declines are driven by regular smokers with little change in behavior among nonsmokers and increases in purchases among occasional smokers. Among regular smokers, purchase rates decline by about 30%, tobacco purchases decline by about 20% and quitting rates increase by about 10 percentage points.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to sustained reductions in smoking.
Journal: Communications Medicine
Published: August 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Alice Pizzo
Quasi-internalization, Recombination Advantages, and Global Value Chains: Clarifying the Role of Ownership and Control
Abstract: In responding to the Forsgren and Holm (2021) critique of internalization theory, we develop a capability-based model of internalization and quasi-internalization, highlighting the key role of the international recombination of assets. With external control mechanisms becoming more sophisticated, full internalization has become increasingly unnecessary. Rather, the capacity to orchestrate complex networks is an increasingly important source of competitive advantage. We demonstrate that internalization theory does not need to assume that the MNE is all powerful, or that it can dictate the choice of mode with its foreign business partners. We also disagree with the argument that internalization theory presumes perfect rationality. When managers’ perceptions deviate from reality, they do indeed make wrong choices (over- and under-internalization) that come with various types of efficiency penalties. We share the Forsgren and Holm view that a learning perspective can provide insights on the evolution of an MNE’s asset recombination mode, as it gains experience and knowledge. Furthermore, we show that internalization theory has been extended to incorporate such a learning perspective.
Abstract: In responding to the Forsgren and Holm (2021) critique of internalization theory, we develop a capability-based model of internalization and quasi-internalization, highlighting the key role of the international recombination of assets. With external control mechanisms becoming more sophisticated, full internalization has become increasingly unnecessary. Rather, the capacity to orchestrate complex networks is an increasingly important source of competitive advantage. We demonstrate that internalization theory does not need to assume that the MNE is all powerful, or that it can dictate the choice of mode with its foreign business partners. We also disagree with the argument that internalization theory presumes perfect rationality. When managers’ perceptions deviate from reality, they do indeed make wrong choices (over- and under-internalization) that come with various types of efficiency penalties. We share the Forsgren and Holm view that a learning perspective can provide insights on the evolution of an MNE’s asset recombination mode, as it gains experience and knowledge. Furthermore, we show that internalization theory has been extended to incorporate such a learning perspective.
Journal: Journal of International Business Studies
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Christian Geisler Asmussen
Ups and Downs in Finance, Ups without Downs in Inequality
Abstract: The upswing in finance in recent decades has led to rising inequality, but do downswings in finance lead to a symmetric decline in inequality? We analyze the asymmetry of the effect of ups and downs in finance, and the effect of increased capital requirements and the bonus cap on national earnings inequality. We use administrative employer–employee-linked data from 1990 to 2019 for 12 countries and data from bank reports, from 2009 to 2017 in 13 European countries. We find a strong asymmetry in the effect of upswings and downswings in finance on earnings inequality, a weak, if any, mitigating effect of capital requirements on finance’s contribution to inequality, and a restructuring but no absolute effect of the bonus cap on financiers’ earnings. We suggest that while rising financiers’ wages increase inequality in upswings, they are resilient in downswings and thus downswings do not contribute to a symmetric decline in inequality.
Abstract: The upswing in finance in recent decades has led to rising inequality, but do downswings in finance lead to a symmetric decline in inequality? We analyze the asymmetry of the effect of ups and downs in finance, and the effect of increased capital requirements and the bonus cap on national earnings inequality. We use administrative employer–employee-linked data from 1990 to 2019 for 12 countries and data from bank reports, from 2009 to 2017 in 13 European countries. We find a strong asymmetry in the effect of upswings and downswings in finance on earnings inequality, a weak, if any, mitigating effect of capital requirements on finance’s contribution to inequality, and a restructuring but no absolute effect of the bonus cap on financiers’ earnings. We suggest that while rising financiers’ wages increase inequality in upswings, they are resilient in downswings and thus downswings do not contribute to a symmetric decline in inequality.
Journal: Socio-Economic Review
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lasse Folke Henriksen
Bæredygtige supply chains: Den udvidede og komplekse styringsopgave
Abstract: Hvor kommer fokus på bæredygtighed i supply chains fra? Hvad motiverer virksomheder til i stadig større grad at fokusere på at omlægge til bæredygtig produktion og forsyning? Hvorfor er det så komplekst at gå fra at fokusere på bæredygtighed internt i virksomheden, til at fokusere på bæredygtighed i supply chain? Hvad er den cirkulære supply chain og hvad indebærer den for styringsopgaven? Denne artikel kigger på disse væsentlig spørgsmål, der alle kan være med til at kaste lys på den udvidede og ofte også meget komplekse styringsopgave der er forbundet med omlægningen til bæredygtige og cirkulære supply chains
Abstract: Hvor kommer fokus på bæredygtighed i supply chains fra? Hvad motiverer virksomheder til i stadig større grad at fokusere på at omlægge til bæredygtig produktion og forsyning? Hvorfor er det så komplekst at gå fra at fokusere på bæredygtighed internt i virksomheden, til at fokusere på bæredygtighed i supply chain? Hvad er den cirkulære supply chain og hvad indebærer den for styringsopgaven? Denne artikel kigger på disse væsentlig spørgsmål, der alle kan være med til at kaste lys på den udvidede og ofte også meget komplekse styringsopgave der er forbundet med omlægningen til bæredygtige og cirkulære supply chains
Journal: Revision & Regnskabsvæsen
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kim Sundtoft Hald
The Sequences of 150,119 Genomes in the UK Biobank
Abstract: Detailed knowledge of how diversity in the sequence of the human genome affects phenotypic diversity depends on a comprehensive and reliable characterization of both sequences and phenotypic variation. Over the past decade, insights into this relationship have been obtained from whole-exome sequencing or whole-genome sequencing of large cohorts with rich phenotypic data. Here we describe the analysis of whole-genome sequencing of 150,119 individuals from the UK Biobank. This constitutes a set of high-quality variants, including 585,040,410 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, representing 7.0% of all possible human single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and 58,707,036 indels. This large set of variants allows us to characterize selection based on sequence variation within a population through a depletion rank score of windows along the genome. Depletion rank analysis shows that coding exons represent a small fraction of regions in the genome subject to strong sequence conservation. We define three cohorts within the UK Biobank: a large British Irish cohort, a smaller African cohort and a South Asian cohort. A haplotype reference panel is provided that allows reliable imputation of most variants carried by three or more sequenced individuals. We identified 895,055 structural variants and 2,536,688 microsatellites, groups of variants typically excluded from large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies. Using this formidable new resource, we provide several examples of trait associations for rare variants with large effects not found previously through studies based on whole-exome sequencing and/or imputation.
Abstract: Detailed knowledge of how diversity in the sequence of the human genome affects phenotypic diversity depends on a comprehensive and reliable characterization of both sequences and phenotypic variation. Over the past decade, insights into this relationship have been obtained from whole-exome sequencing or whole-genome sequencing of large cohorts with rich phenotypic data. Here we describe the analysis of whole-genome sequencing of 150,119 individuals from the UK Biobank. This constitutes a set of high-quality variants, including 585,040,410 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, representing 7.0% of all possible human single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and 58,707,036 indels. This large set of variants allows us to characterize selection based on sequence variation within a population through a depletion rank score of windows along the genome. Depletion rank analysis shows that coding exons represent a small fraction of regions in the genome subject to strong sequence conservation. We define three cohorts within the UK Biobank: a large British Irish cohort, a smaller African cohort and a South Asian cohort. A haplotype reference panel is provided that allows reliable imputation of most variants carried by three or more sequenced individuals. We identified 895,055 structural variants and 2,536,688 microsatellites, groups of variants typically excluded from large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies. Using this formidable new resource, we provide several examples of trait associations for rare variants with large effects not found previously through studies based on whole-exome sequencing and/or imputation.
Journal: Nature
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Steffen Andersen
Er fødevarevalget blevet supra-komplekst?
Abstract:
Abstract:
Journal: Nyhedsbrevet om Forbrugeradfærd
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Torben Hansen
Defining and Conceptualizing Impact Investing: Attractive Nuisance or Catalyst?
Abstract: This introduction to the special issue on impact investing applies the attractive nuisance notion to impact investing. Social sector actors ‘trespassing’ on the playing field of conventional investment markets may not appreciate the risks. We apply the framework of essentially contested concepts to foster fruitful diverse research in this emerging research field. We advance six dimensions (intentionality, additionality, contribution, materiality, measurability and attribution), which we propose allow to describe different sub-clusters of how the term is used in research and practice. For each dimension we identify risks and opportunities stemming from the contested nature and highlight an ambitious research agenda for how future business ethics scholars can help address and foster impact investing. We conclude by illustrating how the papers in this special issue address these challenges.
Abstract: This introduction to the special issue on impact investing applies the attractive nuisance notion to impact investing. Social sector actors ‘trespassing’ on the playing field of conventional investment markets may not appreciate the risks. We apply the framework of essentially contested concepts to foster fruitful diverse research in this emerging research field. We advance six dimensions (intentionality, additionality, contribution, materiality, measurability and attribution), which we propose allow to describe different sub-clusters of how the term is used in research and practice. For each dimension we identify risks and opportunities stemming from the contested nature and highlight an ambitious research agenda for how future business ethics scholars can help address and foster impact investing. We conclude by illustrating how the papers in this special issue address these challenges.
Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kai Hockerts
Standing Your Ground: Examining the Signaling Effects of Patent Litigation in University Technology Licensing.
Abstract: The licensing of university technologies to private firms has become an important part of the technology transfer mission of many universities. An inherent challenge for the technology licensing of universities is that potential licensees find it difficult to judge the early stage technologies and their ultimate commercial value. We reason that patent litigation against universities can have unintended signaling effects about the commercial value of its technologies and results in increased licensing income for the university. We ground this hypothesis in theory integrating signaling mechanisms from patent enforcement research into theoretical models explaining university technology licensing. Within our logic, the public and costly nature of patent litigation against universities creates strong, credible signals to potential licensees about the technologies of a university even if the signal was not created for that specific purpose. We isolate the signaling mechanism that is central to our theorizing by exploring two moderation factors that reveal additional information to potential licensees, i.e. the licensing track-record of the university and whether the lawsuit involves private firms as co-defendants. We test our theory with a unique dataset of 157 US universities and the 1408 patent infringement cases in which they were involved as defendants over the period 2005–2016. Results show that defending against claims of patent infringement enhances technology licensing revenues, particularly when universities are already adept at licensing technology and when they are co-defendants with private firms.
Abstract: The licensing of university technologies to private firms has become an important part of the technology transfer mission of many universities. An inherent challenge for the technology licensing of universities is that potential licensees find it difficult to judge the early stage technologies and their ultimate commercial value. We reason that patent litigation against universities can have unintended signaling effects about the commercial value of its technologies and results in increased licensing income for the university. We ground this hypothesis in theory integrating signaling mechanisms from patent enforcement research into theoretical models explaining university technology licensing. Within our logic, the public and costly nature of patent litigation against universities creates strong, credible signals to potential licensees about the technologies of a university even if the signal was not created for that specific purpose. We isolate the signaling mechanism that is central to our theorizing by exploring two moderation factors that reveal additional information to potential licensees, i.e. the licensing track-record of the university and whether the lawsuit involves private firms as co-defendants. We test our theory with a unique dataset of 157 US universities and the 1408 patent infringement cases in which they were involved as defendants over the period 2005–2016. Results show that defending against claims of patent infringement enhances technology licensing revenues, particularly when universities are already adept at licensing technology and when they are co-defendants with private firms.
Journal: Research Policy
Published: December 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Wolfgang Sofka
European Household Spending and Socio-economic Impacts on Food Behavior during the First Wave of COVID-19
Abstract:This paper provides a European-level analysis using a large-scale survey of 13 countries to examine the power of relevant economic and socio-demographic characteristics to account for changes in food consumption and purchasing behavior during COVID-19. This was done by focusing on a two-level analysis of subject-related predictors highlighted in many existing country-level studies to test the generality of their significance. The Level 1 predictors relate to the individual households participating in the survey consisting of household composition, education, and location, as well as three types of perceived COVID-19 risks of infection, severity, and anxiety. Level 2 relates to the national level, and especially to the financial situation measured by the mean national Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita in PPP, of the countries, in which the households reside. In terms of changes in food consumption, results show that household composition, education, and the household’s perceived risk of both being infected by COVID-19 and being severely infected are significant predictors, although there are some differences between the two levels. Some possible explanations are as follows: putting food into one’s body in the context of the pandemic is related to a household’s financial situation, its composition, especially the presence or absence of children and older people, and its educational attainment, and through all these aforementioned to the perception of COVID-19 infection and its severity risks. Changes in food purchasing react significantly to the same predictors, but additionally, to all other predictors at both household and AIC levels. The household’s location and perceived COVID-19 anxiety risks are thus also significant. Food purchasing depends much more on factors operating both at the individual household level and the AIC level together; for example, households’ access to food is affected by both national and local lockdown restrictions that vary according to the location of the household.
Abstract:This paper provides a European-level analysis using a large-scale survey of 13 countries to examine the power of relevant economic and socio-demographic characteristics to account for changes in food consumption and purchasing behavior during COVID-19. This was done by focusing on a two-level analysis of subject-related predictors highlighted in many existing country-level studies to test the generality of their significance. The Level 1 predictors relate to the individual households participating in the survey consisting of household composition, education, and location, as well as three types of perceived COVID-19 risks of infection, severity, and anxiety. Level 2 relates to the national level, and especially to the financial situation measured by the mean national Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita in PPP, of the countries, in which the households reside. In terms of changes in food consumption, results show that household composition, education, and the household’s perceived risk of both being infected by COVID-19 and being severely infected are significant predictors, although there are some differences between the two levels. Some possible explanations are as follows: putting food into one’s body in the context of the pandemic is related to a household’s financial situation, its composition, especially the presence or absence of children and older people, and its educational attainment, and through all these aforementioned to the perception of COVID-19 infection and its severity risks. Changes in food purchasing react significantly to the same predictors, but additionally, to all other predictors at both household and AIC levels. The household’s location and perceived COVID-19 anxiety risks are thus also significant. Food purchasing depends much more on factors operating both at the individual household level and the AIC level together; for example, households’ access to food is affected by both national and local lockdown restrictions that vary according to the location of the household.
Journal: Frontiers in Nutrition
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Meike Janssen
Intraorganizational Network Dynamics: Past Progress, Current Challenges, and New Frontiers
Abstract: Social networks are dynamic by nature. While network research has typically treated relationships between social actors as static, there has been a surge in literature extending a dynamic lens to intraorganizational networks. Critically, there is no comprehensive and systematic review of intraorganizational network dynamics studies. Moreover, the field lacks programmatic coherence, clear and consistent terminology, and methodological clarity. This review attempts to resolve these issues. To foster a common language, we provide an integrative definition and clarify the scope of intraorganizational network dynamics. This allows us to distinguish four domains of dynamic network theorizing. Building on this, we develop an encompassing framework that maps the multiple facets of this literature and apply it to organize our summary and synthesis. We then take a bird’s-eye view of the full body of research and discuss four foundational areas in which network dynamics research can be conceptually and methodologically extended. We end by elaborating on the issue of interdependence in network data and providing an overview of leading statistical approaches for modeling longitudinal network data that explicitly account for dependence among observations. We see this review as an entry point for researchers interested in intraorganizational network dynamics and as a way to spark new scholarship on questions that remain open in this literature.
Abstract: Social networks are dynamic by nature. While network research has typically treated relationships between social actors as static, there has been a surge in literature extending a dynamic lens to intraorganizational networks. Critically, there is no comprehensive and systematic review of intraorganizational network dynamics studies. Moreover, the field lacks programmatic coherence, clear and consistent terminology, and methodological clarity. This review attempts to resolve these issues. To foster a common language, we provide an integrative definition and clarify the scope of intraorganizational network dynamics. This allows us to distinguish four domains of dynamic network theorizing. Building on this, we develop an encompassing framework that maps the multiple facets of this literature and apply it to organize our summary and synthesis. We then take a bird’s-eye view of the full body of research and discuss four foundational areas in which network dynamics research can be conceptually and methodologically extended. We end by elaborating on the issue of interdependence in network data and providing an overview of leading statistical approaches for modeling longitudinal network data that explicitly account for dependence among observations. We see this review as an entry point for researchers interested in intraorganizational network dynamics and as a way to spark new scholarship on questions that remain open in this literature.
Journal: Academy of Management Annals
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Diego Stea
To Assimilate or Not to Assimilate? A Cross-country Study on Assimilating Entrepreneurial Tendencies
Abstract: We study whether immigrants are more entrepreneurial than natives. More importantly, we analyze the motivations behind self-employment and how these motivations explain differences in entrepreneurial tendencies between natives, first-generation immigrants, and second-generation immigrants. We find immigrants to be generally more entrepreneurial, in terms of selfemployment, than natives, and we find the difference to be largely driven by necessity motivation, or the inability to find jobs elsewhere. We also find evidence of cross-generational assimilation among immigrants in terms of entrepreneurial tendencies. Finally, necessity-motivated entrepreneurs who develop their business to the established stage are much more likely to be second-generation immigrants than natives or first-generation immigrants
Abstract: We study whether immigrants are more entrepreneurial than natives. More importantly, we analyze the motivations behind self-employment and how these motivations explain differences in entrepreneurial tendencies between natives, first-generation immigrants, and second-generation immigrants. We find immigrants to be generally more entrepreneurial, in terms of selfemployment, than natives, and we find the difference to be largely driven by necessity motivation, or the inability to find jobs elsewhere. We also find evidence of cross-generational assimilation among immigrants in terms of entrepreneurial tendencies. Finally, necessity-motivated entrepreneurs who develop their business to the established stage are much more likely to be second-generation immigrants than natives or first-generation immigrants
Journal: Journal of Private Enterprise
Published: March 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Joshua K. Bedi
Do Employees Work Less for Female Leaders? A Multi-method Study of Entrepreneurial Firms
Abstract: We propose that female-founded ventures receive a lower amount of employee labor for equal pay because employees are more likely to decline requests for additional labor by female founders. First, using longitudinal matched employer-employee data covering all founders of new ventures with personnel in Portugal between 2002 and 2012, we confirm that full-time employees contribute fewer regular hours and less overtime work to female-founded firms. Second, using a series of online experiments, we show that this variation in employee labor across female and male-founded firms is partly motivated by a difference in the employee’s expectations of work demands. Specifically, employees perceive female founders’ requests for additional labor to be unfair and more difficult than expected, and both these perceptions explain the lower amount of employee labor supplied in female-founded ventures. Overall, our findings uncover a novel mechanism that helps explain the existence of a gender gap in entrepreneurship beyond the entry stage.
Abstract: We propose that female-founded ventures receive a lower amount of employee labor for equal pay because employees are more likely to decline requests for additional labor by female founders. First, using longitudinal matched employer-employee data covering all founders of new ventures with personnel in Portugal between 2002 and 2012, we confirm that full-time employees contribute fewer regular hours and less overtime work to female-founded firms. Second, using a series of online experiments, we show that this variation in employee labor across female and male-founded firms is partly motivated by a difference in the employee’s expectations of work demands. Specifically, employees perceive female founders’ requests for additional labor to be unfair and more difficult than expected, and both these perceptions explain the lower amount of employee labor supplied in female-founded ventures. Overall, our findings uncover a novel mechanism that helps explain the existence of a gender gap in entrepreneurship beyond the entry stage.
Journal: Organization Science
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Vera Rocha
When the Future Is Now: An Experimental Study on the Role of Future Thinking and Affective Forecasting in Accommodation Decision-Making
Abstract: When people make travel decisions, they consult their imagination, considering how they would feel in the respective travel situation. Both, researchers who examine this phenomenon and practitioners executing it, commonly hold the vague assumption of an evaluative cognitive process that enables tourists to factor such information into their decision-making process. The nature and functioning of such a process is largely unknown. The authors suggest that travelers, often subconsciously, mentally simulate future hotel stays and predict future feelings to inform their decision-making, a process referred to as affective forecasting. Executing an experimental design, the authors show that actively engaging in episodic future thinking to trigger affective forecasting increases travelers’ intentions toward holiday accommodations. This effect is mediated by hotel trust and risk perception, demonstrating that affective forecasting is an effective way for regaining tourists’ trust and reducing their perceived risk during a pandemic. Contributions to theory and practical implications are discussed
Abstract: When people make travel decisions, they consult their imagination, considering how they would feel in the respective travel situation. Both, researchers who examine this phenomenon and practitioners executing it, commonly hold the vague assumption of an evaluative cognitive process that enables tourists to factor such information into their decision-making process. The nature and functioning of such a process is largely unknown. The authors suggest that travelers, often subconsciously, mentally simulate future hotel stays and predict future feelings to inform their decision-making, a process referred to as affective forecasting. Executing an experimental design, the authors show that actively engaging in episodic future thinking to trigger affective forecasting increases travelers’ intentions toward holiday accommodations. This effect is mediated by hotel trust and risk perception, demonstrating that affective forecasting is an effective way for regaining tourists’ trust and reducing their perceived risk during a pandemic. Contributions to theory and practical implications are discussed
Journal: Journal of Travel Research
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Florian Kock
Help from the Past: Coworker Ties and Entry Wages after Self-employment
Abstract: This paper empirically estimates how referrals mitigate the risk associated with hiring formerly self-employed individuals. We do this by comparing the networks and entry wages for two groups of new hires: those who exit self-employment to become wage-employed and those who change employers as wage employees, i.e., job changers. Referrals are defined as coworker ties through which the new hire and an incumbent worker share a common employment history before their current employment. We use longitudinal Swedish register-based data to evaluate the entry wages of the two groups of new hires for the years between 2010 and 2013. The results show that having coworker ties is associated with 2.9% higher entry wages and that this network premium is uniform across the formerly self-employed and job changers. However, the new hires from self-employment have consistently lower entry wages than the job changers, even if the exiting self-employed have coworker ties.
Abstract: This paper empirically estimates how referrals mitigate the risk associated with hiring formerly self-employed individuals. We do this by comparing the networks and entry wages for two groups of new hires: those who exit self-employment to become wage-employed and those who change employers as wage employees, i.e., job changers. Referrals are defined as coworker ties through which the new hire and an incumbent worker share a common employment history before their current employment. We use longitudinal Swedish register-based data to evaluate the entry wages of the two groups of new hires for the years between 2010 and 2013. The results show that having coworker ties is associated with 2.9% higher entry wages and that this network premium is uniform across the formerly self-employed and job changers. However, the new hires from self-employment have consistently lower entry wages than the job changers, even if the exiting self-employed have coworker ties.
Journal: Small Business Economics
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Emma Lappi
Driving Global Convergence in Green Financial Policies: China as Policy Pioneer and the EU as Standard Setter
Abstract: Although policies for green financial systems are proliferating across the globe, the dynamics shaping such policies remain inadequately understood. With China and the EU at the global forefront of green financial policies, this paper demonstrates how they each influence global policy norms through their distinct policy models. This contributes to the literature, first, by improving our understanding of the global green financial policy processes and, second, by challenging current expectations from the literature. Analysing three central policy areas (information disclosure, taxonomies, and central banking) from an institutional approach, the paper, first, finds that green financial policies are both proliferating and converging globally. Second, the paper finds that China pioneered policy types around 2015, creating an Overton Window. Subsequently, since 2018, the EU has been standardising policy contents within the policy types that China pioneered. The findings suggest that China acts as a policy pioneer through its top–down policy approach, whereas the EU acts as a standard setter through its bottom–up approach. Although this confirms the literature's expectation that the EU creates global standards, it challenges the expectation that China is both primarily a recipient of policy practice and too unique for other countries to learn from directly. In the broader context, the findings imply that the current global situation of competing political models may be an advantage as countries complement each other through both competition and collaboration. Efforts to align financial systems with sustainable development have moved from industry-led initiatives to state-led green financial policies, which are now proliferating and converging across the globe. China and the EU are the most influential actors in shaping how countries across the world use green financial policy because China acts as a policy pioneer based on its top–down policymaking model and the EU acts as a standard setter based on its bottom–up model. Although China and the EU have competing governance and policymaking models, their differences may have been an advantage to scaling up green financial policies as they complement each other through different roles. Awareness of their roles and different approaches should inform future China-EU policy coordination because harmonisation of practice remains a barrier to mainstreaming green finance. Other countries can benefit from awareness of policy developments in the EU and China to support their own policy development in terms of future scope and contents.
Abstract: Although policies for green financial systems are proliferating across the globe, the dynamics shaping such policies remain inadequately understood. With China and the EU at the global forefront of green financial policies, this paper demonstrates how they each influence global policy norms through their distinct policy models. This contributes to the literature, first, by improving our understanding of the global green financial policy processes and, second, by challenging current expectations from the literature. Analysing three central policy areas (information disclosure, taxonomies, and central banking) from an institutional approach, the paper, first, finds that green financial policies are both proliferating and converging globally. Second, the paper finds that China pioneered policy types around 2015, creating an Overton Window. Subsequently, since 2018, the EU has been standardising policy contents within the policy types that China pioneered. The findings suggest that China acts as a policy pioneer through its top–down policy approach, whereas the EU acts as a standard setter through its bottom–up approach. Although this confirms the literature's expectation that the EU creates global standards, it challenges the expectation that China is both primarily a recipient of policy practice and too unique for other countries to learn from directly. In the broader context, the findings imply that the current global situation of competing political models may be an advantage as countries complement each other through both competition and collaboration. Efforts to align financial systems with sustainable development have moved from industry-led initiatives to state-led green financial policies, which are now proliferating and converging across the globe. China and the EU are the most influential actors in shaping how countries across the world use green financial policy because China acts as a policy pioneer based on its top–down policymaking model and the EU acts as a standard setter based on its bottom–up model. Although China and the EU have competing governance and policymaking models, their differences may have been an advantage to scaling up green financial policies as they complement each other through different roles. Awareness of their roles and different approaches should inform future China-EU policy coordination because harmonisation of practice remains a barrier to mainstreaming green finance. Other countries can benefit from awareness of policy developments in the EU and China to support their own policy development in terms of future scope and contents.
Journal: Global Policy
Published: June 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mathias Lund Larsen
The Impact of Specific versus General Art Expertise on Art Experiences: The Case of the Sistine Chapel
Abstract: From the literature on art experience, we know that art experts and non-art experts have different cognitive information processes when encountering an artwork, but we don’t know how this difference might influence the art experience. The purpose of this article is to test how expertise affects art experiences. Expertise is measured on several dimensions, one of them being the level of knowledge on the specific artwork, which is a new contribution to the literature. Our case is the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museum in Italy where the investigations took place in a real museum context.
Abstract: From the literature on art experience, we know that art experts and non-art experts have different cognitive information processes when encountering an artwork, but we don’t know how this difference might influence the art experience. The purpose of this article is to test how expertise affects art experiences. Expertise is measured on several dimensions, one of them being the level of knowledge on the specific artwork, which is a new contribution to the literature. Our case is the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museum in Italy where the investigations took place in a real museum context.
Journal: The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Trine Bille
What Piques Users’ Curiosity on Open Innovation Platforms? An Analysis Based on Mobile App Stores
Abstract: Curiosity, a motivational state of exploratory behavior, is conducive to innovation diffusion by encouraging users’ exploration on open innovation platforms. Yet, despite its importance, there is a scarcity of research investigating the mechanism for piquing users’ curiosity. Accordingly, we advance a research model to unravel how platform service quality, in the form of service content quality and service delivery quality, affects users’ epistemic and perceptual curiosity via inducing their trust and distrust in a platform. Taking mobile app stores as our empirical context, we collected data from 431 users to validate our hypothesized relationships. Analytical results indicate that both dimensions of platform service quality positively influence users’ trust in platform, whereas only service delivery quality negatively influences users’ distrust in platform. Furthermore, trust in platform directly triggers curiosity whereas distrust in platform positively influences users’ feeling-of-deprivation, which in turn triggers curiosity. In this sense, our analytical results reveal the mediating roles of distrust in platform and feeling-of-deprivation in the relationship between service delivery quality and curiosity.
Abstract: Curiosity, a motivational state of exploratory behavior, is conducive to innovation diffusion by encouraging users’ exploration on open innovation platforms. Yet, despite its importance, there is a scarcity of research investigating the mechanism for piquing users’ curiosity. Accordingly, we advance a research model to unravel how platform service quality, in the form of service content quality and service delivery quality, affects users’ epistemic and perceptual curiosity via inducing their trust and distrust in a platform. Taking mobile app stores as our empirical context, we collected data from 431 users to validate our hypothesized relationships. Analytical results indicate that both dimensions of platform service quality positively influence users’ trust in platform, whereas only service delivery quality negatively influences users’ distrust in platform. Furthermore, trust in platform directly triggers curiosity whereas distrust in platform positively influences users’ feeling-of-deprivation, which in turn triggers curiosity. In this sense, our analytical results reveal the mediating roles of distrust in platform and feeling-of-deprivation in the relationship between service delivery quality and curiosity.
Journal: Information Systems Frontiers
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Chee-Wee Tan
The End of Audit: Spectacle and Love in the Audit Society
Abstract: A total of 25 years of research on the audit society has provided rich and engaging accounts of the ways in which rituals of verification have conditioned organizations and individuals to think and act. In contrast, this paper aims to explore the possibility of conditions through which things and spaces are enacted to be non-auditable. Using the concept of proliferation and rarefaction (Callon and Law, 2005), the paper adopts a case-comparison design to explore two empirical sites. The first investigates a vast excess of audit structures against the case of the biggest corporate fraud in German accounting history, the Wirecard scandal. The second discusses the configuration of Tinder, the most popular provider of mobile dating and the absence of visible verification mechanisms. The paper argues that things can become non-auditable through two mechanisms. Based on the two empirical sites, non-auditability can happen through an overload of auditable resources or, through the withdrawal of required resources. The paper discusses the consequences of this finding and suggests avenues for future research on non-auditability. While accounting scholars have extensively addressed the audit explosion and traced how audit practices have journeyed into ever more novel terrains, this paper discusses forms of escape from the value-subverting and reductive accounts incorporated in the audit society. It thereby points to conditions under which accounting ends.
Abstract: A total of 25 years of research on the audit society has provided rich and engaging accounts of the ways in which rituals of verification have conditioned organizations and individuals to think and act. In contrast, this paper aims to explore the possibility of conditions through which things and spaces are enacted to be non-auditable. Using the concept of proliferation and rarefaction (Callon and Law, 2005), the paper adopts a case-comparison design to explore two empirical sites. The first investigates a vast excess of audit structures against the case of the biggest corporate fraud in German accounting history, the Wirecard scandal. The second discusses the configuration of Tinder, the most popular provider of mobile dating and the absence of visible verification mechanisms. The paper argues that things can become non-auditable through two mechanisms. Based on the two empirical sites, non-auditability can happen through an overload of auditable resources or, through the withdrawal of required resources. The paper discusses the consequences of this finding and suggests avenues for future research on non-auditability. While accounting scholars have extensively addressed the audit explosion and traced how audit practices have journeyed into ever more novel terrains, this paper discusses forms of escape from the value-subverting and reductive accounts incorporated in the audit society. It thereby points to conditions under which accounting ends.
Journal: Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Christian Huber
The Use of Management Controls in Different Cultural Regions: An Empirical Study of Angelo-Saxon, Germanic and Nordic Practices
Abstract: Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based pay. Comparing Germanic SBUs to Nordic ones, we find Germanic SBUs to rely more on individual behaviour in performance evaluation, whereas Nordic SBUs rely more on quantitative measures and value alignment in employee selection. We also observe numerous similarities in MC practices between the three cultural regions. The implications of these findings for theory development are outlined.
Abstract: Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based pay. Comparing Germanic SBUs to Nordic ones, we find Germanic SBUs to rely more on individual behaviour in performance evaluation, whereas Nordic SBUs rely more on quantitative measures and value alignment in employee selection. We also observe numerous similarities in MC practices between the three cultural regions. The implications of these findings for theory development are outlined.
Journal: Journal of Management Control
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Jeanette Willert
Game On: Social Networks and Markets
Abstract: I present closed-form solutions for prices, portfolios, and beliefs in a model where four types of investors trade assets over time: naive investors who learn via a social network, “fanatics” possibly spreading fake news, rational short-term investors, and
long-term investors. I show that fanatic and rational views dominate over time due to echo-chamber effects, and their relative importance depends on their following by influencers. Securities markets exhibit social network spillovers, large effects of influencers and thought leaders, bubbles, bursts of high volume, price momentum, fundamental momentum, and reversal. The model sheds new light on the GameStop event, historical bubbles, and asset markets more generally
Abstract: I present closed-form solutions for prices, portfolios, and beliefs in a model where four types of investors trade assets over time: naive investors who learn via a social network, “fanatics” possibly spreading fake news, rational short-term investors, and
long-term investors. I show that fanatic and rational views dominate over time due to echo-chamber effects, and their relative importance depends on their following by influencers. Securities markets exhibit social network spillovers, large effects of influencers and thought leaders, bubbles, bursts of high volume, price momentum, fundamental momentum, and reversal. The model sheds new light on the GameStop event, historical bubbles, and asset markets more generally
Journal: Journal of Financial Economics
Published: June 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lasse Heje Pedersen
Close Together or Far Apart? The Geography of Host-country Knowledge Sourcing and MNC's Innovation Performance
Abstract: We investigate the influence of different host-country knowledge sources on the quality and generality of multinational corporation (MNC) innovation. We suggest that the quality of MNC innovation increases with the geographical distance from local industrial organizations. We also argue that the generality of MNC innovation increases with the distance from local research institutions, but decreases after a certain threshold. We explain these relationships based on the different cognitive and geographical distances separating MNC innovation activities from industrial organizations and research institutions. We test our arguments on a sample of US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patents developed in the United States by foreign semiconductor MNCs.
Abstract: We investigate the influence of different host-country knowledge sources on the quality and generality of multinational corporation (MNC) innovation. We suggest that the quality of MNC innovation increases with the geographical distance from local industrial organizations. We also argue that the generality of MNC innovation increases with the distance from local research institutions, but decreases after a certain threshold. We explain these relationships based on the different cognitive and geographical distances separating MNC innovation activities from industrial organizations and research institutions. We test our arguments on a sample of US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patents developed in the United States by foreign semiconductor MNCs.
Journal: Regional Studies
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Grazia D. Santangelo
Rückschläge richtig wegstecken: Eine moderate Anpassung der Strategie erhöht die Erfolgsaussichten
Abstract: In this study, we seek to provide new insights into the process of problemistic search by examining entrepreneurs’ behavioral responses to failures. Using a comprehensive dataset of over 65,000 crowdfunding projects, we specifically explore how negative performance feedback influences entrepreneurs’ search distance, meaning their change in strategy. Our results demonstrate that the severity and persistence of failure have a u-shaped and inverted u-shaped relationship with search distance, respectively. Moreover, greater temporal distance between an entrepreneur’s failure experience and a subsequent crowdfunding project is not only associated with increases in search distance, but also attenuates the curvilinear main effects. The observed inverted u-shaped relationship between search distance and crowdfunding project performance suggests that decision makers should not fall into the trap of over-searching to correct failures, but rather follow a moderate adjustment strategy.
Abstract: In this study, we seek to provide new insights into the process of problemistic search by examining entrepreneurs’ behavioral responses to failures. Using a comprehensive dataset of over 65,000 crowdfunding projects, we specifically explore how negative performance feedback influences entrepreneurs’ search distance, meaning their change in strategy. Our results demonstrate that the severity and persistence of failure have a u-shaped and inverted u-shaped relationship with search distance, respectively. Moreover, greater temporal distance between an entrepreneur’s failure experience and a subsequent crowdfunding project is not only associated with increases in search distance, but also attenuates the curvilinear main effects. The observed inverted u-shaped relationship between search distance and crowdfunding project performance suggests that decision makers should not fall into the trap of over-searching to correct failures, but rather follow a moderate adjustment strategy.
Journal: Zeitschrift Fuhrung und Organisation
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Michael Wessel
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): Nye kompetencekrav for revisor
Abstract: Sidste år fremlagde EU-Kommissionen et forslag til et nyt direktiv vedrørende bæredygtighedsrapportering (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD). CSRD kommer at erstatte det nuværende direktiv om ikke-finansiel rapportering (NFRD) (Direktiv 2014/95/EU), som er implementeret i dansk lovgivning i årsregnskabslovens §99a og b. CSRD har blandt andet til formål at rette op på de mangler, der er identificeret i det nuværende NFRD, og vil medføre store ændringer i både indhold og begrænset revision af bæredygtighedsrapportering
Abstract: Sidste år fremlagde EU-Kommissionen et forslag til et nyt direktiv vedrørende bæredygtighedsrapportering (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD). CSRD kommer at erstatte det nuværende direktiv om ikke-finansiel rapportering (NFRD) (Direktiv 2014/95/EU), som er implementeret i dansk lovgivning i årsregnskabslovens §99a og b. CSRD har blandt andet til formål at rette op på de mangler, der er identificeret i det nuværende NFRD, og vil medføre store ændringer i både indhold og begrænset revision af bæredygtighedsrapportering
Journal: Revision & Regnskabsvæsen
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan
Investigating Tensional Knots in Servitizing Firms through Communicative Processes
Abstract: Tensions and paradoxes have gained considerable traction in the broader general management literature in recent years. Within the servitization domain, however, they are only starting to receive attention. This paper explores the tensions that industrial firms encounter when attempting to integrate services and solutions into their offerings. Following an exploratory multiple case study approach, we identify several tensions experienced at the intra- and interorganizational levels by three industrial firms. By drawing on the four flows model—activity coordination, organizational self-structuring, institutional positioning, and membership negotiation—we identify tensions at the intersection of the flows. The findings elucidate how many of the identified tensions become knotted and movement across organizational levels is created through communicative processes. We make contributions to the literature by drawing on communicative processes to explain how paradoxical tensions emerge within a servitization context and become entangled. As servitizing firms move toward offering advanced services, they are likely to face an increasing number of tensions spanning intra- and interorganizational levels. Our study raises important implications as inextricable entanglements between tensions creates complexity, which requires managers to focus more clearly on the challenge of coping with these on an ongoing basis.
Abstract: Tensions and paradoxes have gained considerable traction in the broader general management literature in recent years. Within the servitization domain, however, they are only starting to receive attention. This paper explores the tensions that industrial firms encounter when attempting to integrate services and solutions into their offerings. Following an exploratory multiple case study approach, we identify several tensions experienced at the intra- and interorganizational levels by three industrial firms. By drawing on the four flows model—activity coordination, organizational self-structuring, institutional positioning, and membership negotiation—we identify tensions at the intersection of the flows. The findings elucidate how many of the identified tensions become knotted and movement across organizational levels is created through communicative processes. We make contributions to the literature by drawing on communicative processes to explain how paradoxical tensions emerge within a servitization context and become entangled. As servitizing firms move toward offering advanced services, they are likely to face an increasing number of tensions spanning intra- and interorganizational levels. Our study raises important implications as inextricable entanglements between tensions creates complexity, which requires managers to focus more clearly on the challenge of coping with these on an ongoing basis.
Journal: Industrial Marketing Management
Published: August 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Jawwad Raja
That's a Lot to Process! Pitfalls of Popular Path Models
Abstract: Path models to test claims about mediation and moderation are a staple of psychology. But applied researchers may sometimes not understand the underlying causal inference problems and thus endorse conclusions that rest on unrealistic assumptions. In this article, we aim to provide a clear explanation for the limited conditions under which standard procedures for mediation and moderation analysis can succeed. We discuss why reversing arrows or comparing model fit indices cannot tell us which model is the right one and how tests of conditional independence can at least tell us where our model goes wrong. Causal modeling practices in psychology are far from optimal but may be kept alive by domain norms that demand every article makes some novel claim about processes and boundary conditions. We end with a vision for a different research culture in which causal inference is pursued in a much slower, more deliberate, and collaborative manner.
Abstract: Path models to test claims about mediation and moderation are a staple of psychology. But applied researchers may sometimes not understand the underlying causal inference problems and thus endorse conclusions that rest on unrealistic assumptions. In this article, we aim to provide a clear explanation for the limited conditions under which standard procedures for mediation and moderation analysis can succeed. We discuss why reversing arrows or comparing model fit indices cannot tell us which model is the right one and how tests of conditional independence can at least tell us where our model goes wrong. Causal modeling practices in psychology are far from optimal but may be kept alive by domain norms that demand every article makes some novel claim about processes and boundary conditions. We end with a vision for a different research culture in which causal inference is pursued in a much slower, more deliberate, and collaborative manner.
Journal: Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
Published: April 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Paul Hünermund
Ethics of Humanitarian Action: On Aid-recipients’ Vulnerability and Humanitarian Agencies’ Distinct Obligation
Abstract: Humanitarian assistance in conflicts sometimes undermines local coping strategies, reinforces wartime economies, and strengthens the existing power structures. This article argues that some victims of conflicts are made extremely vulnerable and uniquely dependent on humanitarian agencies. In this case, humanitarian agencies have a distinct obligation to assist them. This article considers one novel account that justifies the continued provision of aid to victims of conflicts and rejects the widespread view that aid should be withdrawn to avoid its negative impact. This article presents the “Distinct Dependence Argument” to address the aid dependency predicament in conflicts. It explores the degree of vulnerability and dependence of victims of conflicts and evaluates humanitarian agencies’ causal responsibility in causing such vulnerability and dependency.
Abstract: Humanitarian assistance in conflicts sometimes undermines local coping strategies, reinforces wartime economies, and strengthens the existing power structures. This article argues that some victims of conflicts are made extremely vulnerable and uniquely dependent on humanitarian agencies. In this case, humanitarian agencies have a distinct obligation to assist them. This article considers one novel account that justifies the continued provision of aid to victims of conflicts and rejects the widespread view that aid should be withdrawn to avoid its negative impact. This article presents the “Distinct Dependence Argument” to address the aid dependency predicament in conflicts. It explores the degree of vulnerability and dependence of victims of conflicts and evaluates humanitarian agencies’ causal responsibility in causing such vulnerability and dependency.
Journal: Ethics & Behavior
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Chin Ruamps
Pandemic Modelling and Model Citizens: Governing COVID-19 through Predictive Models, Sovereignty and Discipline
Abstract: Pandemic modelling functions as a means of producing evidence of potential events and as an instrument of intervention that Tim Rhodes and colleagues describe as entangling science into social practices, calculations into materializations, abstracts into effects and models into society. This article seeks to show how a model society evinced through mathematical models produces a model not only for society but also for citizens, showing them how to act in a certain model manner that prevents an anticipated pandemic future. To this end, we analyse political speeches by various Norwegian ministers to elucidate how various model-based COVID-19 responses enact a ‘model citizen’. Theoretically, we combine Rhodes et al.’s arguments with Foucault’s concepts of law, discipline and security, thus showing what a model society might imply for the model citizen. Finally, we conclude that although the model society is largely informed by epidemiological models and liberal biopolitics that typically place responsibility on individual subjects, sovereign state power remains manifestly present in the speeches’ rhetoric.
Abstract: Pandemic modelling functions as a means of producing evidence of potential events and as an instrument of intervention that Tim Rhodes and colleagues describe as entangling science into social practices, calculations into materializations, abstracts into effects and models into society. This article seeks to show how a model society evinced through mathematical models produces a model not only for society but also for citizens, showing them how to act in a certain model manner that prevents an anticipated pandemic future. To this end, we analyse political speeches by various Norwegian ministers to elucidate how various model-based COVID-19 responses enact a ‘model citizen’. Theoretically, we combine Rhodes et al.’s arguments with Foucault’s concepts of law, discipline and security, thus showing what a model society might imply for the model citizen. Finally, we conclude that although the model society is largely informed by epidemiological models and liberal biopolitics that typically place responsibility on individual subjects, sovereign state power remains manifestly present in the speeches’ rhetoric.
Journal: The Sociological Review
Published: August 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kaspar Villadsen
Opening the Black Boxes: Financial Algorithms and Multi-paradigmatic Research in Information Technology
Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to recent debates about financial knowledge by opening the black box of its algorithmization to understand how information systems can address the major challenges related to interactions between algorithmic trading and financial markets. The paper analyses financial algorithms in three steps. First, the authors introduce the phenomenon of flash crash; second, the authors conduct an epistemological analysis of algorithmization and identify three epistemological regimes – epistemic, operational and authority – which differ in terms of how they deal with financial information. Third, the authors demonstrate that a flash crash emerges when there is a disconnection between these three regimes. The authors open the black box of financial algorithms to understand why flash crashes occur and how information technology research can address the problem. A flash crash is a very rapid and deep fall in security prices in a very short time due to an algorithmic misunderstanding of the market. Thus, the authors investigate the problem and propose an interdisciplinary approach to clarify the scope of algorithmization of financial markets.To manage the misalignment of information and potential disconnection between the three regimes, the authors suggest that information technology can embrace the complexity of the algorithmization of financial knowledge by diversifying its implementation through the development of a multi-sensorial platform. The authors propose sonification as a new mechanism for capturing and understanding financial information. This approach is then presented as a new research area that can contribute to the way financial innovations interact with information technology.
Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to recent debates about financial knowledge by opening the black box of its algorithmization to understand how information systems can address the major challenges related to interactions between algorithmic trading and financial markets. The paper analyses financial algorithms in three steps. First, the authors introduce the phenomenon of flash crash; second, the authors conduct an epistemological analysis of algorithmization and identify three epistemological regimes – epistemic, operational and authority – which differ in terms of how they deal with financial information. Third, the authors demonstrate that a flash crash emerges when there is a disconnection between these three regimes. The authors open the black box of financial algorithms to understand why flash crashes occur and how information technology research can address the problem. A flash crash is a very rapid and deep fall in security prices in a very short time due to an algorithmic misunderstanding of the market. Thus, the authors investigate the problem and propose an interdisciplinary approach to clarify the scope of algorithmization of financial markets.To manage the misalignment of information and potential disconnection between the three regimes, the authors suggest that information technology can embrace the complexity of the algorithmization of financial knowledge by diversifying its implementation through the development of a multi-sensorial platform. The authors propose sonification as a new mechanism for capturing and understanding financial information. This approach is then presented as a new research area that can contribute to the way financial innovations interact with information technology.
Journal: Journal of Information Technology
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Marta Gasparin
Machines That Make and Keep Promises: Lessons for Contract Automation from Algorithmic Trading on Financial Markets
Abstract: An important part of the criticism raised against the adoption of advanced contract automation relates to the inflexibility of automated contracts. Drawing on rational choice theory, we explain why inflexibility, when seen as a constraint, can ultimately not only enhance welfare but also enable cooperation on algorithmic markets. This illuminates the need to address the inflexibility of contracting algorithms in a nuanced manner, distinguishing between inflexibility as a potentially beneficial constraint on the level of transactions, and inflexibility as a set of systemic risks and changes arising in markets employing inflexible contracting algorithms. Using algorithmic trading in financial markets as an example, we show how the automation of finance has brought about institutional changes in the form of new regulation to hedge against systemic risks from inflexibility. Analyzing the findings through the lens of new institutional economics, we explain how widespread adoption of contract automation can put pressure on institutions to change. We conclude with possible lessons that algorithmic finance can teach to markets deploying algorithmic contracting.
Abstract: An important part of the criticism raised against the adoption of advanced contract automation relates to the inflexibility of automated contracts. Drawing on rational choice theory, we explain why inflexibility, when seen as a constraint, can ultimately not only enhance welfare but also enable cooperation on algorithmic markets. This illuminates the need to address the inflexibility of contracting algorithms in a nuanced manner, distinguishing between inflexibility as a potentially beneficial constraint on the level of transactions, and inflexibility as a set of systemic risks and changes arising in markets employing inflexible contracting algorithms. Using algorithmic trading in financial markets as an example, we show how the automation of finance has brought about institutional changes in the form of new regulation to hedge against systemic risks from inflexibility. Analyzing the findings through the lens of new institutional economics, we explain how widespread adoption of contract automation can put pressure on institutions to change. We conclude with possible lessons that algorithmic finance can teach to markets deploying algorithmic contracting.
Journal: Computer Law & Security Review
Published: September 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Maya Mitre
Enacting a Grand Challenge for Business and Society: Theorizing Issue Maturation in the Media-based Public Discourse on COVID-19 in Three National Contexts
Abstract: While today it is universally acknowledged that COVID-19 has generated immense challenges for businesses and societies worldwide, public perceptions varied significantly at the time of the pandemic’s initial appearance, even among democratic societies with comparable media systems. The growing scholarship on grand societal challenges in management and organization studies, however, tends to neglect the initial social construction of issues as complex, uncertain, evaluative, and widespread. We address this shortcoming by exploring the initial communicative enactment of COVID-19 in the media-based public discourse in Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. By applying a social problem work lens, we identify three mechanisms that explain the maturation of COVID-19 into a grand challenge, further showing how these are contextually dependent on differences in discourse quality. We add to research on grand challenges, issue maturation, and framing dynamics by theorizing how issues become constructed and acknowledged as grand challenges in the first place.
Abstract: While today it is universally acknowledged that COVID-19 has generated immense challenges for businesses and societies worldwide, public perceptions varied significantly at the time of the pandemic’s initial appearance, even among democratic societies with comparable media systems. The growing scholarship on grand societal challenges in management and organization studies, however, tends to neglect the initial social construction of issues as complex, uncertain, evaluative, and widespread. We address this shortcoming by exploring the initial communicative enactment of COVID-19 in the media-based public discourse in Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. By applying a social problem work lens, we identify three mechanisms that explain the maturation of COVID-19 into a grand challenge, further showing how these are contextually dependent on differences in discourse quality. We add to research on grand challenges, issue maturation, and framing dynamics by theorizing how issues become constructed and acknowledged as grand challenges in the first place.
Journal: Business & Society
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Dennis Schoeneborn
Tracking Cruise Passengers' Consumption: An Analysis of the Relationships between Onshore Mobility and Expenditure
Abstract:
Abstract:
Journal: Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights
Published: November 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Szilvia Gyimothy Mørup-Petersen
Kampen om klassifikationerne: Økonomernes virke i den moralske elite
Abstract: Økonomer har fra den statsvidenskabelige uddannelses oprettelse i 1848 udgjort en central del af den danske moralske elite, forstået som den del af eliten, der har bl.a. uddannelsesmæssige og organisatoriske ressourcer til at påvirke samfundets normative fundament. I artiklen gennemføres en karrierenetværksanalyse af data fra Kraks Blå Bog i perioden 1910-1923 til at skitsere en prosopografi (kollektiv biografi) af økonomerne som gruppe. Det vises, at økonomerne i Blå Bog i høj grad reproducerede deres klassemæssige baggrund, og at de var engagerede i samfundets dominerende organisationer på tværs af sektorer. Desuden identificeres fem klynger af økonomer. I anden del fokuseres idéhistorisk på klynge fem, i hvilken en ny generation af videnskabeligt revolutionerende statsøkonomer befinder sig. Særligt fokus lægges på professor Harald Westergaard, idet det vises, hvordan de nye metoder, han var med til at udvikle, fungerede rammesættende for den politiske debat om universalisme i socialpolitikken, mens hans eget sociale engagement gik på tværs af sektorer, idet han fremførte, grundlagde og støttede religiøse civilsamfundsorganisationer som en løsning på samfundsproblemer.
Abstract: Økonomer har fra den statsvidenskabelige uddannelses oprettelse i 1848 udgjort en central del af den danske moralske elite, forstået som den del af eliten, der har bl.a. uddannelsesmæssige og organisatoriske ressourcer til at påvirke samfundets normative fundament. I artiklen gennemføres en karrierenetværksanalyse af data fra Kraks Blå Bog i perioden 1910-1923 til at skitsere en prosopografi (kollektiv biografi) af økonomerne som gruppe. Det vises, at økonomerne i Blå Bog i høj grad reproducerede deres klassemæssige baggrund, og at de var engagerede i samfundets dominerende organisationer på tværs af sektorer. Desuden identificeres fem klynger af økonomer. I anden del fokuseres idéhistorisk på klynge fem, i hvilken en ny generation af videnskabeligt revolutionerende statsøkonomer befinder sig. Særligt fokus lægges på professor Harald Westergaard, idet det vises, hvordan de nye metoder, han var med til at udvikle, fungerede rammesættende for den politiske debat om universalisme i socialpolitikken, mens hans eget sociale engagement gik på tværs af sektorer, idet han fremførte, grundlagde og støttede religiøse civilsamfundsorganisationer som en løsning på samfundsproblemer.
Journal: Slagmark
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Anders Sevelsted
Shifting ML Value Creation Mechanisms: A Process Model of ML Value Creation
Abstract: Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are rapidly changing the competitive landscape. In the search for an appropriate strategic response, firms are currently engaging in a large variety of AI projects. However, recent studies suggest that many companies are falling short in creating tangible business value through AI. As the current scientific body of knowledge lacks empirically-grounded research studies for explaining this phenomenon, we conducted an exploratory interview study focusing on 56 applications of machine learning (ML) in 29 different companies. Through an inductive qualitative analysis, we uncover three broad types and five subtypes of ML value creation mechanisms, identify necessary but not sufficient conditions for successfully leveraging them, and observe that organizations, in their efforts to create value, dynamically shift from one ML value creation mechanism to another by reconfiguring their ML applications (i.e., the shifting practice). We synthesize these findings into a process model of ML value creation, which illustrates how organizations engage in (resource) orchestration by shifting between ML value creation mechanisms as their capabilities evolve and business conditions change. Our model provides an alternative explanation for the current high failure rate of ML projects.
Abstract: Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are rapidly changing the competitive landscape. In the search for an appropriate strategic response, firms are currently engaging in a large variety of AI projects. However, recent studies suggest that many companies are falling short in creating tangible business value through AI. As the current scientific body of knowledge lacks empirically-grounded research studies for explaining this phenomenon, we conducted an exploratory interview study focusing on 56 applications of machine learning (ML) in 29 different companies. Through an inductive qualitative analysis, we uncover three broad types and five subtypes of ML value creation mechanisms, identify necessary but not sufficient conditions for successfully leveraging them, and observe that organizations, in their efforts to create value, dynamically shift from one ML value creation mechanism to another by reconfiguring their ML applications (i.e., the shifting practice). We synthesize these findings into a process model of ML value creation, which illustrates how organizations engage in (resource) orchestration by shifting between ML value creation mechanisms as their capabilities evolve and business conditions change. Our model provides an alternative explanation for the current high failure rate of ML projects.
Journal: Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Published: September 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Arisa Shollo
Review of Scandinavian Leadership Development Programs: Open and Closed Customization
Abstract: Leadership development programs (LDPs) have proliferated and diversified but still usually share the ambition of involving the participants’ on-the-job experiences. Yet, the dominant view hereof is crude, not acknowledging the variety of ways used to accomplish it. The Scandinavian context is illustrative for reviewing what we term ‘customization devices’ because of its tradition for LDPs with collective reflection, practice orientation, and broad participation. This review curates and synthesizes 31 studies evaluating empirical experiences with customization devices in Scandinavian university-based LDPs from no earlier than 2010. Such devices fall within three key categories, namely theories, cases, and relationships, and have three key effects: distancing from practice, dedicating to the program, and devising future action. Based on our findings, we challenge the dominant view that open enrollment programs cannot adequately mobilize participants’ experiences by theorizing the distinction between open and closed customization. The review further serves as a resource for LDP designers and instructors to carefully choose and mix customization devices that are complementary in their effects.
Abstract: Leadership development programs (LDPs) have proliferated and diversified but still usually share the ambition of involving the participants’ on-the-job experiences. Yet, the dominant view hereof is crude, not acknowledging the variety of ways used to accomplish it. The Scandinavian context is illustrative for reviewing what we term ‘customization devices’ because of its tradition for LDPs with collective reflection, practice orientation, and broad participation. This review curates and synthesizes 31 studies evaluating empirical experiences with customization devices in Scandinavian university-based LDPs from no earlier than 2010. Such devices fall within three key categories, namely theories, cases, and relationships, and have three key effects: distancing from practice, dedicating to the program, and devising future action. Based on our findings, we challenge the dominant view that open enrollment programs cannot adequately mobilize participants’ experiences by theorizing the distinction between open and closed customization. The review further serves as a resource for LDP designers and instructors to carefully choose and mix customization devices that are complementary in their effects.
Journal: Scandinavian Journal of Management
Published: September 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Frank Meier
How Managers Respond to Paradoxical Control-Trust Dynamics in Interorganizational Relationships over Time: A Constitutive Approach
Abstract: Control-trust dynamics are fundamental to organizational life, but managers struggle to balance them because these dynamics draw on opposing mechanisms. Past research has mainly assumed that substitution and complementarity constitute key control-trust dynamics, which has limited scholars' understanding of why these dynamics are difficult to balance and how managers deal with them over time. We explore managers' responses to paradoxical control-trust dynamics. We conducted a longitudinal case study of how managers in a pharmaceutical company dealt with these dynamics in an interorganizational relationship with a university and a biotech firm. Our findings show (a) a new category of response to control-trust dynamics beyond substitution and complementarity (the More-Than), (b) three new enacted responses beyond balancing (paradoxical thinking, fulfilling promises, and transcending), and (c) a governance path that managers' responses evolve over time. Our findings suggest that managers' responses to paradoxical control-trust dynamics ensure the performance and endurance of interorganizational relationships.
Abstract: Control-trust dynamics are fundamental to organizational life, but managers struggle to balance them because these dynamics draw on opposing mechanisms. Past research has mainly assumed that substitution and complementarity constitute key control-trust dynamics, which has limited scholars' understanding of why these dynamics are difficult to balance and how managers deal with them over time. We explore managers' responses to paradoxical control-trust dynamics. We conducted a longitudinal case study of how managers in a pharmaceutical company dealt with these dynamics in an interorganizational relationship with a university and a biotech firm. Our findings show (a) a new category of response to control-trust dynamics beyond substitution and complementarity (the More-Than), (b) three new enacted responses beyond balancing (paradoxical thinking, fulfilling promises, and transcending), and (c) a governance path that managers' responses evolve over time. Our findings suggest that managers' responses to paradoxical control-trust dynamics ensure the performance and endurance of interorganizational relationships.
Journal: Journal of Management Studies
Published: June 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Jane Bjørn Vedel
Towards an Evolutionary View of Innovation Diffusion in Open Innovation Ecosystems
Abstract: The concept of open innovation has captured the attention of both academics and practitioners alike. However, there is a dearth of research on how innovations can be diffused within open innovation ecosystems, a critical condition for the sustainability of such ecosystems. In this regard, the study advances a research agenda for guiding future inquiries into innovation diffusion within open innovation ecosystems. Based on a systematic review of the extant literature on open innovation, this article identifies knowledge gaps in innovation diffusion, along with recommendations for bridging these gaps in the future. The study advocates that future research should consider not only innovation generation processes, but also innovation diffusion processes, especially in light of the growing application of open innovation in the context of digital goods and services. Subscribing to an evolutionary view of innovation diffusion, the article draws on a five-phase framework – knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation – to illustrate the roles played by three distinct yet interconnected parties (i.e. platforms, complementors, and individuals) within open innovation ecosystems as well as the research opportunities it brings. The article examines the critical, yet underexplored role of innovation diffusion in sustaining open innovation ecosystems and outlines potential research avenues that can contribute to growing the understanding of the innovation diffusion process.
Abstract: The concept of open innovation has captured the attention of both academics and practitioners alike. However, there is a dearth of research on how innovations can be diffused within open innovation ecosystems, a critical condition for the sustainability of such ecosystems. In this regard, the study advances a research agenda for guiding future inquiries into innovation diffusion within open innovation ecosystems. Based on a systematic review of the extant literature on open innovation, this article identifies knowledge gaps in innovation diffusion, along with recommendations for bridging these gaps in the future. The study advocates that future research should consider not only innovation generation processes, but also innovation diffusion processes, especially in light of the growing application of open innovation in the context of digital goods and services. Subscribing to an evolutionary view of innovation diffusion, the article draws on a five-phase framework – knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation – to illustrate the roles played by three distinct yet interconnected parties (i.e. platforms, complementors, and individuals) within open innovation ecosystems as well as the research opportunities it brings. The article examines the critical, yet underexplored role of innovation diffusion in sustaining open innovation ecosystems and outlines potential research avenues that can contribute to growing the understanding of the innovation diffusion process.
Journal: Industrial Management & Data Systems
Published: 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Chee-Wee Tan
How IT Carve-out Project Complexity Influences Divestor Performance in M&As
Abstract: IT carve-out projects are complex and cost-intensive components of M&A transactions. Existing research sheds little light on the determinants of IT carve-out project complexity and/or its effects on divestor performance. Instead, research has focused on the post-acquisition IT integration project and acquirer performance. This paper presents the first divestor-centric model of IT transactions from the divestor to the acquirer when a Business Unit in a Multi-Business Organization (MBO) is carved out and integrated into another MBO. The model explains how divestor business and IT alignment pre-conditions contribute to increased IT carve-out project complexity. Such complexity increases IT carve-out project time to physical IT separation and creates IT stranded assets, which decrease post-divestment business, IT alignment and divestor performance. The current recommended strategy of adopting transitional service agreements (TSAs) to handle IT carve-out complexity is compared with two new proactive strategies derived from the model. TSA-based strategies restrict the divestor from both decommissioning IT stranded assets and reconfiguring its IT assets to support its new post-divestment business strategy. The two new strategies address IT carve-out complexity without incurring the negative effects from adopting TSAs.
Abstract: IT carve-out projects are complex and cost-intensive components of M&A transactions. Existing research sheds little light on the determinants of IT carve-out project complexity and/or its effects on divestor performance. Instead, research has focused on the post-acquisition IT integration project and acquirer performance. This paper presents the first divestor-centric model of IT transactions from the divestor to the acquirer when a Business Unit in a Multi-Business Organization (MBO) is carved out and integrated into another MBO. The model explains how divestor business and IT alignment pre-conditions contribute to increased IT carve-out project complexity. Such complexity increases IT carve-out project time to physical IT separation and creates IT stranded assets, which decrease post-divestment business, IT alignment and divestor performance. The current recommended strategy of adopting transitional service agreements (TSAs) to handle IT carve-out complexity is compared with two new proactive strategies derived from the model. TSA-based strategies restrict the divestor from both decommissioning IT stranded assets and reconfiguring its IT assets to support its new post-divestment business strategy. The two new strategies address IT carve-out complexity without incurring the negative effects from adopting TSAs.
Journal: European Journal of Information Systems
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Stefan Henningsson
Students of Entrepreneurship: Sorting, Risk Behaviour and Implications for Entrepreneurship Programmes
Abstract: Despite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship programmes by higher education institutions, little is known about how such programmes help students cultivate rationality in decision making. This is surprising, since individuals are bounded rational and prone to systematic biases in high-risk business processes, including entrepreneurship. This article suggests that entrepreneurship programmes should include curricula that furnish awareness of the cognitive mechanisms involved in biased decision making with financial risk. In support of our proposition, this article builds on data from a laboratory-based money games experiment in which students who enrol in entrepreneurship programmes are compared with students who do not in their risk behaviour. We show when, why and how students suffer from specific biases – namely, the prior gain effect and the degree-of-risk effect – that are relevant in environments characterised by high financial risk, and specifically in entrepreneurship. These insights challenge the adequacy of entrepreneurship programme curricula in addressing bounded-rational decision making, as topics such as risk and biased decision making are often overlooked. Second, we discuss possible ways to create such awareness in entrepreneurship learning and education.
Abstract: Despite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship programmes by higher education institutions, little is known about how such programmes help students cultivate rationality in decision making. This is surprising, since individuals are bounded rational and prone to systematic biases in high-risk business processes, including entrepreneurship. This article suggests that entrepreneurship programmes should include curricula that furnish awareness of the cognitive mechanisms involved in biased decision making with financial risk. In support of our proposition, this article builds on data from a laboratory-based money games experiment in which students who enrol in entrepreneurship programmes are compared with students who do not in their risk behaviour. We show when, why and how students suffer from specific biases – namely, the prior gain effect and the degree-of-risk effect – that are relevant in environments characterised by high financial risk, and specifically in entrepreneurship. These insights challenge the adequacy of entrepreneurship programme curricula in addressing bounded-rational decision making, as topics such as risk and biased decision making are often overlooked. Second, we discuss possible ways to create such awareness in entrepreneurship learning and education.
Journal: Management Learning
Published: July 2022
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Giulio Zichella
The page was last edited by: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 07/11/2023