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Singapore Management University

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Stepping Up To The Plate, Singapore Management University Nov 2013

Stepping Up To The Plate, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Rajesh Chakraborti talks about how CSR is embedded in everything that Reliance does, in an attempt to limit poverty in India.


Power Motivates Interpersonal Connection Following Social Exclusion, Jayanth Narayanan, Kenneth Tai, Zoe Kinias Nov 2013

Power Motivates Interpersonal Connection Following Social Exclusion, Jayanth Narayanan, Kenneth Tai, Zoe Kinias

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research has systematically documented the negative effects of social exclusion, yet little is known about how these negative effects can be mitigated. Building on the approach-inhibition theory of power (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003), we examined the role of power in facilitating social connection following exclusion. Four experiments found that following exclusion, high power (relative to low power) individuals intend to socially connect more with others. Specifically, following exclusion, individuals primed with high power sought new social connections more than those primed with low power (Studies 1–4) or those receiving no power prime (Study 1). The intention to seek social …


The Transformation Of Urban Vegetable Retail In China: Wet Markets, Supermarkets, And Informal Markets In Shanghai, Qian Forrest Zhang, Zi Pan Apr 2013

The Transformation Of Urban Vegetable Retail In China: Wet Markets, Supermarkets, And Informal Markets In Shanghai, Qian Forrest Zhang, Zi Pan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The state-monopolised system of vegetable retail in socialist urban China has transformed into a market-based system run by profit-driven actors. Publicly owned wet markets not only declined in number after the state relegated its construction to market forces, but were also thoroughly privatised, becoming venues of capital accumulation for the market operators now controlling these properties. Self-employed migrant families replaced salaried state employees in the labour force. Governments’ increased control over urban public space reduced the room for informal markets, exacerbating the scarcity of vegetable retail space. Fragmentation in the production and wholesale systems restricted modern supermarkets’ ability to establish …


Changes In The White-Black House Value Distribution Gap From 1997 To 2005, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le, Kiat Ying Seah Jan 2013

Changes In The White-Black House Value Distribution Gap From 1997 To 2005, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le, Kiat Ying Seah

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper examines the white-black house value gap across the entire value distribution. Instead of using standard conditional mean analysis and decomposition methods (via OLS regression), we estimate and decompose the changes in the white-black house value gap from 1997 to 2005 using quantile regression. We find that the racial gap in 1997 and 2005 is mostly explained by differences in housing characteristics of white- and black-owned houses but that the variation in the racial gap is explained by racial differences in implicit prices of housing characteristics. Our results show that analysis at the conditional mean masks variations at the …


Changes In The White-Black House Value Distribution Gap From 1997 To 2005, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le, Kiat Ying Seah Jan 2013

Changes In The White-Black House Value Distribution Gap From 1997 To 2005, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le, Kiat Ying Seah

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper examines the white-black house value gap across the entire value distribution. Instead of using standard conditional mean analysis and decomposition methods (via OLS regression), we estimate and decompose the changes in the white-black house value gap from 1997 to 2005 using quantile regression. We find that the racial gap in 1997 and 2005 is mostly explained by differences in housing characteristics of white- and black-owned houses but that the variation in the racial gap is explained by racial differences in implicit prices of housing characteristics. Our results show that analysis at the conditional mean masks variations at the …


International Conventions And The Failure Of A Transnational Approach To Controlling Asian Crime Business, Mark Findlay, Nafis Hanif Jan 2013

International Conventions And The Failure Of A Transnational Approach To Controlling Asian Crime Business, Mark Findlay, Nafis Hanif

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The paper argues that without a realistic understanding of criminal enterprise located against the commercial forces shaping contemporary Asian market contexts, then domestic, bi-lateral, regional and international control initiatives are not only likely to fail in their regulatory objectives, but the premises on which they are constructed may heighten the market conditions for crime business profitability.The international convention-based approach to regulating transnational and organized crime is the framework from which a critique of non-market centred law enforcement control concentrations is developed. This critique reveals the transposition of flawed normative control considerations from domestic to supra-national control contexts, and shows how …


Differential Impact Of Directors’ Social And Financial Capital On Corporate Interlock Formation, Nicholas Harrigan, Matthew Bond Dec 2012

Differential Impact Of Directors’ Social And Financial Capital On Corporate Interlock Formation, Nicholas Harrigan, Matthew Bond

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Exponential random graph models (ERGMs) are increasingly applied to observed network data and are central to understanding social structure and network processes. The chapters in this edited volume provide a self-contained, exhaustive account of the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of ERGMs, including models for univariate, multivariate, bipartite, longitudinal and social-influence type ERGMs. Each method is applied in individual case studies illustrating how social science theories may be examined empirically using ERGMs. The authors supply the reader with sufficient detail to specify ERGMs, fit them to data with any of the available software packages and interpret the results.


Empowering Change: The Effects Of Energy Provision On Individual Aspirations In Slum Communities, Priti Parikh, Sankalp Chaturvedi, Gerard George Nov 2012

Empowering Change: The Effects Of Energy Provision On Individual Aspirations In Slum Communities, Priti Parikh, Sankalp Chaturvedi, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the role of energy provision in influencing the social aspirations of people living in slums. We examine factors that influence the shift in aspirations in five slum settlements using data from 500 interviews conducted in serviced and non-serviced slums from the state of Gujarat in India. The non-serviced slums did not have access to basic services namely water, sanitation, energy, roads, solid waste and rainwater management. We find empirical evidence which suggests that when basic infrastructure provisions are met, slum dwellers shift their focus from lower order aspirations to the higher order aspirations like health, education, housing …


Large Mutual Fund Families: Bigger May Not Always Be Better, Singapore Management University Feb 2012

Large Mutual Fund Families: Bigger May Not Always Be Better, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Size is not everything but it may be intuitive for the novice investor to place his money in a mutual fund from large fund families thinking that it will outperform the smaller ones.


The Promise And Challenge Of Ecotourism, Biqi Wu Jan 2012

The Promise And Challenge Of Ecotourism, Biqi Wu

Social Space

The following article is adapted from an ecotourism case study conducted by Wu Biqi. It was supported by the Lien Centre and supervised by Associate Professor John Donaldson of the School of Social Sciences at the Singapore Management University.


Social Renaissance: When Governments, Businesses And Society Collaborate, Singapore Management University Dec 2011

Social Renaissance: When Governments, Businesses And Society Collaborate, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The world has been great at inventing high-tech “stuff” but it hasn’t been so good “at things to do with humanity and people” said Geoff Mulgan, chief executive of NESTA, the UK’s National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts. He was speaking at Social iCon 2011, a conference jointly organised by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation, the Young Foundationand Ashoka. Held at Singapore Management University (SMU), the conference saw a gathering of veteran social innovators eager to share their experiences with participants.


The Transformation Of China’S Agriculture System And Its Impact On Southeast Asia, Phoebe Mingxuan Luo, John A. Donaldson, Qian Forrest Zhang Aug 2011

The Transformation Of China’S Agriculture System And Its Impact On Southeast Asia, Phoebe Mingxuan Luo, John A. Donaldson, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The increased role for agribusiness and larger scale production in China’s agricultural system is limited by China’s severe lack of arable land. The Household Responsibility System provides farmers a measure of power, hampering agribusiness from acquiring land needed for expansion. Some Chinese companies have sought cheaper and often more accessible land in nearby regions, including Southeast Asia. While such investments have the potential to deliver benefits, including increased productivity, structural constraints such as weak land ownership and environmental laws, highly unequal distribution of land and underdevelopment of peasant organizations prevent many poorer farmers from benefiting from these investments.


From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes, And Land-Rights Institutions In China's Agrarian Transition, Q. Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Dec 2010

From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes, And Land-Rights Institutions In China's Agrarian Transition, Q. Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalism. This new round of rural transformation—China’s agrarian transition— raises the agrarian question in the Chinese context. This study investigates how capitalist forms and relations of production transform agricultural production and the peasantry class in rural China. The authors identify six forms of nonpeasant agricultural production, compare the labor regimes and direct producers’ socioeconomic statuses across these forms, and evaluate the role of China’s land-rights institution in shaping these forms. The empirical investigation presents three main findings: (1) Peasant differentiation : capitalist forms of agricultural production differentiate …


National Culture And Capital Structure Decisions: Evidence From Foreign Joint Ventures In China, Kai Li, Dale W. Griffin, Heng Yue, Longkai Zhao Sep 2010

National Culture And Capital Structure Decisions: Evidence From Foreign Joint Ventures In China, Kai Li, Dale W. Griffin, Heng Yue, Longkai Zhao

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate the role of firms’ country of origin in financial leverage decisions using data on foreign joint ventures in China. We hypothesize that national culture enters the joint optimization process leading to foreign joint ventures’ leverage decisions and that it affects leverage decisions both directly and indirectly. Using cultural values of mastery and embeddedness to explain country of origin effects, we find that mastery has negative and significant direct effects on foreign joint ventures’ leverage and short-term debt decisions, and a positive and significant direct effect on the likelihood of foreign joint ventures’ having long-term debt. The indirect effects …


Civil Society Sector And Political Change: An Interview With Catherine Lim, Lien Centre For Social Innovation Jan 2010

Civil Society Sector And Political Change: An Interview With Catherine Lim, Lien Centre For Social Innovation

Social Space

Singapore is a society undergoing transitions. With a burgeoning migrant community, the advent of integrated resorts with casinos and an arguably increasingly effervescent non-profit, civil society sector, Singapore looks to be a society that is rapidly opening up. Yet, as writer and political commentator Catherine Lim controversially proposes, civil society and non-profit activists cannot create change without getting their voices heard and actively participating in the political process. She shares with Social Space, her thoughts on the indispensable ingredients for openness and political engagement in a society that wants to be truly global.


The Beginning Of The End? Agricultural Modernization And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Jan 2010

The Beginning Of The End? Agricultural Modernization And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Social Enterprise: A Moral Framework For Leadership And Excellence?, Kevin Teo, Leng Leroy Lim Jan 2009

Social Enterprise: A Moral Framework For Leadership And Excellence?, Kevin Teo, Leng Leroy Lim

Social Space

We are in the midst of a global socio-economic transition and the way we think about the economy is changing. Here, Kevin Teo and Leng Leroy Lim trace the ideas and movements that have shaped beliefs about economics, business, and leadership, then challenge these assumptions to advance a new moral ethos for a new age.


Chinese Philanthropy In Southeast Asia: Between Continuity And Change, Thomas Menkhoff Jan 2009

Chinese Philanthropy In Southeast Asia: Between Continuity And Change, Thomas Menkhoff

Social Space

What makes ethnic Chinese philanthropy tick? Thomas Menkhoff looks at what drives prominent Chinese business leaders to give back to society and offers a glimpse of the changing face of ethnic philanthropy.


International Evidence On Analyst Monitoring And Earnings Management: The Roles Of Corporate Disclosure And National Culture, Soongsoo Han, Tony Kang, Gerald Lobo, Yong Keun Yoo Jan 2009

International Evidence On Analyst Monitoring And Earnings Management: The Roles Of Corporate Disclosure And National Culture, Soongsoo Han, Tony Kang, Gerald Lobo, Yong Keun Yoo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine country-level determinants of private information search incentives, and whether analysts’ role in constraining managers’ opportunistic earnings management varies across countries. In a sample of 31,312 firm-year observations originating from 30 countries, we document that: (1) analyst coverage is negatively (positively) related to the level of corporate disclosure (how secretive the national culture is); (2) the negative association between analyst coverage and earnings management is observed in stronger investor protection countries but not in weaker investor protection countries; and (3) analyst monitoring fails to mitigate culturedriven earnings manipulations in countries with more individualistic and uncertainty-tolerant cultures. Taken together, financial …


Consumer Decision Making And Aging: Current Knowledge And Future Directions, Carolyn Yoon, Catherine A. Cole, Michelle P. Lee Jan 2009

Consumer Decision Making And Aging: Current Knowledge And Future Directions, Carolyn Yoon, Catherine A. Cole, Michelle P. Lee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We review existing knowledge about older consumers and decision making. We develop a conceptual framework that incorporates the notion of fit between individual characteristics, task demands and the contextual environment. When the fit is high, older consumers use their considerable knowledge and experience to compensate for the impact of any age-related changes in abilities and resources. When the fit is relatively low, older consumers feel increased need to adapt their decision making processes. We discuss these consumer adaptations and propose a number of research questions related to the processes underlying them in order to contribute to a better understanding of …


Chinese Philanthropy In Southeast Asia: Between Continuity And Change, Thomas Menkhoff Jan 2009

Chinese Philanthropy In Southeast Asia: Between Continuity And Change, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

What makes ethnic Chinese philanthropy tick? Thomas Menkhoff looks at what drives prominent Chinese business leaders to give back to society and offers a glimpse of the changing face of ethnic philanthropy.


Beware Of Radical Change: China’S Agrarian Revolution, John A. Donaldson, Forrest Q. Zhang Nov 2008

Beware Of Radical Change: China’S Agrarian Revolution, John A. Donaldson, Forrest Q. Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics: Agricultural Modernization, Agribusiness And Collective Land Rights, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Jul 2008

The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics: Agricultural Modernization, Agribusiness And Collective Land Rights, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The article discusses the agricultural transformation taking place in the rural areas of China. Details about the Chinese laws regarding rural reform and the effect they have had on rural Chinese farmers and families are included. The authors examine the expansion of agrarian capitalism in China and describe the rise of agribusiness in rural Chinese areas. The practices of Chinese agribusinesses and the Chinese land rights laws are explored. The relationships between individual farmers and agribusinesses is also examined.


On Changes In Rural China: The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Mar 2008

On Changes In Rural China: The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

For decades, Mr. Hong and his family have toiled the ground of Dounan Village, an area of Yunnan Province that became well-known throughout China for the quality of its fresh vegetables. While Hong and his neighbors have, since the early 1980s, concentrated on the small plot of land that the state allocated to them, in recent years, Dounan village has begun producing vegetables in large enough scale to market to distant, wealthy coastal areas, bringing new-found prosperity to the area. After gaining experience producing vegetables both on the plot that the government allocated to his family, and on his neighbors’ …


Speaking Out: The Responsibilities Of Management Intellectuals: A Survey, Stephen Dunne, Stefano Harney, Martin Parker Mar 2008

Speaking Out: The Responsibilities Of Management Intellectuals: A Survey, Stephen Dunne, Stefano Harney, Martin Parker

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article discusses our analysis of over 2,000 articles publishedwithin 20 top business and management journals. The article empirically demonstrates how little attention is being paid by the work published within these journals to contemporary political issues across the globe. We also demonstrate the extent to which the same is true of ‘critical’ journals such as Organization. To this end we argue that mass scholarly ranking mechanisms, such as the British Research Assessment Exercise (RAE),create a general state of myopia on the part of business and management scholars towards a variety of political issues, even making a virtue out of …


Technological Change Management Strategies In Asian Small-Scale Businesses: Trends In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay Jan 2008

Technological Change Management Strategies In Asian Small-Scale Businesses: Trends In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Based on survey data on the change management behavior of Chinese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, the paper explores how small entrepreneurs are coping with the city-state's turbulent business environment, processes of technological advancement and accelerated change. Differences between so-called opportunistic entrepreneurs and small business ventures are examined. Conceptually, the paper is informed by theories of change management, strategic choice, entrepreneurship and Chinese business. Special emphasis is put on the identification of demographic characteristics of "technological change masters" in Singapore's small business sector so as to gain an understanding of both the dynamism and relative passivity of …


A Trans-Tasman Business Elite?, Nicholas Harrigan, Shaun Goldfinch Dec 2007

A Trans-Tasman Business Elite?, Nicholas Harrigan, Shaun Goldfinch

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the close relationship between the Australian and New Zealand business communities to ask whether the relationship is best characterized as simply a bi-lateral trading relationship, or whether there is evidence of the formation of a transnational business community. This article also seeks to explore the nature of Australia—New Zealand integration, and specifically the degree to which the relationship is interdependent or asymmetrical. Data are drawn from quantitative sources — including a dataset developed from the IBISWorld's Largest 2000 Enterprises in Australia and New Zealand, Who's Who in Australia, and Who's Who in Business in Australia — and …


Silence Speaks Volumes: The Effectiveness Of Reticence In Comparison To Apology And Denial For Repairing Integrity- And Competence-Based Trust Violations, Donald L. Ferrin, Peter H. Kim, Cecily D. Cooper, Kurt T. Dirks Jul 2007

Silence Speaks Volumes: The Effectiveness Of Reticence In Comparison To Apology And Denial For Repairing Integrity- And Competence-Based Trust Violations, Donald L. Ferrin, Peter H. Kim, Cecily D. Cooper, Kurt T. Dirks

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Prior research on responses to trust violations has focused primarily on the effects of apology and denial. The authors extended this research by studying another type of verbal response that is often used to respond to trust violations but has not been considered in the trust literature: reticence. An accused party may use reticence in a sincere and even legitimate attempt to persuade a trustor to withhold judgment. Yet, by considering information diagnosticity and belief formation mechanisms through which verbal responses influence trust, the authors argue that reticence is a suboptimal response because it combines the least effective elements of …


Socialization And The Business School, Stefano Harney Apr 2007

Socialization And The Business School, Stefano Harney

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

There is a new phase in the generalization of management capacities, but contrary to the assumptions of critical management educators, the investment in the business school has not been to socialize more students into this generalized management, but to seek the principle of generalization in these students themselves as part of a struggle between capital and labour. Using the insights of autonomist feminist theorists, this article attempts to analyse why critical management education has been unable to find a new object appropriate to this new generalization of management, and speculates on what the critical and political benefits might be of …


Sustaining The Household In A Globalizing World: The Gendered Dynamics Of Business Travel In Singapore Households, Shirlena Huang, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Paulin Tay Straughan Jan 2007

Sustaining The Household In A Globalizing World: The Gendered Dynamics Of Business Travel In Singapore Households, Shirlena Huang, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article draws upon a large-scale survey as well as focus group discussions to examine how Singapore households grapple with the demands of participating in globalized work. It highlights the household as a site of analysis, where individuals engage with contemporary trends of globalisation in their daily lives. Specifically, this article examines the case of Singapore households where one or both spouses engage in business travel. The study (a) emphasises the need to focus on processes that bring about shorter-term transnational variations to a household's daily geographies and how household members negotiate these disruptions; and (b) demonstrates that the transnationalizing …