Non-performing loans have been a widespread problem both in developed and developing countries. One of the most striking examples came from China, where they accounted for 35 per cent of state-owned bank loans in 1999. What is the best way to deal with such a problem? The conventional approach has been to focus on creditors and their inadequacies in such ... Read More

A New York Times article some time ago reported that people who could not drive were nonetheless purchasing cars. A survey of more than 2,500 British women found 63 per cent intentionally bought clothes that were too small for them. Why would people buy things they are unable to use? Marketing wisdom and common sense suggests they are optimists. Elaine Chan ... Read More

People who feel socially excluded are more willing to pursue riskier but potentially more profitable financial opportunities, whether they be in stocks, lotteries or financial products. That is the finding of Rod Duclos, Echo Wen Wan and Yuwei Jiang, who were able to connect that behavior to a higher perception of the instrumentality of money among those ... Read More

Family firms are dominant in much of the world, including the U.S. where they constitute 35.4 per cent of S&P 500 firms and 45.6 per cent of S&P 1500 firms. They are also a subject of growing academic interest but until now, there has been little investigation of their financing choices. Tai-Yuan Chen, Sudipto Dasgupta and Yangxin Yu saw in that surprising ... Read More

A study that asked participants to identify their preferred beer in a taste test, has yielded results well beyond the fun factor – it has provided new insights on how people learn their preferences. The question is an important one in the consumer products field because people’s preferences change over time. The primary influence is experience but while ... Read More

A growing number of studies is finding that social capital can contribute to entrepreneurial success. Pull apart the data, though, and some of the results seem to contradict each other. So does social capital help? And what kind, and in what circumstances? Wouter Stam, Souren Arzlanian and Tom Elfring tackled these questions by doing a “meta-analysis” of ... Read More

Amazon.com enables consumers to shop at the click of a button, which also provides rich information for manufacturers about consumer search and choice. One study shows how this information – which is freely and publicly available – can provide firms with insights into the competitiveness of their products. Jun B. Kim, Paulo Albuquerque and Bart J ... Read More

Politics and political connections are known to play a role in the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). New research shows they also play a role in the overseas listing of Chinese SOEs, as managers of more politically connected firms benefit in terms of media recognition and promotion to senior government positions after they list. The findings ... Read More

The advent of instant communication technologies has brought with it a promise of larger networks and easy access to more resources, but it is not always obvious how to obtain these benefits. People have online and offline networks, direct and indirect ties with each other. How can these be properly leveraged to improve job performance? Xiaojun Zhang of ... Read More

Financial constraints have been cited as one of the most important impediments to entrepreneurship, but why do people encounter such constraints? A study of Danish entrepreneurs, some of whom became entrepreneurs after receiving a windfall inheritance, suggests that financial constraints in themselves may not be the central problem. Instead, the low ... Read More