Firm Behavior

Policymakers are deeply concerned about the impact of hiring workers from different locations on firm profitability and the substitution or complementarity of domestic and foreign workers. But assuming that these workers are interchangeable is a myth that may not lead to productive directives and policies for everyone involved. Despite the critical nature of ... Read More

Over the past few decades, a substantial body of work has developed from the study of international issues relating to top management teams, particularly in relation to how firms formulate international strategies, how and where firms tend to grow their international businesses, and the performance outcomes of the choices made by them. This review provides a ... Read More

Research and development (R&D) is a major contributor to technological progress and economic well-being. From the standpoint of the individual firm, R&D is a key aspect of doing business and a determinant of long-term growth. In the U.S., R&D intensive firms enjoy higher market valuations and greater stock returns than their peers. HKUST researcher Shiheng ... Read More

Firms return capital to their equity investors through their “payout policy.” In the case of “dividend payouts,” money is usually transferred to shareholders’ accounts at regular intervals. Despite the tax disadvantage, dividend payouts remain economically significant and resilient. However, we do not yet know how dividend payout raises and cuts affect ... Read More

In recent decades, corporate social responsibility, or CSR, has become an increasingly important aspect of firms’ operations. For companies in emerging and transitional markets, where market-based institutions are relatively weak, governments have played a key role in driving CSR. A case in point is China, where the government has pushed CSR as a way of ... Read More

Network effects are commonly seen among people engaging in social interactions, and come about from the “payoff externality”, where someone’s payoff depends on both their own actions and the actions of others. For example, an individual is more likely to adopt a program or application if their friends and colleagues already use it. Because network effects ... Read More

The likelihood of venture capital (VC) firms’ forming partnerships with others is strongly influenced by their relative status, say HKUST’s Pavel I. Zhelyazkov and his co-author Adam Tatarynowicz (Singapore Management University). In a timely and incisive study, the authors investigate “status-asymmetric ties” to understand why and how unequal partners ... Read More

Real business cycle (RBC) models describe how firms make investment and labour decisions. They assume that technological shocks and changes in productivity are the primary drivers of macroeconomic fluctuations. However, these models generally fall short of explaining how choices made within firms—which might modify external shocks—might affect macroeconomic ... Read More

Firms’ survival often depends on their political participation, such as campaign donations and lobbying efforts. This is especially true in emerging markets, where the government has tight control of the economy and society. However, the success of firms’ political strategies hinges on what politicians think about interacting with the business sector. Are ... Read More

Recently, the amount of outward foreign direct investment from emerging economies has been growing at a rapid pace, with numerous state-owned enterprises (SOEs) being part of the process. State ownership affects not only the resources a company can access and its motivations, it also impacts its opaqueness, i.e., the unavailability of credible, firm-level ... Read More