This essay reflects on my 2007 article, “Why Would Corporations Behave in Socially Responsible Ways? An Institutional Theory of Corporate Social Responsibility,” which received the 2017 Academy of ...Management Review Decade Award. I review the arguments in the original article, discuss why the article became influential, and examine its propositions in light of evidence from the 2008 financial crisis.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Institutional Analysis explores the issues, perspectives, and models of institutions within the economy. It is increasingly accepted that ‘institutions matter’ for ...economic organization and outcomes. The last decade has seen significant expansion in research examining how institutional contexts affect the nature and behaviour of firms, the operation of markets, and economic outcomes. Yet ‘institutions’ conceal a multitude of issues and perspectives. Much of the research has been comparative, and has followed different models such as ‘varieties of capitalism’, ‘national business systems’, and ‘social systems of production’. The authors are all leading scholars in this field.
The ubiquitous use of communication technologies has led to an expectation that a similar approach should extend to health care. Despite considerable rhetoric about the need for general practices to ...offer alternatives to face-to-face consultations, such as telephone, email, and internet video consultations, the extent to which such technologies are actually used at present is unclear.
The aim of the survey was to identify the frequency and range of ways in which general practices are providing (or planning) alternatives to face-to-face consultations.
A postal survey of practices around Bristol, Oxford, Lothian, the Highlands, and the Western Isles of Scotland.
A postal questionnaire survey was sent to each of the GPs and practice managers of 421 practices between January and May 2015.
A response was received from 319/421 practices (76%). Although the majority of the practices reported that they were conducting telephone consultations frequently (n = 211/318, 66%), fewer were implementing email consultations (n = 18/318, 6%), and most (n = 169/318, 53%) had no plans to introduce this. None were currently using internet video, and 86% (n = 273/318) had no plans to introduce internet video consultations. These findings were repeated in the reported use of alternatives to face-to-face consultations at an individual GP level. Optional free text responses were completed by 28% of responders, and offered an explanation for the (often perceived) barriers and incentives for implementation.
Despite policy pressure to introduce consultations by email and internet video, there is a general reluctance among GPs to implement alternatives to face-to-face consultations. This identifies a substantial gap between rhetoric and reality in terms of the likelihood of certain alternatives (email, video) changing practice in the near future.
Reaching a decision about whether and when to visit the doctor can be a difficult process for the patient. An early visit may cause the doctor to wonder why the patient chose to consult when the ...disease was self-limiting and symptoms would have settled without medical input. A late visit may cause the doctor to express dismay that the patient waited so long before consulting. In the UK primary care context of constrained resources and government calls for cautious healthcare spending, there is all the more pressure on both doctor and patient to meet only when necessary. A tendency on the part of health professionals to judge patients' decisions to consult as appropriate or not is already described. What is less well explored is the patient's experience of such judgment. Drawing on data from 52 video-elicitation interviews conducted in the English primary care setting, the present paper examines how patients seek to legitimise their decision to consult, and their struggles in doing so. The concern over wasting the doctor's time is expressed repeatedly through patients' narratives. Referring to the sociological literature, the history of ‘trivia’ in defining the role of general practice is discussed, and current public discourses seeking to assist the patient in developing appropriate consulting behaviour are considered and problematised. Whilst the patient is expected to have sufficient insight to inform timely consulting behaviour, it becomes clear that any attempt on the part of doctor or patient to define legitimate help-seeking is in fact elusive. Despite this, a significant moral dimension to what is deemed appropriate consulting by doctors and patients remains. The notion of candidacy is suggested as a suitable framework and way forward for encompassing these struggles to negotiate eligibility for medical time.
•The study considers patients' worry about wasting doctors' time in UK primary care.•Doctors and public campaigns refer to appropriate and inappropriate service users.•Patients adopt a dichotomised view of rational users and ‘timewasters’.•Beneath lies real uncertainty over what constitutes a good enough reason to consult.•Candidacy offers a helpful framework to negotiate eligibility for medical time.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Theory argues that career concerns (i.e., concerns about the impact of current performance on contemporaneous and future compensation) encourage managers to withhold bad news disclosure. However, ...empirical evidence regarding the extent to which a manager's career concerns are associated with a delay in bad news disclosure is limited. Across multiple proxies for career concerns, we find that the extent to which managers delay bad news is positively associated with their level of career concerns. Then, we hand-collect data on a compensation contract that firms use to reduce CEOs' career concerns (i.e., ex ante severance pay agreements). We find that if managers receive a sufficiently large payment in the event of dismissal, they no longer delay the disclosure of bad news. Overall, our findings support prior theoretical evidence that managers delay bad news disclosure due to career concerns and suggest a mechanism through which firms can mitigate the delay.
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BFBNIB, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•We investigate whether higher quality employees are associated with better reporting quality outcomes.•We use education as a proxy for quality, and find a positive association between employee ...education and mandatory reporting quality (i.e., lower accruals, fewer internal control weaknesses, and fewer restatements).•We also find a positive association between employee education and voluntary reporting quality (i.e., management forecasts that are more frequent, timely, accurate, precise, and less biased).•Employees located at the firm's headquarters primarily drive our findings.
We examine the association between employee quality and financial reporting outcomes. Using the average workforce education level in MSA(s) where the firm operates as a proxy for employee quality, we find that firms with a high-quality workforce exhibit higher accruals quality, fewer internal control violations, and fewer restatements. These firms also issue superior management forecasts, in terms of frequency, timeliness, accuracy, precision, and bias. Employees located at the firm's headquarters primarily drive our findings. Our evidence suggests employee quality, particularly at a firm's headquarters, is associated with both mandatory and voluntary disclosure quality.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Modern Martian dust is similar in composition to the global soil unit and bulk basaltic Mars crust, but it is enriched in S and Cl. The Alpha Particle X‐ray Spectrometer (APXS) on the Mars Science ...Laboratory Curiosity rover analyzed air fall dust on the science observation tray (o‐tray) in Gale Crater to determine dust oxide compositions. The o‐tray dust has the highest concentrations of SO3 and Cl measured in Mars dust (SO3 8.3%; Cl 1.1 wt %). The molar S/Cl in the dust (3.35 ± 0.34) is consistent with previous studies of Martian dust and soils (S/Cl = 3.7 ± 0.7). Fe is also elevated ~25% over average Mars soils and the bulk crust. These enrichments link air fall dust with the S‐, Cl‐, and Fe‐rich X‐ray amorphous component of Gale Crater soil. Dust and soil have the same S/Cl, constraining the surface concentrations of S and Cl on a global scale.
Key Points
The composition of freshly deposited dust was determined on Mars
Dust lofted on Mars today has higher S and Cl but the same S/Cl as average soil
Air fall dust on Mars is compositionally similar across the planet
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose To investigate for socially isolated older people, and older people at risk of social isolation: (1) health status and health-related quality of life (HRQL); (2) the relationship between ...social isolation and health status/HRQL; (3) the relationship between two alternative measures of health status/HRQL. Methods Older people at risk of social isolation (n = 393) completed the EQ-5D and the SF-12. Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between levels of social isolation and health status/HRQL, controlling for demographic/clinical characteristics. The agreement between EQ-5D and SF-6D (SF-12) scores was explored using descriptive psychometric techniques. Results Health status and health state values were much lower than UK general population age-matched norms. After controlling for depression, physical co-morbidities, age, gender, living alone status, employment and accommodation, social isolation was significantly associated, to a degree that was clinically relevant, with EQ-5D DSI, SF-6D (SF-12) and SF-12 MCS scores. The potential for ceiling effects on the EQ-5D with this population was identified. Conclusion This work highlights the burden that social isolation may have on the health and well-being of older people. The potential HRQL gains from addressing social isolation may be considerable, with those at risk of social isolation also a key target group.
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BFBNIB, CEKLJ, DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, VSZLJ, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Winter is an important period for ecological processes in northern regions; however, compared to other seasons, the impacts of winter climate on ecosystems are poorly understood. In this review we ...evaluate the influence of winter climate on carbon dynamics based on the current state of knowledge and highlight emerging topics and future research challenges. Studies that have addressed this topic include plot-scale snow cover manipulation experiments that alter soil temperatures, empirical investigations along natural climatic gradients, laboratory temperature incubation experiments aimed at isolating influential factors in controlled environments, and time series of climate and carbon data that evaluate long-term natural variation and trends. Combined, these studies have demonstrated how winter climate can influence carbon in complex ways that in some cases are consistent across studies and in other cases are difficult to predict. Despite advances in our understanding, there is a great need for studies that further explore: (i) carry-over effects from one season to another, (ii) ecosystem processes in the fall–winter and winter–spring shoulder seasons, (iii) the impacts of extreme events, (iv) novel experimental approaches, and (v) improvements to models to include ecological effects of winter climate. We also call for the establishment of an international winter climate change research network that enhances collaboration and coordination among studies, which could provide a more thorough understanding of how the snow-covered period influences carbon cycling, thereby improving our ability to predict future responses to climate change.
L’hiver est une période importante pour les processus écologiques dans les régions nordiques; cependant, comparativement aux autres saisons, les répercussions du climat hivernal sur les écosystèmes sont mal comprises. Dans le cadre de cet examen, nous évaluons les effets du climat hivernal sur la dynamique du carbone en fonction de l’état actuel des connaissances et signalons les nouveaux sujets et les défis futurs de la recherche. Les études abordant ce sujet comprennent des expériences qui modifient la température du sol par la manipulation de la couverture de neige sur des parcelles, des études empiriques suivant des gradients climatiques naturels, des expériences d’incubation à température de laboratoire visant à isoler les facteurs influents dans des environnements contrôlés et des séries chronologiques de données sur le climat et le carbone qui évaluent les variations naturelles et les tendances à long terme. Mises ensemble, ces études ont démontré comment le climat hivernal peut influer sur le carbone de façon complexe qui, dans certains cas, sont uniformes d’une étude à l’autre et, dans d’autres cas, sont difficiles à prévoir. Bien que notre compréhension ait progressé, il existe un grand besoin d’études qui explorent davantage : (i) les effets résiduels d’une saison à l’autre; (ii) les processus écosystémiques pendant les saisons intermédiaires automne–hiver et hiver–printemps; (iii) les répercussions d’événements extrêmes; (iv) les nouvelles approches expérimentales; (v) les améliorations apportées aux modèles pour inclure les effets écologiques du climat hivernal. Nous demandons également la création d’un réseau international de recherche sur les changements du climat hivernal afin d’améliorer la collaboration et la coordination entre les études, ce qui pourrait permettre de mieux comprendre comment la période de couverture de neige influe sur le cycle de carbone, nous permettant d’améliorer notre capacité de prévoir les réactions futures aux changements climatiques.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cortical GABAergic inhibitory interneurons have crucial roles in the development and function of the cerebral cortex. In rodents, nearly all neocortical interneurons are generated from the ...subcortical ganglionic eminences. In humans and nonhuman primates, however, the developmental origin of neocortical GABAergic interneurons remains unclear. Here we show that the expression patterns of several key transcription factors in the developing primate telencephalon are very similar to those in rodents, delineating the three main subcortical progenitor domains (the medial, lateral and caudal ganglionic eminences) and the interneurons tangentially migrating from them. On the basis of the continuity of Sox6, COUP-TFII and Sp8 transcription factor expression and evidence from cell migration and cell fate analyses, we propose that the majority of primate neocortical GABAergic interneurons originate from ganglionic eminences of the ventral telencephalon. Our findings reveal that the mammalian neocortex shares basic rules for interneuron development, substantially reshaping our understanding of the origin and classification of primate neocortical interneurons.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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