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AbstractThis article examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility and earnings management behavior around the world. Using international data from 35 countries between 2003 and 2019, we find evidence that increased corporate social responsibility tends to mitigate the pressure to manage earnings. These findings are robust to alternate measures of earnings management, corporate social responsibility, as well as controlling for endogeneity caveats by two‐stage‐least square and system generalized‐method‐of‐moments estimations. We further show that the negative association between corporate social responsibility and earnings management is more pronounced for firms in countries with high press freedom or high societal trust. The findings from this article provide implications for investors, analysts, business participants, and regulators.

AbstractResearch Question/IssueThis study investigates whether and how board reforms affect labor investment efficiency using a difference‐in‐differences analysis of board reforms in 41 countries worldwide as an exogenous shock.Research Findings/InsightsBoard reforms are positively associated with labor investment efficiency because they benefit firms in reducing over‐hiring, under‐firing, under‐hiring, and over‐firing. Further, we show that the positive effect is more pronounced among firms with lower board independence before the reforms, firms with high institutional foreign ownership, firms with higher corporate social responsibility (CSR), and labor‐intensive firms. While countries with rule‐based reforms experience a greater reduction in abnormal net hiring post‐reform, the effects of reforms are similar across civil and common law countries. Further analyses reveal that in countries with higher employment protection legislation, the beneficial relationship between board reforms and labor investment efficiency is weaker.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsOur study suggests that one of the mechanisms linking board reforms and labor investment efficiency is a reduction in frictions, such as moral hazard and adverse selection, which hamper efficient labor investment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first international study that explores globally the relationship between board reforms and firm labor policies, in particular, labor investment efficiency.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsGiven the importance of identifying and confirming the role of corporate governance in human capital investment efficiency, our empirical investigation provides useful insights and policy implications for managers in building efficient labor policies.

This paper describes how the social capital of rice farmers of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, as manifested in the tradition of collective farming practice, has changed. Collective rice farming persisted for decades, irrespective of critical events that challenged its continuation, due to two key factors: the high need for collective farming to ensure subsistence, and the availability of a closely knit social network that facilitated the exchange of labor. Despite its longevity, the practice of collective farming, particularly in terms of labor exchange and mutual aid in farming activities, has not been maintained under current agrarian reforms. Land reform, increased mechanization, and shortened crop cycles leading to labor shortages have all resulted in individualized rice farming, making mobilization for spontaneous collective action at the community level challenging.

The introduction of performance based tariff regulations, and higher media and political pressure have increased the need for well-performed asset management in the operation and planning of electrical distribution systems. In this paper quantitative reliability assessment methods are proposed as a tool to meet these new incentives. Electrical distribution systems have compared to other technical systems several special characteristics which are important to take into consideration when introducing reliability analysis methods. Moreover, the paper gives a brief discussion on the effects and the importance of customer participation in improving system reliability by providing additional system operating reserve from the market perspective. Finally, the paper discusses the reliability analysis with the reliability test systems, and stresses the usefulness of generally known test systems for such assessments. The ideas of future work on development of these test systems to address the changing power systems are presented. ; QC 20110708