Low Reputation Research Articles

Can companies' input of data factor eliminate investors' home biases?

Data as a new production factor plays an increasingly crucial role in influencing investor decision-making. This paper investigates how the data factor input, measured using a two-stage regression decomposition approach, impacts investors' home biases. Analyzing a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2022, we find that: 1) companies' input of data factor effectively reduces investors' home biases; 2) this reduction is primarily driven by a decrease in information asymmetry; 3) the mitigating effect of data factor input is further strengthened by external factors such as heightened attention from analysts and stronger corporate governance. Additionally, our results reveal that this mitigating effect is more pronounced among companies facing high financing constraints, possessing low reputations, operating in low-technology industries, or located in regions with underdeveloped digital financial infrastructure. These findings offer new insights into underscore the critical role of data factor in shaping capital markets.

Governor’s houses: unique Gothenburg workers’ housing

ABSTRACT ‘Governor's houses' were built between 1875 and 1945 as workers’ housing in Gothenburg. Typically, they comprised a ground floor made of brick and two storeys built in wood. They were narrow houses with staircases lit by daylight and the apartments were illuminated from both sides. Though they were cheap to build and popular homes for half of the city's population in the late 1930s, this type of housing was not reproduced anywhere else. The initiative came from a Workers’ Building Association and was supported by Gothenburg town architect Victor Gegerfelt. Around 1900, governor's houses were mainly built by speculative builders, often with poor quality, resulting in low reputation. From 1910 architects started to design them and large builders like the municipal housing companies and cooperative HSB got involved. The same basic typology followed changing ideals in exterior design and town planning from the 1910s to the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, almost half of the stock of governor’s houses was demolished, mainly the older and more central ones. The conclusion raises the counterfactual question of why those houses were not built elsewhere and what would be needed to reintroduce this type of housing.

Increasing the Confidence of Local Brand Through Package Design and Information Label

Packaging design issues are rapidly gaining the attention of researchers as evidence indicates that most consumers are making choice decisions based on product package design. Furthermore, product information on packaging, such as ingredients and nutrition information, also increases consumers’ attention since consumers are concerned about healthy products. This study seeks to develop a theoretical model to show the effects of consumer attitudes toward visual food packaging and information labels on brand awareness and purchase intention. Six hundred fifty people completed a self-administered online questionnaire based on the literature. The empirical results show that attitudes toward visual packaging and information labels directly impact brand awareness and indirectly (through brand awareness) influence purchase intention. Surprisingly, the comparison between global and local brands shows no differentiation between global and local brands. It means the local brands can compete with the global brands. Additionally, this research indicated no differentiation between high and low business reputations. It implies that consumers in Indonesia have positive perceptions and the same favorability for any brand. This study provides managers with insights emphasizing the visual packaging design factors and informative labels to form consumers’ brand awareness and influence purchase intention.

Status of Construction Safety in Local Road Bridge Construction and its Consequences in Project Implementation: A Study in Gandaki Province, Nepal

After federalization of Nepal, bridge construction in local roads by provincial levels is in increasing trend. Being highly technical and of risky nature, construction safety needs to be ensured in bridge construction. However, in countries like Nepal, safety issues are considered, with follow up measures, only after the accidents occur at construction sites. In this context, this study aims to assess the present status and consequences of construction safety in local roads bridge project implementation and explore some improvements measures. A quantitative descriptive design was adopted for the study and 30 completed bridge samples from Gandaki province were selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected using questionnaire survey with 56 participants directly related to bridge construction and policy implementation. This study revealed that most of the bridge construction sites have poor workplace safety and worker’s welfare, inadequate provision and use of PPE, lack of trainings and awareness to workers as well as the absence of safety plans and method statements. Similarly, provisions for unsafe supports, shoring, formworks, concreting, and demolition were not noticed. While the absence of safety supervisor, job safety analysis, recording and reporting accident and diseases was observed, abundant cases were found where less importance was given to construction safety and use of PPE undermining the engineering and administrative hazard control methods in road bridge construction. Slip/trip/low falls, hand/leg/head injury, falling from height, eye problem, injury during erections, vehicle and electric current, cost and time overrun, substandard quality, reduced workers’ productivity, increased workers turnover, low construction safety reputation of contractor, loss/damage of land, irrigation canal, drinking water scheme, dust/noise have been found as consequences of poor safety practices. This clearly indicates that present bridge construction safety practices are inadequate and need substantial improvements for better project implementation. The major areas of improvements include safety as first priority, willingness, awareness and commitment of management, contractor and worker, selection of competent workers, formulation of specific safety rules, regulations, codes and their strict enforcement, good communication, safety training and inspection, motivation, adequate budget provision in contract for safety, provision of PPE, feeling safety as self-responsibility and use of technologies as well.

Reputation-based disconnection-reconnection mechanism in Prisoner's Dilemma Game within dynamic networks

Individual reputation significantly influences players’ decision-making. Players tend to disconnect from neighbors with lower reputations so as to mitigate potential losses in the game. Therefore, it is crucial and meaningful to explore how to apply reputation in the game to enhance cooperation. In this study, we propose a reputation-based evolution mechanism in the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG) within dynamic complex networks, including square lattices and small-world networks. We introduce the reputation factor α and the selection intensity σ in order to measure the changes in reputation and their impact objectively. Moreover, considering the impact of information connectivity, we define the environmental degree r and investigate the effects of environmental degree r and rewiring probability p on cooperation rates. Simulation results demonstrate that the reputation factor and information connectivity have a positive promoting effect on cooperative behavior; conversely, the increase in selection intensity affects cooperation negatively.

Probing Self-Assembly of Ammeline in Chloroform and Aqueous Media: Interplay Between Hydrogen Bonding Diversity and Dimerization.

Ammeline (AM) is a molecule with a very low reputation in the field of supramolecular community, but with a recently proven potential both experimentally and theoretically. In this work, dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) computations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to understand the aggregation mechanism of AM in chloroform and water media. Our DFT-D and MD analyzes show that the most important interactions are those formed by the amine groups (-NH2) with both the pyridine-type nitrogen atoms and the carbonyl groups (C=O). In the more polar solvent, the interactions between water molecules and the C=O group prevent the AM from forming more interactions with itself. Nevertheless, four types of dimers involving N-H∙∙∙O interactions were found to exist in water solutions. The overlooked tetrel bond between endocyclic N and C atoms can also stabilize dimers in solution. Moreover, while most AM dimers are enthalpy-driven, our results indicate that the unique DD-AA dimer (D=donor, A=acceptor) that originates cyclic rosettes is entropy-driven.

Not for us? Vocational training in the social and policy space in Sierra Leone

PurposeThis paper explores the attractiveness of TVET in Sierra Leone, a post-conflict West African country. It aims to unpack structural factors which contribute to the low repute of TVET.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses qualitative interviews with employers, government and third sector organisations, focus group discussions with young Sierra Leoneans and analysis of key government policy documents. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, and the empirical analysis is grounded in Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making and Social Cognitive Career Theory. The paper is interdisciplinary, drawing on literature from economics, psychology, political science and development studies.FindingsThe paper argues that TVET is in low repute in Sierra Leone owing to low prioritisation by the national government in terms of policy focus, budgetary allocations and provision of training facilities; the proliferation and continuation of a post-war style of TVET programmes by development partners which initially targeted ex-combatants and thus carry reputational baggage; and colonial legacies of preferences for university education and white-collar jobs.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the academic and policy discourse by providing new empirical insights from an under-studied country (and region), and arguably one where evidence-based policy is much needed.

Lead independent director reputation incentives and audit fees

AbstractAlthough prior research has recently begun to examine the effects of independent director reputation incentives and the benefits of having a lead independent director, no study has considered the combined impact: the reputation incentives of lead independent directors. This study integrates these emerging streams of research to investigate whether the reputation incentives of lead independent directors affect audit fees. We find that firms with a lead independent director who has relatively low reputation incentives are associated with audit fees that are 4.39% higher than firms with a lead independent director who has neutral reputation incentives, consistent with auditors viewing these firms as riskier. We also find that this association is driven by auditors who are not industry specialists. Our results continue to hold when using an entropy balancing approach and when conducting other robustness tests.

The International Standards on Auditing and the Accuracy of Auditors’ Going Concern Disclosures: Evidence for Private Firms in a Low Litigious Environment

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effect of adopting the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 570 on going concern (GC) disclosures in the audit report in a European environment characterized by low litigation and reputation risk. We exploit a natural experiment in Belgium, where the global GC standard ISA 570 replaced the local GC standard. We examine whether this shift in standards changed the accuracy of auditors’ GC disclosures. Using a sample of 30,339 stressed private companies with audited financial statements for periods ending on or after 15 December 2012 till 14 December 2016, our findings suggest that the adoption of the ISA 570 improves the accuracy of auditors’ GC disclosures. Specifically, we find that the implementation of the ISA 570 is associated with an 8 percent decrease in false positive misclassifications (GC opinion without subsequent bankruptcy), while the rate of false negative misclassifications (bankruptcy without prior GC opinion) remains unchanged.

Attitudes towards career choice and general practice: a cross-sectional survey of medical students and residents in Tyrol, Austria

BackgroundThe global primary healthcare workforce is declining, leading to a shortage of general practitioners. Although various educational models aim to increase interest in general practice, effective interventions are limited. The reasons for this low appeal among medical graduates remain unclear.MethodsThis cross-sectional study surveyed medical students’ and residents’ attitudes towards general practice in Tyrol, Austria. The online questionnaire addressed professional values, general practice-related issues, personal professional intentions, and demographics. Data analysis employed chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression to explore predictors of interest in general practice.ResultsThe study included 528 students and 103 residents. Key values identified were stable positions, assured income, and work-family reconciliation. General practice was recognised for long-term patient relationships and patient contact, with students attributing more positive work-environmental characteristics and higher reputation to it than residents. Few participants (students: 3.2%, residents: 11.7%) had opted for general practice; about half were considering it as career option. Reasons not to choose general practice were preferences for other specialties, intrinsic characteristics of general practice, workload, insufficient time for the patients, financial pressures, low reputation, and perceived mediocre training quality. Predictors of interest in general practice included perception of independent decision-making, importance of work-family balance (students), better practical experiences in general practice during medical school (students and residents), younger age, and perceiving general practice as offering a promising future (residents). Both groups felt underprepared by medical school and/or general practice training for general practice roles. The attractiveness of specialist medicine over general practice was related to clearer content boundaries, better career opportunities, and higher incomes.ConclusionsAccording to these results, measures to improve attractiveness of general practice should focus on (i) high-quality undergraduate education including practical experiences, and (ii) on ensuring professional autonomy, work-family reconciliation, and job stability. Efforts to encourage more graduates to pursue this essential healthcare sector are crucial for strengthening primary healthcare and public health services.Trial registrationThe study has not been registered as it did not include a direct medical intervention on human participants.

Minority, collectivity, and the short story cycle. Identity and difference in Chika Unigwe’s Better Never Than Late

This essay expands the politics of minor literature that, in the influential work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, rests on the identification between the individual and the collective, by drawing on the affordances of the genre of the short story cycle. While highlighting the relational dynamics between the minor and the major that underlies Deleuze and Guattari's account, I show how a focus on genre offers the critical tools to articulate the enclosure of community with the pluralities of subjective belonging. The short story (cycle) has often been considered to have close affinities with minor literature due to its fairly low reputation, its interest in marginal characters, and its typical narratives of community. The essay complicates this equation through a discussion of Chika Unigwe’s Better Never Than Late (2019), a series of interconnected stories illuminating the shared struggles of a group of Nigerian migrants in Belgium. While the cycle as a whole conveys a sense of belonging in which linguistic difference provides the very ground of group formation, the individual stories reveal the gaps within the collective and illustrate the ways in which identity and migration are affected by divergent intersectional subject positions marked by class and gender. By examining how political and aesthetic concerns go hand in hand in Unigwe’s short story cycle, the essay argues that minorities’ political struggles for emancipation do not necessarily require internal cohesion, but can also be enhanced through social diversification and multiple literary practices that shift with new contexts of linguistic production and global circulation.

Promoting a reputation for quality

AbstractI model a firm that invests in the quality of its product and influences how that quality is disclosed. The firm can promote its product; at random intervals it can disclose quality for a cost. At low reputations, promotion allows a firm to reestablish itself and the firm invests to take advantage of this. However, the ability to promote crowds out incentives for investment at high reputations generated by other information sources, in particular information that is generated whenever the firm is selling a low quality product, leading to reputation cycles in settings where high reputations would have otherwise persisted.

Cooperation Dynamic through Individualistic Indirect Reciprocity Mechanism in a Multi-Dynamic Model

This research proposes a new variant of Nowak and Sigmund’s indirect reciprocity model focused on agents’ individualism, which means that an agent strengthens its profile to the extent to which it makes a profit; this is using agent-based modeling. In addition, our model includes environmentally related conditions such as visibility and cooperative demand and internal poses such as obstinacy. The simulation results show that cooperators appear in a more significant proportion with conditions of low reputation visibility and high cooperative demand. Still, severe defectors take advantage of this situation and exceed the cooperators’ ratio. Some events show a heterogeneous society only with conditions of high obstinacy and cooperative demand. In general, the simulations show diverse scenarios, including centralized, polarized, and mixed societies. Simulation results show no healthy cooperation in indirect reciprocity due to individualism.

The subject ‘music’ from inside versus outside the music teaching profession: a comparative case study on the views of music and non-music primary education teachers in Spain

ABSTRACT Music as a subject in compulsory education is thought to have both a low reputation and a globally declining relevance. However, research findings have been contradictory in exploring the beliefs of teachers on the subject and have mainly targeted the Anglo-Saxon context. With the present study, we aim to shed light on how teachers understand this subject by adopting an approach that is novel to the extant research. By means of a comparative multi-case study, we contrasted the views of purposefully selected music and non-music teachers in the context of primary education in Spain. Our findings indicate that both cases shared a relativistic perspective on the subject's value, which is conceived as highly dependent on the advocacy and in-class teaching methodology adopted by each music teacher, as well as concerns about its teaching methodology. However, our analysis also reveals several discrepancies between the beliefs of both cases that may lead to mutual misunderstandings. Furthermore, our study suggests a lack of understanding of the role and needs of the music teacher by their counterparts, alongside music teachers having false assumptions about their counterparts’ views on their subject. Finally, we provide implications for increasing the perceived relevance of the subject that may also contribute to a better school climate for music teachers in the context of our participants.

Determinant of Sukuk Issuance in Indonesia From Information Asymmetry Perspective (2013-2022)

Previous research found that sukuk is more exposed to information asymmetry problems, especially adverse selection, than bond. Indonesia as the third largest country for sukuk market falls below its peers in terms of governance. It means the information asymmetry in Indonesia is relatively higher which could reduce market effectiveness. So to improve sukuk market in Indonesia, studying the implication of information asymmetry and how it affects the capital structure decision is important. This study try to explain the issuance of sukuk in Indonesia 2013-2022 from information asymmetry perspective. This study uses secondary data from 2013-2022 and would be done by using logistic regression to conclude if the variables representing adverse selection and moral hazard affect the decision of sukuk issuance. Our regression found evidence of adverse selection in Indonesia sukuk market but did not find moral hazard problem. The result supports previous research that concludes that sukuk structuration leads firms with higher financial distress and a lower reputation to enter the market. The result could help investor to understand sukuk market and review their risk management procedure. It could also become additional material for government to design a suitable regulatory environment for a more govern sukuk market that would improve the development of sukuk market.

Attribute-based product reputation as a market signal: examining product safety recalls in the US auto industry

PurposeThis study examines how firm product reputation functions as an internal and external expectations-setting mechanism shaping firm and external stakeholder behavior.Design/methodology/approachLongitudinal analysis of 17,879 recalls from 15 automobile manufacturers operating in the United States between 1967 and 2016.FindingsApplying the behavioral theory of the firm (BTF) and signaling theory, this study’s findings suggest that product safety reputation creates variability in the likelihood of both voluntary and government-ordered recalls.Research limitations/implicationsPerformance expectations set by past product performance influence managerial decision-making such that products with a higher reputation for quality are more likely to be voluntarily recalled than are their less reputable counterparts. Similarly, regulators are more likely to order the recall of higher reputation products, suggesting that past product performance also influences enforcement behavior. Finally, the scope and severity of product defects are shown to interact with product reputation to influence the likelihood of government-ordered recall.Practical implicationsFirms and firm stakeholders make distinct decisions based on performance variations within firm product portfolios.Social implicationsOverall firm reputation is important, but there are distinct dynamics that result in product performance variability within firm product portfolios that have important implications on issues such as product safety recalls.Originality/valueThis study's findings reveal that as an internal signal, managers' expectations of product performance can change their behavior following product safety defects. Specifically, voluntary product recalls are more likely for higher-reputation products than those with lower reputations for product safety. This suggests that firm behavior regarding product safety recalls is not consistent within their own product lines. Externally, this study’s findings suggest that product reputation also influences relationships with key stakeholders. Product reputation for quality was shown to be associated with an increased likelihood of government sanctions. Regulators will also be more likely to initiate punitive sanctions against higher-reputation products as the severity and scope of safety defects increase. Under such circumstances, higher-reputation products are more likely to face government sanctions than lower-reputation products. Hence, government regulatory behavior is subject to influence from performance signals such as product reputation.

The role of technological resources in the reputation of vocational education schools

Abstract The low reputation of vocational education in Spain requires schools to reconsider this type of education by taking advantage of its key resources and developing dynamic capabilities. Using structural equation modelling, this study analyses the impact of technological resources on two categories of dynamic capabilities: sensing capability and innovativeness, as well as the effect of these two capabilities on reputation, in a representative sample of vocational schools in tourism in Spain, with the key informants being the staff responsible for the degree (i.e., director, vice-director, head of studies, etc.). The results show that the use of technological resources provides vocational schools with the necessary capabilities to explore trends in social demands and the job market and reduce the gap between academy and industry. The findings also reveal that innovativeness has a direct influence on the schools’ reputation. However, the opportunities for improvement detected through the sensing capability do not directly influence reputation; instead, they require a subsequent action, innovativeness, that favours their effective implementation.

Examining the effects of CSR on organizational attractiveness: perception study of job seekers in India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) effectiveness on job seekers’ organizational attractiveness (JSA). Deriving inspiration from Carroll’s theory, the study specifically tries to measure the impact of CSR on JSA with the four dimensions pertaining to economics (PECO), pertaining to legal compliance (PLCO), pertaining to ethics (PETH) and pertaining to philanthropic (PPH). Furthermore, the paper also tries to examine the moderating role of company selection (COM SEL) done based on high or low CSR reputation and JSA.Design/methodology/approachManagement and engineering students enrolled in premier institutions and universities of Western Odisha in India are surveyed for their perceptions of CSR and JSA. Purposive and convenience sampling are applied to collect data from 456 job seekers. Based on the analysis, the study proposes two main models (Models 1 and 2) wherein Model 1 tries to measure the effect of CSR on JSA and Model 2 checks the moderating effect of COM SEL on CSR and JSA. In addition, robustness of the study is tested using control variables (Models 3 and 4). Data is treated through SmartPLS 3.3 software. The structural equation modelling (partial least squares-SEM) method is applied to test the hypotheses and for further analysis.FindingsThe result reveals an interesting insight. There is a positive and significant effect of PECO, PLCO and PPH on JSA. Moreover, no such significant effect is observed between PETH and JSA. Further, the findings are contrary with respect to COM SEL, that partially moderates the effect of CSR on JSA. However, the results reveal that COM SEL has a substantial moderating effect on the PPH dimension of CSR and JSA.Practical implicationsThe results highlight that CSR positively and significantly affects JSA in terms of PECO, PLCO and PPH, thereby emphasizing that organizations must be more focused on these perspectives of CSR. Further, though the results did not exhibit any significance with PETH, it is essential that organizations should strengthen the ethical aspects of CSR as well and align them with the CSR strategic actions. The study also confirms the moderating effect of COM SEL on PPH dimension of CSR and JSA, thereby supporting the philanthropic approach in this domain. Further, the organizations should foresee the philanthropic factor of CSR as a competitive advantage to attract potential job seekers.Originality/valueThis research attempts to contribute to CSR and HR literature in two ways. First, it is the first attempt to use PLS-SEM with an attempt to understand job seekers’ perception of CSR and JSA with Indian data consisting of students belonging to premier business management and engineering institutes. Second, the study is an attempt to empirically measure the moderating effect of COM SEL on JSA. To sum up, the study will provide insights to organizations to help craft CSR strategies for attracting more job seekers.

Block chain based integrated data aggregation and segmentation framework by reputation metrics for mobile adhoc networks

To improve the efficiency and safety of data transmission in MANETs, a blockchain-based integrated data aggregation and segmentation architecture based on reputation metrics are presented. Reputation ratings are given to network nodes based on their historical performance in areas like data aggregation and categorization. Higher-reputation nodes are preferred as data aggregators and segments, whereas nodes with lower reputation scores may be overlooked. Using blockchain technology, we can be confident that node reputation ratings cannot be altered and are thus trustworthy. This allows nodes to authenticate the identity of other nodes before transferring data with them, improving data security in MANETs and helping prevent malevolent nodes from fraudulently claiming a high reputation score. This framework uses blockchain technology and reputation metrics in a decentralized fashion to improve the speed and safety of data transmission in Mobile Ad hoc Networks.

The influence of knowledge type and source reputation on preferences for website or video search results

AbstractSearching for information on the web has become an essential task in our society. This article presents a preregistered experimental study that investigates how the knowledge dimension (conceptual, procedural) and relevance of displaying spatiotemporal changes (high, low) for a given search task affect searchers' preference for different resource modalities (websites, videos). Additionally, effects of source reputation (high, low) were examined. Participants were confronted with 16 learning tasks and respective mock‐up video or website search results and had to indicate the likelihood of selecting the respective search results. The learning tasks varied regarding their knowledge dimension and their degree of spatiotemporal changes. Search results varied regarding source reputation and resource modality. Study results showed that search results with low source reputation were more likely to be selected when they were video results as compared to website results. Furthermore, for learning tasks with a high degree of spatiotemporal changes, a preference for videos over website results was found, while a low degree of spatiotemporal changes did not lead to modality preferences. To conclude, both knowledge dimension and degree of visuospatial changes of learning tasks seem to be promising classifications to consider for understanding users' source and modality selection during web‐based learning.