The ability of firms to transform an environmental constraint into a strategic opportunity has been a controversial issue in the literature. Based on a comparative study of CO2 strategies in the cement and chemical industries, the article shows that the capacity of firms to be proactive...

In this paper, we use the investment fraud of Bernard Madoff to inquire into the production of trust in the context of financial markets. Drawing upon empirical data related to U.S. individual investors (interviews and letters) as well as documentary material, we investigate the mechanisms...

This paper explores conflicting implications of firm-specific human capital (FSHC) for firm performance. Existing theory predicts a productivity effect that can be enhanced with strong incentives. We propose an offsetting agency effect: FSHC may facilitate more sophisticated “gaming” of...

In this paper, the authors examine a supply base diversification problem faced by a buyer who periodically holds auctions to award short term supply contracts among a cohort of suppliers (i.e., the supply base). To mitigate significant cost shocks to procurement, the buyer can diversify her...

Les notions de point de référence et d’aversion aux pertes sont deux éléments essentiels de la prospect theory, qui constitue à ce jour la théorie la plus reconnue concernant la représentation de la prise de décision individuelle dans le risque. L’objectif de cet article est de...

In a recent paper, Machina (2008) suggested choice problems in the spirit of Ellsberg (1961) which challenge tail-separability, an implication of Choquet Expected Utility (CEU) to a similar extent as the Ellsberg paradox challenged the sure-thing principle implied by Subjective Expected Utility...

The design of employment protection legislation (EPL) is of particular importance in the European debate on the contours of labor market reform. In this article we appeal to an equilibrium unemployment model to investigate the virtues of EPL reform which reduces the red tape and legal costs...

Since September 11, 2001; and during the ensuing economic slowdown, U.S airline companies have experienced significant financial difficulties, including bankruptcies and near bankruptcies on the part of several major carriers. In an economic setting where U.S. airlines are struggling to achieve or...

In 2009, France will replace its income maintenance scheme, "revenu minimum d'insertion", by a new one, revenu de solidarité active, which will improve the beneficiaries'incentives to work. While some have claimed that the reform should lower the current age limit to get the benefit, i.e., 25...

The social business idea borrows some concepts from the capitalist economy, and therefore the implementation of social businesses can likewise borrow some concepts from conventional business literature. As an illustration, the notion of business model, which is currently attracting much...