Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Abstract: The European state-building experience of the 19th century has led many scholars to argue that international conflict, in particular war, forces states to increase their capacity. States unable to compete are either eliminated from the international system or modified to better contend. The international competition also requires states to generate wealth, which arguably leads to states progressively increasing their level of economic development. International conflict, however, is often studied as a dependent variable, where economic and political development impact the origination of international disputes. This implies that international war, economic and political development exist as an endogenous system. In this paper, we develop expectation about how these three processes interact and test them using a three-stage least squares. In general, the results show significant relationships between the three processes and provide support to predatory state theory.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Research on corporate philanthropy has largely focused on the relationship between the firm and the state, e.g., the influence of federal tax rates on corporate contributions. With few exceptions, little attention has been paid to institutional pressures on corporate giving. By incorporating hypotheses derived from both neoclassical and institutional theories, this paper seeks to explain the creation of company-sponsored foundations among Fortune 500 firms, 1950-2000. In this study, 1,523 firms are analyzed using a discrete-time logit model to estimate the hazard rate for establishing a company-sponsored foundation. I find that the inception of company-sponsored foundations is driven not only by tax policies and market forces, but can be explained by institutional pressures such as peer influence, press coverage, and public perception.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study uses data on the entire applicant pool of a financial company to examine race and gender differences in: 1) who applies for what jobs; 2) who receives offers for what jobs; and; 3) how much they are offered. Women and minorities are overrepresented among applicants to lower paying jobs and are underrepresented among applicants to professional and managerial jobs. We find that minorities are generally less likely to be hired than men, even when controlling for the job applied for. Women are more likely to be hired than men in female dominated jobs, but less likely to be hired in male dominated jobs. Initial salary is significantly lower for both women and minorities, and while controlling for the job accounts for all of the race effects, the gender effect, though substantially reduced, is still significant. The role of networks, as measured by employee referrals, is trivial compared to the impact of job sorting processes.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Outsourcing the Company Store: Predatory Lending in Washington State
Abstract: This paper investigates whether predatory lending businesses, in particular payday lenders, pawn shops, and rent-to-own businesses, are more likely to be located in poor and minority communities in Washington State. The research presented here differs from previous research in important ways. First, the data is presented at the census tract level, thereby allowing a more fine-grained accounting of the surrounding community. Second, rather than focusing upon one type of predatory lender, this research accounts for multiple types of lenders simultaneously. Third, the empirical results included here utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allowing a spatial accounting of these businesses and the communities within which they are situated.
The results presented here suggest that predatory lenders target poor and minority communities. In fact, we propose that this phenomenon is a modern day version of the old company store that once appeared in towns across the United States. The rise of predatory lending in modern-day inner cities is simply another form of indentured servitude for today’s working poor. The culprit is no longer the company store that owns the town, but rather they are independent capitalist business entities that prey upon individuals unable to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck. The results presented here indicate that these businesses are disproportionately located in poor and minority communities in Washington State.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Previous research has studied the influence of different types of organizational information on stakeholders’ reactions toward a company. However, it did not explicitly identify whether organizational information (as opposed to only product information, recruitment information or financial information) matters to stakeholders in the first place.
To fill this void, this study examines whether the addition of organizational information to recruitment or financial information enhances potential applicants’ or investors’ evaluation of a company and their intentions toward the company.
An experiment was conducted in which respondents were exposed to one of four types of corporate brochures of a fictitious company. The four types of brochures consisted of two variants of recruitment brochures (both variants including recruitment-related information such as the description of a management trainee program, salary, working conditions etc.) and two variants of financial brochures (both variants including information on financial results, share performance, dividend policy etc.). For both type of brochures, one variant included additional organizational information (such as the firm’s history, mission, market opportunities, social responsibility etc.) and one did not include additional organizational information.
The results demonstrate that 1) additional organizational information in a recruitment brochure positively influences potential applicants’ overall evaluation of a firm and, 2) this positive evaluation in turn influences their intention to apply for a job at the firm. Moreover, 3) additional organizational information in a financial brochure positively influences potential investors’ overall evaluation of a firm; and 4) this positive evaluation in turn influences their intention to buy shares from the firm.