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FACULTY RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS 2022-23

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN The foundational belief in the College of Business is that business can be a force for tremendous good in our society. This belief is reflected in the purpose statement of the College of Business to “Discover new ways of knowing how business can positively impact society.” Our ongoing exploration of this potential is illuminated through the impactful research contributions of our esteemed faculty. Our dedication to research extends beyond personal conviction—it is an integral component of our accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The accreditation standards emphasize the notion that “... The production of intellectual contributions in and of itself is not sufficient for demonstrating thought leadership... Business education can help solve the world’s problems when discipline silos are broken down and knowledge is combined across disciplines. Through teaching, education, and scholarship, we seek... to promote such impactful work to better society and contribute to solving some of society’s grand challenges.” Within the following pages, you will witness myriad contributions of the Chico State College of Business faculty over the past year. Their dedication to thoughtful and impactful research has not only advanced our understanding of business organizations but has also underscored their positive influence on society. Beyond the realms of scholarly pursuits, our faculty members are actively shaping the landscape of business practices and pioneering innovative approaches in business education. I am confident that the detailed research write-ups enclosed in this publication will captivate and intrigue you. Your steadfast support and engagement with the College of Business are genuinely appreciated, and we look forward to continuing this journey of exploration and discovery together. Thank you for being an integral part of our community.

Suzanne Zivnuska Interim Dean, College of Business California State University, Chico

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

K. Damon Aiken, PhD.................................................... The Sport Marketing Portfolio Matrix: A Theory-integrative Exploration of Fans’ Buy, Hold, and Sell Behaviors

K. Damon Aiken, PhD and Matt Meuter, PhD................ An Exploration of Comfort Brands and the Theory of Brand Comfort

Mitch Casselman, PhD.................................................. Twenty-five Years of Management & Organization Research on Poverty: A Systematic Review of the Literature and a Research Agenda

4 Danny Chung, PhD........................................................ Founder Affiliations: Jobseeker Reactions and Impact on Employee Recruitment by Start-Up Ventures 5 Timothy Heinze, PhD.................................................... Sustainability Practices and Promotion: Websites of Large U.S. Companies, Part II 6 Hyunjung Kim, PhD...................................................... Socio-Technical Interdependencies and Tipping Point Dynamics in Data-Intensive Services 7 Youngsu Lee, PhD......................................................... When Does a Supplier Tolerate Resellers’ Opportunistic Behaviors? Transaction Benefit and Cost Perspectives 8

Nicholas Lynch, PhD..................................................... Helping Retirement Plan Participants Understand Their Net Worth

Nicholas Lynch, PhD..................................................... Why Sustainability Reporting Matters to Investment Decisions

10 Qingzhong Ma, PhD and Athena Zhang, PhD................ Behavioral Biases and the Asset Growth Anomaly 11

Robert Madrigal, PhD................................................... Hope and Fear in the Experience of Suspense

12 Robert Madrigal, PhD................................................... A Clear and Conspicuous Problem: How Consumers Cope with Incongruent Audio-Video Content in Pharmaceutical Advertising Risk Disclosures

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) 13

Parand Rad, PhD, Dalen Chiang, PhD, and Jim Connolly, PhD.................................................. Distance Healthcare in Taiwan

14 Synthia Sohyoun Shin, PhD and Matt Meuter, PhD....... Untrustworthiness in Student Teams: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Between Different Thinking Cultures of the U.S. and South Korea 15 Jaebong Son, PhD......................................................... Quick-and-Wide Propagation of Disaster Tweets: Why It Matters and How to Measure It 16 Matthew J. Stone, PhD.................................................. Sources of Value Co-Creation, Co-Destruction and Co-Recovery at Airbnb in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic 17 Xinyu Wei, PhD............................................................. The Evolution of Supply Chain Management as Measured with the Baldrige Excellence Framework 18 Xinyu Wei, PhD............................................................. An Organizational Framework for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective 19 Fang Zhao, PhD............................................................. Consolidation of Off-Balance Sheet Entities and Investment Efficiency

VISION

The Chico State College of Business will be a leader in business education and scholarship that solves the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century.

MISSION

Through innovative curricula that emphasize critical thinking and experiential learning, we prepare graduates to achieve early career success and contribute to the ethical stewardship of environmental, social, and economic resources. The College of Business is an engaged and collegial learning community that values practice-relevant, high faculty interaction teaching, and applied scholarship. Our College is student-centered, interdisciplinary, committed to continuous improvement, and tightly integrated with our business and community partners. We produce collaborative graduates valued for their practical orientation, critical insight, integrity, and adaptability.

PURPOSE

We discover new ways of knowing about how business can positively impact society. We educate students one individual at a time, and the result is Company Worth Keeping.

K. Damon Aiken, PhD Professor, Marketing

THE SPORT MARKETING PORTFOLIO MATRIX: A THEORY-INTEGRATIVE EXPLORATION OF FANS’ BUY, HOLD, AND SELL BEHAVIORS Research Question: This theoretical work introduces a model that accurately categorizes sport products, better recognizes fan behaviors, and provides strategic guidance to sport managers. The model integrates the foremost theories of fan behavior with the financial theory of portfolio management. This novel perspective posits that sport fans should be viewed as “investors” who buy, hold, and sell athletes and teams. Fans manage their individual portfolios in line with personal goals, values, and social influences. The emergent Sport Marketing Portfolio Matrix (SMPM) provides new behavioral insights which encapsulate fans’ dynamic consumption over time. Background/Relevance: Sport fans invest their time, money, and identities in being fans. Their personal and social returns are then drawn from their consumption of sport. From this perspective, firms manage sport products in a continual competitive struggle to be “bought” and “held”. Consider that this phenomenon, and the corresponding processes of buying, holding, and selling athletes and teams happens from sport-to-sport and season-to-season, across billions of sport fans. Numerous research questions arise. From the sport marketer’s perspective: How do we move people to buy and hold sport products? Similarly, what variables might stop a fan from selling a sport product? Which marketing factors play which roles, and with what levels of importance? And, how might aspects of sport portfolio theory differ across market segments? From the sport-behavior scholar’s perspective: What are the internal decision-making processes involved? What roles do emotions play in fans’ portfolio management? Which internal psychological, external social, and marketing-economic-personnel factors influence fans decisions to buy, hold, and sell? By integrating current theories in sport with portfolio theory, we take the first step in answering these important and complex questions. Conclusion/Implications: The answers to these questions bring forth significant theoretical and practical implications. Not only will sport scholars have a deeper understanding of fan psychology and behavior, but sport marketers will have direct linkages to more effective strategies. The SMPM represents a new integration of theories, and as such opens many opportunities for scholarship. Aiken, K. Damon, Richard M. Campbell, Ajay Sukhdial (2023), “The Sport Marketing Portfolio Matrix: A Theory-integrative Exploration of Fans’ Buy, Hold, and Sell Behaviors,” Journal of Applied Marketing Theory, 10(1), 33-50. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 1

K. Damon Aiken, PhD Professor, Marketing

Matthew Meuter, PhD Professor, Marketing

K. Damon Aiken, PhD, is a professor of marketing and Thomas Family Fellow in Business at California State University, Chico. He received his PhD from the University of Oregon. His wide-ranging research interests include various aspects of branding, compulsive consumption of sport, unusual fan behaviors, “old school” values in sport, effects of music on education and Internet trust transference. He has published in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Matthew Meuter, PhD, received his PhD in Marketing from Arizona State University. He is a full professor of marketing at Chico State and is a member of the Research Faculty through the Arizona State University Center for Service Leadership. He has published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research, the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and many others.

AN EXPLORATION OF COMFORT BRANDS AND THE THEORY OF BRAND COMFORT Background/Relevance: Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The fire is the main comfort of the camp…. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.” Several disciplines define comfort as a positive feeling of being at ease through a reduction of anxiety and alleviation of physical or mental imbalance. Comfort is a positive emotional state, and striving for comfort is viewed as a universal human tendency. While the fields of psychology and nutritional science have studied the popular notion of “Comfort Foods,” this research reasons that comfort can come from a wide range of products and brands. The work advances a new theory of brand comfort which arises from physical comfort, combined with cognitive components (driven by rational trust judgments of quality and reliability) and emotional components (driven by perceptions of affective trust, authenticity, nostalgia, and brand love). Results/Analysis: Two exploratory Internet studies reveal that consumers frequently crave, seek out, and attain comfort through non-food comfort brands. The studies each uncover that attaining comfort through brand consumption yields feelings of emotional support, safety, nostalgia, and social connectedness. Consumers are comforted by driving certain cars, wearing certain clothes, and using certain electronics. Findings suggest that consuming comfort brands is an extremely widespread practice, especially in the current era of fear, isolation, and social distancing. Conclusion/Implications: The degree to which brand comfort is so universally and frequently sought out brings forth significant implications. Fostering a comfort brand has long-term implications in regards to brand loyalty, brand relationships, and brand attachment. Moving a “regular” brand towards a “comfort brand” would be a substantial and powerful repositioning. Marketers striving for comfort brand status should keep in mind that in addition to showing consumers how the brand meets physical comfort requirements, they must also show how it meets psychological comfort requirements. Aiken, K. Damon, Matthew Meuter, and Ajay Sukhdial (2023), “An Exploration of Comfort Brands and the Theory of Brand Comfort,” Journal of Brand Strategy, 11(4), 344-357. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 2

Mitch Casselman, PhD Professor, Management

Mitch Casselman, PhD, is a professor of management at California State University, Chico. He has a PhD in Management from the University of Melbourne in Australia where he was affiliated with the Intellectual Property Institute of Australia (IPRIA). Prior to his PhD, he spent more than 15 years in various senior management roles in the technology industry in Ottawa, Canada. This included managing Human Resources & Administration functions for the Asia-Pacific division of a telecommunications equipment company, managing the financial operations of large research & development operations ($1 billion sales), and as Chief Financial Officer for two different high technology ventures (one in software and one in semiconductors), where he helped raise more than $40 million dollars in venture financing. His research interests are in knowledge and idea management, innovation, resource-based theory and the responsible business. Past research has included articles published in the Journal of Knowledge Management, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics and Business Horizons.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION RESEARCH ON POVERTY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND A RESEARCH AGENDA. Research Question: The original research question for this paper was to review the literature in all disciplines of business on the topic of poverty. The focus was on three key areas: the factors and conditions that are prevalent in environments and economies in which poverty is prevalent; the strategic and financial business models that have proved to be effective in poverty reduction in these environments; and, the specific mechanisms and solutions within organizations that support successful business practices. Recognizing the extensive scope of this original question, the authors narrowed the research to the various subdisciplines within management with a focus on understanding the major themes and research methodologies. Background/Relevance: In its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations identified the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”. Among all SDGs, poverty is mentioned first, highlighting its strategic importance. Despite significant economic growth in both developed and emerging markets, several disadvantaged and marginalized segments of the global population still live in poverty. Recognizing the important role of business in alleviating poverty, management scholars have been increasingly investigating the topic of poverty. Although reviews of the extant literature have provided overviews of select poverty-related themes, such as that of the base of the pyramid, no one study has reviewed the topic of poverty across the management literature. Results/Analysis: The research identified that the major sub disciplines pursuing research on poverty alleviation are the ‘General Management, ethics and social responsibility’ (120 articles) and Entrepreneurship (50 articles) fields. Major themes in the literature include: approaches to identifying and providing employment opportunities for those facing poverty; market inclusive value creation; pro-social business creation; microfinance; and, community-based interventions to support business creation. Conceptual articles, case studies and qualitative research made up the bulk of the papers. There were substantially fewer quantitative articles and within this area very few focused on poverty alleviation as the dependent variable. Conclusion/Implications: The paper provides a comprehensive review and detailed listing of all significant research on poverty in the management literature and hence provides a baseline for researchers to build on. The literature displays a wide range of methods regarding poverty alleviation, with many studies only approaching poverty as a contextual, moderating, or independent variable, which we speculate may reinforce perspectives that business is less indirectly relevant toward alleviating poverty. Future research should be directed toward identifying and disentangling theoretical and conceptual linkages without omitting businesses’ linkages to poverty alleviation. Beyond contributing to the work of business scholars, our findings can equip business executives with a succinct overview of key articles in the field and point to variables and best practices relevant to ongoing and new poverty-related projects. Stefanidis, A., Casselman, R.M. and Horak, S. (2022). Twenty-five Years of Management & Organization Research on Poverty: A Systematic Review of the Literature and a Research Agenda. Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility (formerly Business Ethics: A European Review). LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 3

Danny Chung, PhD

Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship

Danny Chung, PhD, is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at California State University, Chico. He received his PhD from Ivey Business School at Western University, Canada. He is an entrepreneurship scholar and conducts research on topics including occupational choice and human resource management by entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, he is interested in the individuals who work as wage employees for start-ups (a.k.a. joiners), their experiences, and how startups can recruit them.

FOUNDER AFFILIATIONS: JOBSEEKER REACTIONS AND IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT BY START-UP VENTURES Research Question: In this paper, we examine how jobseekers can use signals to evaluate the attractiveness of start-ups. Specifically, we focus on the organizational affiliations formed through the founder. We argue that a founder’s affiliations with prestigious organizations can signal both founder-related and venture-related attributes to attract jobseekers. In doing so, we seek to answer the research question: Does having a founder who is affiliated with prestigious organizations make a start-up more attractive to jobseekers? And if so, do the affiliations signal founder-related attributes or venture-level attributes? Background/Relevance: Hiring employees is challenging for new firms. Unlike large and established companies, start-ups cannot pay their employees high wages, and jobs at start-ups tend to be less secure since start-ups face a higher likelihood of failure. Most importantly, there is little information available for start-ups, which creates information asymmetries and makes it difficult for jobseekers to select high-quality start-ups. Unfortunately, most of the scholarly research on recruitment focuses on recruitment in the context of large firms and does not consider recruitment by entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, most of the studies on information asymmetries tend to focus on how investors use signals to overcome information asymmetries or how employers use signals to select employees. Therefore, how jobseekers use signals to evaluate start-ups remains a gap in the literature. This paper fills this gap. In addition to research, this paper is particularly relevant for practitioners because first, the ability to hire employees is critical for new ventures’ survival and growth, and second, hiring is one of the most cited challenges facing entrepreneurs. Results/Analysis: We tackle our research question by utilizing a sequential experimental design comprising three randomized controlled laboratory experiments. The first experiment establishes that a founder’s affiliations with prestigious organizations constitute a valid signal, with two subsequent experiments uncovering the underlying attributes conveyed by the signal. We first administer the experiments on student participants, who are either engaged in a recruitment process or are likely to do so in the near future. Here, we find causal evidence that having a founder who is affiliated with prestigious organizations makes a startup more attractive to jobseekers, and that jobseekers are willing to accept lower salaries to work with such a founder. Moreover, we also find that the underlying mechanism driving the benefits is likely to be the signaling of founderrelated attributes, not venture-related attributes. Then, to check the external validity of our findings, we study a sample of adults taken from Prolific who are currently searching for jobs and declare themselves to be interested in working for a start-up. We do not find significant treatment effects for the adult sample, suggesting that prestigious affiliations appear to be more important to young graduate jobseekers than to older adult jobseekers. Conclusion/Implications: Our findings in this paper confirm the importance of organizational affiliations in the context of attracting talent. In terms of practice, this paper demonstrates the benefits of prestigious affiliations for entrepreneurs. Many argue that prestigious affiliations such as a degree from a well-known university or work experience from prestigious employers are not necessary for entrepreneurs. By documenting positive causal effects associated with prestigious affiliations, this paper shows that those who aspire to pursue entrepreneurship may still benefit from building such affiliations. Chung, S. H., Parker, S. C. (2022). Founder affiliations: jobseeker reactions and impact on employee recruitment by start-up ventures. Small Business Economics. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 4

Timothy Heinze, PhD Professor, Marketing

Timothy Heinze, PhD, is a professor of marketing at California State University, Chico where he founded the Seufferlein Sales Program. Prior to working at Chico State, he taught at Waynesburg University and worked in the automotive, advertising, and international sourcing industries.

SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES AND PROMOTION: WEBSITES OF LARGE U.S. COMPANIES, PART II Research Question: Are S&P 500 companies increasingly signaling their ECSR (environmental corporate social responsibility) initiatives via corporate websites, and does this signaling vary by industry? Background/Relevance: Companies can no longer exclusively rely on quality products/services to generate goodwill. Rather, companies must also present themselves as socially conscious. Environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) is a major component of this presentation. However, the importance that stakeholders ascribe to ECSR efforts differs across industries. To strategically develop and market ECSR initiatives, companies must understand the relative importance and extent of ECSR programs and signaling within their own industries. Results/Analysis: The authors’ 13-year longitudinal review of ECSR initiatives and websitebased signaling across all Standard & Poor’s 500 companies indicated that companies across all industries have increased their ECSR and signaling efforts. However, marked differences exist across industries. Conclusion/Implications: Companies should understand ECSR signaling standards within their industry and should develop programs and signaling initiatives that reflect or exceed industry norms. Heinze, T., Heinze, N. (2023). Sustainability Practices and Promotion: Websites of Large U.S. Companies, Part II. International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 22(1), 46-59. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 5

Hyunjung Kim, PhD

Professor, Management

Hyunjung Kim, PhD, is a professor in the Management Department at California State University, Chico and a Thomas Family Endowed Fellow in Business. Her main teaching areas are strategic decision-making and system dynamics. Her recent research focuses on the system dynamics modeling method and its application in dataintensive services, public resource management and service delivery.

SOCIO-TECHNICAL INTERDEPENDENCIES AND TIPPING POINT DYNAMICS IN DATA-INTENSIVE SERVICES Research Question: In this article, we explore performance variation in data-intensive services, considering interconnections between the market and internal operations. To that end, the article builds on a major case study from the information technology (IT) industry and develops a system dynamics model of long-term success of data-intensive services. Using the model, we test different initiation modes of data-intensive services and how they affect both their long-term operations and their market adoption. Background/Relevance: We collect data as part of regular business processes to inform marketing, operations, or other managerial decisions; however, data can also be the main ingredient in the operation and the main part of an end product. In this paradigm of dataintensive services, data collected from current and potential end users at a massive scale are the dominant ingredient of a firm’s end product, and the added value often comes in the form of customized information. While opportunities for data-intensive services are growing, there is considerable variation in performance at the firm level, and failure is quite likely. In these service systems, the technological and social elements are highly interconnected: firms cannot maintain databases and analytic capabilities if they lack market penetration, which itself is influenced by performance of analytic capabilities and databases. This is a positive feedback loop. Results/Analysis: Informed by a case study, we developed a simulation model and postulated that (1) adoption failure in data-intensive services is highly sensitive to the launch conditions, specifically with respect to the initial states of data resources, adopter population, and analytic capabilities; (2) such a relation is highly nonlinear, and market outcomes are not proportional to technological performance—that is, a tipping point exists at which small technological differences in the period of launching differentiates market success and failure; (3) there is a strong self-fulfilling mechanism whereby if initially customers think positively about the service, their positive perception can turn to reality through contributing to the raw material the service uses (i.e. data); and (4) in contrast to the conventional belief, having a large number of initial adopters may negatively influence market adoption in the long run. Conclusion/Implications: There is a high level of interdependencies between social and technological elements of data-intensive services. Our analysis depicts nonlinearities, bifurcation, and tipping points in the system that lead to the butterfly effect: small differences in initial conditions lead to large scale, long-term differences in outcomes. The findings have a number of important implications for the launch strategies of data-intensive services. For example, while it is important for a new entrant to build a critical mass of adopter population, data resources, and analytic capabilities, the sequence and the process used to acquire those can influence the quality of service and whether the firm reaches the tipping point. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Mostafavi, S., Kim, H. (2023). Socio-Technical Interdependencies and Tipping Point Dynamics in Data-Intensive Services. System Dynamics Review, 39(1), 5-31. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 6

Youngsu Lee, PhD

Associate Professor, Marketing

Youngsu Lee, PhD, is an associate professor of marketing and a faculty member of the Seufferlein Sales Program at California State University, Chico. He received his PhD from the Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University. After earning his PhD, he worked at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Before coming to academia, he worked with LG Electronics (LGE) and LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) in South Korea for nine years as a marketing researcher, business analyst, and consultant. His research areas include CRM/ sales management using big data, social media marketing, marketing channels, B2B marketing, and marketing strategy. He has published several articles in Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Selling, Current Issues in Tourism, and Journal of Managerial Psychology.

WHEN DOES A SUPPLIER TOLERATE RESELLERS’ OPPORTUNISTIC BEHAVIORS?: TRANSACTION BENEFIT AND COST PERSPECTIVES Research Questions: RQ1. What are the contingent cost and benefit factors in determining supplier tolerance? RQ2. How do these contingent factors make a supplier tolerate its channel partners’ opportunistic behaviors? Background/Relevance: The purpose of this study is to propose and examine tolerance of channel partners’ opportunistic behaviors as a viable governance mechanism and to test contingent transaction benefit and cost factors to determine tolerance of opportunistic behaviors. In particular, this study theorizes that a supplier’s tolerance of its reseller’s opportunistic behaviors should depend on transaction benefit factors (e.g. new product creativity and marketing program creativity) and transaction cost factors (e.g. performance ambiguity and opportunity cost). Results/Analysis: This study empirically tests the moderation model using data from a largescale survey of 141 mobile phone suppliers in South Korea. The empirical results largely support the predictions on the moderating effects. For transaction benefit factors, marketing program creativity increases the supplier’s tolerance, while new product creativity does not increase the supplier’s tolerance. For transaction cost factors, the supplier’s concerns about opportunity cost increase the level of tolerance, while performance ambiguity of a business partner decreases the tolerance level. Conclusion/Implications: The overall message of this study is that one can theorize opportunistic behaviors as a policy variable subject to benefit-cost assessment rather than an assumption. Theoretically, this study’s conceptualization of tolerance as contingent upon cost and benefit factors is founded on a notion that hidden costs associated with opportunistic behaviors may be tolerated or ignored when marginal benefits from the business relationship are expected. Practically, this study offers insights and guidance to intermediary suppliers and their channel managers working with upstream manufacturers and downstream resellers.

Lee, Y. (in press). When Does a Supplier Tolerate Resellers’ Opportunistic Behaviors?: Transaction Benefit and Cost Perspectives. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 7

Nicholas Lynch, PhD Professor, Accounting

Nicholas Lynch, PhD, is a member of the Information Systems, Finance and Accounting Department at California State University, Chico and teaches courses in the accounting option including Intermediate Accounting III and Advanced Accounting. Dr. Lynch was named as the 2016 Outstanding Teacher of the Year for his steadfast dedication to student learning and success. Dr. Lynch strives to make a positive impact on the accounting profession, the business world and society through his teaching, research and service to the University. Dr. Lynch’s research focuses in the areas of financial reporting, taxation and sustainability.

HELPING RETIREMENT PLAN PARTICIPANTS UNDERSTAND THEIR NET WORTH Research Question: This article investigates the current state of sustainability reporting in the U.S. and abroad. The article takes a deep dive into the current state of both regulatory requirements and voluntary corporate actions and includes perspectives from C-suite executives and investment professionals to regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Union. Background/Relevance: Corporate performance can no longer be judged by looking only at financial data. Public pressure from stakeholders including investors and asset managers has led to an increased demand for firm disclosure of nonfinancial information to aide in the investment decision-making process. As sustainability initiatives and disclosures incrementally affect costs of capital, providers must understand how to better use the information to make more informed investment decisions. Results/Analysis: Findings reveal that the sustainability reporting landscape is fluid, and that a push towards integrating sustainability disclosures into financial reports is being driven by stakeholders across companies’ value chains from large, institutional investors to employees and even consumers. However, there are obstacles, including a lack of consistency in reporting frameworks and issues with data accessibility, accuracy and completeness. CEOs understand that this change is coming and see the move as both an opportunity and a challenge. The SEC has also taken notice and has proposed new rules on disclosing forward-looking nonfinancial data through scenario analyses while the European Union has proposed new disclosure rules that will make reported sustainability information more detailed, transparent, comparable, and reliable. Integrated reporting creates new challenges for the accounting profession as both internal and external auditors will be taking on new roles as sustainability assurers. Conclusion/Implications: The global movement toward integrated reporting creates an opportunity for companies, government regulators, and standard setters to come together to work toward a common goal. This is a watershed moment for investors, asset managers, and other capital providers that begins with an understanding of how to use sustainability information coupled with traditional accounting information to make more informed investment decisions. Lynch, Nicholas C. and Lynch, Michael F. (Fall 2022). Why Sustainability Reporting Matters to Investment Decisions. Journal of Taxation of Investments. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 8

Nicholas Lynch, PhD Professor, Accounting

WHY SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING MATTERS TO INVESTMENT DECISIONS Research Question: How does a defined benefit pension plan asset properly factor into net worth calculations? Background/Relevance: One of the largest and most important components of one’s net worth is a retirement plan asset. However, due to the fact that a defined benefit plan represents a stream of potential future income, these plans are often omitted from total assets when calculating overall net worth. The result is an undervalued picture of one’s financial health that could have a negative impact on retirement planning if not properly accounted for. Results/Analysis: This article shows how a defined benefit plan asset properly factors into net worth calculations. Furthermore, it highlights and discusses the mistake of benchmarking one’s net worth against published figures such as national averages. Conclusion/Implications: Net worth calculations are beneficial to clients when properly performed and, if properly used, can help them make better choices to build wealth. Pryor, C. R., Lynch, N. C., Gray, S. S. (April 2022). Helping Retirement Plan Participants Understand Their Net Worth. Journal of Accountancy; New York. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 9

Qingzhong Ma, PhD

Associate Professor, Finance

Athena Wei Zhang, PhD Associate Professor, Finance

Qingzhong Ma, PhD, is an associate professor of finance at California State University, Chico. He teaches finance core course and major required courses. He has published in journals such as Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking & Finance, Review of Behavioral Finance, and Management Science. Athena Wei Zhang, PhD, is an associate professor of finance at California State University, Chico. She teaches finance core course and a major elective course. She conducts research in behavioral finance, mergers and acquisitions, derivatives market, and return anomalies, among others. Her papers appear in a number of journals including Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Behavioral Finance, and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

BEHAVIORAL BIASES AND THE ASSET GROWTH ANOMALY Research Question: Can investors’ behavioral biases help explain the asset growth anomaly? Background/Relevance: Historically, firms with rapid asset growth earn low subsequent returns. There is no consensus, however, regarding explanations for this return pattern. It may be consistent with the optimal investment strategies of firms based on q-theory or the effect of real options, but many studies find evidence supporting behavioral explanations. To date, it remains debatable whether this return pattern reflects rational risk or mispricing. Results/Analysis: We find evidence that the asset growth anomaly is due, in part, to investors’ behavioral biases. Two-way sorts based on asset growth and proxies for known behavioral biases (anchoring, recency, nominal price illusion, and lottery-seeking) indicate that the asset growth anomaly is stronger in stocks that investors affected by behavioral biases tend to buy and non-existent or negative in stocks they tend to sell. These results are not explained by limits of arbitrage or investor sentiment and hold in both portfolio analyses and regressions. Conclusion/Implications: Our evidence suggests that behavioral investors’ attraction to certain stocks drives the asset growth anomaly. Ma, Q., Whidbee, D., Zhang, W. A. (in press). Behavioral Biases and the Asset Growth Anomaly. Journal of Behavioral Finance. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 10

Robert Madrigal, PhD

Associate Professor, Marketing

Robert Madrigal , PhD, is an associate professor of marketing at California State University, Chico. He has been with the College of Business for six years teaching classes in consumer behavior and sports marketing. Prior to Chico State, Dr. Madrigal spent 21 years at the University of Oregon where he taught classes in consumer behavior and sports marketing. He was also a PhD advisor and taught in both the MBA and undergraduate programs.

HOPE AND FEAR IN THE EXPERIENCE OF SUSPENSE Research Question: How do mixed emotions contribute to satisfying consumer experiences? Background/Relevance: This article is aimed at basic researchers in social psychology who study emotions. Our article makes interesting contributions to the larger research examining how things like watching a sports competition or watching a movie are experienced from one moment to the next in real time. In addition to contributing to basic research on emotional experiences, this article introduces a unique way to measure emotion mixes on a moment-to-moment basis. Results/Analysis: The most appropriate emotion pair to describe the experience of suspense is hope and fear. The juxtaposition of these two emotions over time depends on viewers’ interpretation of observed events relative to a desired outcome. Research: Using the empirical context of competitive contests, the mixed emotions state of suspense was manipulated in a series of experiments designed to address (a) the theoretical prediction regarding the types of conditions required for one emotion to yield to another in real time and (b) how a mixed emotion experience may be measured in real time. Conclusion/Implications: The research helps explain how spectators experience feelings of suspense and how their emotional attachments to preferred outcomes color their satisfaction with outcomes.

Madrigal, Robert, Colleen Bee, and Johnny Chen (2022). “Hope and Fear in the Experience of Suspense,” Cognition & Emotion, 36 (6), 1074-1092. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 11

Robert Madrigal, PhD

Associate Professor, Marketing

A CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS DISTRACTION: HOW CONSUMERS COPE WITH INCONGRUENT AUDIO-VIDEO CONTENT IN PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISING RISK DISCLOSURES Research Question: How does audiovisual incongruity in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for pharmaceutical drugs affect consumers’ assessments of a drug’s risks and benefits? Background/Relevance: The ostensible reason for DTCA is to educate consumers on the risks and benefits associated with prescription drugs. However, DTCA use incongruity to distract consumers with pleasant imagery when the major statement describing a drug’s risks are being broadcast. Incongruity biases perceptions of the drug’s risks and benefits. We explore how consumers process this incongruity. Research: Three experiments were conducted in which risk and benefit perceptions were measured while consumers viewed DTCA. Results/Analysis: Using moment-to-moment measurement, our first study found that the rate of change in risk perceptions accelerates immediately after the flow of positive imagery is interrupted by a scene change in which risk information is being presented. After this momentary increase, risk perceptions quickly dissipate as the scene progresses. In our latter studies, we show that auditory risk disclosures may be improved by removing distracting imagery with congruent text that reinforces the audio information or by educating consumers how incongruent audiovisual information is used in DTCA as a distraction tactic. Conclusion/Implications: Federal regulators of pharmaceutical advertising should prohibit advertisers from using incongruity in DTCA. This would allow consumers to better understand what an advertised drug’s risks and benefits are.

King, Jesse Christopher Yencha, Leslie Koppenhafer, and Robert Madrigal (2022). “A Clear and Conspicuous Distraction – How Consumers Cope with Incongruent Audio-Video Content in Pharmaceutical Advertising Risk Disclosures,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 41 (4), 353-367. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 12

Parand Rad, PhD

Assistant Professor, Business Information Systems

Dalen Chiang, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Business Information Systems

Jim Connolly, PhD

Professor, Management Information Systems

Parand Rad, PhD, is an assistant professor of business information systems at California State University, Chico. She has a PhD in International Business with an emphasis in Management Information Systems and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering. Her primary areas of teaching are management information systems and supply chain management. Dalen Chiang, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of business information systems at California State University, Chico. He received his BS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech, MA in Mathematics from University of California at Berkeley, and PhD in Operations Research from UC Berkeley. Jim Connolly, PhD, is a professor of management information systems at California State University, Chico. He has a PhD in Business with an emphasis in Management Information Systems from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is currently in the Faculty Early Retirement Program and primarily teaches programming and ERP/ Database Administration courses.

DISTANCE HEALTHCARE IN TAIWAN Research Question: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and quarantine have accelerated the use of distance healthcare to continue caring for patients in Taiwan. However, digitally transferring patients’ data increases concern for information privacy and security violations and exposes patients to privacy and security implications. Therefore, the authors investigate the risks of using distance healthcare in Taiwan. Background/Relevance: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the use of distance healthcare, but with it comes security, privacy, and policy concerns. Electronic medical records (EMRs) contain private data, and their secure transmission is a crucial risk in distance healthcare implementation. Studies have shown that the use of distance healthcare increases information security, authentication, and authorization risks, and patients are concerned about security and unauthorized access to sensitive data. Privacy and integrity of healthcare data can also be problematic in electronic health systems. Government policies and regulations play an essential role in protecting patients’ privacy and providing guidelines for using technology in distance healthcare. Organizational culture can influence technology innovation and implementation, but its impact on distance healthcare implementation varies across different cultures. Results/Analysis: The AMOS/SEM results reveal that the path coefficient from culture to information security (H1) is only significant for Taiwan at the .05 level. The path coefficient from culture to information policy (H2) is significant for both countries at the .01 level. The results also indicate that the path coefficient from culture to information privacy (H3) is significant at the .05 level or lower for the USA and Taiwan. The results further reveal that Taiwan has a significant path coefficient from culture to telemedicine adoption (H4) at the .10 level. Moreover, the path coefficient from information security to distance healthcare implementation (H5) is significant at the .10 level. There is a significant path coefficient from information policy to distance healthcare implementation (H6) at the .01 level. There is no significant path coefficient from information privacy to distance healthcare implementation (H7) in the US, but in Taiwan, this path is significant at the .10 level. The path coefficients from information policy to information security (H8) are significant in both countries at the .01 level. The path coefficient from information policy to information privacy (H9) is significant at the .01 level for the USA but not for Taiwan. The path coefficient from information security to information privacy is significant at the .01 level for both countries. Conclusion/Implications: According to a SEM-based data analysis, culture and information policy have played significant roles in the successful implementation of distance healthcare in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information security is also crucial for practicing distance healthcare, while privacy risks have not prevented the use of technology-advanced healthcare measures in Taiwan. The study found differences in how Taiwan and the USA controlled the pandemic using distance healthcare. Taiwan has improved its distance healthcare by implementing more telehealth regulations to protect electronic data, while the US has loosened electronic health reimbursement and licensure regulations. However, the future of distance healthcare reimbursement is uncertain, and the status of temporary telehealth flexibilities remains unclear after the state of emergency declarations. Mansouri-Rad, P., Chiang, D., Connolly, J., Mahmood, A. (2022). Distance Healthcare in Taiwan. Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Management. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 13

Synthia Sohyoun Shin, PhD Associate Professor, Marketing

Matthew Meuter, PhD Professor, Marketing

Synthia Sohyoun Shin, PhD, is an associate professor of marketing at California State University, Chico. She received her M.S. at Boston University. After she received her PhD in Marketing, she worked at Eastern Washington University as assistant professor of marketing for five years. Dr. Shin is an active researcher, presenting at global academic conferences and has 24 published articles in peer-reviewed refereed journals including Journal of Advertising (JA), Journal of Business Research (JBR), Journal of Internet Commerce (JIC), Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics (APJML), and Journal of Business Ethics Education (JBEE). Matthew Meuter received his PhD in Marketing from Arizona State University. He is a full professor of marketing at California State University, Chico and is a member of the Research Faculty through the Arizona State University Center for Service Leadership. He has published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research, the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and many others.

UNTRUSTWORTHINESS IN STUDENT TEAMS: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT THINKING CULTURES OF THE U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA Research Question: How does untrustworthiness in student teams differently affect teamwork, team effectiveness, and student team satisfaction across the U.S. and South Korea? Background/Relevance: For both samples, untrustworthiness in student teams was found to be negatively associated with teamwork and perceived student team effectiveness, while teamwork worked as an essential mediator. However, paths toward student team satisfaction were found to be different for the two countries. For Korean data, untrustworthiness in student teams was directly linked to student team satisfaction, whereas for U.S. data, untrustworthiness in student teams negatively influenced team effectiveness first and then subsequently effectiveness was positively linked to student team satisfaction. Results/Analysis: For both samples, untrustworthiness in student teams was found to be negatively associated with teamwork and perceived student team effectiveness, while teamwork worked as an essential mediator. However, paths toward student team satisfaction were found to be different for the two countries. For Korean data, untrustworthiness in student teams was directly linked to student team satisfaction, whereas for U.S. data, untrustworthiness in student teams negatively influenced team effectiveness first and then subsequently effectiveness was positively linked to student team satisfaction. Conclusion/Implications: This study suggests that instructors’ efforts to promote teamwork are critical in order to mitigate the impact of untrustworthiness in student teams and achieve student team success in general. As business schools have been increasingly globalized and diversified, and this study finds unique paths leading to team satisfaction between the U.S. and Korean students, college faculty’s culturally responsive teaching is ever emphasized.

Shin, S., & Meuter, M. (in press). Untrustworthiness in Student Teams: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Between Different Thinking Cultures of the U.S. and South Korea. Marketing Education Review. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 14

Jaebong Son, PhD

Associate Professor, Management Information Systems

Jaebong Son, PhD, serves as an associate professor of management information systems at California State University, Chico. His research focuses on the influence of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on organizations and society. He has published research in reputable journals such as Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), International Journal of Information Management (IJIM), AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (THCI), DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems (ACM SIGMIS Database), and actively participates in significant information systems conferences, including ICIS, HICSS, and AMCIS.

QUICK-AND-WIDE PROPAGATION OF DISASTER TWEETS: WHY IT MATTERS AND HOW TO MEASURE IT Research Question: The imperative of timeliness constitutes a pivotal goal in the realm of disaster communication. The expeditious dissemination of warnings and alerts to populations at risk before the onset of life-threatening events assumes paramount importance. The rapid depreciation of informational efficacy during dynamically unfolding disaster situations underscores the critical significance of timely communication. With this in mind, my study aims to address the following research question: How can we comprehensively evaluate the degree to which disaster information is rapidly and extensively disseminated? Background/Relevance: Retweeting serves as a goal-oriented communication outcome, where Twitter users share posts they deem interesting, valuable, or essential for wider visibility. In the context of disasters, a critical communication objective is the quick dissemination of crucial information to as many affected individuals as possible. Traditionally, metrics such as retweet count or retweet time gauge the effectiveness of achieving this objective. Timeliness is paramount in disaster communication; information must be current, reflecting the dynamic state of events. Therefore, I introduce the Propagation Index (PI) to measure both the speed and breadth of information propagation on Twitter, supported by an empirical examination of the factors influencing this index. Results/Analysis: Utilizing natural language processing techniques, topic modeling, and statistical analyses, I examined 245,976 tweets related to the 2011 Queensland floods and 245,542 tweets about the 2013 Colorado floods. The results affirm that the proposed index, PI, more effectively captures the quick and wide propagation of disaster information compared to both the retweet count and average retweet time. That is, as a dependent variable, the PI proves more suitable than the other two variables for assessing the effectiveness of tweets in disaster communication. Conclusion/Implications: This study introduces the PI, which evaluates the extent of quick and wide propagation of disaster messages. By leveraging the PI, risk/emergency communication can be better evaluated and understood.

Son, J. (2023). Quick-and-Wide Propagation of Disaster Tweets: Why It Matters and How to Measure It. ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 54(4), 11-30. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 15

Matthew J. Stone, PhD

Associate Professor, Marketing

Matthew J. Stone, PhD, is an associate professor of marketing and a faculty member in the Seufferlein Sales Program. He joined Chico State’s faculty in 2014 as a professor of Recreation, Hospitality, & Parks Management and was a 2019 Fulbright Scholar in Helsinki, Finland. Prior to teaching, Matthew spent twelve years in hotel management. He earned degrees from University of Illinois, University of Houston, and Texas A&M University. He is a leader in food/culinary tourism research, with a focus on consumer behavior and decision making. He serves as lead research advisor for the World Food Travel Association and Past President of the Greater Western Chapter of the Travel & Tourism Research Association. His peer-reviewed research has been published in 16 journals including Tourism Management and Journal of Travel Research. He has also been a visiting professor/lecturer in Austria, Italy, and Lithuania.

SOURCES OF VALUE CO-CREATION, CO-DESTRUCTION AND CO-RECOVERY AT AIRBNB IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Research Question: What are the sources of value co-creation, co-destruction and co-recovery in an Airbnb context? Background/Relevance: In a service encounter, value is not always co-created. It can also be codestructed because of the collaboration, or lack thereof, between different parties (“actors”). This study identified, coded, and analyzed customer reviews linked to Airbnb experiences on a major review website. Results/Analysis: Data analysis identified two main sources of value co-creation, co-destruction and co-recovery: Airbnb’s customer service and hosts’ conduct. Within Airbnb’s customer service, four sub-themes were identified: 1) quality of interactions with customer service representatives; 2) difficulties in achieving resolution; 3) dissatisfaction or satisfaction with the resolution offered; and 4) costs incurred by the consumer. Within hosts’ conduct, two sub-themes were identified: 1) the role of the host’s communication in service recovery; and 2) perceived unethical actions by the host. The attributes leading to value cocreation or co-destruction were also identified. Conclusion/Implications: The findings indicate that collaborative engagement in the restoration of service failure by actors results in value co-recovery. The article also provides advice for ensuring value co-creation, avoiding co-destruction, and providing paths to co-recovery of value in an Airbnb context.

Sthapit, E., Stone, M. J., Björk, P. (2022). Sources of Value co-creation, co-destruction and co-recovery at Airbnb in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, online ahead of print. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 16

Xinyu Wei, PhD

Assistant Professor, Business Information Systems

Xinyu Wei, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Information Systems, Finance, and Accounting Department at California State University, Chico. He received his PhD in Management Science at the University of North Texas. His research interests are emerging technology adoption and sustainable supply chain. He is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), and Production and Operations Management Society (POMS).

THE EVOLUTION OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AS MEASURED WITH THE BALDRIGE EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK Research Question: This research addresses three questions: First, what are the main components of supply chain management (SCM) in quality management (QM)? Second, what is the role of SCM within a quality-oriented organizational framework? Third, how does the role of SCM evolve within the quality-oriented organizational framework? Background/Relevance: Customer satisfaction is related to the quality of an organization’s goods or services. To maximize customer value, SCM should coordinate the flow of materials, services, and information among the supply chain elements (Collier & Evans, 2021). While managing the quality of the supply chain requires collaboration among the organization, its suppliers, and the customers, recent research shows that integrating SCM and QM is becoming integral to the strategic management process across industries (Geng et al., 2017; Munir et al., 2020). This research focuses on extracting and highlighting the role of SCM within a quality-oriented organizational framework. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Baldrige) framework is the highest national quality management award a U.S.-based organization can obtain. Based on it, this research explicitly integrates the SCM constructs into the Baldrige framework. Results/Analysis: Survey data collected at different times over three decades, the middle 1990s, early 2000s, and middle 2010s, is used to validate and test the research models in distinct periods within that time frame. The results show that measurement, analysis, and knowledge management (MAKM) have a constant positive correlation with the SCM Triad, which consists of supplier focus, operations focus, and customer focus. Leadership has a significant positive influence on the SCM Triad, the MAKM construct, and organizational performance. Also, the SCM Triad positively correlates with organizational performance and partially mediates the correlation between leadership and organizational performance. Conclusion/Implications: The findings contribute to the QM and SCM literature by strengthening their empirical dimensions and emphasizing relevant empirical works in theory building and testing. The results demonstrate the roles of leadership, SCM, and information system-oriented constructs in quality management. It also helps researchers and practitioners better understand their interconnections and interwoven effects on business results. Xie, H., Wei, X., Peng, X., Prybutok, V. (in press). The Evolution of Supply Chain Management as Measured with the Baldrige Excellence Framework. Quality Management Journal. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 17

Xinyu Wei, PhD

Assistant Professor, Business Information Systems

AN ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: AN INTEGRATED THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE Research Question: This research addresses the following questions: 1) How do quality management (QM) practices and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices overlap? 2) How can QM practices and SSCM practices be integrated with each other within an organizational context? 3) How can the new proposed organizational framework be tested?Background/Relevance: Provides clarification on the calculation of W-2 wages from both agriculture and horticultural cooperatives. Background/Relevance: QM and supply chain management (SCM) have long served as foundational elements for developing SSCM theories, given their maturity and shared practices. While both quality-focused and supply chain-focused frameworks offer valuable insights, their integration presents a compelling opportunity to influence industry practices and advance SSCM development. Drawing upon stakeholder theory and institutional theory, this research takes an organizational context and weaves together multiple aspects to create a novel organizational framework for SSCM. The Baldrige framework serves as the foundation for integrating QM and SCM, paving the way for a more comprehensive approach to sustainability. Results/Analysis: This research reviews the existing approaches and frameworks on SSCM. Theories from other fields including quality management, supply chain management, and management (stakeholder theory and institutional theory) are explored to identify their contribution to theory development in SSCM. Drawing upon these theories an organizational framework for SSCM is developed with an integrated theoretical perspective. Based on the developed framework and supporting theories, testable research models are proposed for future testing and theory building. Conclusion/Implications: This research builds upon theories to develop an organizational framework that explains the functioning mechanism of SSCM. The developed framework provides a guide for how SSCM practices are integrated with quality within an organization. The framework also informs business decision-making in a manner that integrates improving sustainability performance with quality and business results.

Peng, X., Wei, X., Xu, L., Cao, Y., Prybutok, V. (in press). An Organizational Framework for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective. Quality Management Journal. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 18

Fang Zhao, PhD

Assistant Professor, Accounting

Fang Zhao, PhD, is an assistant professor of accounting at California State University, Chico where she has taught courses in intermediate accounting and accounting ethics. Her publications span topics in financial reporting, corporate investment and accounting education. She is an active member of the American Accounting Association (AAA).

CONSOLIDATION OF OFF-BALANCE SHEET ENTITIES AND INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY Research Question: This study examines the effect of consolidating off-balance sheet entities on firm-level investment efficiency. Background/Relevance: Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 46, consolidation of variable interest entities – an Interpretation of ARB No. 51 (FIN 46) is used as a quasi-exogenous shock to financial reporting in this study. FIN 46 requires firms to consolidate their off-balance sheet special purpose entities (SPEs) and provide detailed disclosures if they are the primary beneficiaries, regardless of their voting interests. The standard was expected to provide investors with more information about the SPEs that were previously kept off balance sheets and improve financial reporting transparency. Whilst various consequences of FIN 46 have been investigated in prior studies, the effect of this standard on firms’ investment efficiency is unclear. Results/Analysis: Firms affected by FIN 46 experience improvement in investment efficiency after adopting the standard compared to unaffected firms. FIN 46 firms’ level of investment decreases after FIN 46 compared to unaffected firms. These empirical results suggest that the improvement in investment efficiency is likely to be achieved by the reduction in overinvestment. Further analyses show that amongst the affected firms, firms consolidating offbalance sheet special purpose entities (SPEs) improve investment efficiency mainly by reducing over-investment, whereas firms avoiding the consolidation of SPEs do not display such tendency. Conclusion/Implications: The improvement in financial reporting transparency caused by FIN 46 facilitates more efficient investment decision.

Zhao, F., Barua, A., Kim, J. H. (2022). Consolidation of off-balance sheet entities and investment efficiency. Accounting Research Journal, 35(3), 364-381. LINK TO ARTICLE

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS | 19

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