As an essential accelerator of supply-side structural reform and technological innovation, venture capital (VC for short) plays an increasingly prominent role in the capital market. When venture capital alleviates the complex and expensive financing problems of small and medium-sized enterprises, it can improve the innovation ability of enterprises by improving the internal governance of small and medium-sized enterprises, increasing stock liquidity, and enhancing financing capabilities. However, the existing studies have different views on the "certification supervision function" and "name-by-name hypothesis function" of venture capital. Therefore, whether venture capital can impact corporate innovation and how to create value for listed companies is of great importance and worth further research. Based on the information asymmetry theory, certification supervision theory, name-by-name hypothesis theory and value-added service theory, this paper studies the relationship between venture capital heterogeneity and innovation of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and constructs the relationship between venture capital heterogeneity and corporate value path. Based on the theoretical analysis framework, it analyzes the channels through which venture capital heterogeneity affects corporate innovation to provide valuable references for the behavioral decisions of government departments, venture capital institutions and listed companies.This paper selects the research objects of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board based on theoretical analysis. It uses its 2019-2021 data for empirical testing to draw the following conclusions: venture capital can play a certain degree of certification supervision and value-added service functions. The involvement of venture capital can promote corporate innovation. In terms of the heterogeneity of venture capital, the number of venture capital, the shareholding ratio of venture capital and the background of venture capital can improve the innovation ability of enterprises, and the performance is different in different industries. The research conclusions of this paper supplement the research literature on the impact of venture capital on the innovation of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board to a certain extent: it has specific guiding significance for the scientific selection of professional venture capital institutions for listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. To better play the value-added effect of venture capital on the innovation ability of listed companies. The research conclusions of this paper have particular and guiding significance for venture capital institutions in the market to choose high-quality listed companies so that they can better provide value-added services for listed companies. It is also conducive to the government's introduction of policies related to the operation of venture capital, strengthening the guidance and supervision of venture capital, and achieving a reasonable allocation of social resources. / Business Administration/Finance

Wellness has long been an area of interest for providers of insurance, particularly within the area of life coverage offerings. Until recently, companies were limited in their ability to assess and potentially influence the wellness of current and prospective customers at the individual as well as at the institutional level. The emergence of wellness technology, specifically around wearables, has provided an opportunity for insurers in these domains to approach wellness in ways that were not possible previously. Carriers are beginning to lean into the possibilities created through leveraging this technology to drive positive business outcomes through engagement opportunities. This study will provide an understanding of how health wellness may impact the way individual, group and global providers engage with insureds and prospects in an effort to create greater intimacy with the end consumer. Additionally, the research will offer insights into behaviors and preferences through a quantitative case study aimed at examining engagement. The second part of the study will examine, through a qualitative approach, the potential, practical business applications of wellness, through a series of interviews with a diverse group of relevant stakeholders within the insurance and wellness provider industries. This study will also highlight the traditional way insurance is offered and maintained, contrasted with how the introduction of health wellness could transform the experience of the customer through a delivery system of wellness capabilities. Differences and commonalities between existing business domains (individual, group and international) will be examined to analyze opportunities and challenges in this emerging area of focus for those that are leaning in to and investing in this space. The initial observations and learnings from this emerging area of focus suggest that there is a great deal of opportunity for life insurance providers to increase engagement through direct incentives, education, and integrating information across the various platforms and applications that are utilized by consumers. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

Social media platforms have begun to counter false news by integrating fact-checking services. These fact-checkers verify posts’ content and inform users about the posts’ veracity before engaging with them. While the efficacy of fact-checking on users has been studied in prior literature, little attention has been paid to the factors that determine the effectiveness of fact-checking (e.g., fact-checking timeliness, types of fact-checkers, and poster reputation) to sway user reactions. Hence, I design three essays aiming to understand the factors that affect the fact-checking effectiveness. The first essay examines the effectiveness of fact-checking by using a multi-method study. The multi-method study leverages the high external validity of observational data from Twitter (Study 1) complemented by the high internal validity of experimental data (Study 2) to build insights into how fact-checking methods and timeliness affect news engagement (i.e., willingness to read, like, comment, share, bookmark, and denounce). When fact-checkers flag news as false, we found it significantly decreases news engagement and that fact-checking timeliness moderates the effect of fact-checking. Moreover, we find that fact-checking affects news engagement by influencing users’ evaluation of the news believability and anticipation. Our findings enrich the understanding of the impact of fact-checking on users’ engagement with news and suggest managerial implications for reducing false news engagement. The second essay focuses on understanding how different types of fact-checkers may affect users’ news engagement differently. It explores how the different types of fact-checkers (i.e., AI or human) impact believability and engagement with news that is flagged as false. Building on source credibility theory, we evaluate how the reputation of the person posting the news and the political orientation of the user reading the news (i.e., progressive or conservative) moderate the impact of AI vs. human fact-checkers. We examine this interaction in two separate 3×2×2 online quasi-experiments conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom. In both studies, we found differences regarding the impact of fact-checker type and moderating impacts for poster reputation and user political orientation. Our results show that AI fact-checkers are more effective than human fact-checkers in reducing news believability and engagement among progressive users. We also found that a high news poster reputation can further enhance this impact. By investigating the interplay between the fact-checker type, the poster, and user political orientation and comparing results across two countries, we extend the understanding of the impact of different types of fact-checkers on news believability and user engagement with false news on social media platforms. Finally, we derive managerial implications for mitigating the spread of false news on social media platforms. The third essay seeks to understand the determinants of the crowdsourced fact-checking. Crowdsourced fact-checking solutions have emerged as a promising means of detecting misinformation on social media. Because fact-checking often requires the evaluation of controversial or politicized social media posts, anonymity has been suggested as essential to persuade users to voluntarily fact-check news. This paper reports the results of a multi-method investigation of the mechanisms that shape how identity anonymity affects crowdsourced fact-checking contributions. In Study 1, we use observational data from Twitter and conduct a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to examine whether and when identity anonymity affects the quantity and quality of fact-checking. We find that identity anonymity does not affect the quantity of posts; instead, it increases the quality of fact-checking. Furthermore, we find that the impact of anonymity on quality is significantly higher for users with longer fact-checking tenure. In Study 2, we use online experiments to test the proposed mechanisms and find that perceived social presence, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived fact-checking responsibility help explain the effect of anonymity on users' fact-checking intentions. We also find that identity anonymity affects contributions differently across news categories. By unpacking these mechanisms, we offer insights for researchers and practitioners interested in understanding how identity anonymity changes the quality of fact-checking, and explain why crowdsourced users offer more or less reliable ratings of the veracity of social media posts. Overall, this three-essay dissertation will enrich the understanding of the impacts of fact-checking, different types of fact-checkers, and the antecedents of crowdsourced fact-checking on social media. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

The emergence and evolution of private equity (PE) investment funds in China have been notable in recent decades. This study identifies the pivotal role played by policy reforms, such as the creation of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) board and the reformation of equity divisions, in boosting the growth of PE funds. However, the growth of PE market has been accompanied by social issues such as illegal fundraising, operations, and infringements on investor rights. This research conducts an extensive review of the PE market’s development, mining insights from both domestic and international economic experts and scholars. It also employs quantitative methods through statistical data analysis to gauge the historical progression and future prospects of PE market in China. The case studies of “Xin Hong Yuan Chuang” provides a qualitative dimension to the study. A comparative framework is adopted to shed light on the similarities and disparities between China's PE market and mature capital markets in Europe, Japan, and the United States. The analysis of these issues serves as a foundation for the strategic recommendations and solutions to enhance the robustness of China's PE sector. It is believed that a more conducive exogenous environment and a comprehensive internal system will pave the way for the PE industry's maturation in China. / Business Administration/Finance

This dissertation comprises three essays that explore critical aspects of defined benefit (DB) pension plans and the reinsurance market. The first two essays focus on the funding management and risk transfer activities within DB pension plans, while the third essay investigates the impact of reinsurance utilization on loss reserve errors in the property-liability insurance industry. In the first essay, we examine the increasing importance of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums on the funding strategies of DB pension plans. Between 2008 and 2020, single-employer plan sponsors paid over $50 billion in PBGC premiums, with $30 billion paid in the last five years. Our empirical analysis reveals that under the variable-rate PBGC premium structure, approximately 20.34% of plan-year observations show sponsors making additional voluntary contributions to achieve fully or over-funded status. The cap mechanism on variable-rate premiums incentivizes sponsors of underfunded plans to make voluntary contributions to improve their financial health. However, these incentives diminish for plans with longer ages when premiums reach the cap, leading to potential risk-shifting behaviors. The second essay addresses the growing trend of pension risk transfers (PRTs), where sponsors transfer pension risks to third-party insurers or employees. This study investigates whether voluntary contributions by sponsors influence the likelihood of conducting PRTs. Utilizing data from the PBGC Comprehensive Premium Filings, we find that sponsors making short-term voluntary contributions are more likely to engage in PRTs, indicating these contributions serve as a preparatory measure to stabilize pension plan financial health and protect employee benefits. Conversely, long-term voluntary contributions are less likely to precede PRTs, reflecting sponsors' incentives to maintain and improve their pension plans. The impact of short-term contributions is more pronounced in underfunded plans, while overfunded plans show no significant relationship with PRT likelihood. The third essay explores the reinsurance market, focusing on how reinsurance utilization affects loss reserve errors in property-liability insurance companies. Using both traditional loss reserve errors (TRE) and Full Information Reserve Errors (FIRE) approaches, the empirical results indicate that insurers purchasing more reinsurance tend to underestimate their loss reserves under the TRE method. However, the impact on loss reserve estimations is reduced for insurers that rely less on reinsurance contracts and after the catastrophe. Additionally, the concentration of reinsurance relationships shows a positive correlation with overestimation of loss reserves and the impact is less significant under the FIRE method. Lastly, we find that the sustainability of ceding insurer-reinsurer long-term relationship has significant effects on loss reserve estimations. / Business Administration/Risk Management and Insurance

Small and medium-sized enterprises have always been the main force of economic development in our country, carrying its financing difficulties and expensive problems have been much concerned. This dissertation aims to study the factors affecting the financing of SMEs and focuses on the perspective of macro policies and enterprises themselves. Based on this, this dissertation uses the panel data of listed companies in China's SME Board and GEM Board from 2009 to 2022. First, using factor analysis method, this dissertation constructs a comprehensive index of corporate efficiency by using 7 financial indexes, such as debt and owner's equity, debt-to-interest ratio and profitability. Secondly, it examines the influence of macro-policies (tax incentives and fiscal subsidies) and enterprises' own factors on the efficiency of SMEs. By using the intermediary effect model, this dissertation further analyzes financing constraints and enterprise innovation level as the mechanisms by which macro policies affect the efficiency of SMEs and analyzes the heterogeneity of enterprise efficiency according to the nature of enterprise ownership, degree of industry competition and enterprise scale. The empirical results show that macro policies (tax incentives and government subsidies) have a positive effect on the efficiency of SMEs. Corporate factors, including corporate scale, ownership concentration, market-to-book ratio and establishment years, have a positive effect on corporate efficiency, while market-to-book ratio has a negative effect on corporate efficiency. This paper finds that macro-policies (tax incentives and government subsidies) affect the efficiency of enterprises through two mechanisms: easing financing constraints and improving the innovation level of enterprises. In addition, for enterprises with low industry competition, the preferential tax policies are more obvious. No matter for the nature or size of enterprises, tax incentives and government subsidies have no significant effect on the financing of enterprises. These findings emphasize the key role of macro policies and corporate factors in improving the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises. It provides an important reference for relevant decision-makers to formulate more effective policy measures to support the financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises and promote their sustainable development. / Global Finance

Background: While discussing the importance of the right Business Models for a company and searching for the relevant information within the field, we usually get to read about the challenges that appear with identifying the right Business Model especially if it is a case of Multi-Business-Modeling - there are still challenges and uncertainties in why some business models and strategies work in some cases and in other cases they do not. What is usually pointed out are the differences that appear, usually focused on leadership and not enough developed business models. Purpose: The presented background leads us to a summarized main purpose, which is to find out what the potential causes are for the challenges that the case company is facing - but also expand our knowledge when it comes to this field of topic. The strategy of the paper is to identify answers that have not been clarified by previous research, which concretly includes the phenomena of decision making and finding the right business model while trying to fit into a new market.  Method: A qualitative research approach was conducted, choosing case study as a proper research method for this purpose.   Conclusion: In order to make sure that everything that is necessary for the success of the MBM is being adapted, following factors are found to be the crucial parts of it: background knowledge of a product; differences in markets; local communication/collaboration; competitive edge; organizational growth; eye on the local and foreign market trends; technological smartness; environmental factors; training of the sales representatives; decision-making; value proposition; value creation; relationship building and bounding; customer satisfaction. The mentioned aspects are in one way or another, affecting the outcome and utilization of a Business Model in a foreign country.  By centralizing the decisions on the department level and investing in the services, including the training and education of the sales representative - there should not be any obstacle in succeeding in a foreign market.  Keywords: Multiply Business Modeling; Market entry; Foreign markets; Decision-making; Consumer perspective; Value proposition; Value creation; Centralization vs. Decentralization

<p> The current funding situation for community college athletics and future funding remains unclear (Byrd &amp; Williams, 2007). The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of athletic directors to understand the financing issues with athletic programs. Sixteen athletic directors from the state of California were interviewed until the point of data saturation on the topic. Analysis of the interview responses revealed that managing the athletic programs, the budget, and Title IX are ways athletic directors can deal with the financial issues. The results of the current research study may provide current and future business leaders with information that will facilitate making decisions about financing community college athletic programs.</p>

<p> This qualitative study, using a two iteration Delphi method, identified five supply chain leadership best practices. The primary focus of the best practices is to provide proven practices that meet the needs and requirements of supply chain leaders to effectively lead supply chains. A panel of experts selected from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals online database provided data for the study via a commercial electronic survey service. The expert panel provided open and closed ended, subjective responses to the study questions. The survey service collected and summarized the raw data. Manual analysis provided the basis for modifications to the Delphi survey instruments after the pilot study and the first iterations of the Delphi process. The findings allowed validation of three of the four candidate best practices identified during the literature review and two best practices identified during analysis of the first iteration responses. The five leadership best practices could provide leaders the knowledge to improve innovation and strategic leadership within supply chains.</p>

In these essays, I explore the relation between shareholder activism and corporate governance, mainly the board of directors and takeover defense measures. In the first essay, “Takeover defenses in the era of shareholder activism,” I examine whether or not takeover defense measures that were originally developed to protect the management have differential effects on the probability of shareholder activism. I also examine what are the types of demands activists make when there are defense measures in place and look at the outcomes following activist campaigns. I find that firms with a staggered board or dual-class shares are less likely to be targeted while firms with a poison pill in place are more likely to be targeted. Also, staggered board and poison pill are more likely to be removed following activism and target firms are more likely to be taken over following activism despite having defense measures in place. In the second essay, “Consequences to Directors of Shareholder Activism,” co-authored with Ian D. Gow and Suraj Srinivasan, we examine how shareholder activists can influence accountability of the board of directors. We find that the directors are more likely to leave the board in the two years following activist engagement and their turnover is more sensitive to their performance in the period leading up to shareholder activism. However, we do not find evidence of reputational consequences for the directors as we do not find changes in the number of other board seats. In the third essay, “Activist directors – determinants and consequences,” also co-authored with Ian D. Gow and Suraj Srinivasan, we examine whom the directors shareholder activists put in when they are granted a board seat or when they win proxy fights and whether having these board seats can help them achieve their goals more effectively. We identify 1,369 activist directors during the period of 2004–2015. Activists remain as shareholders longer when they have board seats and having activist directors is associated with significant strategic and operational actions by firms.