nep-hrm New Economics Papers
on Human Capital and Human Resource Management
Issue of 2017‒10‒01
ten papers chosen by
Patrick Kampkötter
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

  1. Are CEOs Different? Characteristics of Top Managers By Steven N. Kaplan; Morten Sorensen
  2. Changes in CEO Stock Option Grants: A Look at the Numbers By Athanasakou, Vasiliki; Ferreira, Daniel; Goh, Lisa
  3. Does Reminding of Behavioural Biases Increase Returns from Financial Trading? A Field Experiment By De Paola, Maria; Gioia, Francesca; Piluso, Fabio
  4. Do quotas help women to climb the career ladder? A laboratory experiment By Valeria Maggian; Natalia Montinari; Antonio Nicolò
  5. "Is Financial Reward Still an Important Motivator for the Indonesian Multi-Generational Workforce?" By Yanki Hartijasti
  6. Leadership style and Performance of Small and medium size enterprises in Cameroon By Jeff Astein, FOKAM
  7. Up in STEM, Down in Business: Changing College Major Decisions with the Great Recession By Liu, Shimeng; Sun, Weizeng; Winters, John V.
  8. The direct and indirect effects of core and peripheral social capital on organizational performance By Fabio Fonti; Massimo Maoret
  9. What is the effect of wages and supervision on productivity? The perspective of Sunyani Technical University staff By Tetteh, Rebecca; Mohammed, Safura; Ahmed Azumah, Ayisha
  10. German Robots - The Impact of Industrial Robots on Workers By Dauth, Wolfgang; Findeisen, Sebastian; Südekum, Jens; Woessner, Nicole

  1. By: Steven N. Kaplan; Morten Sorensen
    Abstract: We use a dataset of over 2,600 executive assessments to study thirty individual characteristics of candidates for top executive positions – CEO, CFO, COO and others. We classify the thirty candidate characteristics with four primary factors: general ability, execution vs. interpersonal, charisma vs. analytic, and strategic vs. managerial. CEO candidates tend to score higher on these factors; CFO candidates score lower. Conditional on being a candidate, executives with greater interpersonal skills are more likely to be hired, suggesting that such skills are important in the selection process. Scores on the four factors also predict future career progression. Non-CEO candidates who score higher on the four factors are subsequently more likely to become CEOs. The patterns are qualitatively similar for public, private equity and venture capital owned companies. We do not find economically large differences in the four factors for men and women. Women, however, are subsequently less likely to become CEOs, holding the four factors constant.
    JEL: G34 J16 M12 M5 M51
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23832&r=hrm
  2. By: Athanasakou, Vasiliki; Ferreira, Daniel; Goh, Lisa
    Abstract: We study changes in CEO stock option grants. Unlike most of the literature, we focus on the number rather than the value of options granted. We first provide a detailed description of the main aggregate trends in CEO stock option grants. We then consider the cross-sectional heterogeneity in option-granting activity. We find that CEOs who either overinvest or underinvest subsequently receive fewer stock options as part of their compensation packages. CEOs who hold exercisable deeply-in-the-money options (overconfident CEOs) also receive fewer stock options in subsequent periods. Our findings provide insights into the dynamics of CEO compensation contracts.
    Keywords: CEO overconfidence; corporate investment; stock option grants
    JEL: G30 G32 J33 M41 M52
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12318&r=hrm
  3. By: De Paola, Maria (University of Calabria); Gioia, Francesca (University of Edinburgh); Piluso, Fabio (University of Calabria)
    Abstract: We ran a field experiment to investigate whether nudge policies, consisting in behavioural insight messaging, help to improve performance in financial trading. Our experiment involved students enrolled in a financial trading course in an Italian University who were invited to trade on Borsa Italiana's virtual platform. Students were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group. Treated students received a message reminding them of the existence of behavioural biases in financial trading. We find that treated students significantly improve the performance of their portfolio. Several behaviours may explain the increase in performance. We find evidence pointing to a reduction in the home and status quo biases for risk averse nudged participants.
    Keywords: financial trading, behavioural biases, reminders, nudges, home bias, status quo bias, risk aversion
    JEL: D14 E21 E22 O16
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10983&r=hrm
  4. By: Valeria Maggian (Univ Lyon, CNRS, GATE L-SE UMR 5824, F-69130 Ecully, France); Natalia Montinari (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Piazza Scaravilli 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy); Antonio Nicolò (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Manageriali, Università degli Studi di Padova, via del Santo 33, 35123 Padova, Italy; School of Social Sciences University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK)
    Abstract: Women are underrepresented in leadership positions in business, politics, and in the academic and scientific community. Not taking advantage of the skills of highly qualified women constitutes a waste of talent and, consequently, a loss of economic growth potential. To design effective policy interventions that empower women to reach leadership positions, it is crucial to identify at which levels of the career ladder they should be introduced. In a laboratory experiment, we run a two-stage tournament to evaluate the impact of three different interventions on women’s willingness to compete for top positions. We find that, compared with no intervention, a gender quota introduced at the initial stage is ineffective in encouraging women to compete for the top, while quotas introduced in the final stage of competition or in both stages increase women’s willingness to compete for the top, without distorting the performance of the winners.
    Keywords: Gender quotas, affirmative action, gender gap, competition, multi-stage tournament, laboratory experiment
    JEL: C91 D91 J16
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1724&r=hrm
  5. By: Yanki Hartijasti (Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia. Author-2-Name: Surya Dwi Kusuma Darpita Author-2-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia.)
    Abstract: "Objective – Considering the importance of work motivation in the workplace for staff performance and organizational success, employers need to be sensitive and focusing more on work motivation of their employees to avoid losing them. However, previous studies still have conflicting results on this issue whether there is a significant difference on intrinsic and extrinsic motivators or not among employees from Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y because many studies find generation is not the only driver influencing work motivators. The objectives of this study are to investigate whether a three-generation workforce differs in the level of work motivators and whether differences in generational work motivation are better explained by gender, education, or types of job to design effective human resources development programs. Methodology/Technique – Using survey method to collect data, 415 respondents who work in a manufacturing company were gathered and analyzed by applying descriptive and multivariate analysis. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators were the subscales of work motivators. Findings – Results indicate that all generations are intrinsically motivated, in which Gen Y employees are found to have higher intrinsic motivators than Gen X and Baby Boomers. However, this study reveals that financial rewards are still considered as an important motivator for the three generations. Novelty – The study presents evidence that work motivators should not only be measured based on generational alone because other factors, such as gender, education, and types of job, can give impact to various outcomes."
    Keywords: "Intrinsic Motivators; Extrinsic Motivators; Financial Rewards; Gen Y; Gen X; Baby Boomers; Indonesian Workplace."
    JEL: J28 J33 M52 M54
    Date: 2017–06–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jmmr144&r=hrm
  6. By: Jeff Astein, FOKAM
    Abstract: In Cameroon, SMEs contribute about 50% of the GDP and accounts for about 92% of businesses (INS, 2009) but about 80% of this SME’s created in Cameroon die before their 5th anniversary with one of the principal causes being the lack of corporate leadership. The main objectives of this research it to show the effects of leadership style on the performance of Cameroonian SMEs. The research follows a Hypothetico- deductive methodology through which primary data was collected through the Multi Factor Leadership Questionnaire which was administered on 114 workers form 38 SMEs in 05 major towns in the southwest region of Cameroon between the period of November 2015 to January 2016, the data was analysed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the Pearson correlation coefficient and the Ordinary Least Square Multiple Regression(OLS), the SPSS version 20 was used for regression. The Principal results showed that the Transformational Leadership style exerted a positive and significant effect on the performance of SMEs in Cameroon, while the Transactional leadership style exerted a positive and significant impact on performance, this results are in coherence with the results obtained by Bass and Avolio, 2004 in their work entitled “Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations”. This research will therefore propose that in order to achieve organizational performance, managers should use the Transformational alongside with the Transactional leadership style since a combination of the two leadership style will permit the enterprise to attain performance beyond expectations.
    Keywords: Leadership style, Performance, Small and Medium enterprises
    JEL: M50 M51 M54
    Date: 2016–04–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81417&r=hrm
  7. By: Liu, Shimeng (Jinan University); Sun, Weizeng (Jinan University); Winters, John V. (Oklahoma State University)
    Abstract: We use the American Community Survey (ACS) to investigate the extent to which college major decisions were affected during and after the Great Recession with special attention to business and STEM fields, as well as the heterogeneity by gender, race/ethnicity and combinations of race/ethnicity and gender. Several conclusions are reached. First, we see an overall increase in the frequency of STEM majors but a decrease in the frequency of business majors during and after the Great Recession. Second, the increase for STEM fields is spread across several detailed STEM fields, while the decrease in business majors is especially concentrated among finance and management. Third, we find strong heterogeneous effects by gender and race/ethnicity. Males are pushed away from business majors, while both males and females are pushed toward STEM majors; certain racial groups, such as white and Asian, seem to be affected more than others.
    Keywords: Great Recession, college major, business, finance, STEM
    JEL: I20 J24
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10996&r=hrm
  8. By: Fabio Fonti (ESC Rennes School of Business - ESC Rennes School of Business); Massimo Maoret (IESE Business School - IESE Business School)
    Abstract: In this paper we adopt a core-periphery approach to specify the direct and indirect effects of social capital on organizational performance. We suggest that social capital deriving from stable task relationships between organizational members has a direct positive effect on organizational performance. Said effect depends, in both strength and functional form, on whether actors involved in stable dyads are located at the core or at the periphery of the organization. We also argue that core and peripheral social capital affect performance indirectly by moderating the organization’s ability to leverage its human capital to improve performance. Results from a 48-year study of the National Basketball Association support our arguments and bear important implications for strategic human resource practices and organizational performance in competitive settings.
    Keywords: Social capital,social networks,relational stability,core/periphery,organizational performance
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01478950&r=hrm
  9. By: Tetteh, Rebecca; Mohammed, Safura; Ahmed Azumah, Ayisha
    Abstract: The study examines the influence of wages and supervision on employee’s productivity for Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). The findings of the study indicate that wages and supervision have influence on productivity; however, supervision is ranked higher to influence productivity than wages. The management of higher institutions should consider the findings of the study to ensure that workers are appropriately supervised, and well paid to improve productivity and performance. Further studies should replicate the current study in a comparative study using private and public institutions in a causal study using structural modelling method.
    Keywords: Performance, demographics, wages
    JEL: E24 J31 J41
    Date: 2017–07–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81473&r=hrm
  10. By: Dauth, Wolfgang; Findeisen, Sebastian; Südekum, Jens; Woessner, Nicole
    Abstract: We study the impact of rising robot exposure on the careers of individual manufacturing workers, and the equilibrium impact across industries and local labor markets in Germany. We find no evidence that robots cause total job losses, but they do affect the composition of aggregate employment. Every robot destroys two manufacturing jobs. This accounts for almost 23% of the overall decline of manufacturing employment in Germany over the period 1994 - 2014, roughly 275,000 jobs. But this loss was fully offset by additional jobs in the service sector. Moreover, robots have not raised the displacement risk for incumbent manufacturing workers. Quite in contrast, more robot exposed workers are even more likely to remain employed in their original workplace, though not necessarily performing the same tasks, and the aggregate manufacturing decline is solely driven by fewer new jobs for young labor market entrants. This enhanced job stability for insiders comes at the cost of lower wages. The negative impact of robots on individual earnings arises mainly for medium-skilled workers in machine-operating occupations, while high-skilled managers gain. In the aggregate, robots raise labor productivity but not wages. Thereby they contribute to the decline of the labor income share.
    Keywords: Germany; labor market effects; robots; skill-biased technological change
    JEL: F16 J24 O33 R11
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12306&r=hrm

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