Journal of Applied Business and Economics

Managerial Self-References in Corporate Disclosures: An Analysis of MD&A

Yamin Hao — 2024-10-12

This study examines strategic pronoun usage in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of annual reports. Through automated textual analysis of a large sample of MD&As, we find that managers of firms with higher earnings growth tend to use more self-inclusive pronouns(e.g., “ we, ” “ us, ” and “ our ”) and fewer self-exclusive words (e.g., “the company ”). This self-referential language pattern is associated with a higher likelihood of future financial restatements. Our findings contribute to the literature on corporate narrative disclosures and identify a potential new indicator of financial misstatements. The results have implications for investors, analysts, auditors, and regulators.

Exploring the Effects of the Information Asymmetry on the Card-Debt Crisis

Chih-Hsiung Chang — 2024-10-12

The article aimed to explore the effects of the information asymmetry on the card-debt crisis in Taiwan’s credit card market. The card-debt crisis of the credit cards broke out in Taiwan in 2005. To improve this situation, the financial authorities were forced to intervene in the market. The article employed the documents analysis and collected the related literature and statistical data to construct the information asymmetry model and the proposed hypotheses of the adverse selections and the moral hazards. The results concluded that the card-debt crisis did stem from the information asymmetry, and was alleviated by the intervention of the financial authorities.

Optimizing Healthcare Flexible Spending Account Contributions Using Inventory Management Theories: An Interdisciplinary Study

Bo Li — 2024-10-12

The healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) offers employees significant tax benefits by allowing the use of pre-tax funds for healthcare expenses, but it also carries the risk of forfeiting unspent funds. To address the challenge of maximizing tax savings while minimizing the risk of forfeiture, this study applies inventory management and economic theories to develop a heuristic for optimizing FSA contributions. Both basic and extended versions of FSAs are examined, alongside the impact of marginal tax rates on decision-making. A simulation model demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic, with results showing minimal deviations from the optimal solutions—less than 0.42% for the basic version and 3.11% for the extended version, and performance differences of less than 0.005% and 0.08%, respectively. By integrating operations management, economic theories, and personal finance research, this study introduces a novel decision-support tool for optimizing FSA contributions, while also laying the groundwork for future research in this interdisciplinary field.

The Trump Tax Penalty and Its Impact on the Economy

W. Terry Dancer — 2024-10-12

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law by former President Donald J. Trump in 2017.The law took effect on January 1, 2018.The law permanently cut the corporate tax rate to 21% and temporarily lowered individual tax rates. Evidence in this paper will demonstrate how an older married couple on Social Security and a modest pension actually incurred higher federal income taxes during the years 2018- 2021 as a result of TCJA. Paying higher federal income taxes as a result of TCJA is the Trump Tax Penalty.

Comparing Sustainability Practices of Large US Corporations: Domestic vs. International Operations

M. Anaam Hashmi — 2024-10-12

Large US corporations are leading the way in reshaping business practices despite the absence of a national consensus regarding sustainability policies. This study highlights the commitment of some large US corporations to environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria and their widely employed sustainability practices compared with other global corporations. A survey of Fortune 500 corporations was conducted to identify their commitment to the nine major sustainability practices across domestic and international operations. Our findings indicate that several of the surveyed corporations exhibited significant adoption of these practices both domestically and internationally. Both hypotheses were rejected in favor of alternate hypotheses.

Stay or Leave: Investigating Factors Impact Crowd-Based Workers’ Platform-Based Justice Perceptions and Turnover Intentions

Xiaochuan Song — 2024-10-12

Crowdsourcing has emerged as a transformative business model, harnessing collective intelligence to tackle complex tasks efficiently. However, the impact of crowd-based platforms on workers’ justice perceptions is still understudied. This research delves into organizational justice perceptions among crowd-based workers, focusing on platform features that influence these perceptions as well as workers’ subsequent turnover intentions. Drawing on data collected from 364 workers across multiple platforms, findings indicate that equitable compensation policies, participative evaluation, interactive and considerate communication, and rule-based evaluation can enhance procedural, distributive, and interactional justice perceptions, which in turn, significantly reduce turnover intentions. Moreover, media richness moderates part of these relationships, strengthening the mitigating effects of justice perceptions on turnover intentions. The study contributes to understanding the dynamics of organizational justice in crowdsourcing contexts and provides insights for platform management strategies to enhance worker retention.

Discretionary Accrual in the Knowledge-Based Economy

Pei-Hui Hsu — 2024-10-12

The modern economy transit from manufacturing to knowledge-based industries that are dependent on investments in R&D, advertising, and employee talents. These investments and much of the value that they generate cannot be capitalized as assets. As these intangible assets are off-balance-sheet, a firm’s book value might be low. When book value fails to present a firm’s true value, we stipulate that management has incentive to manage its earnings to convey information that is not reflected in the balance sheet. We find that firms with negative book value and in the New Economy use more discretionary accruals.

Societal Impact of the Tennessee Small Business Administration: Lowered Barriers to Entry, State Growth, and Economic Freedom

Dennis Pearson — 2024-10-12

This paper focuses on the effects of SBA lending and its possible effects on the economic growth in Tennessee. After all, claims about the belief that small business is the driving force behind job creation and economic growth are found throughout political speeches, newspaper columns, and public policy forums. These claims are frequently presented as justification for tax incentives, regulatory policies, and other government programs that favor small business by removing barriers to entry. Access to capital is often the biggest obstacle for an entrepreneur. This research focused on the relationship between guaranteed loans from the SBA and the economic growth of Tennessee. This research found a positive relationship between the SBA 7A lending and state growth in Tennessee. Thus, providing policymakers evidence that pursuing policies which support economic freedom will continue to support Tennessee’s state growth.