Prior research provides evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-supportive corporate policies are related to important human resource functions, such as enhanced recruitment and retention. In addition, prior research indicates that investors view the adoption of such policies positively. We examine the firm-performance mechanisms underlying favorable stock-market reactions based on an integration of perspectives from corporate social responsibility and the business case for diversity. Specifically, we estimate a hierarchical linear model (HLM) to account for the nested nature of our data (firms nested within states) and find that (1) the presence of LGBT-supportive policies is associated with higher firm value, productivity, and profitability; (2) the firm-value and profitability benefits associated with LGBT-supportive policies are larger for companies engaged in research and development (R&D) activities; and(3) the firm-value and profitability benefits of LGBT-supportive policies persist in the presence of state antidiscrimination laws. In supplemental analyses, we find that firms implementing (discontinuing)LGBT-supportive policies experience increases (decreases) in firm value, productivity, and profitability. We are among the first to link LGBT-supportive policies specifically to financial performance outcomes as well as to develop and test a multilevel model of these relationships. Our results have important implications for theory and research on LGBT issues in organizations, human resource managers, and policymakers. K E Y W O R D Scorporate social responsibility, diversity, firm performance, LGBT, resource-based view

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether team members work harder and perform better when they are compensated based on both team and individual performance than either alone and whether teammates' familiarity with one another influences the effectiveness of the compensation scheme.Design/methodology/approachFour‐member ad hoc student teams repeatedly complete an interdependent task on the computer in an experiment which manipulates individual compensation plan, team compensation plan, and teammate familiarity.FindingsResults indicate that offering a combination of individual and team performance‐based compensation results in comparable performance under both strong and weak team identity, suggesting that the lower productivity levels associated with weak team identity can be overcome with performance‐based compensation.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are collected from an experimental game created to resemble one interdependent production environment, thus reducing the generalizability of the results. An experimental environment was chosen because it allowed testing of only the variables of interest – team compensation, individual compensation, and team identity, while holding other factors (i.e. task and compensation variation) constant.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that, regardless of team identity, firms can benefit from offering both team and individual performance‐based compensation.Originality/valueThis study examines individual and team compensation simultaneously, in contrast to studying each in isolation. Additionally, this study investigates whether teammate familiarity moderates the effect of performance‐based compensation on performance.

Ethical corporate citizenship and good corporate governance have received increased attention since the financial scandals prevalent at the beginning of the new millennium. This study first explores the relationship of ethical corporate citizenship to financial performance (i.e., greater profitability and efficiency, and lower cost of capital). Second, the study examines whether ethical corporate behavior is associated with a market-value premium. Results of prior studies are mixed. The results of our study contribute directly to the recent accounting literature in which specific aspects of ethical corporate behavior have been explored (Fukami et al. 1997; Ittner and Larker, 1998;Ballou et al., 2003;Clarkson et al., 2004). We use firms listed by Business Ethics as "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" as our sample of ethical firms. The univariate results of our study indicate a significant relationship between ethical corporate behavior and financial performance (i.e., greater profitability and efficiency, and lower cost of capital). The results of multivariate tests, controlling for prior year market value of equity, yield results which indicate a marginally significant association between being recognized as ethical in that year and market value of equity, but no association between being recognized as ethical at least one time and market value of equity. Nevertheless, given our study's findings of better financial performance and lower risk, we conclude that ethical corporate citizenship does indeed benefit a firm.

No abstract

No abstract