This study examines the relationship between firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CEO confidence. Research shows that CSR has a hedging feature. Research also shows that more confident CEOs underestimate firm risks, which, in turn, leads them to undertake relatively less hedging. Consistent with this, we find that CEO confidence is negatively related to the level of CSR. Closer analysis shows that this effect is stronger in the institutional aspects of CSR, such as community and workforce diversity, rather than in the technical aspects of CSR, such as corporate governance and product quality. Our results are robust to different competing explanations, including narcissism, which refers in this context to CEOs who engage in CSR to attract attention and alternative proxies for CSR and CEO confidence.JEL Classification: G02, G32, G34

This paper investigates two aspects of bank financing using a sample of 1,973 Australian small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We compare the variables that explain why Australian small to medium sized enterprises seek bank finance with those that underpin bank credit rationing of loan applications. Our analysis highlights that little overlap exists between the two sets of variables. Larger small to medium sized enterprises with growth intentions, business plans, and those in the agriculture industry are significantly more likely to seek finance. In contrast, firms in agriculture that are older, and that have incremental product innovation, 40% or more of export sales, and a male Chief Executive Officer, are less likely to be credit rationed. Importantly, having business plans, whether in large or small firms, does not relate significantly to credit rationing. JEL Classification: G14, G21, G32

Natural disasters, such as floods, provide teachable moments for students to learn about crisis management. The authors argue that evidence-based management offers a pedagogical tool for leveraging these teachable moments to deepen student learning about the management challenges of crisis situations. An emerging area in management education, evidence-based management involves using best available scientific evidence as the basis for management decision making and practice. Using data from 782 student assignments in an undergraduate introductory management course, the authors show how combining crisis management and evidence-based management in an assignment task in the aftermath of the 2010-2011 Queensland floods in Australia deepened student learning of general and crisis management concepts and increased students' engagement in learning an evidence-based management approach.

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