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I show that an alignment in partisan affiliation, between a firm's management and the president, is associated with higher levels of investment. Using insider trading data, I find that managers become more optimistic about their companies' prospects when their preferred party is in power. This optimism-driven increase in investment is amplified by herding and associated with both lower profitability and stock returns. Overall, managers' political beliefs produce heterogeneous expectations about future cash flows and distort investment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse market events can affect credit supply not only by hurting financial fundamentals but also by changing the risk-taking behaviors of individual decision-makers. We provide micro-level evidence of this individual decision-making channel in the U.S. mortgage market. We find that mortgage application rejection rates are more sensitive to foreclosure intensity when loan officers are more exposed to foreclosure news, despite the same housing market and bank fundamentals. Loans originated from the affected branches have lower ex post default rates, consistent with higher lending standards being applied. In the aggregate, this effect results in tighter credit supply during housing market downturns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In male-dominated industries, organizations face considerable pressure to enhance women's representation in top leadership roles. Firms respond to this pressure by increasing gender diversity in senior positions, but often fail to achieve a critical mass of senior women at the top. This raises a key question: What impact does greater gender diversity at the top have on junior women's career opportunities? We develop an attention-based perspective on gender diversity and theorize that firms with relatively more women in senior management compared to their industry peers are likely to allocate fewer attentional resources, time, and effort toward internal diversity practices. This inadvertently hurts the recruitment of women at lower levels. We propose that one way to mitigate these adverse cross-level spillover effects is to ensure women's substantive representation on committees responsible for overseeing and monitoring the firm's diversity and hiring-related decision-making processes. We test our contentions and find support for our model using a panel dataset on the largest U.S. law firms. We conduct several supplemental analyses to provide insights into our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial markets reveal information that firm managers can utilize when making equity value-enhancing investment decisions. However, for firms with risky debt, such investments are not necessarily socially efficient. Despite this friction, we show that learning from prices improves investment efficiency. This effect is asymmetric, however, as investors learn less about projects that decrease the riskiness of cash flows: efficiency is lower for diversifying investments than for focusing (risk-increasing) investments. This also implies that investors' endogenous learning further attenuates risk shifting but amplifies debt overhang. Our model provides a novel channel through which learning from financial markets affects agency frictions between stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature provides conflicting arguments and mixed results regarding whether capital markets punish managerial myopia. Using managers cutting research and development (R&D) investments to meet short-term earnings goals as a research setting, this study reveals that capital markets penalize managerial myopia, especially for firms with high investor sophistication. Moreover, the negative market reactions to managerial myopia are weaker for firms with overinvestment problems than for those without such problems. Overall, the results support the notion that security markets are not shortsighted. In further analysis, we document that compensation, especially earnings-based compensation, may cause managers to behave myopically. Our study contributes to the literature, reconciling previously mixed findings by capturing managers' myopic behavior in a more targeted way and showing that markets punish myopic R&D cutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How much should an entrepreneur experiment and when should they pivot? Do the answers to these questions change if the entrepreneur is subject to behavioral biases, such as overconfidence? In this paper, we develop a conceptual logic to address these questions. We focus on the design of a "program of experimentation," which we define as a sequentially interdependent set of experiments and pivot decisions an entrepreneur undertakes to develop a viable business idea. This conceptualization highlights two dimensions of program design: the number of experiments to run and the pivot threshold for evaluating experimental outcomes. Our computational model suggests that while experimenting and pivoting can improve new venture performance, it can also be taken too far. Programs of experimentation that generate frequent and early pivots may impede learning and underperform more conservative programs that generate fewer pivots. We also show that an effectively designed program of experimentation can partially remedy an entrepreneur's behavioral biases. Our work informs ongoing scholarly efforts to more fully understand the Lean Startup's strengths and limitations and advances the theoretical apparatus underlying a scientific approach to venturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether shareholder votes in environmental and social (ES) proposals are informative about firms' ES risks. ES proposals are unique in that they nearly always fail. We examine whether mutual funds' support for these failed proposals contains information about the ES risks that firms face. Higher support in failed ES proposals predicts subsequent ES incidents and the effects of these incidents on shareholder value. Examining the detailed records of fund votes, we find that agency frictions between a group of shareholders contribute to proposal failure. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms have appointed a significant number of female chief marketing officers (CMOs) over the past decade. However, the question of how female CMOs differ from their male counterparts is yet to be explored. This research uses a multimethod approach to examine when and why female CMOs' marketing decisions differ from those of male CMOs. In Study 1, the authors use secondary data to examine the effect of CMO gender on multiple marketing decisions and find that female CMOs make less risky decisions. Further, the authors find evidence that female CMOs' risk-taking behavior is contingent on structural, organizational, and environmental factors (CEO gender, relative firm performance, and demand uncertainty). In Study 2, the authors employ the MarkStrat simulation, in which participants assume the role of CMO, to test the main finding from Study 1 in a controlled setting and provide evidence for the differential effect of gender on radical versus incremental new product introductions. In Study 3, the authors examine survey data to find evidence for the underlying mechanisms (overconfidence, failure avoidance orientation, and scrutiny) behind female CMOs' lesser risk-taking behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effect of board governance on investment efficiency. I use the staggered enactment of board reforms in 41 countries as a shock to board structure that exogenously improves the quality of board oversight of managers. I find that investment-Q sensitivity improves by roughly half post-reform. This effect is more pronounced for firms that are more exposed to the reforms or when external governance mechanisms are less likely to discipline managers. These findings suggest that increased board oversight strengthens managers' incentives to make investment decisions that are more in line with their firms' growth opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A perennial challenge for executives in established firms is deciding how and when to respond to emerging technologies. This article demonstrates that the way emerging technologies play out in established industries differs according to how the business system is affected. Some have primarily a supply-side effect (on how a firm in the industry creates its product), while others have a primarily demand-side effect (on how users consume the product). Supply-side effects play out over relatively long periods of time in a predictable way, with incumbent firms executing similar strategies though at different speeds. Demand-side effects are faster-acting and more volatile, with incumbents often experimenting with a range of different business models as they seek a viable way forward in a changing market. By understanding these important differences between supply-side and demand-side effects and being able to anticipate the typical patterns of responses from incumbents, executives can make better choices in how and when to invest in emerging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We document that the aggregate hiring rate of publicly traded firms in the U.S. economy negatively predicts stock market returns and long-term cash flows, and positively predicts short-term cash flows. In addition, through a variance decomposition, we show that the time-series variation in the aggregate hiring rate is mainly driven by changes in discount rates and short-term expected cash flows, with no contribution from variation in long-term expected cash flows. We estimate a neoclassical dynamic model with labor market frictions and show that labor adjustment costs and time-varying risk are essential for the model to replicate the empirical patterns. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercializing technological innovations is a strategic goal in entrepreneurial ventures and established firms. A fundamental decision that remains understudied in this context is the form in which the innovation is to be commercialized. The authors term this decision the firm's "product-form strategy" for the innovation. In Study 1, they employ a theories-in-use approach and, using in-depth interviews and field observations with technology entrepreneurs and angel investors, develop a theory of product-form strategy—to market the innovation as know-how, a component, or a system—and identify the primary drivers of this choice. The theory is tested using a multimethod, multicontext approach. In Study 2, the authors use proprietary investment proposals generated by entrepreneurial ventures when they seek support from angel investors. In Study 3, they test the theory using video transcriptions of technology proposals from the television show Shark Tank. In Study 4, the authors assess the internal validity of the theory with active angel investors as subjects. They find consistent support for their theory and conclude with implications for theory and managerial practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using firm-level survey information, we investigate whether relationship lending affects firms' employment decisions in the face of negative sales shock. We find that firms with a durable relationship with their main bank display significantly less employment growth sensitivity to such shocks, especially where these are transitory. The result is stronger for younger and smaller firms that benefit from tighter bank-firm relationships, and for firms in sectors or economic environments where the costs of employment adjustment are greater. Our findings indicate that relationship lending provides liquidity insurance to firms to meet their demand for labor hoarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether and how stock mispricing can affect the probability of CEO turnover. In a sample of 1,573 US public firms, I find that, after controlling for fundamental performance, a 1-standard-deviation negative uninformative stock price shock increases the likelihood of CEO turnover by 10%. The mispricing-turnover sensitivity is stronger at firms with an independent board, and a difference-in-difference analysis further supports that finding. Ancillary results suggest that independent directors' career concerns may play a role in the response of independent boards to mispricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I examine whether competition from domestic industry rivals affects firms' proclivity to undertake foreign direct investment (FDI) and their country location choices. I find that competition affects foreign production decisions and the geography of international investments. While firms enduring stiffer competition are significantly less likely to undertake FDI, this effect is heterogeneous across firms. Competition deters FDI more strongly when costs are heavier, whereas it has weaker effects when efficiency is higher, growth opportunities are valuable, and cash reserves are higher. FDI location models suggest that when going abroad, firms facing stronger competition are more likely to pursue economies of productivity and taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and test a framework of private information acquisition and decision timing for asset allocators hiring outside investment managers. Using unique data on due diligence interactions between an institutional allocator and 860 hedge fund managers, we find that the production of private information complements public information. The allocator strategically chooses how much proprietary information to collect, reducing due diligence time by 18 months and improving outcomes. Funds selected by the manager outperform those not selected by 9 |$\%$| over 20 months. The outperformance relates to the allocator learning about fund return-to-scale constraints and manager skill before other investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a theoretical framework to address the inherent endogeneity problem in entry-timing research by distinguishing the concept of "first-mover benefits" (FMB) from "first-mover advantages" (FMA)—the former being a counterfactual and (usually) unobserved pure treatment effect, and the latter being an actual observed combination of treatment and selection effects. They differ in the baseline to which the first mover's performance is compared—either to the follower's actual performance (for FMA) or to the first mover's hypothetical performance if it had been a follower (for FMB). We consider the implications of this distinction for entry-order choices, and our formal economic model analyzes this distinction to make predictions about biases arising from using FMA as a proxy to estimate FMB, and also about how FMA, FMB, and their difference are affected by interfirm asymmetries in resources and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a vast body of work on legitimacy, we still have a limited understanding of the discursive aspects of moral legitimation. This is surprising considering the increase in morally laden societal discussions, for example related to understanding gender, rights and regulations during a pandemic, political scandals and ethics of global business amongst others. In particular, from an organization studies perspective, we lack knowledge on how journalists negotiate moral legitimation of controversial organizational decisions such as closures or shutdown decisions related to global industrial restructuring. Therefore, drawing on the critical discourse studies tradition, we examine the media coverage of controversial shutdowns in Finland over the past 2 decades. Our analysis suggests three moral legitimation types: moral engaging, moral distancing and moral surrendering. These types involve specific discursive moralization practices and strategies, and they each paint a different picture of the moral options, responsibility, and inevitability in these decisions. These types can be found in the same texts supporting each other, but they also help us understand how legitimation may involve a pattern where the most explicit reflections (moral engagement) are followed by more indirect (moral distancing) and less apparent but very powerful (moral surrendering) forms of legitimation. By so doing, we also offer a heuristic that can, with due caution, be used for analyzing other texts on adverse effects of globalization or events that might include moral and ideological conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how nationalism influences governance choice in cross-border collaborations. While nationalism has historically been within the purview of political scientists, we demonstrate its relevance to management scholars by theorizing how nationalist attitudes and behaviors among decision-makers might shape strategic decisions about collaborations with foreign partners. Drawing on insights from the social psychology literature, we theorize how two attitudes commonly associated with nationalism, that is, lower levels of trust and an unwillingness to work with foreigners, may increase decision-makers' concerns about opportunistic behavior and invasiveness in cross-border collaborations. Integrating these insights into two key theories of governance choice—transaction cost economics (TCE) and resource dependence theory (RDT)—we derive two competing effects of nationalism: TCE suggests that a heightened concern about opportunistic behavior will make equity alliances preferable, whereas RDT predicts that a greater sensitivity to invasiveness would prioritize non-equity alliances. Examining 11,469 cross-border collaborations over a 25-year period, we find, in line with the RDT-based prediction, that firms from countries with stronger nationalist sentiments prefer non-equity alliances. We also find that cross-country dissimilarities and prior conflict between the firms' home countries strengthen this negative association. Our findings advance research on cross-border collaborations by demonstrating why and when nationalism may influence governance mode choice. We also contribute to efforts to establish nationalism, specifically in the form of nationalist sentiments, as an important theoretical concept within the management literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of literature has focused on strategic leaders' (i.e., CEOs', TMT members', and board directors') influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, inconsistent findings have been reported, impeding the theoretical and practical implications of this line of inquiry. Drawing from the strategic leadership literature and the corporate governance literature, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 318 samples to consolidate disparate findings on the relationships between frequently measured executive and board attributes and CSR. We also examined country managerial discretion and investor protection strength as potential boundary conditions of these relationships. With some exceptions, our meta-analytic results show that these executive and board attributes explained meaningful variance in CSR, and that country managerial discretion and investor protection strength played limited moderating roles. Additional analyses suggest that the board characteristics had a stronger relationship with CSR than the executive characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study on Airblue chronicles the events that led to the biggest plane crash in the aviation history of Pakistan. Airblue flight 202 destined from Karachi to Islamabad crashed while attempting to land under adverse weather conditions. The flight carried 146 passengers and 6 crew members; all died in the crash. Later investigations identified gross errors in judgment and decision making by the cockpit crew and unprofessional attitude as the sole cause of the crash. The case study documents the events that unfolded prior to the crash and identifies a number of major factors that are important while communicating and making decisions under critical situations. It touches upon the themes of superior-subordinate communication and relationships, empowerment, sense of responsibility under life-threatening situations, making sense of crises, the role of initiative, self-confidence, and reliance on others. The case is suitable to be taught on topics dealing with communication, decision making, teamwork, and leadership in crises, at the graduate level (MBA) and in executive training courses on team building, leadership and crisis management. It highlights the situations which emerge as crises and where teamwork is paramount for the effective achievement of goals. Furthermore, it focuses on the possible relapses when effective teamwork and communication are not in play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: We investigate how worker mobility influences the adoption of a new technology using state‐level changes to the enforceability of noncompete agreements as an exogenous shock to worker mobility. Using data on over 153,000 establishments from 2010 and 2018, we find that changes that facilitate worker movements are associated with a significant decline in the likelihood of adoption of machine learning. Moreover, we find that the magnitude of decline depends upon the size of the establishment, the extent of predictive analytics adoption in its industry, and the number of large establishments in the same industry‐location. These results are consistent with the view that increases in outward worker mobility increase costs for adoption of a new technology that involves significant downstream investments in the early years of its diffusion. Managerial Summary: Successful business adoption of new technologies such as machine learning requires skilled workers with experience in implementing those technologies. In the early years of technology diffusion workers in early adopting businesses typically acquire these skills through on‐the‐job learning that is paid for by the adopter. So, if such early adopters face an increased risk of those skilled workers quitting, then their incentives to adopt the technology decrease. We examine this possibility using changes in noncompete enforceability as a proxy for changes in worker mobility and find that the likelihood of adopting machine learning decreases as the risk of worker mobility increases, particularly for larger establishments, establishments in industries where adoption may be more beneficial and in locations with many large competing establishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: To thrive in an unpredictable world, managers must adapt their decision‐making to changing events. However, a major impediment to adaptation is strategic persistence, that is, the tendency to stick with previously successful strategies. We examined whether multiple scenario analysis can help to overcome the dysfunctional effects of strategic persistence. In a laboratory study using a multi‐round strategy simulation that required players to change strategies to succeed, we found that multiple scenario analysis alleviated the effects of strategic persistence by stimulating strategic reorientation, that is, adaptive shifts in patterns of strategic choice. Multiple scenario analysis influenced strategic reorientation indirectly, by fostering belief in a new strategy, and its effectiveness depended on prior performance. We discuss implications for research on the cognitive microfoundations of strategic adaptation. Managerial Summary: What can managers do when their previously successful strategy stops working? We found that using multiple scenario analysis, a common strategic planning technique can help decision makers switch to a new strategy. In our study, using a business simulation game that required players to change strategies to succeed, we found that those players who imagined different industry futures as part of a multiple scenario analysis exercise were more likely to believe in new strategies and as a result more likely to switch to the winning strategy. However, this intervention was less effective for players who had high levels of success with the old strategy. We discuss how scenario‐based intervention techniques can be used to assist managers with reorientating to a new strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Employee commitment [participation and role performance] typically encompasses mechanisms or methods that allow employees and their representatives to intervene in organizational decision-making within the company and to implement joint decisions regarding company management, thereby supporting the employees' viewpoint. Intervention and participation can be either direct or indirect. Methodology: The current research aimed to present a model for developing employee commitment in Iranian government organizations. This study is of mixed-methods research type (qualitative and quantitative). In the qualitative phase, the Delphi method and research literature were used to identify concepts, dimensions, and components. In the quantitative phase, the model presented in the qualitative part was tested using a questionnaire tool and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method with a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. The statistical population in the qualitative phase for Delphi analysis included managers and heads (10 individuals) and academic professors (10 individuals), all of whom were selected as the sample population. The statistical population in the quantitative phase comprised all employees of government organizations under the Deputy for Human Resource Development of the Presidency, with the Agricultural Bank considered as one of the government organizations and banks for the quantitative section's population. A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select an appropriate research sample. The population size was 16,130 individuals, with a sample size of 376 based on Morgan's table. Findings: According to Delphi results, a total of 39 components were ultimately approved, and the quantitative phase questionnaire was designed based on 42 components. Considering the quantitative section's results, the dimensions of selection and employment, employee communications, empowerment, performance management, and compensation management had impact coefficients of 0.852, 0.798, 0.778, 0.88, and 0.773, respectively, in relation to processes. Furthermore, the dimensions of organizational culture, organizational structure, the country's ICT infrastructure, strategy and organizational goals, and the level of acceptance and development of EHRM had impact coefficients of 0.683, 0.796, 0.831, 0.923, and 0.822, respectively. The impact coefficients for processes and infrastructures were 0.954 and 0.895, respectively, in relation to the development of employee commitment. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be concluded that the research model has a high capability in measuring the main variables of the research. Given the standard nature of the model, the software findings are reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing experts are tasked with making important decisions that influence firms' performance. Some decision tasks are decomposable and can be broken down into smaller parts (e.g., pricing new products). Others are non‐decomposable and are challenging to break down (e.g., selecting creative work for advertising campaigns). The literature remains divided on whether expertise aids decision‐makers in addressing these different decision tasks, as well as how different decision‐making processes (critical analysis, intuition, introspection) improve decision‐makers' performance when they face these tasks. Using experiments with comparative samples of senior marketing managers (experts) and general public participants (non‐experts), we test whether expertise provides advantages when making decisions. Our results suggest that experts perform better than the general public with decomposable decision tasks, though not with non‐decomposable decision tasks. Furthermore, decision‐makers who rely on critical analysis perform better compared to intuition when addressing decomposable decision tasks, but the decision process is less important with non‐decomposable decision tasks. These findings provide insight into the conceptual boundaries of marketing professionals' expertise. Managers could apply these insights to potentially save resources (e.g., time, finances) by delegating decisions to more junior staff or even by leveraging external counsel through crowdsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical background: Industry 4.0 tools are an important element in achieving a competitive advantage, especially among manufacturing companies. There are numerous studies regarding this idea’s level of implementation in companies operating in Poland. Purpose of the article: The aim of the article was to verify the hypothesis regarding the existence of barriers and opportunities for implementing Industry 4.0 solutions among large manufacturing enterprises in Poland. Research methods: The author presented the results of her own research carried out at the end of 2019 by means of the CATI method on 108 large manufacturing enterprises in Poland. She supplemented the state of knowledge and verified it by analyzing secondary research – two reports from research conducted in 2022 using the CAWI method. Main findings: It was the basis for concluding that the results of the author’s study did not lose their significance, and the analysis of the correlation between the results may support conscious decision-making as to which areas interact with each other and in what way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We take a process perspective to review the literature on corporate responses to social activism and argue that theoretical advances have not kept pace with the extensive and expanding scope of the literature. We identify three critical assumptions in the literature, which we believe can be traced back to two overarching issues: a mechanistic conceptualization that ascribes limited reflexivity to managers and an overreliance on variance theorizing. In order to tackle these challenges and propel future research, we suggest a research agenda that revolves around an enhanced role for managerial reflexivity in theory development and a stronger emphasis on the process-oriented view of the relationship between activism and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While design thinking has gained popularity in product innovation, scholars argue that design thinking can also trigger and sustain organizational innovation. This study investigates the adoption of design thinking in the Design+Innovation unit at PepsiCo. It reveals nine design thinking practices that enable organizational innovation: valorizing personal attitudes and desires, engaging stakeholders in the design discourse, leveraging the design unit as an agent of change, fostering abductive reasoning, empowering decision making through prototypes, crafting proof points, absorbing external viewpoints, searching for co-conspirators, and aligning personal and organizational purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about how design leaders foster design excellence "at scale" within large organizations. To bridge this gap, this article reports on interviews with 59 senior design leaders. Using a paradox perspective to frame the findings uncovers major challenges when leading design teams inside large organizations. It also identifies five pairs of opposing leadership behaviors that address these tensions and balance the overarching paradox of integrating design into the fabric of an organization while maintaining its distinctive character: being transformative yet affirmative; being directive yet accommodating; being proactive yet responsive; being intuitive yet systematic; and being holistic yet specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many companies such as Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors have had success selling both high-end luxury and middle-end 'masstige' brands, as consumers seek luxury labels at affordable prices. There have been studies into consumption of both luxury and masstige products, however, few inquiries have attempted to understand this phenomenon through interviews with luxury company executives. This study aimed to understand luxury executives' perceptions of 'pure luxury' versus masstige in order to update current literature and theoretical frameworks. Interviews were conducted with nine (n = 9) luxury executives. Major themes of balance and cohesion and value emerged; sub-themes and minor themes are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of a learning curve in which a firm's costs decline with cumulative experience suggests that early entry provides learning opportunities that create an advantage by reducing future costs relative to later entrants. While prior strategy research has often assumed that learning curves are deterministic and known ex ante to firms, substantial evidence suggests that learning curves are inherently uncertain. If there is uncertainty in the learning curve, then the taken-for-granted wisdom regarding the strategic implications of learning curves may over- or under-emphasize the value of early entry. We consider two forms of uncertainty—prospective (future costs) and contemporaneous (current costs). We demonstrate computationally that while prospective uncertainty in the learning curve enhances the benefits of early entry, contemporaneous uncertainty reduces these benefits. Further, we examine the implications of these findings for competition and learning curve spillovers between leader and laggard firms. Recognizing learning curve uncertainty highlights a novel form of spillovers that do not affect expected cost but rather affect uncertainty about cost. Our core insight is that when learning curve uncertainty is large relative to the expected learning rate, it is uncertainty, rather than expectations about this rate, that determines the extent of early-mover advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]