IE University

About: IE University is a education organization based out in Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Corporate governance & Supply chain. The organization has 527 authors who have published 1709 publications receiving 64682 citations.

Does Regional Integration Change the Effects of Country-Level Institutional Barriers on M&A? The Case of the European Union

Abstract: This paper raises the question of whether the process of regional integration experienced by the European Union (EU) has affected the growth strategies of firms pursuing cross-border mergers and acquisitions. More precisely, it examines whether the effects of known country-level barriers to cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have weakened as the EU has developed, thereby creating a propensity by firms inside and outside the EU to invest more in the region. Overall, the results show support for this idea, revealing that cultural and political barriers to cross-border M&A significantly explain the governance decision implemented by foreign buyers earlier in the life of the EU, whereas they do not after the Union has taken steps towards integration. These barriers also affect EU-based acquirers differently from non-EU-based ones. A number of implications of these findings are discussed.

Artificial Intelligence Is Watching You at Work. Digital Surveillance, Employee Monitoring, and Regulatory Issues in the EU Context

Abstract: By affecting activities in both traditional and modern industries, countless invasive devices constitute a burgeoning terrain for new forms of monitoring assisted by artificial intelligence and algorithms; these range from badges to tablets, from wearables to exoskeletons, from collaborative software to virtual personal assistant, from computer networks to face recognition systems. From a legal perspective, these tools constantly collect, produce, share and combine data that may be used by the employer for all the many different reasons, thus leading to a “genetic variation” of the organizational, monitoring and disciplinary prerogative, considered as the core of the employment contract. When it comes to recruiting, managing, and vetting the workforce, AI applications can be considered as an effective combination of big data analytics and algorithmic governance. Only recently, have international, European and domestic institutions started considering how to update existing regulation in order to face these complex and far-reaching challenges. This article assesses the effects of AI application on the employment relationship, with a view to understanding how social and legal institutions act, react or adapt to a potential experience of unprecedented digital surveillance in the workplace, entrenching command-and-control relationships between management and workers. The paper is organized as follows. After describing the new arenas of workplace surveillance, we provide a comprehensive conceptualization of AI application. Section 2 explores the latest generation of digital devices, understood in their broadest definition encompassing both physical supports as well as intangible tools. In many cases, AI prevents accidents caused by human error or reduce the hazard (or even the burden) of routine and menial activities. On the other hand, these software and devices create an effective, invasive and elusive system of watchfulness increasing conformity and promoting docility. Section 3 describes how the EU has set the tone globally in the regulation of privacy and data protection. In particular, we scrutinize the new GDPR thoroughly. One concern on its effectiveness revolves around the limits on the automated decision-making processes (Art. 22). Section 4 describes how some European civil law systems deal with the regulation of surveillance of workers. The cases of France, Germany and Italy are analyzed by stressing the common elements and loopholes. Section 5 assesses some conclusions by verifying whether the current regulations are suitable to cope with the adoption of AI at work.

Cybersecurity, Capital Allocations and Management Control Systems

Abstract: The design and use of management control systems can play a key role in dealing with cybersecurity issues that have arisen in tandem with the emergence of the Internet. Efficient management control systems will reduce a firm's likelihood of suffering significant losses from cybersecurity breaches. Drawing on and extending the extant agency-based capital budgeting literature, this paper demonstrates the relevance of the study of management accounting controls to problems arising in the cybersecurity setting. The main finding is that firms can use an information security audit (which is an integral part of a management control system) along with adjustments to the compensation payments to the agent and the investment decision rules, to mitigate a Chief Information Security Officer's inherent empire building preferences. The paper also identifies additional research areas where management accountants with expertise in management control systems can contribute to the academic literature and practice surroundi...