Many researchers have analyzed causal mediation with the measures for direct and indirect effects in a system of regression models. The direct effect indicates the effect of a focal predictor not through a mediator, whereas the indirect effect indicates the effect of the focal predictor through a mediator. Various versions of two approaches (product approach and potential outcomes approach) have been used to find the measures indicating the quantified direct and indirect effects in a system of regression models. However, it may not be easy to identify the measures with the two approaches, because they do not provide a general formula for identifying the measures in various systems of regression models. Thus, this paper proposes a new approach providing a general formula for identifying the measures intuitively and clearly. The new approach decomposes the effect of a focal variable on a dependent variable into five additive components in view of moderation and mediation.

Extant literature on status has emphasized the benefits of high status for organizations. This paper, however, explores the economic costs that high status actors may accrue in market transactions. We hypothesize that high status actors are likely to engage in economically costly efforts, such as overpayment in acquiring resources that critically influence their image to relieve their status anxiety. We also hypothesize that they are more likely to engage in such behavior when there are no other efficient ways to relieve the status anxiety and when such behavior is particularly effective in alleviating the anxiety. Empirical analysis with the panel data of the English Premier League teams provides strong supports for the hypotheses. It finds that high status teams are more likely to purposely overpay for the acquisition of players, especially for younger ones and in the summer transfer windows. Based on the results, we discuss theoretical implications, limitations, and future research directions.

This study focused on some key antecedents of knowledge sharing by individual employees. The aim was to identify the roles of contextual factors (procedural justice and supervisor close monitoring) and the mediating variables (perceived supervisory support and scouting behavior) in knowledge sharing. We surveyed 157 employees and their coworkers and supervisors to measure different variables thereby reducing common source bias. Analysis with structural equation modeling showed that the effect of procedural justice on knowledge sharing was completely mediated by perceived supervisory support. Similarly, the effect of supervisor close monitoring on knowledge sharing was completely mediated by scouting behavior and perceived supervisory support. The indirect effects were significant in both cases.

This paper explores possible links between overproduction and future gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Using a measure of economywide overproduction that captures firms’ real earnings management (REM) incentives, we find that REM-driven overproduction has a negative moderating effect on the positive association between growth in aggregate accounting performance and one-quarter-ahead GDP growth documented in the literature. We also find that macro forecasters do not fully incorporate this effect into their forecasts. Our findings contribute primarily to the literature that links aggregate accounting information to GDP growth.