First-class research –

In European air traffic management, there are discussions regarding the future role of the network manager (NM): in particular, should the NM be able to assign flights to specific trajectories, should airspace users be allowed to freely choose their preferred trajectory, or something in between? In this paper, we develop a modeling framework that can be adapted to these settings to assess their effect on key performance indicators.

We focus on the pre-tactical stage of planning air traffic for a future departure day, meaning that airspace capacity budgets are given and incoming flight intentions need to be offered one or several ‘trajectory products’ for a (possibly dynamically determined) charge. These trajectory products differ in the amount of flexibility that they provide the NM to route the flight. Charges are set so as to reward greater flexibility of airspace users with lower charges. The airspace user chooses one of the offered trajectory products according to a choice model that reflects their preferences given, among others, the product charges. Shortly before the departure day, the NM decides simultaneously on the routing (within the limits defined by the purchased trajectory products) and on each airspace’s sector opening scheme (within the limits of the fixed capacity budgets) so as to minimize the overall displacement cost. Methodologically, the problem deviates from typical dynamic pricing problems in various major ways, e.g., featuring a boundary condition that we show to be NP-hard as well as fairness and revenue neutrality constraints. The problem is cast in the form of a dynamic program. We exploit a certain structure in the boundary condition to formulate an efficient heuristic. Based on a numerical case study, we find that the use of dynamically priced trajectory products achieves a cost performance close to the one obtained if the NM has a mandate to simply assign flights to trajectories. Therefore, this seems an attractive design for the role of the NM, giving airspace users some choice whilst achieving low overall costs.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2022.04.004

Despite a growing body of research, the role of chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism for firm performance is subject to a controversial discussion in the literature. To help advance the discussion, I build on upper echelon theory to propose that innovation is a crucial mediating mechanism that helps explain how CEO narcissism may be beneficial for firm performance. To better understand the conditions under which CEO narcissism may be beneficial for innovation and ultimately firm performance, I investigate the moderating role of CEO gender and managerial discretion. Building on 68 studies, results from meta-analytical structural equation modeling confirm that CEO narcissism can be beneficial for firm performance through stimulating innovation. However, the results further caution that these performance benefits are likely to be canceled out by other detrimental actions pursued by narcissistic CEOs, indicating that they can be a double-edged sword for firms. Moreover, the results support that narcissistic female CEOs engage less in innovation (compared to their male counterparts). Interestingly, they seem to engage in other beneficial actions which ultimately improve overall firm performance, whereas their male counterparts engage in other harmful actions which hurt overall firm performance. The results further highlight that, while the upsides of narcissistic CEOs for performance through innovation increase in high managerial discretion contexts, their greater leeway enhances their downsides even more, so that they do not only offset the benefits of narcissistic CEOs, but even lead to detrimental effects for performance. This study contributes to the literature on CEO narcissism by theorizing and empirically demonstrating that the relationship between CEO narcissism and performance is more complex than previously depicted and requires a more nuanced investigation of the underlying mechanism as well as of potential contingencies. Building on these findings, future research opportunities are identified to further advance the literature on CEO narcissism.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12649

This paper examines the role of personal income taxes (PIT) in corporate investment decisions. Since PIT reduce consumption and increase cost of labor, investment decisions can be affected because of the inevitable link of production input factors. Using data on PIT in 27 European countries and three within-country approaches, we find that personal income taxes substantially reduce investment. The magnitude is comparable to the effect of corporate taxes. We also document that the PIT-investment relationship can be explained by increased labor costs and by reduced consumption due to higher PIT.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102275