This study concerns research related to mega events, such as the Olympic Games, to determine whether the economic impact of the Olympic Games on the host countries is significant. This study uses two methods, panel data analysis and event study, to test hypotheses based on the data from 15 countries that have hosted 24 summer and winter Olympic Games. The results indicate that the economic impact of the Olympic Games on the host countries is only significant in terms of certain parameters (i.e., gross domestic product performance and unemployment) in the short term. These findings provide decision makers with comprehensive and multidimensional knowledge about the economic impact of hosting a mega event and about whether their objectives can be realized as expected.

This study extends research on downsizing strategies and influences of an economic downturn to examine the relationship between downsizing strategies and firm performance, and to clarify how a firm's downsizing strategies interact with an economic downturn to affect firm performance. Offering models predominantly based on network, efficiency wage and organization theories, this study tests hypotheses using the Taiwan Economic Journal Financial Data Bank to collect data on 436 listed Taiwanese companies from 2005 through 2009 to examine the impacts of three popular downsizing strategies -layoffs, pay cuts and organizational slack reductions -on firm performance. The results indicate that downsizing may not always be the appropriate strategy for improving firm performance because downsizing with layoffs and reduction of organizational slacks may leave the firm at an inappropriate size, thus, negatively affecting firm performance, while downsizing on pay cuts may not negatively affect firm performance, but it may not be an effective strategy to use in the face of an economic downturn. These findings provide researchers and business practitioners with evidence about firms' responses to an economic downturn and the effectiveness of downsizing strategies for improved performance from a multidimensional perspective.

This study has extended existing research on CEO power, pay structure, and firm performance, offering models based mainly on agency theory and managerial power theory, and testing hypotheses using data from 112 companies across a five-year span (2001–2005) in computer-related industry groups in the United States. The results indicated that power from executive directorship positively impacts a firm's return on assets and return on equity, and that CEO power from duality negatively impacts CEO long-term pay and total pay, while CEO power from tenure positively impacts CEO long-term pay and pay leverage, and composite power negatively impacts short-term pay. Evidence for CEO pay as a mediator between CEO power and firm performance revealed that CEO short-term pay positively impacts a firm's return on assets and international performance but negatively impacts its market value, regardless of which source of power is being controlled. CEO total pay positively impacts a firm's return on assets and international performance, with power from CEO duality, directorship, or composite power being controlled. Hence, and in general, CEO pay fails to significantly mediate the relationships between CEO power and firm performance. The contributions include a multiple-perspective study of CEO power, compensation, and firm performance to comprehensively discover each of their respective relationships. This study has further extended the debate over agency perspectives with stewardship perspectives to fill knowledge and theoretical gaps. Thus, evidence-based findings provide boards of directors with practical knowledge for sound governance with another avenue for future research in corporate governance.

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