The ECJ’s Apple Judgement: A Game-Changer in the Architecture of EU Taxation or Just a Story of Procedural Defeat?

Through its judgement of 10 September 2024, the European Court of Justice closed the Apple State aid case, that is the largest tax case in history, as it is worth € 13 billion. Contrary to most experts’ expectations, the Court of Justice overturned the General Court’s judgement and ruled in favor of the Commission, thereby upholding the qualification of two advance tax rulings granted by the Irish tax authorities to the Apple group as illegal State aid and condemning Ireland to recover an unprecedented amount of money. At first glance, such outcome seems to be in apparent contrast with the Court of Justice’s own recent case law (in particular, the Fiat and Amazon judgements), which had established that a correct interpretation of Art. 107 TFEU prohibits the use of external standards not incorporated into national law – such as the OECD guidelines on transfer pricing in the case of Luxembourg and Ireland – to determine the reference system for State aid purposes. However, some elements and recent developments may induce to minimize the effects of the Apple judgement on the architecture of EU taxation.yesPublishe

Digital platforms in the news industry: how social media platforms impact traditional media news viewership

We examine how social media plays the role of an attention driver for traditional media. Social media attracts and channels attention to a topic. This attention triggers people to seek further information that is reported professionally in traditional media. Specifically,the volume of social media posts about a stock influences the attention to this stock the next day,proxied by the viewership of news articles on the same stock published the next day. We test this hypothesis in the stock market context because social media is less likely than traditional media to diffuse fundamental information in the stock market. Analysing stock-related news articles and stock-related social media posts from Sina Finance and Sina Weibo,we find that the social media post volume of a stock at time t-1 is associated with the traditional media viewership of the same stock at time t. This effect is amplified when social media sentiment about the stock is more intense or positive,and with an increase in the volume of verified social media posts about the stock. Our results provide evidence that social media platforms act as attention drivers,which differ from the information channel functions discussed in prior literature. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited,trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency [P5-0410]and the National Science Foundation under grants 2128906, 2113906 and 1909803.Digital platformsfinancial newsnews viewershipsocial mediastock markettraditional medi

Regulating Algorithmic Management at Work in the European Union: Data Protection, Non-discrimination and Collective Rights

In recent years, algorithmic management practices have been widely adopted by employers to monitor remote work, analyse how applicants behave during job interviews, rate worker performance and calculate wage adjustments. As a result, the condition of workers being subjected to the upstream authority of managers has intensified. Employment protection legislation recognizes the importance of curbing the employer’s unilateral discretionary power by deploying several controlling factors. However, the traditional guardrails have now been displaced by the transformative impact of data-driven technologies. As a response to this challenge, several measures implemented by the European Union (EU) could be pragmatically adapted to curtail the expansion of artificial intelligence-based management prerogative. By applying a multidimensional, anticipatory and participatory approach, this paper integrates substantive and procedural rules that contribute to rebalancing informational asymmetries within workplaces and assesses the effectiveness of these rules. Examining case law, administrative decisions and legislative developments, it also discusses the mutually reinforcing relationship between data protection and anti-discrimination measures, which renders automated decisions documentable and contestable. In addition to defensive tactics, this article calls for the involvement of worker representatives in co-designing digital human resource policies. As data are relational, collective bodies are uniquely placed to exchange information, raise awareness and bring claims, with a view to preventing the improper use of algorithms.yesPublishe

Information source and entrepreneurial performance expectations: Experience-based versus description-based opportunity evaluations

How does the information source—experiential or descriptive—used by nascent entrepreneurs affect their performance expectations? Since judgments based on experience diverge from those based on descriptions,especially when prospects include a low-probability event such as entrepreneurial success,we argue that entrepreneurs’ expectations of success differ as a function of the information source they consult. We also contend that industry conditions interact with the information source to determine expectations. In two studies using field data from entrepreneurial settings,we found that experience generated lower expectations than did descriptions in unfavorable industry conditions (when success was a low-probability event). This pattern was reversed in favorable conditions (when success was more likely). Our findings provide field evidence consistent with the description–experience gap literature,thereby shedding new light on how nascent entrepreneurs’ informational environment shapes how they appraise business opportunities. © 2023 The Author(s)We thank Peter Bryant, Tomás Lejarraga, Martina Montauti and participants in the 2018 EGOS colloquium in Tallinn, Estonia, for valuable comments on previous drafts. We also thank the Associate Editor Fabian Eggers and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable commentsand Deb Ain for editing the manuscript. Research reported in this paper was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Grant No. PID2020-119622GA-I00.Description–experience gapEntrepreneurial performance expectationsIndustry conditionsOpportunity evaluatio

Algoritmos e inteligencia artificial en el entorno labora

El presente libro forma parte del Curso de Derecho digital, conjunto de tres tomos que, en forma de manual, proporciona una introducción sencilla pero rigurosa a las transformaciones que la digitalización está generando en nuestro Derecho. A este tomo de introducción se suma un segundo sobre la regulación de los servicios digitales, y un tercero sobre protección de datosyesPublishe

What is the quack about? Legitimation strategies and their perceived appropriateness in the foie gras industry

This study contributes to the legitimacy literature by investigating the perceived appropriateness of legitimation strategies used by controversial organizations. Through a mixed-method approach comprising interviews and conjoint experiments, we shed light on how evaluators perceive the appropriateness of five legitimation strategies used by the foie gras industry in France and how evaluators' environmentalism and media skepticism influence their perceptions. Some strategies favored by the industry are perceived as inappropriate by evaluators and thus may obstruct or, worse, counter the intended goal of legitimacy enhancement. Moreover, we observe that evaluators' high environmentalism and high media skepticism affect the perceived appropriateness of the strategies, albeit not of all five. Evaluators with high media skepticism favor explanation discourses and strategies that establish a common identity of the industry. Evaluators with high environmentalism favor the use of recognizable quality standards and labels, yet they are wary of high levels of organization through structured representation of industry interests.yesPublishe

Climate risk in mortgage markets: Evidence from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

Using the Credit Risk Transfers (CRTs) issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we study how, absent government intervention, mortgage markets would price hurricane risk. Currently, such risk is priced equally across locations even if it is location-specific. We hand collect a novel and detailed database to exploit CRTs' heterogeneous exposure to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Using a diff-in-diff specification, we estimate the reaction of private investors to hurricane risk. We use the previous results to calibrate a model of mortgage lending. We simulate hurricane frequencies and mortgage default probabilities in each US county to derive the market price of mortgage credit risk, that is, the implied guarantee fees (g-fees). Market-implied g-fees in counties most exposed to hurricanes would be 70% higher than inland counties.yesPublishe

The influence of self-brand connection on consumer reactions to symbolic incongruency and perceived betrayal

This research provides compelling evidence that consumer reactions toward symbolically incongruent brand behaviors depend on their level of self-brand connection. It challenges the conventional belief that high self-brand connection works as a protecting shield for brands and reveals that consumers with higher (vs. lower) self-brand connection react more negatively toward symbolically incongruent brand behaviors because they feel betrayed by the brand. The results unveil that a sense of betrayal can be incited,when a brand's behavior is symbolically incongruent with its established meaning. This pattern of consumer responses is consistent across four experimental studies,which involved a diverse sample of 563 participants from different countries,including the United States,the United Kingdom,and Spain and used various product categories. The results consistently show that individuals with high self-brand connection display an increased intention to engage in negative word of mouth,along with a decline in their brand attitudes and purchase intentions,driven by feelings of betrayal. This effect is further intensified for consumers with higher self-enhancement need. It is worth noting that prior literature on betrayal has often linked such feelings to more significant transgressions and behaviors with immoral connotations. © 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Consumer Studies published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.brand extensioncongruencyfelt betrayalself-brand connectionword of mout

How mortality salience hurts brands with different personalities

From deadly disease outbreaks to crimes and terrorism,consumers often experience mortality salience (MS). This research examines how MS-inducing events impact brand evaluations. We propose that under MS,consumers avoid experiencing change. Because consumers perceive brands with an exciting personality to be more closely associated with the notion of change than brands with other types of personality,the onset of MS is more likely to hurt the evaluations of exciting brands than those of other brands. Study 1,a large-scale secondary data study,showed that the 9/11 terror attacks degraded consumers’ evaluations of exciting brands but not of other types of brands. Subsequent studies demonstrated causality and the underlying mechanism. In Study 2,experimentally inducing MS decreased evaluations of an exciting brand but not of a control brand. Using a process-by-moderation approach,Study 3 showed that manipulating consumers’ perception of the extent to which an exciting brand was associated with the notion of change moderated the negative impact of MS on brand evaluations. Studies 4a-4b demonstrated that consumers’ tendency to avoid experiencing change mediated the detrimental effect of MS on the evaluations of an exciting brand but not of a control brand. These findings add to the literature on branding and offer practical insights for brand management during crises. © 2024 The AuthorsThe research reported in this paper was partially funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE Grants No. PID2022-138729OA-I00 and PID2019-111512RB-I00 to Antonios Stamatogiannakis. The authors are grateful for the dataset provided by the BAV Group and financial support by IE Business School, IE University. The authors sincerely thank the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor and reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions on this project.Brand equityBrand evaluationBrand personalityDeath awarenessMortality salienc

Self-Selected Versus Assigned Target to Reduce Smartphone Use and Improve Mental Health: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Smartphones have become integral to people’s lives,with a noticeable increase in the average screen time,both on a global scale and,notably,in India. Existing research links mobile consumption to sleep problems,poor physical and mental health,and lower subjective well-being. The comparative effectiveness of monetary incentives given for self-selected versus assigned targets on reducing screen time and thereby improving mental health remains unanswered. Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of monetary incentives and target selection on mobile screen time reduction and mental health. Methods: We designed a 3-armed randomized controlled trial conducted with employees and students at an educational institution in India. The study is conducted digitally over 12 weeks,including baseline (2 weeks),randomization (1 week),intervention (5 weeks),and postintervention (4 week) periods. We emailed the employees and students to inquire about their interest in participation. Those who expressed interest received detailed study information and consent forms. After securing consent,participants were asked to complete the initial survey and provide their mobile screen time during the baseline period. At the beginning of the intervention period,the participants were randomly allocated into 1 of 3 study groups in a 2:2:1 ratio (self-selected vs assigned vs control). Participants in the self-selected group were presented with 3 target options: 10%,20%,and 30%,and they were asked to self-select a target to reduce their mobile screen time from their baseline average mobile screen time. Participants in the assigned group were given a target to reduce their mobile screen time from their baseline average mobile screen time. The assigned target was set as the average of the targets selected by participants in the self-selected group. During the intervention period,participants in the self-selected and assigned group were eligible to receive a monetary incentive of INR (Indian Rupee) 50 (US $0.61) per day for successfully attaining their target. Participants in the control group neither received nor selected a target for reducing their mobile screen time and did not receive any monetary incentives during the intervention period. All participants received information regarding the advantages of reducing mobile screen time. As an incentive,all participants would receive INR 500 (US$6.06) upon completion of the study and a chance to win 1 of 2 lotteries valued at INR 5000 (US $60.55) for consistently sharing their mobile screen time data. Results: Currently,the study intervention is being rolled out. Enrollment occurred between August 21,2023,and September 2,2023; data collection concluded in November 2023. We expect that results will be available by early 2024. Conclusions: The monetary incentives and self-selected versus assigned targets might be effective interventions in reducing mobile screen time among working professionals and students. Trial Registration: AsPredicted 142497; https://aspredicted.org/hr3nn.pdf ©Kamal Kant Sharma,Jeeva Somasundaram,Ashish Sachdeva. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org),06.05.2024. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),which permits unrestricted use,distribution,and reproduction in any medium,provided the original work,first published in JMIR Research Protocols,is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information,a link to the original publication on https://www.researchprotocols.org,as well as this copyright and license information must be included.The authors extend thanks for the active involvement of Indian School of Business (ISB) employees and students. The authors also value the contributions made by Akash Raj and Barsha Saha in tool development and study procedures as well as the support from the administrative teams at the Max Institute of Healthcare Management and ISB. The study is funded by the Max Institute of Healthcare Management ISB.mental healthmobile phonemonetary incentivesscreen timetarget selectio