Testing for Mediating Variables in Management Research: Concerns, Implications, and Alternative Strategies
指出管理研究中标准中介变量检验常因数据特性违反假设，导致估计有偏和错误结论，并提出一种能提供更优估计的替代策略，同时讨论其理论与实证要求。
Due to the nature of the data employed and of the concepts tested, standard tests for mediating variables in management research can often violate an assumption on which these tests are built. As a result, estimates from standard tests of mediating variables can often lack desirable statistical properties and lead to incorrect conclusions. This article highlights when data in management research will violate assumptions underlying tests of mediating variables, suggests an alternative strategy that provides better estimates, discusses the theoretical and empirical demands of the alternative strategy, and demonstrates the magnitude to which estimates improve by using the suggested approach.