Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance

This study here examines the role of absorptive capacity as both a mechanism to identify and translate external knowledge inflows into tangible benefits, as well as a means of achieving superior innovation and time-lagged financial performance. Using path analysis in a sample of 461 Greek enterprises participating in the third Community Innovation Survey, this study demonstrates that external knowledge inflows are directly related to absorptive capacity and indirectly related to innovation. Absorptive capacity contributes, directly and indirectly, to innovation and financial performance but in different time spans. This study, therefore, contributes to the understanding of absorptive capacity's antecedents and outcomes by providing empirical evidence of longitudinal form that offers important research and practical implications.     

Does Female Directorship on Independent Audit Committees Constrain Earnings Management?

This study examines whether the gender of the directors on fully independent audit committees affects the ability of the committees in constraining earnings management and thus their effectiveness in overseeing the financial reporting process. Using a sample of 525 firm-year observations over the period 2003 to 2005, we are unable to identify an association between the proportion of female directors on audit committees and the extent of earnings management.     

Market Interest in Nonfinancial Information

During the past two decades, more and more companies have volunteered to provide “corporate social responsibility” or “sustainability” reports that include information about their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and performance. Such reporting has come about largely in response to demands by a wide range of stakeholders for information about how the company's operations are affecting society in a number of different ways. But do investors really care about companies' ESG performance and policies? Using data from Bloomberg, the authors provide the first broadly based empirical evidence of investors' interest in ESG data. More specifically, the authors show how interest in the top 20 ESG metrics varies with geographical location (European vs. American), asset class (fixed income vs. equity), and firm type. At the aggregate market level, there is greater interest in environmental and governance information than in “social” information. U.S. investors are more interested than their European counterparts in governance and less interested in environmental information. Equity investors are interested in a wider range of nonfinancial information than are fixed income investors. And whereas sell‐side analysts are primarily interested in greenhouse gas emissions, money managers tend to focus on a broader set of metrics. Similarly, pension funds and hedge funds have shown interest in more nonfinancial metrics than insurance companies. The authors' bottom line: Companies need to recognize the growing market interest in nonfinancial information and ensure that they are providing it according to the specific information needs of market users.     

Revisiting the expectations hypothesis of the term structure of interest rates

The expectations hypothesis of the term structure has been decisively rejected in a large empirical literature that spans several decades. In this paper, using a newly constructed dataset of synthetic zero-coupon bond yields, we show that evidence against the expectations hypothesis is substantially weaker in data generated after the widespread publicity of its failure. These results are consistent with the idea that asset pricing anomalies tend to disappear once they are widely recognized.     

Measuring cost when inpatient service acuity varies

Equivalent acute patient days (EAPDs) offer a more accurate means than adjusted patient days (APDs) to analyze a hospital's overall cost increases from one period to another in situations where there are significant differences among inpatient types in terms of acuity.     

MALLEE WHEAT FARMERS' DEMAND FOR CROP AND RAINFALL INSURANCE

Producers' demand for a crop insurance program with indemnities based on their actual yields and a rainfall insurance program with indemnities based on area rainfall is analysed. Actuarial costs of these hypothetical programs are estimated. Tobit procedures are used to analyse factors influencing the amount which farmers would be willing to pay for the alternative insurance programs. Factors related to the absolute size of risk and capacity to bear risk, as well as personal characteristics and risk attitudes of producers, have effects on the demand for insurance as hypothesised. Problems of adverse selection are associated with the area yield-based program, while both crop and rainfall insurance programs may involve some moral hazard. Producer participation in either program would be limited.     

Modelling the effect of national culture on countries’ innovation performances: A conditional full frontier approach

This paper provides empirical evidence of the link between countries’ cultural factors and innovation performance. By defining innovation process in a knowledge production framework it uses conditional and unconditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models together with data from the European Innovation Scoreboard for the year 2007 and Hofstede’s cultural indexes. In this way it models and measures the effect of cultural values on 25 European countries’ innovation efficiency levels. The empirical results reveal that national culture can impact countries’ innovation performance. Specifically, we find significant negative effects on countries’ innovation efficiency levels for countries with higher power distance and uncertainty avoidance values.     

Economics and Programmed Instruction

An examination of programmed instruction indicates that it is as effective as the lecture-discussion technique for teaching economics when measured by student examination performance. Evidence indicates that PI students better retain information applicable to solving complex application questions than those exposed to traditional instruction. PI saves student and instructor time, yet the growth of its use has diminished. Vredeveld examines the principles and development of PI, its effectiveness, and the economic reasons inhibiting its use in colleges and universities.     

Segmenting East Asian Tourists to Greece by Travel Motivation

This study compares the push and pull motivations of East Asian (Japanese, Chinese and Korean) tourists who visit Greece and also proposes market segmentation based on travel motivations that transcend the national boundaries of those countries. Four main push factors were identified: “Knowledge”, “Ego-enhancement”, “Escape & Relaxation” and “Novelty”. Similarly, four pull factors were also identified: “Leisure, shopping and safety”, “Variety and cost”, “Culture & heritage” and “Travel arrangements and facilities”. Cross-cultural differences were found regarding the importance of travel motivations. Chinese tourists scored higher than other nationalities for almost all motivation categories. Although the cross-cultural differences are important, this study proposes another way to tackle the market segmentation by conducting an international segmentation based on inherent similarities across different nationalities of travelers. Three segments emerged from that analysis with the “Novelty Seekers” to be the largest followed by the “Want-it-All” and the “Lowly Motivated”.