NOTE ON THE PRODUCTIVITY CONVERGENCE OF AIRPORTS IN CHINA

The present paper uses a Malmquist index measure of productivity growth to study the productivity convergence of 25 airports in China during the period 1995–2004. By decomposing the Malmquist index, we find evidence for the convergence of the efficiency level of airports, but not the productivity and technology levels. These results imply that the more productive airports are pushing the frontiers of technology faster by adopting new technology, and that the relative efficiency level of the laggards increases quickly and catches up with the efficiency level of the leaders over time.     

What drives the dating game of executive options exercise? Evidence from Taiwan

Examining Taiwanese firms from 2002 to 2008, this paper investigates the motivations behind backdating the exercising of executive stock options. The probability of suspect exercises (backdating) is positively related to the firm’s stock return, the value of the option, tax savings, institutional ownership and the extent of CEO equity ownership and negatively related to firm‐specific risk and the use of Big Four accounting firms. Tax incentives motivate executives to backdate the exercise date, implying that the greater the potential for larger tax savings, the greater the likelihood of backdating. Backdating usually occurs in firms that have heavy ownership by the CEO, have more claims to executive stock options and are not family‐run, confirming the presence of the agency cost problem.     

Index Options-Futures Arbitrage: A Comparative Study with Bid/Ask and Transaction Data

We can infer from bid/ask quotations and transaction prices that where options contracts are traded under a competitive open‐outcry market‐making system, the options and futures markets are dynamically efficient. Ex‐ante analysis shows that potential arbitrage opportunities disappear within five minutes. Transaction price data understate both the frequency and magnitude of arbitrage opportunities that are signaled by bid/ask quotes. Quotes stale fast, so opportunities are short‐lived and some of the arbitrage opportunities are deceptive. Nonetheless, the evidence suggests that bid/ask quotes provide valuable trading signals to arbitrageurs. Profitability from exploiting the quotes is negatively related to execution delay and execution risk.     

Technology policies,technology transfer by multinational enterprises and R&D activities in LDCs

A simple game theoretic model is developed to study the interaction between the multinational enterprise's (MNE's) technology transfer and the domestic firm's R&D intensity in an LDC. The implications of two technology policies are studied. Two results are derived under certain plausible conditions. First, the subsidy on the MNE's technology transfer may decrease the domestic firm's R&D. Second, the subsidy on the domestic firm's R&D may decrease the technology level transferred by the MNE to the host country. Welfare implications on domestic consumers and producers are also derived.     

Examining How Attending Motivation and Satisfaction Affects the Loyalty for Attendees at Aboriginal Festivals

This study examined the causal relationships between motivation, satisfaction and loyalty among attendees at aboriginal festivals. A total of 789 usable questionnaires were collected from two aboriginal festivals, Amis Ilisin and Saisiyat Pas‐taai. Data analyses were performed using SPSS 15.0 and LISREL 8.70 for Windows. The analytical results indicate that motivation directly affects satisfaction and indirectly affects loyalty, whereas satisfaction directly affects attendee loyalty at aboriginal festivals. Moreover, satisfaction significantly affects the loyalty of attendees at aboriginal festivals and is an important mediating variable in the behavioral model of aboriginal festivals. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Social Capital,Top Executive Attributes and R＆D on Firm Value in Chinese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

This study uses an unbalanced panel data analysis to examine the effects of social capital, top executive attributes and R ＆D on firm value in Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Board from 2007 to 2011. There are several interesting findings. First, the gender （male） and academic degree of the chairperson in the SMEs have a positive and significant effect on firm value. Second, social capital （measured by politieal connections, managerial business association networks and technology association networks） and R＆D have a positive effect on SME firm value. Third, the effect of politieal connections on firm value for state-owned enterprises （SOEs） is stronger than for non-SOEs, while the effect of business and technology networks on firm value for non-SOEs is stronger than for SOEs. Our study has important policy implications for SMEs that want to compete successfully in China.     

A trade-off between non-fundamental risk and incentives

This study conjectures that CEOs are rewarded more heavily for fundamental than for non-fundamental performance, and that the impact of non-fundamental risks is more negative than that of fundamental risks on pay-performance sensitivity. While the first conjecture stems from the controllability principle, the second conjecture is attributable to the interplay between the risk-incentive trade-off and delegation of responsibility to the agent. This study devised measures for fundamental and non-fundamental performance using an ARIMA-based unobserved-component approach. The two conjectures are strongly supported by this study’s findings over a wide range of empirical specifications, indicating that the optimal level of pay-performance sensitivity depends not only on the degree, but also on the nature, of performance uncertainty.