The impact of just-in-time manufacturing on firm performance in the US

Just-In-Time manufacturing has been subjected to numerous studies both empirical and methodological. This work attempts to measure the impact of JIT on accounting measures of performance. Most technologies and investments are justified on the basis of their impact on financial and accounting measures which are not easily quantified. Our empirical methodology, simultaneous equation estimation, allows us to isolate the partial effects of JIT on various accounting measures thus gauging the true impact of this method on firm performance. Our results show that after JIT adoption firms reduced the labor content in facilities, increased inventory turnover and enhanced earnings. There was no significant impact on prices charged by the firm. These results support the anecdotal evidence on JIT and the theoretical work done by various authors. Even though the firms studied experienced a downturn in their performance our empirical methodology could identify positive benefits resulting from JIT adoption.     

Production costs for consolidated multibank holding companies compared to one-bank organizational forms

Economies of scale and scope for consolidated multibank holding companies (MBHCs) are examined with a translog cost function and are compared with one-bank holding companies (OBHCs) and independent banks. Empirical results indicate that costs curves are generally U-shaped for independent banks and OBHCs but are relatively flat for MBHCs. This evidence implies that banking organizations should prefer the MBHC to one-bank forms at higher output levels. Implications for bank regulatory policy and interstate banking are discussed.     

The Short-Term Inflation-Hedging Characteristics of U.K. Real Estate

This study investigates the short-term inflation-hedging characteristics of U.K. real estate compared to other U.K. investments. It considers not only total returns but also changes in income and changes in capital values. The analyses are undertaken using annual and quarterly data. Stocks, bonds, appraisal-based real estate (including the three property types, separately), and real estate stocks are considered. Real estate series, constructed from the original appraisal series to take account of autocorrelation, also are used. The methodology is based on that devised by Fama and Schwert (1977) and tests are undertaken for stationarity and structural breaks. Hypotheses are established about the coefficients on expected and unexpected inflation in the model, and these are tested. It is concluded that real estate has poorer short-term hedging characteristics for total return, change in capital value, and change in income than stocks but better characteristics than bonds. However, there is evidence to suggest that the relationships change under different economic environments.     

Payout policies and closed-end fund discounts: Signaling, agency costs, and the role of institutional investors

The adoption of a managed distribution policy or plan (MDP) by closed-end funds appears effective in dramatically reducing, even eliminating, fund discounts. We investigate two possible explanations: the signaling explanation proposed in the literature, that the MDP serves as a positive signal of future fund performance, and an alternative explanation based on agency costs. Our results indicate that signaling is, at best, only part of the explanation and that the evidence is generally more consistent with the agency cost hypothesis. For funds adopting aggressive payout targets of 10% (median target) and above, discounts tend to disappear, though there is no discernible improvement in NAV performance. Consistent with the agency cost hypothesis, it is often pressure from institutions/large shareholders that leads to the adoption of aggressive payout policies. Moreover, aggressive-MDPs are associated with a decrease in fund size and managerial fees. Suggestive of their activist role in MDP adoptions and/or informed trading, institutions – especially ones that are Value oriented – tend to build-up their holdings in a fund prior to the adoption of an aggressive-MDP, and liquidate their positions once the price rises.     

Remittances and GDP in Jamaica: An ARDL Bounds Testing Approach to Cointegration

Similar to other developing nations, Jamaica’s remittances, specifically inflows, are an important source of income support and foreign exchange earnings. Anecdotally, much has been said about the relationship between remittances and GDP in this country. Yet, less has been established using rigorous statistical inference. We test for unit roots with structural breaks and use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration to help fill this lacuna in the literature on Jamaica. Using annual data for the 1976–2014 period, we examine the relationship between GDP and remittances, both measured in constant 2010 US dollar terms, as we control for the common determinants of economic growth. The main finding is that GDP and remittances are cointegrated relationship wherein they both reinforce each other positively. This finding is statistically robust as the ARDL models have well-behaved errors and parameters that are generally stable over the period. We discuss policy implications of this finding.     

Diasporas and Domestic Entrepreneurs: Evidence from the Indian Software Industry

This study explores the importance of cross‐border social networks for entrepreneurs in developing countries by examining ties between the Indian expatriate community and local entrepreneurs in India's software industry. We find that local entrepreneurs who have previously lived outside India rely significantly more on diaspora networks for business leads and financing. This is especially true for entrepreneurs who are based outside software hubs—where getting leads to new businesses and accessing finance is more difficult. Our results provide micro‐evidence consistent with a view that cross‐border social networks play an important role in helping entrepreneurs to circumvent the barriers arising from imperfect domestic institutions in developing countries.     

Client discretion, switching costs, and financial innovation

We analyze the incentives of investment banks to develop innovativeproducts. We show that client characteristics and market structureaffect these incentives significantly. Investment banks withlarger market shares have greater incentives to innovate andsmaller banks are likely to share their innovations with thelargest bank. Innovation incentives increase in volatile environmentsand regulatory scrutiny actually encourages loophole exploitationactivity. Our predictions are consistent with stylized factsand the analysis has broad testable implications for innovativeactivity in other markets similarly characterized by a lackof comprehensive protection for intellectual property rights,for example, the software industry.     

Nonprofit boards: Size,performance and managerial incentives

We examine relations between board size, managerial incentives and enterprise performance in nonprofit organizations. We posit that a nonprofit's demand for directors increases in the number of programs it pursues, resulting in a positive association between program diversity and board size. Consequently, we predict that board size is inversely related to managerial pay-performance incentives and positively with overall organization performance. We find empirical evidence consistent with our hypotheses. The number of programs is positively related to board size. Board size is associated negatively with managerial incentives, positively with program spending and fundraising performance, and negatively with commercial revenue, in levels and changes.     

Cross‐Country Variability in Cost of Raising Equity: Evidence from Seasoned Equity Offerings

We examine how county‐level governance affects the cost of raising equity. Using data on seasoned equity offerings, we find that the underwriting spread is determined by the litigation risk of issue certifiers, and offer underpricing is largely determined by the investment risk of the equity issue. Underwriting spread increases with enhanced legal enforcement, offsetting the reduction in underpricing associated with strong legal enforcement. Our study offers insight into the effect of legal enforcement and regulatory policy on the cost of raising equity.     

Binge watching: An exploration of the role of technology

Watching television shows in quick succession on the Netflix and Amazon Prime platforms is on the rise. Although widespread, this binge watching behavior has received limited attention from marketing academics. The current study conceptualizes binge watching needs and examines their effect on the gratifications obtained from binge watching. We apply the lens of uses and gratifications (U&G) theory for model development and test the model empirically, using data from two cities in India. We add a new category of needs, namely technology-related needs, to the existing psycho-sociological-related needs (named as content-related needs in this paper) present in plain-old-television studies (POTS). We find that a technology-related need—that is, modal experience (the presence of media content in various formats leading to superior experience)—significantly impacts gratification from binge watching. We also find a strong moderating effect of self-control, used in previous studies of binge-eating and binge-shopping, in which the effect of modal experience, navigability and parasocial interaction need gratification is heightened for consumers who have low levels of self-control. We build on these findings to suggest implications for marketers, advertisers, and consumer-advocacy groups.