Vertically integrated producer when a rival is also a customer: impact of demand uncertainty

When a vertically integrated producer (VIP) is also a supplier of a component for its rival firm, it was found that the profit in a decentralized structure is higher for the VIP than the profit in a centralized structure under deterministic demand. In contrast, we found that firms’ ordering decisions under uncertain demand can reverse this findings and it is more likely to happen as demand variability increases.     

The role of consideration sets in brand choice: The moderating role of product characteristics

This study investigates the role of consideration sets in brand choice. Brand‐level aggregated data are used to capture the responses of consumers who face a number of international and domestic brands in markets rather than two or three brands in experimental designs, as in Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001). Empirical evidence from path analysis shows that the consideration set for hedonic products includes a smaller number of dominant brands, whereas the consideration set for utilitarian products includes more and diverse brands. The probability of being finally chosen from the consideration set differs according to product characteristics: hedonic vs. utilitarian. The authors discuss managerial implications and suggestions for future research. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of Restaurant Patrons' Regret and Disappointment on Dissatisfaction and Behavioral Intention

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship among regret/disappointment, dissatisfaction, and behavioral intention in service failure situations at a restaurant. Even though there is a consensus regarding the positive relationship between regret/disappointment and customer dissatisfaction, unclear results still exist regarding the relationship between regret/disappointment and different types of behavioral intention. Thus, the present study attempts to clarify these fuzzy relationships. Specifically, this study aims to enhance understanding of the influence of regret and disappointment on behavioral intention (switching/negative WOM). The findings suggest that both regret and disappointment are significant determinants of customer dissatisfaction and switching/negative WOM. Further, the study results indicate that regret is an important predictor of switching intention, whereas disappointment is an important determinant of negative WOM. Finally, based on these findings, managerial implications for restaurant managers are discussed.     

Central and Eastern European cultural policies,media reform and development of media markets in the mid-nineties

In many ways the media has become (together with tourism) the most important and dynamic element of leisure in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The role of most traditional and all modern media has been greatly strengthened in the region after 1989/90, after the political and symbolic influence of the ‘fourth power’ in the region's reforms had been widely recognized. The expansion and (post)modernization of the media in CEE countries is taking part at a time when the position of traditional cultural institutions and activities in the regions is being seriously undermined. Following the changes made in 1989/90 to political and economic systems of the CEE countries, a breath of extreme liberalism swept through the region. At the critical initial stage of transition culture in the CEE, countries had to face an assault from two flanks. Severe curtailment of state commitment (both financial and ideological) coincided with a wide opening to the West and absorption of imported culture. Despite generally negative feelings about cultural policy, neither of the countries in question abandoned this realm nor scrapped its cultural administration, but their priorities shifted from aesthetic or ideological considerations to the management and financing of the cultural sphere. While governments still cherish visions of reformed cultural and media policy, the commercial media sector develops successfully throughout the region with minimum amount of regulation. The successful development of the media in Central and Eastern Europe shows not only high growth potential of new markets, but also produces interesting evidence on the co-existence of the state or public providers with new commercial operators. It also shows the difficult balancing act in which domestic cultural industries attempt to introduce legislation to protect local cultural production and curtail international competition, while keeping the domestic market open enough to attract foriegn investment.     

Correction to: Voluntary disclosure when private information and disclosure costs are jointly determined

Review of Accounting Studies - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-021-09623-7     

On the nonlinear relation between product market competition and earnings quality

The literature documents conflicting results regarding the influence of product market competition on earnings quality. We extend this stream of literature by incorporating competition’s effect on both the opportunities and the incentives to manage earnings. The combination of both effects results in a nonlinear relation between product market competition and earnings quality. At low competition levels, additional information associated with one more rival helps reveal earnings irregularity and deter earnings management to a larger extent than its effect on the incentives to manage earnings, suggesting a positive relation between competition and earnings quality. At high competition levels, the latter effect dominates the former. We thus predict a positive (negative) relation between competition and earnings quality at low (high) competition levels. Consistent with our hypothesis, we document an inverted U-shaped relation between earnings quality and product market competition.     

Investor overlap and diffusion of disclosure practices

I develop and test an investor demand-driven explanation for why one firm’s change in voluntary disclosure behavior is emulated by some firms in the industry but not others. I focus on the overlap in institutional investor ownership between two firms as a mechanism by which a first-mover firm’s increase in disclosure prompts investors to seek a similar increase from a follower firm. Using 10-K market risk disclosures as my empirical setting, I find that a firm’s decision to follow a first mover in providing more quantitative information than is required by the SEC is positively associated with an increase in investor overlap from the prior year. I also find that the association is stronger for overlap in large institutional investors, consistent with their greater influence over managers, and for firms where investor uncertainty is high. This association is found after controlling for the herding effect documented in prior studies and after addressing potential endogeneity concerns. Overall, this evidence provides new insight into patterns of intra-industry disclosure behavior and highlights investor overlap as a communication channel and feedback mechanism that helps facilitate the diffusion of disclosure practices.     

Are tourists rational or irrational consumers?

The purpose of the study is to identify whether applying assumptions of consumer behavior in economics or marketing in the tourism context is validated. Therefore, this study investigated whether tourists, as subjects of consumption at a tourism destination, are rational. Also, additional work was performed to identify the determinants in rationality of tourists. Survey research through the three steps of instrument development has been conducted for those who visited the Jeju Island, South Korea. The adequate sample size of 280 pairs was employed for statistical analyses such as a multiple regression analysis. As a result, the study concluded that an application of the assumptions of consumer behavior in economics or marketing to decision-making of tourists’ consumption was inappropriate because the propensity of tourist expenditure at a tourism destination was evidenced as both rational and irrational. More discussion and implications were provided.     

Structure and Perceived Performance in Public Organizations

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine relationships and better-fits between organizational structure and performance in public organizations. This study takes into account multiple dimensions of organizational structure: span of control, organizational personnel size, global organizational red tape and personnel red tape. The relationships between the first two physical dimensions and perceived organizational performance are examined by taking different combinations of measures, such as raw measures, log-transformation measures and squared measures. The results of ordinal logistic regression models find that, except for span of control, the other structural dimensions have a negative influence on perceived organizational performance. While span of control shows a better-fit with perceived performance in a linear and positive direction, personnel size fits better in a log-linear relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the conclusion.     

Trade Intermediation and the Organization of Exporters

Empirical papers show that successful exporting firms either use unaffiliated foreign trade intermediaries or own foreign wholesale subsidiaries. However, conventional trade theory models assume that producers can directly access foreign consumers. We introduce intermediaries in an international trade model where producers differ with respect to productivity as well as regarding their varieties' perceived quality and tradability. Trade intermediation is prone to frictions owing to the absence of enforceable cross‐country contracts while own wholesale subsidiaries require additional capital investment. The sorting pattern of firms depends on their degree of competitive advantage; the equilibrium prevalence of intermediation in the industry depends negatively on the heterogeneity among producers, and the market‐specificity of goods, and positively on expropriation risk. Using sectoral US export data by destination country, we confirm the empirical validity of these predictions.