The impact on stock prices of deferral and elimination of internal control audit requirement for small firms

This paper examines the cumulative market reaction to the events related to deferral of internal control audit requirement under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its elimination under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 for nonaccelerated filers (small firms). We document that small firms experienced negative cumulative abnormal returns around these events; and the differences between the cumulative abnormal returns for small firms and the two control groups (accelerated and large accelerated filers) were negative and significant at the 1% level. These results support the notion that market participants value the reliability of financial information irrespective of the firm size. Within the small firms, we find no firm characteristic significantly explains the market reaction to the events considered. That is, all small firms lost market value in reaction to the events that delayed and eliminated their internal control audit requirement.     

Material weakness disclosures and restatement announcements: The joint and order effects

We examine differences in stock price, option volatility, and litigation reactions to restatement announcements that are associated with a material weakness (MW) disclosure. Contrasted with restatements that are not associated with any MW disclosure, our analyses reveal that firms that announce both a restatement and an associated MW experience significantly more negative market returns, greater implied volatility, and higher likelihood of class action lawsuits. Separating the restatements into timely reporters, where the MW precedes the restatement, and non‐timely reporters, where the MW is concurrent with or follows the restatement, we find that timely reporters experience more negative returns at the time of the restatement, relative to non‐timely reporters, suggesting that investors perceive the early MW disclosure to signal more pervasive control‐related problems. Interestingly, we find that timely and non‐timely reporters are equally likely to be sued, consistent with the argument that wrongdoing (through either a timely or non‐timely MW disclosure) provides stronger grounds for establishing scienter. However, timely reporters appear to secure more favorable litigation outcomes: they face higher likelihood of lawsuit dismissals and pay much lower settlements, compared to non‐timely reporters. Overall, our evidence provides new insights into how market participants incorporate information about internal control weaknesses into their perceptions regarding the economic implications of financial restatements, and financial reporting quality.     

Is similarity a constraint for service-to-service brand extensions?

Are service brands constrained in launching new service offerings? Both research evidence and managerial wisdom suggest brands should extend to similar categories. However, in five studies using real-life brands - four experiments and one large-sample survey - we provide evidence that similarity is less of a constraint for service brands extending to other service categories (service-to-service extensions), compared to cases involving parent brands or extension categories of a product nature. Importantly, we demonstrate that such an effect occurs because service brands possess associations relevant across the spectrum of service categories. Our results suggest that service brand managers have the opportunity to stretch their brands to dissimilar service offerings; yet, they need to ensure the marketing execution does not make the brands’ service associations inaccessible to consumers. The findings suggest that even product brands can build service associations by adding service components to their offering, thus becoming “servitized” and better able to extend to dissimilar service categories. Overall, our work contributes to the academic debate documenting that the principles governing the management of product vs. service brands are not identical.     

The dark side of innovation: How new SKUs affect brand choice in the presence of consumer uncertainty and learning

New product activity is critical for sustained success of consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. However, the impact of new SKUs on the perceived quality, quality uncertainty and subsequent choice of the brand as a whole is, as of yet, not well understood. The authors study how new additions to the brand line shape consumers’ quality perceptions, and how this – next to the mere line length effect – influences their choice of brands over time. They do so in the setting of an emerging market (China), where new product activity is particularly pervasive. Using a unique scanner panel dataset of Chinese households over the period 2011–2014, they estimate a Bayesian learning model that accommodates varying quality, on two CPG categories, and for two types of new-product additions (new sensory SKUs vs. new non-sensory SKUs). They show that while adding new SKUs may lift the brand’s perceived quality level, it also makes consumers more uncertain about the quality of the brand – dampening their brand choice. This holds especially for light customers – an important part of the brand clientele. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Corruption,market quality,and entry deterrence in emerging economies

In many emerging economies incumbent firms often use dubious means to deter entry of other firms. We analyze this scenario in a three‐stage game of entry deterrence. The incumbent has incomplete information about the entrant's costs but can increase this cost by resorting to unfair means (e.g. bribing a politician who harms the entrant). We completely characterize the optimal bribe and show that this depends on the “fairness index” and the “differentiation” parameter. We also show that zero bribes need not maximize welfare and market quality. Our results seem to be compatible with anecdotal evidence from emerging economies such as India.     

试论土壤调查、土地类型与耕地评价兼论倪绍祥先生的土地评价思想

目的 以倪绍祥先生土地评价思想概括和我国土壤普查、土地类型述评为依据，探讨我国耕地评价工作完善路径和方向。方法 文章采用文献研究和对比分析方法。结果 （1）倪先生经过多年研究实践，形成以土壤调查为前提的，土地类型单元为基础，开展土地评价的系统思想。（2）我国土壤调查、土地类型工作中断，致使农用地分等定级、土地质量地球化学等工作缺乏扎实的数据基础，使得现有的耕地评价成果难以满足新时代耕地资源“三位一体”保护要求，也妨害国家对自然资源的科学管理。（3）国家生态文明建设、国土资源科技创新和自然资源管理机构职责整合等宏观背景，客观上要求将土地评价与土壤类型、土地类型相联系，夯实耕地评价的科学基础，创新耕地质量评价体系。（4）科学组织第三次土壤普查，服务于耕地评价实践，将土壤资源融入自然资源统一管理成为必然趋向。结论 倪绍祥先生有关土地评价思想，对于完善我国土地评价理论和方法体系，创新性开展第三次土地利用现状调查中的耕地质量调查专题，适应自然资源统一管理新形势具有重要借鉴价值。亟需科学组织新的土壤普查和土地类型调查研究，更新完善原有的土壤资源图和报告，深化中小尺度的土地类型调查研究，不仅深化人们对土地资源的客观认识，也为新的耕地质量评价提供客观、科学、高精度的数据基础提供可能。     

Unraveling the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands

This study unravels the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands by investigating a multi-step model linking these two variables, in which emotional attachment and relational quality constructs (i.e., brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand commitment) act as a bridge, while customer involvement acts as a moderator. Based on a self-administered survey dataset of 249 international tourists who are customers of luxury hotel brands, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that all proposed hypotheses are supported. As such, this study discovers and clarifies the nature and dynamic mechanism underpinning the co-creation and reciprocation process of customer engagement with luxury hotels. In particular, the positive service experience is found to contribute to customer engagement via emotional attachment and relational marketing. Furthermore, the moderating role of customer involvement in the luxury hotel setting is confirmed.     

甜菊糖苷的功能特性及其在饮料工业中的应用

甜菊糖苷作为天然的高甜度、低热量甜味剂,已被广泛应用于食品、饮料中。本文阐述了甜菊糖苷的化学结构、理化功能特性,综述了甜菊糖苷的研究现状以及在饮料工业中的应用,指出其发展前景广阔,为甜菊糖苷的深入研究提供参考。     

Construction of a service quality scale for the online food delivery industry

The main purpose of this study is based on qualitative and quantitative research procedures, and integrates the key service factors for the online food delivery (OFD) industry extracted by Internet Big Data Analytics (IBDA) to construct a OFD service quality scale (OFD-SERV). This study takes OFD customers in Taipei City as the objects. The results show that 20 key service factors for the OFD industry are extracted through IBDA. The OFD-SERV scale contains six dimensions including reliability, maintenance of meal quality and hygiene, assurance, security, system operation and traceability, a total of 28 items. The results from the structural equation modeling showed that the reliability, assurance and system operation have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Finally, the findings provide knowledge and inspiration for the current OFD, and enable OFD operators and future researchers to more accurately identify the deficiency of service quality.     

优化营商环境,推动发展高质量经济

促进中国经济高质量发展的必由之路是优化营商环境,提升区域竞争力。目前我国面临着国际内外的复杂局势,经济未来的发展趋势不容乐观,为此我们要深入落实新的发展理念,建立新的发展思路,构建新的发展格局。优化营商环境应实现建立服务型政府,实现企业经营环节的全覆盖,降低制度性交易成本、建立完善的商业系统生态链、打造具有中国特色的营商环境。