Seasoned Equity Offers: The Effect of Insider Ownership and Float

Seasoned equity offering (SEO) underpricing has increased dramatically since the early 1980s. While previous research has examined the determinants of SEO underpricing, these studies have not explored the effect of insider ownership on discounts. We find that this effect is twofold. First, higher insider ownership reduces float, thereby increasing price pressure and SEO underpricing. This effect is greatest in firms with low liquidity. Second, the greater the percentage of secondary shares offered, the lower the underpricing, suggesting that manager's pressure banks to reduce underpricing when their personal wealth is at stake. However, we find that this negative relation is mitigated if the firm employs a prestigious underwriter.     

The effects of customers’ perceptions of brand personality in casual theme restaurants

Although existing studies recommend that restaurant chains develop and communicate salient brand personalities, no research to date provides empirical evidence that perceptions of unique brand personality by consumers lead to positive outcomes in the restaurant business. Therefore, using a sample of 336 adults, this research models the causal relationships between brand personality perceptions, brand preference, attitudinal loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth (W-O-M) behavior for the Olive Garden and Chili's restaurant chains. It was found that for both chains, brand personality perceptions have a positive effect on brand preference and attitudinal loyalty, brand preference has a positive impact on attitudinal loyalty, and attitudinal loyalty has a positive influence on positive word-of-mouth (W-O-M) communication. In addition, for the Olive Garden and Chili's brands, it was also found that there is a direct link between brand preference and word-of-mouth behavior.     

Urban Sprawl and Farmland Prices

A theoretical model of farmland valuation is developed to explicitly account for three effects of urban sprawl: conversion of farmland to urban uses, effect on agricultural returns, and speculative effect as represented by farmland conversion risk. This model is estimated using county-level data in the continental United States. Evidence is found for all three effects of urban sprawl on farmland values. Counties more accessible to major urban centers have higher net agricultural returns. Subsidiary evidence supports that the latter effect may be attributed to survival of (or conversion to) high-valued agriculture around urban centers.     

Business Ethics in Canada: Distinctiveness and Directions

This article examines the pressures and players that have shaped business ethics in Canadian corporations, and reports on the status of Canadian corporate social performance in 1995. Business in Canada has not been subject, up to 1996, to a powerful national institutional framework such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Consequently, business ethics in Canada have developed primarily in response to broader socio-political and socio-economic factors than in the US, and will probably continue to do so. Interestingly, the issues, policies and practices developed in Canada may provide insights for US corporations as they respond to broadened pressures. Business ethics in Canada, on the other hand, will benefit increasingly from the US experience as pressures grow for national regulation and statutes governing corruption.     

THE SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF DOMESTIC OIL PRICE INCREASES ON THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The rise in the domestic price of oil products implied by the new import parity pricing policy for domestic crude oil is likely to pose some problems for macroeconomic management. In this paper an attempt has been made to quantify the short-run adjustment problems involved, using the ORANI 78 model of the Australian economy. Results are presented for a range of variables of interest, including macroeconomic variables, industrial and workforce composition and farm incomes. With fixed real wages, farm incomes are projected to decline by between 6 and 8 per cent.     

A proposed method for the analysis of public health policy in less developed countries

The study of public health policy in the less developed countries (LDCs) is handicapped by both lack of adequate data and gaps in conceptual apparatus. A new conceptual model is proposed that would be used for future policy analyses to assess what changes in health status of population in LDCs can be expected as direct functions of increased health service resources, and of improved environmental and econosociocultural conditions.While direct policy analysis is ill-advised at this time due to data inadequacy, the model is illustrated using data presently available for twenty-five relatively homogeneous sub-Sahara African countries. Within the limitations of available data, the findings suggest that reductions in mortality in the region might best be achieved by making appropriate health resources available to the populations. Study findings also suggest that physicians contributed more during the study period to the variance in physical health status than did medical assistants.