Advertising to the masses: the effects of crowding on the attention to place-based advertising

Advertising situated in environments where people congregate or pass through on their way to somewhere else benefit from being placed in such high traffic areas. However, these strategically placed ads also suffer from conditions of human crowding that prevents them from being noticed and processed. We undertake a study of place-based advertising in a shopping mall using facial recognition software to determine the effect of human density on the attention directed to advertising. We find that as human density increases, attention to advertising decreases, but only to a point where it begins to increase again. Our research also finds that human density plays a moderating role on the motivation to process advertising.     

The dynamics of moonlighting in Russia1

This paper uses the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) to analyse the dynamics of moonlighting by the working‐age population. We find that moonlighting is transitory and that a desire to switch jobs expressed in the past is positively related to moonlighting in the present and to actual job changes in the future. We also find that workers who moonlighted as self‐employed in the past represent 26.5 percent of the new self‐employed. These results suggest that moonlighting in Russia can be seen as an effective incubator for setting up new self‐employed businesses, thereby providing long‐term benefits for the economy.     

Evidence on the motivation for management forecasts of corporate earnings

A multivariate model of the process by which managers decide to release public forecasts of their firms' earnings is developed, based on factors that are hypothesized to affect the demand for and the willingness to supply such forecasts. We test the model on data from a comprehensive sample of earnings forecasts, and find support for our hypotheses about the likely joint influence of those factors. Larger firm size, greater leverage, higher and more stable earnings rates and less rapid growth rates are found to be associated with an increased propensity for management to provide earnings forecasts for their firms.     

A mechanism implementing the proportional solution

We consider the problem of a commonly owned technology which transforms a single input into a single output. We are interested in implementing a social choice rule called theproportional solution. We introduce a mechanism which implements the proportional solution in Nash, strong (Nash) and undominated Nash equilibria. In the mechanism each agent announces only two numbers which can be interpreted as the total output and her share of the total input-output combination. This paper was originally titled "Doubly implementing the proportional solution." I would like to thank my advisor William Thomson for his detailed comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank Jeffrey Banks and Sung-Whee Shin for their comments. Two anonymous referees and an editor’s comments improved this paper substantially.     

Traders’ choice between limit and market orders: evidence from NYSE stocks

In this paper, we examine a trader's order choice between market and limit orders using a sample of orders submitted through NYSE SuperDot. We find that traders place more limit orders relative to market orders when: (1) the spread is large, (2) the order size is large, and (3) they expect high transitory price volatility. A rise in informational volatility appears neither to increase nor decrease the placement of limit orders. We also find that a rise in lagged price volatility decreases the size of spread, which is driven by the increase in the placement of limit orders.     

Developing a quality prioritization procedure for IPTV service

This study developed a procedure to determine the quality priorities of the internet protocol television (IPTV) service. First, a set of key elements of IPTV service quality was developed based on a literature review and a focus group interview. Second, analytic hierarchy process and the Kano model were applied to identify the requirements of experts and customers, respectively. The experts measured the importance and difficulty of management, whereas the customers measured the satisfaction level and importance of each quality element. Third, quality priorities were calculated through the entropy principle and scenario-based analysis. The proposed procedure is illustrated with a case study of a telecommunications company in Korea.     

Adaptive conjoint analysis for the vitalisation of angel investments by entrepreneurs

In order to promote angel investments, attracting those who have entrepreneurial experience is necessary because their capital, unique managing experience, and business insight are highly beneficial to the performance of the investment. This can be accomplished by providing a preferred investment environment for potential angels who have entrepreneurial backgrounds. In this paper, we use an adaptive conjoint analysis to identify preferred investment environments represented as a combination of support policies for business angels who have entrepreneurial experience in Korea. Of particular interest is a preference for angel insurance. This insurance is newly proposed based on prospect theory, which explains that people tend to be more sensitive to a loss than to a gain. The value of the angel insurance is compared to those of tax policies and matching funds for business angels. The empirical results are expected to contribute to promoting angel investments by attracting entrepreneurs to become business angels.     

Sustainable Urban Landscaping: Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Turfgrass Fertilizers

Residential lawns provide diverse benefits, including social (e.g., enhancing humans’ physical and psychological well‐being), economic (e.g., increasing real estate values), and environmental (e.g., supporting local ecosystems) benefits. However, improper lawn fertilizer applications can cause adverse environmental consequences, such as excessive chemical runoff into adjoining watersheds leading to water contamination. Currently, the importance of eco‐friendly fertilizers to homeowners has not been assessed. This study uses a discrete choice experiment to test whether eco‐friendly fertilizer attributes influence homeowners’ preferences for sustainable landscape management. The findings show that eco‐friendly fertilizer attributes positively influence homeowners’ preferences and willingness to pay, supporting the premise that the promotion of eco‐friendly fertilizer features could improve local ecosystems through increased adaptation. Furthermore, this study tests whether certain fertilizer attributes influence homeowners’ preferences in states with and without fertilizer restrictions. Since the regulatory environment affects homeowners’ preferences for sustainable landscaping, this study compares the results between regulated and unregulated states. The findings reveal that homeowners are more likely to use and are willing to pay higher premiums for sustainable fertilizers in states with residential fertilization regulations. This suggests that with strict fertilizer ordinances, homeowners are more geared toward eco‐friendly landscaping options and that related educational programs should be made available. Les pelouses résidentielles offrent divers avantages, incluant les avantages sociaux (comme la valorisation du bien‐être physique et psychologique humain), économiques (comme la valeur immobilière), et environnementaux (comme l'appui des écosystèmes locaux). La mauvaise application des fertilisants a parfois des conséquences environnementales négatives comme le ruissellement chimique excessif dans les bassins hydrographiques attenants menant à la contamination des sources d'eau. En raison de l'importance des fertilisants respectueux de l'environnement pour la protection de ce dernier, cette étude emploie une expérience avec choix discrets pour évaluer si les attributs écologiques des fertilisants influencent les préférences des consommateurs et leur volonté de payer pour une gestion durable de l'aménagement. Les résultats indiquent que les attributs écologiques des fertilisants influencent positivement les préférences des consommateurs et leur volonté de payer, appuyant ainsi la prémisse selon laquelle la promotion des attributs écologiques des fertilisants de gazon pourrait améliorer les écosystèmes locaux. De plus, cette étude évalue l'influence des attributs de certains fertilisants sur les préférences des propriétaires résidentiels dans les états avec et sans restrictions sur l'application des fertilisants. Puisque le cadre règlementaire peut avoir un impact sur les préférences des consommateurs pour une gestion durable de l'aménagement paysager, cette étude compare les prévisions des états avec et sans cadre règlementaire. Les résultats démontrent que les consommateurs sont plus aptes à utiliser, et sont disposés à payer un surplus pour les fertilisants durables dans les états où des règlements concernant l'utilisation de fertilisants résidentiels sont en vigueur, portant donc à croire que les programmes éducatifs concernant l'aménagement paysager respectueux de l'environnement devraient être accompagnés d'ordonnances strictes en matière de fertilisants.     

How credible is the North Korean threat?

We perform event analysis on particular episodes of tension in the Korean peninsula between 2000 and 2008, and investigate the effect of the events on South Korean financial markets (stock markets, bond yield spreads and the exchange rate) given that South Korea would be the first affected by a military aggression from North Korea. Surprisingly, in nearly all cases, these events, which have often been dramatized in the world media, have no significant impact on either of these variables or only a very small one. We also find no significant impact of events on listed firms that would a priori be likely to suffer from increased tension between the two Koreas. Since financial markets often contain better predictions than expert opinions or surveys, these results strongly suggest that the North Korean threat is non‐credible.