Choice Research: A Wealth of Perspectives

This article is a navigation guide to the twenty papers that emerged from the workshops conducted at the Sixth Invitational Choice Symposium (Estes Park, Colorado, June 2004). The papers are categorized into three broad sets that focus respectively on choice modeling issues, on providing interdisciplinary perspectives on choice, and on relating choice research to real world concerns. Within each category, we offer provide brief integrative overviews linking subsets of papers.     

Imperfect Information and Opportunism

Information is a scarce resource. It is inherently available only in a limited form to decision-makers. Limited or imperfect information is caused by uncertainty — both ontologic and epistemic, limitations in cognitive capabilities or bounded rationality, hidden information, and information asymmetries. This has fundamental implications for the manner in which the self-interested behavior of agents will manifest itself. The article argues that in the context of imperfect information, self-interest can function in a manner quite different from what standard approaches assume. This has been demonstrated by the recent financial crisis. However, there has been limited consideration in mainstream models, both of the neoclassical and institutional type, as to what the exact nature of self-interestedness is, and how this affects the market behavior of agents. The nature of self-interest, therefore, needs to be modeled explicitly to improve the explanatory power of economic theories.     

Brand Equity, Consumer Learning and Choice

The aim of this paper is to explore the links between brand equity, consumer learning and consumer choice processes in general and considering two recent trends in the market place: store brands and the Internet. We first review the advances that have occurred in brand equity research in marketing in the past decade, with particular emphasis on integrating the separate streams of research emanating from cognitive psychology and information economics. Brand equity has generally been defined as the incremental utility with which a brand endows a product, compared to its non-branded counterpart. We amplify this definition: we propose that brand equity be the incremental effect of the brand on all aspects of the consumer's evaluation and choice process. We propose an agenda of research based on this amplified definition.     

Reshaping Global Order in the 21st Century: G‐Plus Leadership in a Multiplex World

This article identifies divergent views on the nature of the changing order and argues that collaborative rather than hegemonic leadership is necessary to sustain global peace, prosperity and justice. This collaborative leadership would increase the number of actors with effective voice. It calls the evolving order “multiplex” because of the overlapping yet divergent interests of the actors involved and “G‐Plus” signaling the importance of the increasing number and diversity of actors. It does so in the context of two of the many challenges facing this multiplex G‐Plus world: sustaining economic prosperity and coordinating global trade.     

The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions

We examine the value relevance of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure of Bangladeshi banks from 2007–2014 in response to a regulatory directive on banking firms’ engagement in CSR activities. We find a positive association between CSR expenditure and a firm's market value. Evidence of an inverse U-shaped curvilinear association between CSR expenditure and market value suggests that the impact of CSR expenditure on a firm's market value has a certain limit. We also document that unexpected or abnormal components of CSR expenditure comprise value-relevant information. Our study provides empirical evidence to support the value relevance of CSR expenditure as an explanation for why firms should invest in CSR and why they should inform various stakeholders about their CSR activities.     

Disclosure Overload? An Empirical Analysis of International Financial Reporting Standards Disclosure Requirements

Despite the positive effects of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) noted in the literature, standard setters have issued reports suggesting that the required disclosures in IFRS have become too burdensome and should be reduced. We examine this disclosure overload problem by testing whether the disclosure reduction recommendations of the Excess Baggage Report issued by professional accounting bodies from Scotland and New Zealand in 2011 are associated with companies’ disclosure incentives and are value relevant for a sample of 196 Australian listed companies. The Excess Baggage Report classifies current IFRS disclosure requirement items into three categories: Retain; Delete; and Disclose if Material. We find that Retain items are disclosed the most, followed by those classified as Disclose if Material, and then by Delete items. Only Retain items are significantly associated with companies’ disclosure incentives. We also find that these disclosure categories are value relevant, especially for below-median profitability firms. Our findings may provide input to the IASB’s ongoing Disclosure Initiatives project.