Inconvenience cost of mobile communication failure: The case of South Korea

Mobile communication failure can occur when mobile traffic exceeds the manageable level. This depends on frequency bandwidth. Mobile communication failure causes inconveniences in a user's daily life that lead to social and economic damage. To address this issue, mobile telecommunications companies deploy additional bandwidths and develop new technologies, but these are costly strategies. This study applies a spike model based on a contingent valuation method (CVM) to measure the inconvenience cost resulting from mobile communication failure. The mean monthly willingness-to-pay (WTP) to avoid communication failure per user is estimated to be KRW 898.14 (USD 0.80) over a period of five years in our study. The inconvenience cost borne by the population is estimated to be KRW 2.97 trillion (USD 2.61 billion). Users experiencing greater frequency of communication failure are found to be willing to pay more to avoid the inconvenience. When excluding respondents citing zero-WTP, the mean WTP per user was calculated to be KRW 3426.41 (USD 3.01). Data traffic usage and frequency at which communication failure is experienced are variables that exhibit statistically significant effects on WTP to avoid mobile communication failure. Overall, estimation results show that a price discrimination based on data traffic usage or quality can be considered by mobile telecommunications companies and regulators to address the issue of data traffic inducing mobile communication failure.     

Measuring benefits from spatially-explicit surface water quality improvements: The roles of distance,scope, scale,and size

Programs to improve water quality do not improve all water bodies equally. Evaluation of the benefits of such programs must account for where improvements occur and the relative magnitude of improvements that occur in different places. This study uses a choice experiment survey to explore how the value to a household of a surface water quality improvement varies as a function of (i) the distance between the household and the affected streams and rivers, (ii) the degree to which the quality of the water has been improved, (iii) how many stream and river miles have been improved, and (iv) the sizes of the affected streams and rivers. Results show evidence that value declines with distance in an approximately linear way, weak evidence that large rivers are worth more than small rivers, and no evidence that willingness-to-pay is nonlinear in either the degree of water quality improvement or the number of stream miles improved. These results indicate that it may be defensible in applied work to value small, spatially-explicit water quality improvement projects independently and then sum over projects.     

基于人工神经网络的互联网公司估值方法研究

资本市场认为互联网公司市值的驱动因素应包括盈利因子、运营因子、流量因子和协同因子。将协同效应指标考虑到公司估值体系中,意图构造互联网公司优化估值模型。使用美股上市的互联网企业数据建立了评价指标体系,通过因子分析实现了二级指标降维,通过实证分析确认了四个因子与公司市值的相关关系,最后构建了基于人工神经网络BP算法的互联网公司估值模型,通过预测数据的检验发现模型的准确度较高。随着2018年互联网公司美股上市潮的持续,该模型能有效为资本市场估值提供参考。     

“一带一路”背景下人民币国际化的原油计价研究

在"一带一路"倡议下,人民币国际化的原油计价面临着重大机遇:中国与"一带一路"沿线能源出口国利益互补、亚洲缺少原油定价中心、全球出现"去美元化"的趋势以及人民币国际化具备强有力支撑等条件,但同时也面临着资本管制与原油期货市场流动性的冲突、较低开放度的中国金融市场无法为人民币提供畅通的回流路径以及"新特里芬难题"等挑战。借鉴相关发展经验,应积极推进人民币原油期货市场建设、推进金融市场开放构建人民币环流、扩大与"一带一路"沿线国家(地区)的贸易往来、借助基础设施建设强化人民币计价功能等,努力实现人民币国际化的原油计价。     

Forest governance and economic values of forest ecosystem services in Vietnam

Forest ecosystems deliver valuable services to humanity. However, many forests are being degraded and their services have been undervalued. The main problem lies in the inadequate institutional arrangements for forest governance. This paper aims to assess the effects of alternative forest governance arrangements on the provision and economic values of forest ecosystem services (FES) in Vietnam. The study presents a framework for mapping land use and land cover (LULC) change stemming from actual and hypothetical changes in forest governance regimes, quantifies the resulting changes in the provision of FES, and estimates the associated economic values. In the context of the study site in the North Western uplands of Vietnam, we test three alternative forest governance scenarios: business as usual, with a dominant government role; a community-based governance regime; and a private, individual-based forestry governance regime. Scenarios are based quite closely on the way these regimes are (or might be expected to be) implemented in Vietnam. For each forest governance scenario, we map LULC changes based on land suitability analysis and transition likelihood for the period 2010 − 2020. The resulting maps are used as inputs into the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) model, which is used to estimate the quantity of three specific FES: carbon storage/sequestration, sediment yield, and water yield. We apply economic valuation methods to value these services: the social cost of carbon is used to estimate the economic values of carbon storage/sequestration; the cost of removing sediment deposited in reservoirs is applied for valuing the reduction of sediment yield, and the residual value of water supply for hydropower generation is used for valuing water yield. The results show that forest governance regimes have a significant effect not only on forest LULC, but also on the quantity and values of FES derived from forests. The FES are differentially affected by alternative forest governance regimes: some FES increase in quantity and value under some governance regimes and decrease under others. Of the three forest governance regimes examined, there is no one regime that will always be ‘better’ than the others in terms of provisioning all considered FES. For the specific context of Vietnam, we find that the private forest governance scenario is inferior to the community-based governance scenario, as an alternative to the current state-based governance. Because our results pertain to the scenarios as constructed, rather than generally to broad categories of governance regimes, there remains the possibility that regimes can be constructed that outperform all of those examined here.     

Making an exciting brand big: Brand personality,logo size and brand evaluation

This research examines how brand personality (excitement) and logo size used in product design (big versus small) interacts in affecting consumer brand evaluation. We first demonstrate that combining a big logo and a high-excitement brand (versus a small logo combined with a high-excitement brand) leads to high processing fluency, further resulting in more favourable brand evaluation (Study 1). We then determine the consumption situation as a moderator of such an interaction effect: the influence of the big logo and high-excitement-brand combination on brand evaluation is significantly weakened in a private consumption situation (a T-shirt worn at home) compared to a public consumption situation (a T-shirt worn outside, Study 2a), and becomes insignificant for a private product category (slippers, Study 2b).     

Noise from online discussion forums: Evidence from IPOs in China

In this study, we use initial public offerings (IPOs) in China to investigate how online stock forums influence information asymmetry and IPO valuation. The empirical analysis isolates the underpricing and overvaluation components of initial returns. The number of forum comments, postings, and readings are positively associated with initial returns and the degree of underpricing, implying that forums create noise that exacerbates information asymmetry during IPOs. This effect is amplified by the quiet period regulation, which drives investors to rely on online discussion forums to obtain information. Through sentiment analyses of forum posts and media coverage, we find that the negative effect of online forums is more prominent when bad news prevails. We clarify the role of online stock forums in IPO pricing and information asymmetry by separating underpricing from overvaluation in initial returns.     

A Note on a Framework for Valuation Ratios Based on Fundamentals*

Valuation ratios divide stock price by accounting metrics such as earnings, earnings growth, and book value. This study adapts the general valuation framework in Ohlson and Juettner-Nauroth (2005) and Ohlson (2005) to present a unified approach for developing valuation ratios based on fundamentals, referred to as fundamental valuation ratios. One starts with a valuation model that is driven by an accounting metric a and its abnormal growth, then divides the valuation model by a to get a fundamental valuation ratio. For any valuation ratio, one can find a corresponding fundamental valuation ratio, as long as the valuation model is based on the same metric a as the valuation ratio denominator.     

Markets under the Microscope: Making Scientific Discoveries Valuable through Choreographed Contestations

This paper breaks new ground by revealing and conceptualizing the marketization of science as a process that transforms scientific discoveries and markets through a series of choreographed contestations: moments of valuation that occur when different social worlds collide. We follow a scientific discovery, from the moment it entered an incubator, to uncover how valuation practices and market devices enact and contest diverse social values (i.e., what is worth doing) to generate economic value (i.e., what is worth paying for) at the science‐market‐entrepreneurship nexus. In contrast with commercialization of science studies that focus on institutional arrangements, this study explicates the practices and devices used by multiple market actors to transform a scientific discovery into a marketable object. In so doing, we characterise choreographed contestations and the mechanisms through which they operate to explain how specific valuations are performed to work out innovative next steps that unfold the marketization of science.