An entrepreneur's choice of venture capitalist or angel-financing: A behavioral game-theoretic approach

We develop a game-theoretic model that analyzes the effects of economic and behavioral characteristics on an entrepreneur's choice of financier (venture capitalist or angel). After the entrepreneur has chosen his financier, the dyad faces double-sided moral hazard problems in the form of ex ante effort-shirking, and ex post project-expropriation. In making his choice of financier, the entrepreneur trades-off the following factors. The venture capitalist has higher value-creating abilities than the angel. However, the entrepreneur anticipates a closer, more empathetic and trusting relationship with the angel. Entrepreneur/angel empathy and trust mitigates the double-sided shirking and expropriation threats. Our model contributes to two strands of venture capitalist research; the entrepreneur's choice of financier in the face of double-sided moral hazard problems, and the effect of behavioral factors, such as empathy and trust, on the creation of ‘relational rents’.     

Developing smart service concepts: morphological analysis using a Novelty-Quality map

Among many techniques for generating new service ideas, morphological analysis has been used due to the advantage of decomposing the system into dimensions and shapes and bringing creative results in the process of recombining them. However, with the rise of smart service systems, the determination of dimensions and shapes has become a critical problem, particularly as both their structure and components become complex. This research focuses on a data-driven approach by incorporating mobile app service documents to increase objectivity and diversity in the construction of a morphology matrix. To this end, firstly, the novelty-quality map is developed to identify innovative data based on quantitative indicators. Secondly, morphological analysis is employed along with experts’ judgment in order to generate new smart service concepts. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach are shown based on a comparative analysis with conventional approaches and real services through a case study of smart home.     

Exploring consumer boycott intelligence using a socio-cognitive approach

Despite a worldwide growth in the number of boycott campaigns, the results of studies are inconclusive as the motives behind individual participation are still largely ignored. Drawing on a socio-cognitive theory, the theory of planned behavior, this research investigates whether the direct variables of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, help predict consumers' boycott intention. Conducted in Lebanon, this work employs a survey design administered to a randomized systematic sample of 500 Muslim and Christian consumers. The sample is split into two sub-samples reflecting the main religious groups in the Middle-East. Results show that although the Muslim participants appear more prone to participate in the boycott, still attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are all significant predictors of intentions in both communities with the attitudinal component carrying the most weight. This application of a social psychology theory to the consumers' passive resistance to purchasing yielded significant contributions at the theoretical, empirical, and managerial levels.     

Evaluating the foreign ownership wage premium using a difference-in-differences matching approach

This paper seeks to identify the causal effect of foreign acquisitions on wages of skilled and unskilled workers, using difference-in-differences propensity score matching estimators. Our results suggest that there is substantial heterogeneity in the post-acquisition wage effect depending on the nationality of the foreign acquirer and the skill group of workers. We find sizable post acquisition wage effects on skilled and unskilled wages following an acquisition by a US firm. No such impacts result from acquisitions by EU multinationals. Also we discern some positive wage effects for unskilled workers resulting from acquisitions by multinationals from the rest of the world.     

Finding the crucial factors for sustainable development of rural-based tourist destinations: using Nanzhuang, Taiwan as a case study

This paper aims to reveal the factors which are crucial for the sustainable development of rural-based tourist destination. This paper is possibly one of the few studies which apply rough sets theory (RST) analysis in destination image identification. Using Nanzhuang as a case study, this paper shows that RST analysis can identify the defining image attributes or attractors of a destination. RST analysis confirms the attractors that “pull” tourists to Nanzhuang are rural-tourism-related. RST decision rules reveal how an attribute single-handedly or a handful of attributes influence overall satisfaction. It also provides useful ideas on sustainable development of the destination.     

Understanding repeat playing behavior in casual games using a Bayesian data augmentation approach

With an estimated market size of nearly $18 billion in 2016, casual games (games played over social networks or mobile devices) have become increasingly popular. Because most casual games are free to install, understanding repeat playing behavior is important for game developers as it directly drives advertising revenue. Game developers are keenly interested in benchmarking their game versus the market average, and understanding how genre and various game mechanics drive repeat playing behavior. Such cross-sectional analysis, however, is difficult to conduct because individual-level data on competitors’ games are not publicly available, and that the casual gaming industry is highly fragmented with each firm making only a handful of games.I develop a Bayesian approach, based on a parsimonious Hidden Markov Model at the individual level in conjunction with data augmentation, to study repeat playing behavior using only publicly available data. After applying the proposed approach to a sample of 379 casual games, I find that the average daily attrition rate across game is around 36.5%, with an average “play” rate of 47.9%, resulting in an average ARPU (average revenue per user) across games of around 20.5 cents. Certain genres are linked to higher attrition rates and play rates. In addition, giving out a “daily bonus” or limiting the amount of time that gamers can play each day are associated with a 17.7% and 16.4% higher ARPU, respectively.     

A Note on Finding the Optimal Allocation Between a Risky Stock and a Risky Bond

The allocation of financial assets among securities with different levels of risk is an essential topic in the study, analysis, and strategic use of derivative securities and markets. In a recent paper, Browne (1999) determined the optimal allocation strategy for dividing investments between a risky stock and a risky bond. In this note, Browne's equation determining the optimal strategy is studied and some methods are described for solving it. In addition, some useful rules‐of‐thumb, computational methods, and approximation techniques are presented. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:1181–1196, 2001     

Line,line, everywhere a line: Cultural considerations for waiting-line managers

Given the trend of increasing business globalization, management teams of multinational companies have taken steps to better understand consumers, local business partners, and local governments. Local queueing preferences present managers with additional challenges and opportunities in international markets. The world may be ‘flat,’ but it is foolish to believe that all cultures perceive lines and waiting through the same lens. As discussed herein, perceptions regarding waiting and management of queues vary greatly; therefore, managers should adopt different policies and procedures when managing waiting lines across natural and cultural borders. Considering queue management in a global context offers benefits. Thinking globally—and acting locally—can prioritize and clarify important decisions any waiting-line manager has to make.     

Telecommunications: Dialing a better bottom line

Call-accounting systems should be reviewed by current standards to determine whether they produce the highest possible revenues and deliver the most appropriate customer service.     

加价车一道黑色的风景线

新车加价在汽车市场上属于公开的秘密，之所以加价是因为厂家供货不足，奇货可居。据悉，依附于北京亚运村汽车交易市场的周边商家，卖出的第一辆新款广州本田雅阁加价竟达8．5万元。     

尝试务实的变通之路

从改善生产管理直到营销创新,可看出外贸企业正在进行过渡性升级中国生产的呜呜祖拉制造了南非世界杯上的一个奇观。赛场上响彻全球的160万只呜呜祖拉有90%产自中国,但＂中国制造＂收获的只有5%的蝇头小利。     

Business ethics: a sustainable approach

The author proposes sustainability as the criterion for business ethics. The argument here is that in today's world, business success depends on sustainability. This in turn depends on respect for the environment, employees, customers and stakeholders at large. Thinking about ethics in terms of sustainability involves thinking about ethics in strategic terms. Indeed sustainability could and should be raised to the status of a global ethic. There is evidence to show that corporate social responsibility pays; e.g. the Dow Jones sustainability group index outperformed the Dow Jones index by 36% over the past three-year period. This suggests that taking ethics seriously goes hand in hand with successful business.     

Market success as a criterion for assessing player contributions in sports businesses via a regression-based approach using adjusted performance measures and quasi-dummy variables

Using winning percentage as a well-established proxy for market success, this article proposes a method for estimating the relative contributions of players to victories as an assessment of their worth—that is, their value to team owners or their greatness as judged by sports fans. Specifically, the proposed approach regresses winning percentage on adjusted measures of team performance (with the players of interest omitted) plus quasi-dummy variables coded to represent the participation rates of the relevant players. Though this approach lends itself to use across a wide variety of sports (professional or college football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and so on) and situations (such as season, league, and history of team), it is described primarily in the context of major league baseball and is illustrated by means of a specific empirical application to the case of the New York Yankees.