The effect of expertise on consumers' satisfaction with the use of interactive recommendation agents

Based on cost‐benefit theory and the value‐percept diversity model, this study investigates the underlying mechanism that makes consumers feel satisfied with the use of interactive recommendation agents (IRAs). The format of IRAs was manipulated experimentally (attribute‐based format/benefit‐based format/no agent) and participants were classified as either expert or novice consumers. The dependent measures were the perceived costs and benefits of the information search process, the perceived costs and benefits of the decision‐making process, and the degree of satisfaction with the outcome. The results explain the mechanisms underlying consumers' satisfaction when using an IRA. The findings also suggest the presence of an interaction between the expertise of consumers and the preferred type of IRA on various dependent variables. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Affluent mature consumers: Preference and patronisation for financial services

Mature consumers have long been recognised as an important segment of market that no marketers of financial-service providers could ignore. The segment itself, however, is not homogeneous. Our study further segments the market basing on income and contrasts the differences between upscale mature consumers and lower scale ones in terms of their preference and patronisation for financial services. The study based on two large-scale studies designed to generate information that would fill gaps in our existing knowledge about upscale older consumers. Implications are discussed for marketers of financial services to fine-tune their differentiation strategies.     

Trade Gains, Paretian Transfer and the Tragedy of the Commons

Consider trade liberalization between two countries, each of which produces two private goods and provides on a voluntary basis one public good (the common). In these circumstances, what are the consequences of trade liberalization on the production of the public good and on welfare in both countries? Using a Ricardian framework, we first show that the opening of trade increases the opportunity cost of producing the public good in both countries and will therefore reduce the aggregate supply of the public good. On the other hand, at the autarky equilibrium, only one country supplies the public good, the other “free rides”. The analysis of the welfare incidence of the opening of trade then reveals that the country which provides the public good under autarky always enjoys a welfare gain from trade while the free rider under autarky does not unless the terms of trade are sufficiently in its favour to compensate for the reduction in the supply of the common. Finally, if all countries involved in trade liberalization can without cost coordinate their supplies of the common, then the implementation of the first-best outcome is shown to be possible with a conditional Paretian transfer scheme.     

Analysis of the technical efficiency of state rubber farms in Vietnam

This study entails an analysis of the technical efficiency of natural rubber production by state farms in Vietnam. A time-varying stochastic frontier production function model for unbalanced data is estimated for 33 farms. Individual farm technical efficiencies are reported and discussed. One of the main results concerns the bimodal distribution of technical efficiency indices. A few farms operate near the production frontier while the bulk operate well away from the frontier. Some implications are drawn from the results as a guide to future policy research work in the rubber industry in light of recent moves by the Vietnamese government towards economic reform.     

Pricing foreign equity options under Lévy processes

This article investigates the valuation of a foreign equity option whose value depends on the exchange rate and foreign equity prices. Assuming that these underlying price processes are correlated and driven by a multidimensional Lèvy process, a method suitable for solving the complex valuation problem is developed. First, to reduce the number of dimensions of the problem, the probability measure is changed to embed some dimensions of the Lèvy process into the pricing measure. Second, to simplify the integral complexity of the discounted terminal payoff, the valuation problem is transformed to Fourier space. The main contribution of this study is that by combining these two methods, the multivariate valuation problem is significantly simplified, and very accurate results are obtained relatively quickly. This powerful method can also be applied to other multivariate pricing problems involving Lèvy processes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 25:917–944, 2005     

Application of primitive sets to multi-criteria optimization problems

In this paper we generalize the concept of efficiency in multi-criteria problems from being the property of a point to that of a set of points. This generalization permits a variety of solution concepts to these problems. The uniqueness of solution distinguishes this approach from the usual concept of efficiency.     

Overreaction after Controlling for Size and Book-to-Market Effects and its Mimicking Portfolio in Japan

In this paper we observe that firm size (SZ) and book-to-market (BM) cannot fully explain stock returns on prior-return- (PR-) based portfolios in the Japanese stock market. The overreaction effect after controlling for the SZ and BM effects is significant and persistent, and accounts for a large part of the zero-investment returns on the loser to the winner. We therefore propose a new mimicking portfolio whose returns mimic the common factor in returns related to overreaction. Our evidence shows that the proposed four-factor model captures common variation in returns on portfolios, based on stocks SZ, BM, and PR, better than the well-known three-factor model does.     

Competition with asymmetric regulation of mobile termination charges

The aim of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of asymmetric regulation, which allows a new mobile network operator to set higher termination rates than the incumbent operator. We assume that there are two market segments: one in which operators compete on equal terms, with a new technology, and the other in which the entrant is at a disadvantage since the technology it offers is inferior to the incumbent??s. Results show that asymmetric regulation can create favorable conditions that allow the entrant to strengthen its market positioning, and enhance consumer net utilities and social welfare. This highlights the importance of the degree of network asymmetry and the ways in which consumers are split between the two market segments. Lastly, we show that asymmetric regulation can create greater investment incentives for the entrant which could effectively enhance social welfare. These findings can provide useful insights for regulatory policy.     

How Can We Better Understand Current and Future Workforce Values in the Global Business Environment?

Our study tested the predictive power of socioeconomic development theory and age differences theory to explain work values across cultures and across age groups. We compared the values orientations of future managers, business students under the age of 25, with those of current managers and professionals, who we split into three decade groups (30 to 39, 40 to 49, and 50 to 59). Our respondents (n = 1,518) come from six diverse societies: Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, the United States, and Vietnam. Our findings indicate that both theories contribute to our understanding of work values and behaviors. One implication is that while socioeconomic development theory makes an important contribution, it is clearly not sufficient by itself to explain work values/behavior differences in the global context. The study findings and the discussion of them will hopefully provide multinational managers with a clearer assessment of current and future workforce values/behavior. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.