A longitudinal study of habitual entrepreneurs: starters and acquirers

This study provides insights into the characteristics and behaviour of habitual starter entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals who have established more than one business) and habitual acquirer entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals who have purchased/acquired more than one business). A human capital perspective is utilized to illustrate that the human capital accumulated by a habitual entrepreneur may influence their subsequent behaviour. Prior business ownership experience is discussed in relation to an entrepreneur's human capital accumulation, as well as their search and business opportunity identification behaviour. A case study approach is used to develop propositions that highlight the similarities and differences between habitual starter and acquirer entrepreneurs. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Allocation model: a tool to develop effective media plans for Turkey

This paper deals with media planning, which is a challenging problem for both academicians and practitioners. An integer linear programming model on media planning is developed which incorporates qualitative and quantitative aspects suitable to the characteristics and needs of a media environment. The objective of the model is to allocate a given advertising budget among competing magazines by the use of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) so that opportunity-to-see (OTS) is maximised. The application of the model to two consumer products proved to increase OTS considerably. The development and application of the model is especially valuable for Turkey because the number of magazines is continuously increasing, readership is low, syndicated research services are limited and models are not widely used in media planning.     

Cyclicality of fiscal policy and the shadow economy

A survey of recent literature on cyclical properties of fiscal policy reveals that fiscal policy is procyclical in many developing countries whereas it is countercyclical in developed ones. However, there is no consensus on what drives the difference in this specific cyclical property of fiscal policy. Using cross-section and panel data sets for 78 countries we document that procyclicality of fiscal policy is more pronounced in countries with a larger size of the shadow economy. We also show that policies reducing the size of the shadow economy lead to a less (more) procyclical (countercyclical) fiscal response to shocks.     

Lifestyle Segmentation of Spa Users: A Study of Inbound Travelers to Hong Kong

Based on the increasing popularity of the wellness/spa trend and the growing numbers of inbound tourists to Hong Kong, it is crucial for spa industry experts to understand the ever-changing desires of consumers. The study aims to identify the lifestyle dimensions of international spa visitors to Hong Kong and to profile each segment based on their sociodemographic and travel characteristics. The study adopts a quantitative approach to segmenting international spa visitors in Hong Kong by lifestyle. The results of the lifestyle segmentation revealed five clusters of spa visitors. The segments are “health conscious and intellectual”, “average”, “family focused”, “pleasure oriented”, and “carefree”. It is found that the majority of travelers who visit spas in Hong Kong are health conscious and intellectual. In general, visitors prefer day spas, to visit with their partner or friends, and to enjoy body massage treatments.     

A genetic algorithm approach to detecting temporal patterns indicative of financial statement fraud

This study presents a genetic algorithm approach to detecting financial statement fraud. The study uses a sample comprising a target class of 51 companies accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of improperly recognizing revenue and a peer class of 339 companies matched on industry and size (revenue). Variables include 76 comparative metrics, based on specific financial metrics and ratios that capture company performance in the context of historical and industry performance, and nine company characteristics. Time-based patterns detected by the genetic algorithm accurately classify 63% of the target class companies and 95% of the peer class companies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Credit risk pricing in a consumption-based equilibrium framework with incomplete accounting information

We present a consumption-based equilibrium framework for credit risk pricing based on the Epstein–Zin (EZ) preferences where the default time is modeled as the first hitting time of a default boundary and bond investors have imperfect/partial information about the firm value. The imperfect information is generated by the underlying observed state variables and a noisy observation process of the firm value. In addition, the consumption, the volatility, and the firm value process are modeled to follow affine diffusion processes. Using the EZ equilibrium solution as the pricing kernel, we provide an equivalent pricing measure to compute the prices of financial derivatives as discounted values of the future payoffs given the incomplete information. The price of a zero-coupon bond is represented in terms of the solutions of a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) and a deterministic PDE; the self-contained proofs are provided for both this representation and the well-posedness of the involved SPDE. Furthermore, this SPDE is numerically solved, which yields some insights into the relationship between the structure of the yield spreads and the model parameters.     

Deterring fraud by looking away

Individuals being audited potentially learn how to exploit the weaknesses inherent in any audit methodology if they face the same method many times. Hence, an auditor better deters fraud by randomizing her choice of methodology over time, thereby frustrating a would‐be fraudster's ability to learn. In the extreme, an auditor benefits from refusing to audit, even though audits are costless to her.     

Effects of Service Standards Communication and Servant Leadership on Strategic Competence and Customer Orientation

Service standards communication and servant leadership are both important mechanisms to improve an organization＇s service process. Therefore, they are likely to affect strategic competence and customer orientation skills of organizations. In this research, customer orientation and strategic competence are undertaken in relation with servant leadership and service standards communication, using a sample of 106 Turkish firms＇ executive assistants. The results prove that service standards communication and servant leadership have a strong positive relationship with both strategic competence and customer orientation.