Information asymmetry and monitoring in equity private placements

This paper systematically examines the factors that determine price discounts and announcement effects of equity private placements conducted by firms in Taiwan from 2002 to 2008. Different with most studies of private placements using available observations as a whole sample, our study separates the whole sample into subsamples by exchange-listed firms and OTC firms. The results for OTC firms corroborate the information hypothesis; the discounts serve as compensation for investor's costs of assessing firms, while abnormal returns reflect the information about firm quality. On the other hand, the empirical results show that some of our findings support an information explanation and some support a monitoring explanation in the case of exchange-listed firms. It seems that there are different motives behind the exchange-listed firms placing equity privately.     

Determinants of the Effectiveness of Corporate Codes of Ethics: An Empirical Study

Recent figures reported by KPMG confirm the growing prevalence of corporate codes of ethics globally. Svensson et al. (Bus Ethics 18:389–407, 2009) in surveys of the largest corporations in Australia, Canada, and Sweden found a similar trend. The increased prevalence of corporate codes of ethics has been accompanied by heightened research interest in various aspects of these documents, e.g., the contents and focus of the codes. However, there is a paucity of research examining the effectiveness of these documents and the organizational infrastructure that accompany them. This study, based on a survey of Canada’s largest corporations, sought to empirically assess the determinants of the effectiveness of corporate codes of ethics by regressing managers’ perceptions of code effectiveness against various elements of ethics programs. It was found that, in a statistically significant model, eighteen independent variables explain 58.5% of the variance in the perceived effectiveness of corporate codes of ethics.     

Generative Bayesian neural network model for risk-neutral pricing of American index options

Financial models with stochastic volatility or jumps play a critical role as alternative option pricing models for the classical Black–Scholes model, which have the ability to fit different market volatility structures. Recently, machine learning models have elicited considerable attention from researchers because of their improved prediction accuracy in pricing financial derivatives. We propose a generative Bayesian learning model that incorporates a prior reflecting a risk-neutral pricing structure to provide fair prices for the deep ITM and the deep OTM options that are rarely traded. We conduct a comprehensive empirical study to compare classical financial option models with machine learning models in terms of model estimation and prediction using S&P 100 American put options from 2003 to 2012. Results indicate that machine learning models demonstrate better prediction performance than the classical financial option models. Especially, we observe that the generative Bayesian neural network model demonstrates the best overall prediction performance.     

当代社会主义的历史方位与中国特色社会主义

本文认为 ,当代社会主义所处的历史方位 ,一方面在于它正处在与资本主义长期并存的时期 ;另一方面就其自身而言 ,则正处在“不发达”、“不完善”阶段。因此 ,中国特色社会主义 ,应当是一个既遵循马克思主义的基本原则 ,同时又立足中国国情 ,并把二者紧密结合起来的概念。     

The effects of dining atmospherics: An extended Mehrabian–Russell model

This study examined the relationships among dining atmospherics, emotional responses, perceived value, and behavioral intentions, using Chinese restaurants as its research setting. Results of the study revealed that dining atmospherics had significant effects on customers’ positive emotions, negative emotions, and perceived value. Further, both positive and negative emotions and perceived value also influenced customers’ post-dining behavioral intentions. Perceived value not only functioned as the greatest contributor to behavioral intentions but also mediated the relationship between emotional responses and behavioral intentions. Positive emotions and negative emotions had asymmetric effects on perceived value. Positive emotions showed a stronger capability in predicting perceived value. Chinese restaurant managers must utilize the effects of restaurant atmospherics to improve customers’ perceived value of the restaurant and their revisit intentions. Other practical implications are discussed as well.     

External shocks and efficiency changes in the US airline industry

The US airline industry has experienced severe turbulence during the recent decade. The September 11 terrorist attack (9/11) was the greatest shock at the beginning of the 2000s. Recently, the dramatic increase in fuel costs emerged as another shock to the industry. To understand the effects of these two major events, this study investigated the cross-sectional efficiency of the US airline industry and its changes using the data envelopment analysis technique. The primary findings suggest that 9/11 affected the network carriers (NCs) more severely than the low-cost carriers (LCCs), while fuel costs more seriously influenced the LCCs than the NCs.     

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS,ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CAUSALITY: JAPAN'S EXPERIENCE

Based on page counts of articles published in 60 quality economics journals, the role of research publications was examined for Japan. Economic growth is found to have causal effects on research publications. Impulse responses further indicate that economic growth promotes research outputs. A unique socioeconomic characteristic in Japan explains the causal directions found here.     

Optimal retirement with unemployment risks

This paper investigates the optimal retirement of an individual in the presence of involuntary unemployment risks and borrowing constraints in a complete market with frictions. We use an intensity model and loading factors to illustrate the involuntary unemployment risks and frictions in unemployment insurance markets. Using reasonably calibrated parameters, we observe that high involuntary unemployment intensity and loading factors could be important explanations for the empirical findings emphasized in recent studies. We also find that an individual with high leisure demand after retirement reduces consumption during retirement and increases stockholdings as retirement time approaches.     

Dividend behavior of lodging firms: Heckman's two-step approach

This study examines lodging firms’ dividend behavior with a framework that clearly distinguishes between the two steps of dividend decisions: whether or not to pay and how much to pay. This study also investigates how firm characteristics influence the payment and amount decisions of dividends. Heckman's two-step approach is used for data analyses because it can differentiate between the two stages of dividend decisions, precluding potential sample selection bias. Results imply that the way in which firm characteristics affect the two steps of dividend decisions are indeed different. The payment of dividends is determined by many firm financial characteristics, the previous year's dividend amount, and some external year-specific events. The variation in the amount of dividends, by contrast, is not explained by such firm characteristics. Only the previous year's dividend amount and some year-specific events have a significant impact on the decision of dividend amount. Results also present some interesting findings, which may contribute to a better understanding of lodging firms’ unique dividend behavior.     

A cross-cultural construct of the ethos of the corporate codes of ethics: Australia, Canada and Sweden

The objective of this paper is to develop and describe a construct of the ethos of the corporate codes of ethics (i.e. an ECCE construct) across three countries, namely Australia, Canada and Sweden. The introduced construct is rather unique as it is based on a cross-cultural sample seldom seen in the literature. While the outcome of statistical analyses indicated a satisfactory factor solution and acceptable estimates of reliability measures, some research limitations have been stressed. They provide a foundation for further research in the field and testing of the ECCE construct in other cultural and corporate settings. We believe that the ECCE construct makes a contribution to theory and practice in the field as it outlines a theoretical construct for the benefit of other researchers. It is also of managerial interest as it provides a grounded framework of areas to be considered in the implementation in organizations of corporate codes of ethics.