Dividends, Asymmetric Information, and Agency Conflicts: Evidence from a Comparison of the Dividend Policies of Japanese and U.S. Firms

We compare dividend policies of U.S. and Japanese firms, partitioning the Japanese data into keiretsu, independent, and hybrid firms. We examine the correlation between dividend changes and stock returns, and the reluctance to change dividends. Results are consistent with the joint hypotheses that Japanese firms, particularly keiretsu-member firms, face less information asymmetry and fewer agency conflicts than U.S. firms, and that information asymmetries and/or agency conflicts affect dividend policy. Japanese firms experience smaller stock price reactions to dividend omissions and initiations, they are less reluctant to omit and cut dividends, and their dividends are more responsive to earnings changes.     

Sports sponsorship perceptions: An exploration

This study examines how consumers perceive sports sponsorship by a financial services organisation. Current literature provides information on the advantages and objectives of sponsorship to an organisation. However, it is evident that there is little on how consumers react to sponsorship and in particular how the differences in brand and event involvement (EI) affect response. Data was collected from two audiences of a sponsored sports event, those who attended the game and those who did not. The research findings indicate that, in the context of sponsorship activity, brand involvement is a direct positive influence on brand attractiveness and brand meaningfulness. This study also shows that EI has a direct negative influence on brand trustworthiness. Those who were classed as involved spectators considered the brand to be less trustworthy. Limitations of the study include the economic environment, type of research method and sample size. Areas of further research are recommended.     

Entrepreneurial global franchise ventures: US and European franchisee failure strategic and empirical perspectives

Rapid United States and European franchise growth offers potential benefits for stakeholders and host counties, as well as the potential for failure. Franchisee failure research is a complex area confounded by varying failure definitions, approaches, an event-focus, and single-year data. This paper includes a strategic franchisee failure perspective that views franchisee failure as a multi-stage process rather than an event; new longitudinal data from the United States for over 780 franchise systems and 292,000 franchise units and United Kingdom franchisee failure data for over 700 franchise systems and 31,000 franchisee units; and estimates of current European business-format franchise market size, including selected Central and Eastern European countries. Understanding and mitigating franchisee failure provide potential lessons for franchisors and franchisees. Franchisee failure and the strategic implications for franchise entrepreneurial ventures is a significant research area that merits further study and analysis.     

A comparison of the National Geographic Stewardship Scorecard Ratings by experts and stakeholders for selected World Heritage destinations

The National Geographic Society Center for Sustainable Destinations Stewardship Scorecards for 2003 and 2006 compared ratings by “experts” for 33 World Heritage Site destinations. Nine (27.3%) improved by four or more points and six (18.2%) decreased by four or more points in the three years. In 2006, local stakeholders rated these World Heritage destinations using the same criteria as the experts. Stakeholders rated six destinations (18.2%) lower and almost half of the 33 destinations (48.8%) increased by five or more points. A moderate positive correlation was determined between the ratings of the experts and stakeholders. Comments by experts and stakeholders related to each of the scorecard criterion measures were analyzed. ANOVA and t-test were performed to examine the six stakeholder categories ratings for each of the six criteria and the results are presented. The assumptions and limitations of the survey methodology are discussed along with recommendations for improving the Destination Stewardship Scorecard Survey.     

Ecotourism Benefits and the Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park,Madagascar

An investigation of ecotourism at Masoala National Park, a forested coastal area in northeastern Madagascar and the country’s largest national park, focused on ecotourism benefits and the role of local guides in promoting conservation awareness. Interviews, participant observation, and archival research were used to investigate the park’s guide association, resident attitudes toward Masoala National Park, and ecotourism as a method of park and rural development. Many factors make Masoala National Park a prime ecotourist destination, including the possibility of viewing its endemic species, such as red-ruffed lemurs. The park has a strong local guides’ association and currently combines conservation and development through a programme that returns a portion of tourism revenue to local communities. Actual or potential benefits received from the park, including ecotourism revenues, were found to influence the positive and negative perceptions of Masoala National Park held by residents living in the park periphery. However, limitations on ecotourism development include poor infrastructure and difficult access, a challenging climate including a hurricane season, and past national political instability.     

The future of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Concern about the future of Amazonian forests is growing as both the extent and rate of primary forest destruction increase. We combine spatial information on various biophysical, demographic and infrastructural factors in the Brazilian Amazon with satellite data on deforestation to evaluate the relative importance of each factor to deforestation in the region. We assess the sensitivity of results to alternative sampling methodologies, and compare our results to those of previous empirical studies of Amazonian deforestation. Our findings, in concert with those of previous studies, send a clear message to planners: both paved and unpaved roads are key drivers of the deforestation process. Proximity to previous clearings, high population densities, low annual rainfall, and long dry seasons also increase the likelihood that a site will be deforested; however, roads are consistently important and are the factors most amenable to policymaking. We argue that there is ample evidence to justify a fundamental change in current Amazonian development priorities if additional large-scale losses of forests and environmental services are to be avoided.     

Compositional Effects of Capital Controls – Theory and Evidence

This paper examines the effects of capital controls on the composition of inter‐national capital flows, paying particular attention to debt inflows versus equity inflows. A two‐period small open economy model with stochastic second‐period output and asymmetric information between domestic agents and international financiers is utilised to generate predictions regarding the effects of capital controls on the relative use of debt versus equity for financing first‐period investment. These capital control implications are then investigated with quarterly frequency panel data for Latin America. Capital controls are found to significantly affect the composition of the capital account.     

The Impact of Financial Reporting Regulation on the Market Valuation of Reported Environmental Liabilities: Preliminary Evidence from US and Canadian Public Companies

This study investigates the economic consequences of four financial reporting regulations relating to environmental liability reporting in samples of 170 US and 156 Canadian public companies during the period 1984 to 1997. The study's purpose is to investigate the factors that make financial reporting regulation effective in enhancing the relevance and reliability of accounting information. Prior research provides the theory that financial reporting regulations impose costs on managers and create incentives for them to report accounting information that is relevant and unbiased. This study assesses these regulations' enforceability, which is viewed as arising from the regulator's power to enforce its regulations by sanctions or penalties. It tests whether the relation between market valuation and reported environmental liability accruals changes when the new regulations are enacted, and whether regulation with high enforceability has a more significant impact than regulation with low enforceability. This study uses a residual‐income valuation model to measure the valuation coefficient, or multiplier, on reported environmental liability accruals. Changes in this coefficient are used as indicators of changes in the market's assessment of the value relevance and bias of the reported accounting information. This study provides preliminary evidence indicating that financial reporting regulations issued by the securities market regulator and the accounting profession are associated with changes in the relation between market value and reported environmental liabilities in some cases, and suggests avenues for further international accounting research on the factors involved in financial reporting regulation's impact.     

How and why small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) engage with their communities: an Australian study

• While many studies address corporate philanthropy and corporate community involvement, limited work has been conducted internationally in small to medium businesses and even less has been elucidated about the Australian small business landscape.
• This article reports findings from qualitative research investigating giving to community causes by 52 small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) across Australia.
• Three key questions addressed in this article are: (1) why SMEs engage with community (2) how they engage with community and (3) obstacles they perceive in giving.
• Our findings suggest that SMEs have a preference to avoid cash gifts, prefer to support local causes and would benefit from the development of best practice giving guidelines and templates.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.