Website and email adoption by Malaysian hotels

This research note addresses two limitations of Internet diffusion studies by highlighting the importance of multivariate statistical analysis and including the element of time. The results support findings on the positive relationship between two hotel characteristics – affiliation and category – with Internet adoption, but question findings on the relationship between hotel size and Internet adoption.     

Data mining computer audit logs to detect computer misuse

All computers are vulnerable to misuse either by unauthorized users penetrating the system or by authorized users abusing their privileges. This paper describes the use of a data mining process to sift through large (gigabytes) computer audit log databases to detect potential improper accesses of sensitive data files by authorized users. Computer audit logs record information about what files were accessed by which users and when. The detection of computer misuse is important because computer misuse can be related to acts of computer fraud, information theft, software piracy, and violations of privacy, to name a few. The data mining process described in this paper can be applied to detect possible fraud in a wide variety of situations that share some common characteristics: first, a class of ‘sensitive’ files can be identified which may be subject to improper access; second, the selection of files by users is a random process; and third, the probability that a user-selected file is from the sensitive class should be the same for all members of a group of users. Examples of possible applications of the data mining process include detecting inappropriate accesses to classified files, celebrity files, financial accounts with high balances, and files known to have been improperly used. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modified scale for the measurement of communication-evoked mental imagery

This article details the stages in developing a multiitem communication-evoked imagery processing scale. It builds on the foundation provided by Ellen and Bone (1991) by proposing three dimensions of imagery processing: vividness, quantity, and elaboration. Scale development procedures advocated by Churchill (1979) and techniques described by Gerbing and Anderson (1988) are applied. Qualitative and quantitative methods are employed. Face validity of the theoretical structure and items is assessed by consulting experts and employing judging procedures, respectively. Evaluation of the items is done across two separate samples in which reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity are exhibited. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A Time Series Analysis of Private College Closures and Mergers

This study examines and explains private four-yearcollege closures and mergers in the United Statesusing time series data at the national level for theperiod 1960 to 1994. The data imply that, exceptduring the 1970s, private colleges were much lesslikely to close than businesses in general.Furthermore, the data indicate that private collegemergers occur more often than casual empiricismsuggests. Multiple regression analysis of the exit andmerger decision reveals that private college closuresand mergers are more likely when the real tuition ratedeclines and real faculty salaries rise at privatecolleges. Both the closure and merger rates are foundto be highly responsive with respect to changes inprivate tuition and faculty salaries. The empiricalresults further indicate that religiously-affiliatedcolleges are less likely to close and merge thansecular institutions and that a larger student poolleads to less closing and merging of private four-yearcolleges.     

Balanced-budget rules and macroeconomic (in)stability

It has been shown that under perfect competition and constant returns-to-scale, a one-sector real business cycle model may exhibit indeterminacy and sunspots when income tax rates are determined by a balanced-budget rule with a pre-set level of government expenditures. This paper shows that indeterminacy disappears if the government finances endogenous public spending and transfers with fixed income tax rates. Under this type of balanced-budget formulation, the economy exhibits saddle-path stability and equilibrium uniqueness, regardless of the source of government revenue and/or the existence of lump-sum transfers.     

The status of biotehnology-based innovation

This paper contributes to the debate surrounding the question of whether biotechnology, particularly its applications in agricultural and food-related industries, should be regarded as revolutionary or evolutionary (with some reservations about the vaildity of teh question). The potential to create a revolutionary techno-economic paradigm shift does exist but it is currently systems. It is also important to consider the motivations underlying statements about the revolutionary/ evolutionary nature of biotechnology, as some such statements are intended to influence events rather than to reflect them. The impact of small firms on the direction and place of revolutionary change in these industries is likely to be marginal, unlike the situation in the early phases of teh electronics/IT revolution. At present the lack of integration of policy initiatives by national governments and the EC is a major factor discouraging the rapid implementation of change.