Perceptions of the risks and benefits of genetically-modified foods and their influence on willingness to consume

There has been debate in the literature as to whether: (1) the risks and benefits of genetically-modified (GM) food and agriculture are considered and determined by individuals separately or whether they are jointly determined by attitudes; (2) consumer acceptance is determined by individuals weighing up their risk and benefit perceptions in a rational, even-handed manner, or if benefit perceptions are more important than risk perceptions, and (3) certain types of risk and benefit are more important than others. Against this background, this paper assesses the categories of risks and benefits and their relative importance in determining willingness to consume. A survey was carried out to collect data on the categories of risks and benefits in the US, UK and France, and the relative importance of selected perceived risk and benefit dimensions was estimated. The findings show: risk and benefit perceptions are negatively correlated, but not perfectly and, given that regressions we performed support the proposition that benefits are more important than risks in determining willingness to consume, a strong case can be made for measuring risks and benefits separately. Almost 2/3 of consumers perceive medium to high potential benefits from GM, though the proportion is slightly lower in the UK and down to 40% in France. Nevertheless, this suggests a much higher level of support for the technology than is normally assumed. From the study, benefits are more important for consumers' willingness to consume than perceived risks, and slightly more interviewees scored above than below the mean on willingness to consume GM food.     

An Empirical Examination of the Role of Trust in Consumer and Supplier Relationship of Little Direct Contact: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

In view of the growing interest in consumer trust, this article examines the determinants and consequence of trust in the relationship between business and consumers with little direct contact. By using structural equation modelling, a framework of consumer trust was developed, and the effect of trust and its determinants was assessed. The findings suggest that provision of trust information, integrity, and benevolence are crucial in building up trust, whereas competence affects trust building indirectly through the provision of trust information. Consumer trust was confirmed to have a positive effect on the consumer's intention for future purchase. Within the limitations of the study, the implications of these results are discussed and further research is suggested.     

Maternal labour supply and childhood obesity in Canada: evidence from the NLSCY

Abstract.  This paper investigates the socioeconomic factors affecting childhood overweight and obesity in Canada using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. In particular, I attempt to address the issue of whether an increase in the mother's work intensity is associated with an increase in the risk of the child's becoming overweight or obese. I also attempt to evaluate the causality of this relationship and the mechanisms that might facilitate this link. The results suggest that an increase in the mother's work intensity when she first returned to work in the period after the child's birth and before the child started school is associated with an increase in the risk of the child's becoming overweight or obese later in childhood. Conditional on the mother returning to work in the period between the child's birth and the start of school for the child, a 10-hour increase in the number of hours worked per week when the mother first returned to work is associated with an increase in the probability that the child later becomes overweight or obese that is in the range of 2.5 to 4 percentage points.     

A Critical Realist and Multimethodology Framework for Product Placement Research

This article contributes to the existing literature by examining the appropriate philosophical and methodological foundations for research in marketing communication that has yet to be discussed. In particular, this article argues that the ontological, epistemological, and methodological underpinnings of a critical realist paradigm could be a meaningful alternative to the predominant positivism in product placement research. Under a critical realist framework, several unexplored areas in product placement research are identified and a multimethodology approach is proposed to expand the scope of knowledge in the field. The discussion ends with some ethical concerns and the major contributions to the discipline with regards to Habermas's three worlds: the material, social, and personal worlds.     

International Entrepreneurship research (1989–2009): A domain ontology and thematic analysis

This article explores the domain of international entrepreneurship (IE) research by thematically mapping and assessing the intellectual territory of the field. Extant reviews show that the body of IE knowledge is growing, and while notable contributions towards theoretical and methodological integration are evident, the field is described as phenomenally based, potentially fragmented and suffering from theoretical paucity. Premising that IE is positioned at the nexus of internationalization and entrepreneurship where entrepreneurial behavior involves cross-border business activity, or is compared across countries, we identify 323 relevant journal articles published in the period 1989–2009. We inventory the domain of IE to provide a relevant and comprehensive organization of its research. This involves examining the subject matter of IE research, and inductively synthesizing and categorizing it into major themes and sub-themes. In so doing, we offer a reliable, ontologically constructed and practically useful resource. From this base, we discuss the phenomena, issues, inconsistencies and interim debates on which new theory in IE may be built and research may be conducted. We conclude that IE has several coherent thematic areas and is rich in potential for future research and theory development.     

Model uncertainty,performance persistence and flows

Model uncertainty makes it difficult to draw clear inference about mutual fund performance persistence. I propose a new performance measure, Bayesian model averaged (BMA) alpha, which explicitly accounts for model uncertainty. Using BMA alphas, I find evidence of performance persistence in a large sample of US funds. There is a positive and asymmetric relation between flows and past BMA alphas, suggesting that fund investors respond to the information in BMA alphas. My findings are robust to various sensitivity analyses, including alternative measures of post-ranking performance, flows and total net assets, and alternative econometric model specifications.     

Earnings Quality and the Equity Risk Premium: A Benchmark Model*

This paper solves a model that links earnings quality to the equity risk premium in an infinite‐horizon consumption capital asset pricing model (CAPM) economy. In the model, risk‐averse traders hold diversified portfolios consisting of risk‐free bonds and shares of many risky firms. When constructing their portfolios, traders rely on noisy reported earnings and dividend payments for information about the risky firms. The main new element of the model is an explicit representation of earnings quality that includes hidden accrual errors that reverse in subsequent periods. The model demonstrates that earnings quality magnifies fundamental risk. Absent fundamental risk, poor earnings quality cannot affect the equity risk premium. Moreover, only the systematic (undiversified) component of earnings‐quality risk contributes to the equity risk premium. In contrast, all components of earnings‐quality risk affect earnings capitalization factors. The model ties together consumption CAPM and accounting‐based valuation research into one price formula linking earnings quality to the equity risk premium and earnings capitalization factors.     

The impact of central clearing on counterparty risk,liquidity, and trading: Evidence from the credit default swap market

This paper examines the impact of central clearing on the credit default swap (CDS) market using a sample of voluntarily cleared single-name contracts. Consistent with central clearing reducing counterparty risk, CDS spreads increase around the commencement of central clearing and are lower than settlement spreads published by the central clearinghouse. Furthermore, the relation between CDS spreads and dealer credit risk weakens after central clearing begins, suggesting a lowering of systemic risk. These findings are robust to controls for frictions in both CDS and bond markets. Finally, matched sample analysis reveals that the increased post-trade transparency following central clearing is associated with an improvement in liquidity and trading activity.