Industrial Real Estate Investment: Does the Contrarian Strategy Work?

The superiority of the contrarian investment strategy, though well attested to in the finance literature, has received scant attention, if any, in the real estate literature. This study uses empirical industrial real estate investment return data from 1985Q1 to 2005Q3 for the US, and some Asia Pacific cities in order to ascertain the relative superiority of “value” and “growth” industrial real estate investments. The results show that “value” industrial property investment outperformed “growth” industrial property investment in all the holding periods under consideration. Furthermore the industrial property investments exhibit return reversal. This implies that the superiority of the contrarian strategy is sustainable. The results of stochastic dominance tests validate the relative superiority of “value” over “growth” industrial property investment. This implies that fund managers who traditionally have been favoring prime (i.e. growth) industrial property investment may have to reconsider their investment strategy if they want to maximize their return.     

EVIDENCE OF MANAGERIAL TIMING: THE CASE OF EXCHANGE LISTINGS

Before an exchange listing, stock performance is exceptionally high. Earlier research reports that post-listing performance is poor. I document that the post-listing performance of most firms that list on either the American Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange differs little from that of similar stocks that do not list. However, listing stocks that experience the highest pre-listing performance underperform their control stocks after listing. This finding supports the hypothesis that managers can time exchange listings around a peak in stock performance.     

The impact of the Saldanha Steel Project on the West Coast economy

This article reports the results of a study which evaluated whether the erection of the steel plant at Saldanha/Vredenburg supports the main objectives of the SDI programme and has resulted in sustainable growth for the region. It investigates the reasons for locating the steel plant here and factors which may affect the long‐term economic success of the plant. It also records the experiences of business people in the region on the impact of the investment on the area's economy to date and their perceptions of its likely impact in the future. From a national perspective, it asks whether the growth in foreign exchange earnings and the extension of a waning industry's lifespan is enough to justify public sector investment in the infrastructure at Saldanha Bay. On a local level, it probes and reports on the extent to which the erection of the steel mill spurred further growth via an enlarged set of activities, higher average productivity, higher savings, and improved actual and expected prospects for earning income.     

An Integrated Approach to Assessing,Managing and Monitoring Campsite Im pacts in Warren National Park,Western Australia

The social and ecological impacts of camping were examined in Warren National Park, Western Australia. The main objective was to apply an integrated approach to assessing campsite degradation and feed this information into a management and monitoring strategy for campsites in the park. Biophysical data were used to establish a campsite profile, providing baseline information that enabled comparison of heavy-use formal campsites with low-use informal campsites. High-use formal campsites were more severely impacted than the low-use, informal campsites. Formal sites were also larger, had experienced more tree damage and erosion, had greater soil compaction, less vegetation cover and tree seedlings, less coarse woody debris, higher riverbank degradation and more walk trails radiating from the campsite. Additionally, the low-use, informal sites had also been degraded by recreation use. Potential indicators were identified, using a social survey that enabled identification of the standards of social and resource conditions in the Warren National Park. Desired conditions were then compared to existing conditions at the campsites and relevant managerial preferences acceptable to visitors were identified in the social survey. Most of the management preferences were considered very or extremely important influences on the quality of the visitor experience.     

Deterring deviant consumer behaviour: when ‘it’s wrong,don’t do it’ doesn’t work

ABSTRACT

Tactics to deter deviant consumer behaviour have received limited attention in the literature despite deviance being an ongoing problem in the marketplace. Across two studies, the findings suggest there is a heterogeneous response to the rules placed on consumers’ behaviour, which manifests from an absence of consensus among consumers on what is right and wrong behaviour undermining the it’s wrong, don’t do it approach to deterrence. Further, risk perceptions of being caught and punished are low, if not absent, undermining the you will be caught and punished approach to deterrence. Alternate underlying mechanisms were tested and found to influence deviant consumer behaviour (perceived prevalence, perceived outcomes and moral identity), which could underpin alternate deterrence tactics, including social proofing, moral triggers and humanising the victim.     

Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating competitive advantage through streams of innovation

In today's fast-paced competitive environment, firms face the need to be increasingly nimble and adaptive. While often able to establish a certain level of performance based upon existing technologies, firms are equally as often to be left flat-footed in the face of emerging, novel technologies. We discuss strategic entrepreneurship as the means through which firms simultaneously exploit their current competitive advantages while exploring for future opportunities. Achieving a balance between exploration and exploitation consists of more than merely allocating resources evenly between the two processes. As discussed, exploration and exploitation are operationally, structurally, and culturally distinct processes.     

Evading Surveillance and Making Time: an Ethnographic View of the Japanese Factory Floor in Britain

A core element of the debate surrounding Japanese manufacturing transplants is the capacity of management to suppress employee resistance. This paper reports a study based on an eight-week period of participant observation of a particular form of resistance, fiddles. It argues that the opportunity for fiddling stems from the organization's inability to control its buyer–supplier relationships, temperamental technology, and the ability of workers to manipulate standard operating procedures. Moreover, it suggests that fiddles operate mainly with the consent of supervisors, and ultimately are not in conflict with interests of management as they contribute to production targets.