The effects of perceived salesperson listening effectiveness in the financial industry

The goals of this paper are twofold: (a) to test the multidimensional structure of the listening construct and (b) to identify major consequences of perceived salesperson listening effectiveness. A survey was completed by more than 400 buyer–seller dyads. Following structural equations modelling analyses, results show that customers’ perceptions of listening effectiveness is positively (and strongly) associated with service quality, trust, satisfaction, word-of-mouth propensity, purchase intentions and sales performance. Numerous managerial implications are proposed to entice organisations to emphasise salespeople listening skills as a competitive advantage. Research opportunities are also presented to accrue academic efforts in understanding the truly rich role of listening.     

Capital Structure and Debt Priority

We study a defaultable firm's debt priority structure in a simple structural model where the firm issues senior and junior bonds and is subject to both liquidity and solvency risks. Assuming that the absolute priority rule prevails and that liquidation is immediate upon default, we determine the firm's interior optimal priority structure along with its optimal capital structure. We also obtain closed‐form solutions for the market values of the firm's debt and equity. We find that the magnitude of the spread differential between junior and senior bond yields is positively, but not linearly related to the total debt level and the riskiness of assets. Finally, we provide an in‐depth analysis of probabilities of default and the term structure of credit spreads.     

Can natural disasters have positive consequences? Investigating the role of embodied technical change

It has been suggested that disasters might have positive economic consequences, through the accelerated replacement of capital. This possibility is referred to as the productivity effect. This effect is investigated using a model with embodied technical change. In this framework, disasters can influence the production level but cannot influence the growth rate, in the same way than the saving ratio in a Solow-like model. Depending on reconstruction quality, indeed, accounting for embodied technical change can either decrease or increase disaster costs, but is never able to turn disasters into positive events. Moreover, a better but slower reconstruction amplifies the short-term consequences of disasters, but pays off over the long-term. Regardless, the productivity effect cannot prevent the existence of a bifurcation when disaster damages exceed the reconstruction capacity, potentially leading to poverty traps.     

MitraClip therapy in mitral regurgitation: a Markov model for the cost-effectiveness of a new therapeutic option

Introduction Mitral regurgitation is a heart condition resulting from blood flowing from the left ventricle towards the left atrium, increasing the risk of heart failure and mortality. While surgery can greatly reduce these risks, some patients are not eligible, resulting in medication being their only therapeutic alternative. The MitraClip (Abbot Vascular) is a medical device that is percutaneously implanted and designed to eliminate leaking of the mitral valve.

Methods The efficacy of the MitraClip strategy vs medical management was assessed using a 4-state Markov model based on the mitral regurgitation grade (mitral regurgitation grade 0, I/II, and III/IV, and death). At each 1-month cycle, patients were or were not hospitalized. The model analyzed a fictional population of 1000 patients over a 5-year period from a national Health Insurance perspective. The primary end-point was the number of deaths avoided. Data from the EVEREST II High Risk Study patients were used along with a literature review.

Results At 5 years, among the 1000 patients, 276 deaths were found to be avoidable with the MitraClip strategy. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was €93,363 per death avoided. The annual ICER was calculated to take into consideration excess costs resulting from the MitraClip over the first year (€29,984 vs €8557 for the reference strategy) and the reduction of costs in following years (€3122 for MitraClip vs €8557 for reference strategy). Thus, the mean ICER was calculated to be €20,720 per death avoided.

Conclusion The MitraClip is a novel alternative therapy for mitral insufficiency in patients ineligible for surgery that may offer a medico-economic advantage.     

Pro-environmental behaviors for thee but not for me: Green giants,green Gods,and external environmental locus of control

Understanding consumers' allocation of environmental responsibility to external forces (i.e., those perceived to be beyond their direct control) is important yet under-researched. This paper examines how these external attributions affect consumers' pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). A model of external environmental locus of control (i.e., external-ELOC) is tested, consisting of two superordinate dimensions: powerful-others (encapsulating corporate and government responsibility facets) and chance/fate (incorporating God/higher-power and natural earth-cycle facets). The two higher-order factors negatively associate; such that consumers ascribing environmental responsibility to powerful-others engage in PEBs; whereas those attributing environmental change to chance/fate typically do not. The results inform practical and public policy implications; pinpointing ways for corporations and governments to target their pro-environmental efforts and to sway consumers who share in the ecological burden.