Effects of Supply Chain Management on Tomato Export in Iran: Application of Structural Equation Modeling

Although Iran is one of the top 10 countries in the world that produce tomatoes, the level that they are exported into the global market is low. This issue may have resulted from a major problem within tomatoes’ supply chain management. This paper aims to develop an empirical model of the supply chain management (SCM) of tomato companies. Throughout the reviewed literature, a SCM construct with different six indicators has been developed, including information sharing, long-term relationship, cooperation, quality, flexibility, and delivery. In this study, the influence of the SCM components on tomato export was identified through the use of empirical data that were collected from 20 different tomato companies in Northeast Iran. Using structural equation modeling, the major elements of SCM were found to have significant impacts on the export of tomatoes. The results also showed that information sharing, cooperation, flexibility, quality, and delivery had significant positive effects on the export of tomatoes.     

The Demand for Vices in Malaysia: An Ethnic Comparison Using Household Expenditure Data

A trivariate Tobit system is estimated to investigate the demand for vices (tobacco, alcohol, and gambling) in Malaysia. Estimation results, segmented by ethnicity, suggest that years of formal education, occupation type, and household head’s age negatively affect both the likelihood to spend and the overall amounts spent on tobacco by all Malaysians. Additionally, while higher income Malay households are more likely to spend and have higher tobacco expenditures, affluent Chinese and households of other races are more likely to spend and to spend more on smoking, drinking and gambling. Male-headed households of all races are more likely to spend and also spend more on smoking, drinking and gambling than female-led households.     

An Examination of Alternative Approaches to Risk Management and Insurance Research

Much current risk management and insurance research follows a pattern prescribed by the science paradigm. This article discusses some well-recognized problems associated with the science paradigm, and then presents several alternatives that can supplement the science paradigm, thereby broadening and deepening the scope of risk management and insurance research and education.     

Housing Tenure Choice in Australia and the United States: Impacts of Alternative Subsidy Policies

This article compares the homeownership rates of young households in Australia and the United States and evaluates the impacts of the two countries' different approaches to subsidizing homeownership. Since about 1950, Australia's rate of homeownership has consistently been higher than that of the United States. The homeownership rate for young adults is also significantly higher in Australia. While the United States allows mortgage interest and property taxes to be deducted from income for tax purposes, Australia has provided cash subsidies for down payments and mortgage payments. We conclude that differences in housing costs and household characteristics do not explain differences in ownership rates. We also conclude that differences in subsidy policies have only a minor impact on ownership rates.     

Quasi- and Simulated-Likelihood Approaches to Censored Demand Systems: Food Consumption by Food Stamp Recipients in the United States

A quasi-maximum-likelihood estimator is proposed and applied to a censored Translog demand system for foods, using a sample of food stamp recipients in the United States. The procedure produces remarkably close parameter and elasticity estimates to those of the simulated-maximum-likelihood procedure. A two-step procedure is also considered but it produces different elasticities. Demands are found to be price elastic for pork and fish but price inelastic for all other food products. Gross complementarity and net substitutability are obvious but these cross-price effects are much less pronounced than own-price and total food expenditure effects.     

The emergence of the maker movement: Implications for entrepreneurship research

The maker movement has been touted as a harbinger of the next industrial revolution. Through shared access to tools and digital fabrication technologies, makers can act as producers in the sharing economy and potentially increase entrepreneurship rates, catalyze advanced manufacturing, and spur economic development. We develop a model of the maker movement configured around social exchange, technology resources, and knowledge creation and sharing. We highlight opportunities for studying the conditions under which the movement might foster entrepreneurship outcomes and discuss how research on the maker movement can deepen our understanding of entrepreneurial teams and corporate entrepreneurship.     

Cultural differences affect interactive television advertising

Comparing results from the UK and the USA, this study shows that even subtle cultural differences between two very similar countries can affect new forms of advertising such as interactive television (iTV) commercials. The UK pioneered the mainstream use of iTV advertising, and now it is a mainstream advertising option in the USA on cable networks and online TV networks like Hulu. This study tests whether effective iTV-ad execution factors identified by a previous study of 500 UK iTV campaigns are similarly effective in the USA based on data from 257 iTV campaigns run on the experimental Wink platform between 1998 and 2004. It finds that specific cultural differences make iTV advertising in the USA unique, but also identifies potential globally effective universals for iTV ads. The results of this study allow advertisers to predict the most effective alternative ideas for iTV advertising campaigns run in the USA and potentially in other countries around the world.     

Insider Selling and IPO Price Premium

We examine insider selling for initial public offering (IPO) firms using a sample of 1868 IPOs between 1988 and 2012. We find that overvalued IPOs have higher probability of offering secondary shares, higher proportion of secondary shares offered, and more upward revision in the total number of shares offered. They also have higher probability of insider sale in the open market both before and after lockup expiration. The size of insider sale in the open market also increases with the degree of overvaluation. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that IPO insiders try to sell their shares opportunistically into overvalued markets.