The effects of consumers’ ethical beliefs on copying behaviour

Computer technologies, in general, and Internet technologies, in particular, have had a tremendous impact on all aspects of business over the last several years. One area of continued concern is the protection of intellectual properties within the boundaries of these computer-mediated environments, most notably copyrights. While the ability to share copyrighted information has always existed at the most basic levels, the advent of the information age has allowed the sharing of this information to take place in potentially greater quantities and without a loss of quality. As such, copying digital works creates a major threat to industries dealing in the production and distribution of copyrightable creations. The focus of this research is to better understand how consumers’ ethical philosophies and judgements regarding the opportunities to download copyrighted works from the Internet impact assessments of copying behaviour.     

Maximizing earnings and price fairness perceptions in online consumer-to-consumer auctions

We examine the effects of starting bids on seller earnings in online consumer-to-consumer auctions. As starting bids increase, and the number of bidders increase, seller earnings increase. Both the affiliated private value model and a reference price explanation explain seller earnings. Bidder price fairness perceptions are also evaluated and, higher starting bids positively impact price fairness perceptions for winning bidders but have an adverse effect on losing bidders. In total, these findings suggest that sellers receive greater earnings as well as no adverse price fairness perceptions from winning bidders by setting starting bids higher.     

The price-to-rent ratio: A macroprudential application

We examine the potential for the price-to-rent ratio to be used as a macroprudential tool. In addition to using standardized appraisal methods, appraisers could estimate the current market rent for a property. The resulting price-to-rent ratio would provide a useful signal for speculative pressures. We show this by estimating price-to-rent ratios using the American Housing Survey. The distribution of price-to-rent ratios shifted up dramatically during the housing boom with the 75th and 95th percentile reaching a historic peak in 2006 at 22 and 44, respectively. We propose a lending policy that incorporates the price-to-rent ratio to generate countercyclical loan-to-value ratios.