The effects of financial literacy on the borrowing behaviour of Turkish financial consumers

Our research attempts to measure the effects of financial literacy of Turkish financial consumers on the borrowing behaviour. A questionnaire is administered to a sample of 550 people in the city of Eskisehir. In‐depth interviews are undertaken with 10 financial consumers to support the findings. Findings of the study indicate differences in the borrowing behaviour of consumers with different levels of financial literacy. Considering the relationship between financial literacy and borrowing behaviour, we suggest that attempts to increase financial literacy of financial consumers may have important implications in the prevention of excessive borrowing.     

Mean squared error of the empirical best linear unbiased predictor in an orthogonal finite discrete spectrum linear regression model

The mean squared error (MSE) of the empirical best linear unbiased predictor in an orthogonal finite discrete spectrum linear regression model is derived and a comparison with the MSE of the best linear unbiased predictor in this model is made. It is shown that under weak conditions these two mean square errors are asymptotically the same.     

The kinetic quality of store design: An Exploration of its influence on shopping experience

Kinetic quality of store space is the appreciation of the store with regard to the movements and gestures that can be performed during the shopping trip. Few researches have studied this concept despite its potential influence on shopping outcomes. In this paper, we show that the kinetic quality of the store has an impact on hedonic and utilitarian shopping values and on purchase. The impact on shopping value is similar in magnitude to that of atmospheric quality. Music and visual esthetics positively influence kinetic quality.     

The accomplishment of the Maastricht criteria with respect to initial debt

The reduction of government debt to 60% of the GDP in order to satisfy the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty for participation in the European Monetary Union is one of the primary economic-policy goals for most of the European Union countries. The first aim of the present paper is to characterize the optimal path of the primary surplus that leads to the achievement of this Maastricht target. Using optimal-control theory we are able to determine an upper bound of the public-debt-to-GDP ratio above which no retrenchment policy becomes effective. The second issue taken up is that of the sensitivity analysis with respect to the initial level of the debt-to-GDP ratio, the growth rate of the economy, the interest rate, the inflation rate, and the inverse of the velocity of the monetary base circulation.     

Do People Accurately Anticipate Sanctions?

We provide lab data from four different games that allow us to study whether people have accurate expectations regarding monetary sanctions (punishment/reward) and nonmonetary sanctions (disapproval/approval). Although the strength of the sanction is always predicted with some error (particularly in the case of monetary sanctions), we observe that (i) most subjects anticipate correctly the sign of the average sanction, (ii) expectations covary with sanctions, (iii) the average expectation is very often not significantly different than the average actual sanction, and (iv) the errors exhibit no systematic bias, except in those situations where rewards are frequent. In this line, we find some evidence that punishment is better anticipated than rewards.     

Dimensions of uncertainty and their moderating effect on new product development project performance

In this study, we measure the dimensions of uncertainty, starting from the definitions constructed for and generally used in innovation projects. We then evaluate their direct and indirect effects on the performance of product and service development projects. Four dimensions of uncertainty are delimited with satisfactory validity and reliability, suggesting a differential moderating effect of the four types of uncertainty (technical and project uncertainty, market uncertainty, fuzziness and complexity) depending on the performance dimension (effectiveness and efficiency) and co‐moderator (project methods and human resource adequacy). Of the four dimensions explored, technical and project, and market uncertainty are true moderators and have the largest interactive effect, fuzziness has a strong direct effect on both performance dimensions whereas complexity weakly directly influences effectiveness. The latter two also influence the relations between performance and the factors related to human resources and project management methods.     

Understanding the Ethical Cost of Organizational Goal-Setting: A Review and Theory Development

Goal-setting has become a popular and effective motivational tool, utilized by practitioners and substantiated with decades of empirical research. However, the potential for goal-setting to enhance performance may come at the cost of ethical behavior. I propose a theoretical model linking attributes of goals and goal-setting practices to unethical behavior through two psychological mechanisms – ethical recognition and moral disengagement; and addressing the moderating role of individual differences (e.g., goal-commitment and conscientiousness), as well as the broader organizational ethical context.     

SHORT‐MATURITY OPTIONS AND JUMP MEMORY

We investigate jump memory using an extensive database of short‐term S&P 500 index options. Jump memory refers to the attenuation of the implied jump intensity and magnitude parameters following a crash event. We use a genetic algorithm to obtain a time series of implied parameter estimates and posit behavioral and rational explanations for parameter attenuation following a crash event. We find that a nested form of the jump‐diffusion model sharpens the remaining parameter estimates and has a negligible effect on pricing accuracy.