Stealth trading: The case of the Tokyo Stock Exchange

The stealth trading hypothesis asserts that informed traders trade strategically by breaking up their orders so as to more easily hide among the liquidity traders. Using data for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), a pure order-driven market, we find evidence that price changes are driven by small- and medium-size trades, with small trades making the greatest contribution to price change relative to their contribution to trading volume. We also find that large trades explain a greater portion of the cumulative price change on high volatility days. Hence, our results support the stealth trading hypothesis for the TSE.     

A Preliminary Investigation into the Role of Positive Psychology in Consumer Sensitivity to Corporate Social Performance

Research on positive psychology demonstrates that specific individual dispositions are associated with more desirable outcomes. The relationship of positive psychological constructs, however, has not been applied to the areas of business ethics and social responsibility. Using four constructs in two independent studies (hope and gratitude in Study 1, spirituality and generativity in Study 2), the relationship of these constructs to sensitivity to corporate social performance (CSCSP) were assessed. Results indicate that all four constructs significantly predicted CSCSP, though only hope and gratitude interacted to impact CSCSP. Discussion focuses upon these findings, limitations of the study, and future avenues for research.     

The Role of Brand Names and Visual Cues in Enhancing Memory for Consumer Packaged Goods

The research focuses on the degree of association between brand names and accompanying visuals featured on packages to improve consumer learning. It was found that when visuals are associated with the target information (such as a brand name), then memory for the brand is enhanced. It was also found that memory will be greater for brand names that are prior-associated in consumers' memory than for family and novel brand names. The findings are congruent with associative network theory that would suggest easier processing and greater memory for target elements that are prior- and/or visually linked to existing memory pathways.     

Book review

Book reviewed The Connecticon: Learning for the connected generation Frank Rennie and Robin Mason, 2004. Published by Information Age Publishing, Greenwich, CT. ISBN 1‐59311‐209‐2 (paperback) and 1‐59311‐210‐6 (hardback).     

Competition for Business Location: A Survey

This paper focuses on the links between firms’ mobility and the shaping of regional policy, with a particular focus on tax and infrastructure policy decisions. We survey the recent literature exploring the impact of firms’ location choice, and its determinants, on the level of competition between regional governments. We confront theoretical results with empirical evidences.