Student performance in tertiary-level accounting: an international student focus

The present paper provides empirical evidence regarding the academic performance of university students studying accounting. In particular, the effect of student origin is investigated by comparing the accounting performance of resident and international students. The present study controls for a number of other key variables, including ability, anxiety, work experience in accounting, accounting study prior to university and enrolment status. The question of whether international student performance improves over time through an acculturation effect is also investigated. Bivariate analyses revealed higher anxiety and lower general ability for international vis‐à‐vis resident students yet no significant difference in accounting performance between the two groups. After controlling for key variables, an association was observed between student origin and accounting performance with superior performance reported for the international student cohort. Statistically significant relationships were also observed between accounting performance and ability, anxiety, employment experience in accounting, enrolment status and accounting study prior to university. An acculturation effect was not clearly evidenced.     

Skewness and Kurtosis Implied by Option Prices: A Correction

Corrado and Su (1996) provide skewness and kurtosis adjustment terms for the Black‐Scholes model, using a Gram‐Charlier expansion of the normal density function. In this note we provide a correction to the expression for the skewness coefficient and illustrate the effect on call option prices of the error found.     

Interpreting and Testing the Scaling Property in Models where Inefficiency Depends on Firm Characteristics

Let u ≥ 0 be technical inefficiency, let z be a set of variables that affect u, and let δ be the parameters of this relationship. The model satisfies the scaling property if u(z, δ) can be written as a scaling function h(z, δ) times a random variable u* that does not depend on z. This property implies that changes in z affect the scale but not the shape of u(z,δ). This paper reviews the existing literature and identifies models that do and do not have the scaling property. It also discusses practical advantages of the scaling property. The paper shows how to test the hypothesis of scaling, and other interesting hypotheses, in the context of the model of Wang, Journal of Productivity Analysis, 2002. Finally, two empirical examples are given.     

A Classroom Exercise: Voting by Ballots and Feet

This classroom experiment illustrates the efficiency-enhancing property of a Tiebout system in which local public goods decisions are determined by a political process. Students are given playing cards that induce diverse preferences for expenditures on alternative public goods and are initially assigned to specific communities. Then those in each community vote on the type and level of public goods provision, which determine the tax cost. After the provision and tax results are announced, students are free to move to a location where the prior results are more consistent with their preferences. This process continues for several rounds, with a new vote taken at each location after moves have been made. The exercise demonstrates that the combination of voting with feet and ballots tends to increase the total net benefit for all communities. The voting on provision levels is structured to facilitate a discussion of the median voter theorem.     

Senior citizens and their dining-out traits: Implications for restaurants

Continuing and rapid growth of the mature population in Taiwan has forced the restaurant industry to prepare for substantial social and demographic changes. This study used a telephone survey to elicit attributes important to the restaurant patronage behaviors of consumers aged 65 and older who lived independently. The variables examined include a battery of demographic and health-related variables, a series of motivation attributes, restaurant selection criteria, and measures of consumer's restaurant patronage behaviors. Two distinctive segments were identified; frequent and convenience restaurant patrons, and occasional and family restaurant patrons. The results of this study of mature consumer's restaurant patronage behavior have several implications for this increasingly important and prominent segment of the restaurant consumer marketplace.     

The global chess game … or is it go? Market‐entry strategies for emerging markets

Two contrasting metaphors of market‐entry strategy for emerging markets are developed in this article: the Global Chess Game and the Game of Go. Understanding these paradigms is critical for business success and for building robust theories of international competitor analysis in emerging markets, particularly in Asia. The Game of Go represents a long‐term strategy of Japanese companies, dominant foreign direct investment players in the region, and it represents the global strategy of many Asian emerging market companies as they grow within the region and beyond. A Competitor Analysis Framework for Emerging Markets is proposed that incorporates culture and other antecedents as precursors of competitor analysis and strategy formulation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The legitimacy of strategic alliances: an institutional perspective

Drawing on an institutional perspective, this paper suggests that strategic alliances serve an important legitimating function for firms and that this role, mediated by alliance governance structure and partner selection preferences, has a significant influence on firm and alliance performance. A theoretical framework is proposed that identifies five types of legitimacy associated with strategic alliances and the specific conditions under which legitimation may be an important outcome of strategic alliances. Propositions are developed to explain when firms are most likely to enter into alliances for legitimacy purposes and how the legitimating role of strategic alliances contributes to firm and alliance performance. The paper concludes with a summary and implications of a legitimacy‐based view of alliances. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fixed Assets Valuation in the Condition of Bankruptcy Risk： The Role of Estimates

One of the most important issues relating to the economic activity of an enterprise is a reliable valuation of assets. It is also one of the key elements in the condition of bankruptcy risk. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the author＇s empirical research concerning the usefulness of the estimates in the valuation of fixed assets held by the enterprises facing bankruptcy. The empirical research was carried out on a group of 100 companies on which courts declared bankruptcy in 2011 in Poland. The study sample constitutes 14% of the population and is a significant representation of the phenomenon. For comparisons of the carrying amounts and the estimated values, the assets recognized in the balance sheet under ＂property, plant, and equipment （PPE）＂ were selected. During the first stage of the research, the significance of PPE in bankruptcy proceedings was confirmed by comparing the share of their value within the estate with the costs of the proceedings recorded as a percentage of the value of the debtor＇s estate. In the next stage of the research, comparisons between the carrying amounts and the estimated values were made. Simple regression models were constructed. The research results confirm that in the case of a substantial doubt about an entity＇s ability to continue as a going concern, the informative value of financial statements is limited and the estimates of the fixed assets value are of fundamental importance.     

Watch What You Say: Job Applicants’ Justice Perceptions From Initial Organizational Correspondence

Although it is a common practice for organizations to communicate with job seekers following application submission, little is known about how applicants react to this correspondence. Drawing from recruitment and organizational justice theories, we explore the possibility that specific correspondence content influences job seekers’ fairness perceptions. Data collected from 119 actual job applicants indicated that providing relevant information about the recruitment process (information adequacy) positively related to informational and interpersonal justice perceptions. However, delivering this information in an interpersonally sensitive manner (information sensitivity) had a stronger impact on interpersonal justice perceptions. Finally, post hoc analyses suggested that incorporating specific content delivered in initial job applicant correspondence could allow recruiting organizations to develop practical, cost‐effective strategies for enhancing job seekers’ fairness perceptions following their application submission. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.