Pricing practices in two industries

Although a critical part of marketing decision making, very little has been written about industrial pricing policy and strategy. This article has three objectives: First, to report the pricing practices of the chemical and construction industries; Second, to compare their pricing policies; and third, to develop a simple pricing framework for industrial marketers. The results of this study are interesting and somewhat unexpected. The buyer and his behavior only play a small part in pricing policy. A pricing framework or model is presented in a logical and systematic way.     

Assessing Cumulative Evidence within ‘Macro’ Research: Why Meta‐Analysis Should be Preferred Over Vote Counting

Understanding the conclusions a body of evidence offers involves accumulating findings. Two recent articles used vote counting to assess the evidence related to important macro theories: transaction cost theory and resource‐based theory. Each concluded that its focal theory is not well supported. In contrast, recent meta‐analyses of the same theories concluded that both are strongly supported. We explain why macro researchers should trust the findings of meta‐analyses but not those of vote counts. A direct implication is that researchers interested in advancing transaction cost and resource‐based theories need to build upon the meta‐analytic evidence. A broader implication is that, as the preferred method for accumulating evidence, meta‐analysis can be a catalyst for the re‐evaluation of established theories and the development of new theory.     

Normative Violence in Domestic Service: A Study of Exploitation,Status, and Grievability

Journal of Business Ethics - This paper contributes to business ethics by focusing on consumption that is characterized by normative violence. By drawing on the work of Judith Butler this study of...     

Intangible assets and value relevance: Evidence from the Portuguese stock exchange

We assess the value relevance of the amounts for identifiable intangible assets and goodwill reported in the financial statements of all non-finance companies listed on the main market of the Portuguese Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2008. Additionally, we use panel data to explore the impact on value relevance of Portugal’s formal adoption of International Accounting Standards [IAS] and International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS] in 2005. A distinctive feature of the accounting by our sample companies is that when they adopted IAS 38 and IFRS 3 in 2005, they were no longer required to recognise some intangible assets (such as start-up costs and research expenditures) and were no longer required to amortise goodwill.We find that net earnings, reported goodwill and other intangible assets are highly significantly associated with stock price. However, whereas earnings are related positively to stock prices when Portuguese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) were applied prior to 2005, the value relevance of earnings appears to have declined after the adoption of IAS/IFRS in 2005. Although the change to IAS/IFRS had no impact on the value relevance of identifiable intangibles as a whole, the evidence suggests that there was a positive effect on the value relevance of goodwill. When the subclasses of identifiable intangible assets are considered, we found evidence of an increase in value relevance of goodwill, other intangible assets, and research and development expenditures.     

Flood Hazards and Urban Housing Markets: The Effects of Katrina on New Orleans

This study examines the impacts on consumers’ willingness to pay for certain characteristics of housing in greater New Orleans before and after the flooding of Hurricane Katrina. Single-family home sales from January 2004 to August 2006 are collected and used in a hedonic price function to estimate the changes in the value of amenities, and structural, neighborhood and geographic characteristics, including the mean elevation of each property. Elevation, which buyers did not know for certain prior to the storm, but may now be inferred from water level marks in most neighborhoods, is found to have a positive relationship with selling prices. Results indicate that pre-Katrina, there was a premium of only 1.4% per foot in flood-prone areas, and was insignificant in areas not subject to flooding. This increased to 4.6% for flooded areas after Katrina. These findings are attributed to not only the perceived risk of flooding, but also to the potential of higher compliance costs associated with rebuilding under more stringent National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) guidelines.     

Student imaginings,cognitive dissonance and critical thinking

In this paper, we urge accounting educators to encourage imaginings and critical thinking in students. We reflect on the results of an assignment in which French accounting students were encouraged to assess the collapse of Enron. The submitted assignments attest to the originality and richness of non-conformist stories reported by some students. However, they also revealed strong instances of cognitive dissonance that we contend was fostered by the contradictions some students detected between the rhetoric and the reality of capitalism; and by the perpetuation of socially bereft capitalist values in accounting curricula. The assignment manifested student discontent with the current pervading economic system and its moral and ethical precepts. We identify the ways by which students responded to their cognitive dissonance. We propose some pedagogic and curriculum initiatives to improve accounting education. These initiatives call for stronger efforts to connect accounting topics with the social world in order to demystify the alleged naturalness of the capitalist system; for students to be encouraged to imagine other cultures and discourses; and for students to challenge any prevailing ideology.     

Finance journal rankings and tiers: An Active Scholar Assessment methodology

This study uses respondent data from a web-based survey of active finance scholars (45% response rate from 37 countries) to endogenously rank 83 finance journals by quality and importance. Journals are further tiered into four groups (A, B, C and D) and stratified into “upper”, “middle” and “lower” tier categories (e.g. A+, A and A−) by estimating a nested regression with random journal-within-tier effects. The comprehensive and endogenous ranking of finance journals based on the Active Scholar Assessment (ASA) methodology can help authors evaluate the strategic aspects of placing their research, facilitate assessment of research achievement by tenure and promotion committees; and assist university libraries in better managing their journal resources. Study findings from active researchers in the field also provide useful guidance to editorial boards for enhancing their journal standing.     

Dynamic capabilities,social capital,and rent appropriation: ties that split pies

Who reaps the fruits of a dynamic capability? We argue that while social capital is essential for the acquisition, integration, and release of resources at the core of a dynamic capability, actors can also use social capital for personal gain. Thus, social capital may be a key to understanding both rent generation and rent appropriation. Even when causal ambiguity obscures individual contributions, they may use their social capital to establish credible claims on the rent. Specifically, employees who occupy structural holes, span organizational boundaries, or who are highly central may be most able to appropriate rent because their social capital grants credibility to their claims. Rent that is appropriated in this way may be unobservable in performance measures that fail to distinguish normal compensation from rent. We contribute by identifying the specific role of social capital in a dynamic capability and linking social capital to rent appropriation patterns. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.