Experiences of high-growth technology firms in Malaysia and New Zealand

How do technology firms experience high growth and the support available from governments? This qualitative study explores the experiences of high-growth technology-based firms in Malaysia and New Zealand. Case studies were developed for eight high-growth companies in the information and communication technology sectors of each country. The countries differ in national cultures and the forms of government support. There were no marked country differences in growth drivers. Growth was driven by innovation and flexibility within business-to-business sales relationships. These firms faced four obstacles: intense competition; liabilities of smallness; limited human capital; and funding ability. Malaysia offers broader mainstream support with favourable tax treatment of R&;D related expenditure. In contrast, New Zealand’s has been criticised for a highly targeted approach, although this is now broadening. Both countries appear to be converging on a hybrid approach combining mainstream and targeted support for growth businesses.     

Film tourism: celebrity involvement,celebrity worship and destination image

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. Previous studies have attempted to examine the relationship between celebrity involvement and destination image in film tourism, though the mechanism underlying this relationship remains a black box. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between celebrity involvement and destination image, and to clarify the role of celebrity worship for film tourists. A quantitative method is adopted to examine the hypotheses, and by applying multiple regression analysis. Questionnaire data from 390 Taiwanese purposeful film tourists indicate that celebrity involvement is positively related to destination image. Furthermore, celebrity worship mediates the relationship between celebrity involvement and destination image. The findings contribute to understanding this specific type of film tourist, and especially the role of celebrity in their image, motivations and decision. Research implications suggest that celebrity and film can be an effective promotional tool to induce these specific film tourists.     

The effect of incidental affect on preference for the status quo

The authors report results from four experiments that describe the influence of incidental affect on preference for the status quo. The first and second experiments, each using different affect induction methods, demonstrated that positive affect increased and negative affect reduced the choice of the status quo alternative. The third experiment replicated the effect of incidental affect on a separate dimension of status quo bias, the preference of omission. The last experiment investigated whether preference for the status quo was affected by four specific emotions that differed along valence and certainty appraisal dimensions. Compared with affective states associated with uncertainty, affective states associated with certainty led to a greater magnitude of status quo bias. The certainty appraisals mediated the effect of specific emotions on preference for the status quo, regardless of the emotion valence. The findings extend our knowledge by showing that incidental affect can influence consumer choice through emotion-related appraisals.     

A multi-agent-based negotiation support system for distributed transmission cost allocation

We have developed a multi-agent system (MAS), based on the network flow model and KQML, called MASCAN, to support negotiations in the cost allocation of network transmission. This is very important to industries that have different entities connected with lines or pipes, such as the Internet and telecommunications. Such an approach is especially useful to the utility industries, such as electricity and gas, and the transportation industry. In the system, each agent represents a node in a network, for example supplier or consumer. Agents do not receive any centralized controls or information from centralized sources to guarantee autonomy–a key requirement for the agent. In this all decisions are made locally based on the rules or knowledge that each agent has or captured to communicate or coordinate with other agents for the cheapest path under fair-play requirements. We also assume that each agent is rational, that is, one of the goals or objectives of agent decisions or movements is to minimize costs or increase profits. The solution to cost allocation is to search for the equilibrium point of a non-cooperative game subject to the given constraints, for example network capacity. We applied MASCAN to model and support the negotiation of cost allocation in power transmission, and the results and how this approach supported the process of negotiation are perceived to be closer to the real-world negotiation and the outcomes were accepted more easily by the participants. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer knowledge and meat consumption at home and away from home

We investigate the roles of consumer knowledge and sociodemographic factors in the consumption of meat products at home and away from home. Censored dependent variables and endogenous dietary knowledge are accommodated by developing and estimating a simultaneous-equations system. Results suggest endogeneity of knowledge and support the system approach to demand functions for meat products. Dietary knowledge decreases consumption of beef and pork at home and away from home but does not affect poultry or fish consumption in either location. Men eat more meat and fish than women, meat consumption declines with age, and regional and racial/ethnic differences are present.     

Food Stamp Program Participation and Food Insecurity: An Instrumental Variables Approach

The relationship between Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation and household food insecurity (FI) is investigated using data from the 1996–1997 National Food Stamp Program Survey. Endogeneity of FSP participation is accommodated with an instrumental variables approach. In contrast to other findings reported in the literature, results suggest participation in the FSP reduces the severity of FI. Sociodemographic variables play important roles in FSP participation and FI. Underreporting of FSP participation and limited observations of food-insecure households in previous studies may have also been factors.     

Are Analysts' Cash Flow Forecasts Naïve Extensions of Their Own Earnings Forecasts?

We examine the sophistication of analysts' cash flow forecasts to better understand what accrual adjustments, if any, analysts make when forecasting cash flows. As a preliminary step, we first demonstrate that prior empirical tests used to evaluate the sophistication of analysts' cash flow forecasts are not diagnostic. We then present three sets of evidence to triangulate our conclusion that analysts' cash flow forecasts incorporate meaningful accrual adjustments. First, we review a stratified random sample of 90 analyst reports and find that the majority of these analysts include explicit adjustments for working capital and other accruals in their cash flow forecasts. Second, using a large sample of analysts' cash flow forecasts from 1993–2008, we find that these forecasts outperform time‐series cash flow forecasts in correctly predicting the sign and magnitude of accruals. Finally, we find a significant market reaction to analysts' cash flow forecast revisions, suggesting that investors find these revisions informative. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that analysts' cash flow forecasts are not simply naïve extensions of their own earnings forecasts, but that they reflect meaningful and useful accrual adjustments. These findings are relevant to researchers who examine analysts' cash flow forecasts in a variety of settings, and to investors and practitioners who employ these forecasts for valuation purposes.     

Pricing discrete path-dependent options under a double exponential jump–diffusion model

We provide methodologies to price discretely monitored exotic options when the underlying evolves according to a double exponential jump diffusion process. We show that discrete barrier or lookback options can be approximately priced by their continuous counterparts’ pricing formulae with a simple continuity correction. The correction is justified theoretically via extending the corrected diffusion method of Siegmund (1985). We also discuss the jump effects on the performance of this continuity correction method. Numerical results show that this continuity correction performs very well especially when the proportion of jump volatility to total volatility is small. Therefore, our method is sufficiently of use for most of time.