The influence of information presentation order and evaluation time horizon on the outcome effect

The outcome effect occurs when an evaluation is influenced by knowledge of the outcome, even when it is unclear that the outcome provides additional information about the evaluatee's performance. This phenomenon has received considerable attention in the accounting and psychology literatures, which rely on cognitive or motivational factors to account for the outcome effect. However, prior research has not considered the impact of information presentation order or the evaluation time horizon. We evaluate prior research in accounting and conclude that information presentation order could have significantly impacted the outcome effect observed in these studies. We then report the results of an experiment that provides evidence that information presentation order plays a significant role in the existence and magnitude of the outcome effect. In addition, we find that the length of the evaluation time horizon is positively related to the magnitude of the outcome effect when conditions favor a recency effect.     

The effect of network competence and environmental hostility on the internationalization of SMEs

Research findings suggest that networks offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) opportunities to internationalize successfully. However, the role of internal organizational competence in the process of developing and maintaining such networks in hostile external environments has received little attention. The aim of this study is to shed light on the relationship by examining the positive influence that the network competence of SMEs has on their propensity to internationalize, and on their subsequent international performance. Given that the willingness of firms to enter and perform well in markets appears to also depend on environmental hostilities, this external influence on SME internationalization is incorporated into the study. We also examine whether the level of environmental hostility moderates the relationship between network competence and SME internationalization. The empirical part of the study comprises a web survey of 298 Finnish SMEs representing five different industry sectors: metal, food, furniture, software, and knowledge-intensive business services. Confirmatory factor analysis and regression models are used in the analysis. The results indicate that higher levels of network competence are positively related to the propensity of SMEs to internationalize, as well as to their international performance. Conversely, the level of environmental hostility has a negative effect on the performance measure, but not on the internationalization propensity. Additionally, the influence of network competence is not moderated by environmental hostility. The results indicate that internal network competence and external environmental hostility play a role in SME internationalization, and that the positive influence of network competence exists independently of the hostility in the environment.     

Audit effort and fees under concentrated client ownership: Evidence from four international audit firms

Using proprietary audit hour and fee data from the internal records of four Big Six firms in Finland, this study examines the influence of audit client ownership type on audit effort and fees. The primary argument is that there are differential effects of ownership concentration depending on the particular nature of concentrated ownership (i.e., firms in which the majority of shares are manager-owned versus foreign-owned versus state-owned). Consistent with this, the paper documents that audit hours and fees are lower for companies majority-owned by their management and higher for subsidiaries of foreign companies than for other firms. However, no difference between companies owned by the state or municipalities and companies with a more diverse ownership structure can be found. This suggests that governmental ownership is actually closer to a dispersed than a concentrated ownership structure in terms of audit quality.The results show that replacing the variable indicating majority-ownership with the variables capturing the type of a controlling owner increases the explanatory power of the models significantly, which demonstrates the importance of ownership type in the production and pricing of an audit. The findings have important implications for those examining audit markets with client firms owned by different types of controlling shareholders.     

Valuation in Over-the-Counter Markets

We provide the impact on asset prices of search-and-bargainingfrictions in over-the-counter markets. Under certain conditions,illiquidity discounts are higher when counterparties are harderto find, when sellers have less bargaining power, when the fractionof qualified owners is smaller, or when risk aversion, volatility,or hedging demand is larger. Supply shocks cause prices to jump,and then "recover" over time, with a time signature that isexaggerated by search frictions: The price jump is larger andthe recovery is slower in less liquid markets. We discuss avariety of empirical implications.     

Business responsibility and effectuation in internationalized SMEs

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Sustainability is a global trend that requires balancing environmental, social, and financial concerns. Issues related to social and...