Incorporating price elasticity in financial forecasting models: From theory to practice and implementation

The authors use a capital budgeting example to show students how to incorporate price elasticity into financial analysis as an application of what students learn in their microeconomics course. They present simple as well as more advanced price-quantity relationships, and using various “what-if” scenarios; the authors show how risk analysis can be used to improve revenue projections and valuation models. A project analysis example is employed to illustrate results for negative predictive value and IRR based on three models of price elasticities across a range of potential product pricing. Students are then encouraged to replicate and create similar models, helping them improve their vital Excel and financial modeling skills.     

2015 will See Great Opportunities in Segment Market of Tablet PCs

【正】According to the latest Quarterly Report on the Chinese Tablet PC Market(Nov,2014)released by IDC,the Chinese tablet PC market will have a product delivery o...     

Building multivariate Sato models with linear dependence

The increased trading in multi-name financial products has required the development of state-of-the-art multivariate models. These models should be computationally tractable and, at the same time, flexible enough to explain the stylized facts of asset log-returns and of their dependence structure. The popular class of multivariate Lévy models provides a variety of tractable models, but suffers from one major shortcoming: Lévy models can replicate single-name derivative prices for a given time-to-maturity, but not for the whole range of quoted strikes and maturities, especially during periods of market turmoil. Moreover, there is a significant discrepancy between the moment term structure of Lévy models and the one observed in the market. Sato processes on the other hand exhibit a moment term structure that is more in line with empirical evidence and allow for a better replication of single-name option price surfaces. In this paper, we propose a general framework for multivariate models characterized by independent and time-inhomogeneous increments, where the asset log-return processes at unit time are modeled as linear combinations of independent self-decomposable random variables, where at least one self-decomposable random variable is shared by all the assets. As examples, we consider two general subclasses within this new framework, where we assume a normal variance-mean mixture with a one-sided tempered stable mixing density or a difference of one-sided tempered stable laws for the distribution of the risk factors. Particular attention is given to the models' ability to explain the asset dependence structure. A numerical study reveals the advantages of these new types of models.     

The desire for unique consumer products: A new individual differences scale

In this article we examine individual differences in the desire for unique consumer products. We identify several of the antecedents and consequences of this variable and argue that a new scale to measure it is needed. Then we report the results of our efforts to develop and validate such a scale. The 8-item scale that emerged from these efforts is shown to be unidimensional, to have a factor structure that generalizes across student and nonstudent samples, and to have acceptable internal and test–retest reliabilities. The scale's validity is attested to by its theoretically intelligible relationships with other personality measures and by its ability to differentiate between the patrons of an artistic theater and a second-run theater. Finally, we discuss the potential uses of the scale in both basic and applied marketing research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Project management systems: Moving project management from an operational to a strategic discipline

This article illustrates one aspect of the concept of “fit” between an organization's implementation of project management and its organizational context by exploring how the underlying drivers of an organization's strategy might influence not only the nature of the projects that it undertakes, but also the appropriateness of the arrangements that it makes to manage those projects. Using a model conceptualized from the literature on strategic management, an analysis of four organizations that have made significant investments in project management over the past 5 years supports the hypothesis that the degree of “fit” between an organization's strategic drivers of value and the configuration of its project management system influences the value it obtains from project management.     

Positive Job Response and Ethical Job Performance

Although many studies have linked job attitudes and intentions to aspects of in-role and extra-role job performance, there has been relatively little attention given to such job responses in the context of employees’ ethical/unethical behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible relationship between positive job response (conceptualized as job satisfaction and intention to stay) and behavioral ethics. Ninety-two matched manager-employee pairs from a regional branch of a large financial services and banking firm completed survey instruments, with each employee providing information about his or her job attitudes and intentions and each manager assessing the ethical/unethical performance of his/her employees. Respondents also provided additional information required for our analyses. The results indicated that positive job response among subordinates was associated with higher supervisory ratings of the subordinates’ ethical job performance. The managerial implications of the findings for managing ethical behavior are explored.     

Role Conflict,Mindfulness, and Organizational Ethics in an Education-Based Healthcare Institution

Role conflict occurs when a job possesses inconsistent expectations incongruent with individual beliefs, a situation that precipitates considerable frustration and other negative work outcomes. Increasing interest in processes that reduce role conflict is, therefore, witnessed. With the help of information collected from a large sample of individuals employed at an education-based healthcare institution, this study identified several factors that might decrease role conflict, namely mindfulness and organizational ethics. In particular, the results indicated that mindfulness was associated with decreased role conflict, and that perceived ethical values and a shared ethics code were associated with decreased role conflict and increased mindfulness. Despite the study’s limitations, these findings imply that companies might better manage role conflict through the development of mindfulness and organizational ethics.     

Dividend valuation,trading and transactions costs: the 1997 partial abolition of dividend tax credit repayments

Although UK resident tax-exempt shareholders lost the right to repayment of tax credits on dividends paid by UK resident companies in July 1997, they could continue to receive tax credit repayments in respect of dividends received from Irish resident companies until December 1998. In July 1997 the rate of tax credit on Irish companies' dividends was 21%, and this was reduced to 11% in December 1997. We obtain insights into the incentives and behaviour of UK tax-exempt investors in response to these changes in the relative ‘tax attractiveness’ of investments in Irish resident companies. We find that only at its highest rate, 21%, was the level of dividend tax credit on Irish companies' dividends sufficient to induce changes in UK tax-exempt shareholders' investment strategies; and that the propensity for dividend capture by tax-exempt investors is heightened when the dividend tax credit yield is of the order of 0.8 or more and dividend yield is of the order of 2.6% or more.