A Robust Unsupervised Method for Fraud Rate Estimation

If one is interested in managing fraud, one must measure the fraud rate to be able to assess the degree of the problem and the effectiveness of the fraud management technique. This article offers a robust new method for estimating fraud rate, PRIDIT‐FRE (PRIDIT‐based Fraud Rate Estimation), developed based on PRIDIT, an unsupervised fraud detection method to assess individual claim fraud suspiciousness. PRIDIT‐FRE presents the first nonparametric unsupervised estimator of the actual rate of fraud in a population of claims, robust to the bias contained in an audited sample (arising from the quality or individual hubris of an auditor or investigator, or the natural data‐gathering process through claims adjusting). PRIDIT‐FRE exploits the internal consistency of fraud predictors and makes use of a small audited sample or an unaudited sample only. Using two insurance fraud data sets with different characteristics, we illustrate the effectiveness of PRIDIT‐FRE and examine its robustness in varying scenarios.     

Striking a Balance for Sustainable Tourism: Implications of the Discourse on Globalisation

Tourism, as a macro global force, is welcomed but often viewed with reticence as it can damage environments and bring about negative economic and sociocultural changes. For tourism to be sustainable, balance is integral. This paper questions the comprehension behind 'balance' using the discourse evident in globalisation studies. It argues that globalisation is not driven from 'out there'; external processes and activities interact with local conditions such that the outcomes of globalisation are moderated by processes that function at multiple layers. Understanding that power relationships interplay in a specific context and the organisational milieux in which the tourism experience is encountered help to elucidate the tensions that exist and throw light on the 'balance' that sustainable tourism aspires for. Whether the effects of tourism are expressed in terms of the economy, culture and heritage or the environment, understanding the global-local nexus credits local players with more control and enables a better understanding of the forces underpinning change and hence sustainability.     

The role of organizational culture,capabilities, and adoption of e-marketing on nonprofits' organizational performance

Nonprofit organizations are facing increasing challenges to survival and mission accomplishment in a market economy. Thus, many nonprofit organizations are actively exploring how to enhance organizational performance through Internet and communication technologies in the digital era. The relationship between e-marketing adoption and organizational performance of for-profit companies has been studied intensively. However, this relationship has not been examined in the nonprofit context. The objectives of this study are to investigate factors promoting the adoption of e-marketing and the latter's effect on the performance of nonprofits. This paper surveyed 54 nonprofits and used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the research hypotheses grounded in resource dependence theory and e-marketing orientation. Results indicated that top management's attitudinal emphasis on e-marketing does not lead to e-marketing adoption. Differs from for-profit companies, nonprofits' e-marketing adoption is mainly related to planning and implementation capabilities. Moreover, although planning strongly influences e-marketing adoption, implementation capabilities play a crucial role in a performance-driven adoption. Hence, if e-marketing is adopted without sufficient manpower and skills, organizational performance will not be enhanced even with adequate e-marketing budget.     

Market exchanges, hierarchical exchanges or relational exchanges in export channels into emerging markets

This study draws from relational contracting paradigm, transaction cost paradigm, and internationalization process paradigm and evaluates market exchanges, hierarchical exchanges, and relational exchanges between Western manufacturers and their foreign intermediaries in emerging markets. The study suggests that choices of exchange governance be determined by various factors in combination, including experiential knowledge, market conditions, activity complementarity, brand power, and trust. Choices of exchange governance depend on the interaction among these factors.     

How Should the Graduate Economics Core be Changed?

The authors present suggestions by graduate students from a range of economics departments for improving the first-year core sequence in economics. The students identified a number of elements that should be added to the core: more training in building microeconomic models, a discussion of the methodological foundations of model-building, more emphasis on institutions to motivate and contextualize macroeconomic models, and greater focus on econometric practice rather than theory. The authors hope that these suggestions will encourage departments to take a fresh look at the content of the first-year core.     

The Evolution of Office Building Research

Office building development has had a relatively short history. However, since the 1880s, we have seen tremendous growth in the number and size of office buildings and a significant change in the location of these buildings. Early research in this area centered on technological changes and innovation in construction. As the market matured, researchers began to explore other areas of interest. This article provides a brief history of office building development in the United States. It then identifies, categorizes, and appraises the major studies in this area. It concludes with discussion of topics for future research.     

Using DEA to Identify and Manage Congestion

This paper deals with identifying and managing congestion. For this purpose, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) is used to identify congestion when the data show it to be present, estimate its amounts, and separate it from other forms of inefficiency. DEA is also used to identify where improvements may be made in the management of congestion and to estimate input decreases and output increases that may be made after managerial inefficiencies in managing congestion are eliminated. The treatment here differs from the usual approaches that are restricted to identifying sources and amounts of technical inefficiency and congestion to be eliminated. The focus is directed rather to efficiency of performances in the presence of inefficiencies imposed by, say, labor contracts or government regulations and policies. Other developments include a use of rates of substitution formulated in terms of slack variables that help to avoid instabilities associated with the very small values that are often encountered in the use of dual variables to determine the rates of substitution. These rates of substitution are intended for use in guiding allocations (or reallocations) of inputs between different plants (or other entities) in ways that can further improve performance without reducing the congesting inputs that are to be employed. Hence modifications are needed to extend the usual restrictions to movements on the efficiency frontier so that frontiers associated with congestion and other inefficiencies can be dealt with.     

Comparative measures of performance for U.S.-based international equity mutual funds

This paper compares an international two-index model to an International Arbitrage Pricing Theory (IAPT) two-factor model to evaluate the performance of 37 U.S.-based international mutual funds over the 1985–1993 period. Results from the index model confirm prior research that international funds perform as well as the market proxy. In contrast, the IAPT model implies superior investment performance by the international funds. Moreover, the two models produce different relative performance rankings. Intertemporal comparisons of the models indicate that the multifactor IAPT model better reflects the international equity return-generating process.