Modern Strategies for Time Series Regression

This paper discusses several modern approaches to regression analysis involving time series data where some of the predictor variables are also indexed by time. We discuss classical statistical approaches as well as methods that have been proposed recently in the machine learning literature. The approaches are compared and contrasted, and it will be seen that there are advantages and disadvantages to most currently available approaches. There is ample room for methodological developments in this area. The work is motivated by an application involving the prediction of water levels as a function of rainfall and other climate variables in an aquifer in eastern Australia.     

Breach of traveller privacy in location-based social media

The availability of location-based social media (LBSM) presents various opportunities for tourism researchers and businesses to understand and enhance the traveller experience. However, privacy concerns can prevent users from sharing their location data, impeding the future development of LBSM applications. Privacy issues of LBSM remain under investigation in the tourism literature probably because social media platforms are often assumed to feature good security mechanisms. This paper argues that risks of privacy disclosure exist not from direct access to private data but indirectly through seemingly harmless data published by users. We present a social link mining technique and demonstrate how private and sensitive information in the form of social relationships between travellers can be revealed. The ?ndings can support managers and researchers in realizing the potential privacy risks of LBSM so that effective strategies can be developed to protect users and promote the gains that LBSM can bring.     

Leading corporate sustainability: The role of top management team composition for triple bottom line performance

Sustainable development at the corporate level requires balancing social, environmental, and financial performance goals. Achieving such “triple bottom line” (TBL) performance is a very challenging task. In this study, we explore the role the organization's top management team (TMT) plays in leading their organization towards corporate sustainability. We focus on how two distinct aspects of the TMT's structural composition—the presence of a “chief sustainability officer” (CSO) and the TMT's functional diversity—affect the organization's ability to reach high levels of TBL performance. We follow the presence of 22 global energy companies in Corporate Knight's “Global 100” sustainability index for a period of 11 years and find that, surprisingly, the presence of a CSO does not boost TBL performance. However, we do find a positive effect for TMT functional diversity, suggesting that more diverse TMTs are better able to lead their organization to higher levels of TBL performance.     

Freedom Net

As the Internet becomes ubiquitous, there is widespread anxiety that it is either a source of moral corruption or a threat to business. This anxiety stems from the fact that the Internet calls the most restrictive aspects of legislation into question. Because the Internet is intrinsically orientated towards freedom, it should be championed, but there is a danger of celebrating new technology as an end in itself rather than the uses to which it can be put. Those commentators who most zealously promote the Internet are often as deluded as those who are afraid of it.     

Ministers and special advisers: Tilting the balance away from cabinet

The Tories invented the CPRS, but Labour Ministers first recruited special ‐ or political ‐ advisers to supplement or counterbalance the advice they got from civil servants. Now Margaret Thatcher has abolished the CPRS, but increased the amount of policy advice available to individual Ministers ‐ particularly herself.     

Income smoothing by Dutch hospitals

Research indicates that hospitals manage their earnings. However, these findings might be influenced by methodological issues. In this study, I exploit specific features of Dutch hospitals to study income smoothing while limiting these methodological issues. The managers of Dutch hospitals have the opportunity not only to postpone revenues to future periods but also to choose the moment of recognition of the postponed revenue. These postponements and recognitions can be positive as well as negative and have to be disclosed in hospitals’ financial statements. I show that the patterns found with respect to postponing revenue and the recognition of postponed revenue are consistent with the expectation that hospitals attempt to smooth their income.