The Profitability and Pricing of Major Customers

We examine the profitability and valuation of retail firms identified by suppliers as major customers, using major customer relationships to proxy for unrecorded organizational-capital intangibles. Major customers have higher operating profitability and profitability persistence, with the sources of the higher profitability consistent with purported advantages of supply chain arrangements. The pricing of major customers is consistent with the market recognizing the level and over-time properties of operating profitability. Together, these results suggest that investors understand the profitability effects of unrecorded organizational intangible assets and that financial statement analysis can be used to further examine the valuation effects of such intangibles.     

Pension Freedom Day in the United Kingdom: Early evaluation of consumer response

Understanding decumulation decisions in retirement is an important component of public policy that influences pension regulations in aging societies. This research examined a recent, substantial change to pension regulation in the United Kingdom: the newly established flexibility to obtain a lump‐sum payout from personal or occupational pension savings. Conducting an online survey of individual’s eligible to take advantage of the Pension Freedom regulation, we find that almost half of study participants plan to obtain a lump‐sum payout, on average £33,741, intending it for an average of three different investments or purchases. The decision to obtain a lump‐sum withdrawal was related to better knowledge of the new regulation. It was also more likely among older respondents and those not worried about a decline in standard of living during retirement. Dispositional measures did not affect the lump‐sum decision. Close to one‐third of study participants still planned to invest retirement savings into an annuity, especially those who retire at a later age, have concerns about care costs and worry about decline in standard of living in retirement. Comments about the changes to pension regulation were slightly more positive than negative. From our analysis of the effect of the Pension Freedom regulation on savings decumulation decisions, we conclude that the new Pension Freedom regulations do meet consumer demands, and demonstrate that pension knowledge and retirement expectations, in particular, influence consumer evaluations. We further conclude that annuity investments continue to play a role for older adults in the United Kingdom, especially for those concerned about meeting financial needs during retirement.     

Transforming New Ideas into Practice: An Activity Based Perspective on the Institutionalization of Practices

We develop an activity‐focused process model of how new ideas can be transformed into front line practice by reviving attention to the importance of habitualization as a key component of institutionalization. In contrast to established models that explain how ideas diffuse or spread from one organization to another, we employ a micro‐level perspective to study the subsequent intra‐organizational processes through which these ideas are transformed into new workplace practices. We followed efforts to transform the organizationally accepted idea of ‘interdisciplinary teamwork’ into new everyday practices in four cases over a six year time period. We contribute to the literature by focusing on de‐habitualizing and re‐habitualizing behaviours that connect micro‐level actions with organizational level theorizing. Our model illuminates three phases that we propose are essential to creating and sustaining this connection: micro‐level theorizing, encouraging trying the new practices, and facilitating collective meaning‐making.     

Ethics in accounting education: What is really being done

Recent developments in the business world have caused the academic community to address the coverage of ethics in the accounting curriculum. This study surveyed accounting faculty to: (1) examine perceptions about ethics coverage in the undergraduate accounting courses; (2) identify teaching methods used to include ethics in the undergraduate accounting courses, the perceived effectiveness of those methods and the amount of time spent on ethics coverage; and (3) to identify problems encountered in including ethics in accounting courses. The study found that although a large majority of the professors surveyed (77%) said they include ethics, 69% felt that there was a need for more ethics coverage. Also, the study revealed that while the lecture method was the most commonly used method, the written case was deemed the most effective method. The average time spent covering ethics was a little over 3 hours per course. The most significant problems encountered by faculty who include ethics in their undergraduate accounting courses was not enough time and lack of appropriate ethics materials.Edward E. Milam is a Professor at Mississippi State University and former Dean of the School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Milam has authored several books on estate taxation and has articles published in several journals includingEstate Planning, Trusts and Estates, Taxation for Accountants, andThe Financial Executive. Currently, Dr. Milam is serving on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Tax Institute.Frances M. McNair is an Associate Professor at Mississippi State University. Dr. McNair has authored a book in tax practice and has articles published in several journals including theJournal of Accountancy, Taxation for Lawyers, andThe Practical Accountant.     

A NEW LOOK AT THE WEALTH ADEQUACY OF OLDER U.S. HOUSEHOLDS

We examine the current wealth adequacy of older U.S. households using the 1998–2006 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We find that the median older U.S. household is reasonably well situated, with a ratio of comprehensive net wealth to present value poverty‐line wealth of about 3.9 in 2006. About 18 percent of households, however, have less wealth than would be needed to generate 150 percent of poverty‐line income over their expected future lifetimes. We see similar patterns of wealth adequacy when we examine ratios of annualized comprehensive wealth to pre‐retirement earnings. Comparing the leading edge of the baby boomers in 2006 to households of the same age in 1998, we find that the baby boomers show slightly less wealth, in real terms, than their elders did, but still appear to have adequate resources at the median. Moreover, we find a rising age profile of annualized wealth, even within households over time and after controlling for other factors, suggesting that older households are not spending their wealth as quickly as their survival probabilities are falling.     

Increased Buyer Concentration and Its Effects on Profitability in the Manufacturing Sector

The article details the increase in buyerconcentration that has occurred throughout themanufacturing sector in recent years and explores itseffects on manufacturers' profitability. The articledevelops a new firm-level data set derived fromSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 10-Ksubmissions to explore this topic among 218 firms in19 industries. The article's econometric resultsconflict with economic theory's prediction thatgreater buyer concentration is likely to be associatedwith lower seller profits principally in oligopolisticindustries. To the contrary, the results suggest thatbuyer concentration reduces profitability primarily incompetitive rather than oligopolistic industries.