Social interaction effects in the framing of buying decisions

The reported study is a response to the Kahneman and Tversky (1984; 1988) proposal that systematic examination of alternative framings of decisions offers a useful reflective device that can help decision makers assess the values that should be attached to the primary and secondary consequences of their choices. We investigate the effect of social interaction as a mediator of responses to the theater ticket problems of Tversky and Kahneman (1981). The hypothesis is supported that attending the theater with a friend (social interaction) versus alone reduced the effect of the lost ticket versus the loss of a $10 bill on willingness to spend a second $10 to see the play. A further hypothesis, that social interaction results in a positive main effect on attending the theater after the ticket ($10 bill) loss receives limited support. The results support the views of Payne (1982), Schoemaker (1982), and Bettman, Johnson, and Payne (1991) that context effects influence a decision maker's judgment and, hence, the outcome of the decision process. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Scottish Political Economy Tradition and Modern Economics

The purpose of this article is to re-examine the notion of a Scottish tradition in political economy in the light of recent developments in the methodology of economics. Consideration is given to the concept of tradition itself, which puts the focus on approach to theorising and the relationship between theory and reality rather than theoretical content. It is argued that the Scottish approach provided the foundations for much of modern political economy. Further, modern discussion of constructivism and critical realism can both be seen to have precedents in the Scottish tradition. Indeed the Scottish political economy tradition provides an exemplar of a constructive blending of the two strands.     

What makes a blockbuster? Economic analysis of film success in the United Kingdom

In this paper, we attempt to evaluate whether a film's commercial performance can be forecast. The statistical distribution of film revenues in the UK is examined and found to have unbounded variance. This undermines much of the existing work relating a film's performance to its identifiable attributes within an OLS model. We adopt De Vany and Walls' approach and transform the revenue data into a binary variable and estimate the probability that a film's revenue will exceed a given threshold value; in other words, the probability of a blockbuster. Furthermore, we provide a sensitivity analysis around these threshold values. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Firm heterogeneity and worker turnover

Previous empirical analyses of job mobility focus on worker rather than firm characteristics. This paper exploits a unique data set on enterprise employment. We describe sectoral differences in turnover rates and in the persistence of turnover. We also present evidence of persistent turnover differences at the level of the individual firms—a result that is expected if firms have managers with differing ability to screen workers. When we consider the consequences to the firm of such turnover, we discover that high turnover firms are less likely to survive.     

Book reviews

Technological Risk H. W. Lewis ,Yew York and London, W. W. Norton ,and Company, 1991, xiii+353pp., £15.95.

Towards Global Localisation: the computing and telecommunications industries in Britain and France Philip Cooke, Frank Moulaert, Erik Swyngedouw, Olivier Weinstein & Peter Wells with Martine Lamattre & Patrice Grevet London, UCL Press, 1992, 227pp., £30.00 hardback.

A Strategy of Change: concepts and controversies in the management of change David C. Wilson London, Routledge, 1992, 147pp., ISBN 0-4 15-053269, £10.00 pbk.     

The Impact of Illegal Business Practice on Shareholder Returns

Data regarding illegal firm behavior were obtained for the period 1980–1990. Using the single index market model, the study finds that public announcements of indictments for major corporate crimes have a significant and long-term negative impact upon shareholder wealth, particularly for firms found guilty of the indictment. The results indicate that indictments of larger firms have a proportionally smaller impact on excess returns. Furthermore, indictments handed down since the Levine/Boesky scandal appear to have had a more adverse impact.