Differences and Similarities between Impulse Buying and Variety Seeking: A Personality‐based Perspective

Although personality is a key determinant of consumer purchasing decision making, the role of personality traits in impulse buying and variety seeking is not conclusive. This research uses a personality perspective to determine the unique associations among impulse buying tendency (IBT), variety seeking tendency (VST), and the Big Five personality traits within one integrated framework. Based on data from a nationally representative sample of 1644 Norwegian adults, the results show that while IBT and VST might be correlated, they differ significantly with respect to two major personality aspects: “neuroticism” and “openness to experience.” Specifically, the present study indicates that neuroticism predicted IBT positively and VST negatively, while openness was a strong predictor of VST and unrelated to IBT.     

Analysis of foreign investment impact on the dynamics of national capitalization structure: A computational intelligence approach

Central and Eastern Europe countries are in the political and economic transitional process of merging with the European Union. How has foreign investment already transformed these countries’ economic sectors and how will it affect the national economies in terms of capitalization across economic sectors in the near future? Our prime consideration is portfolio investment impact on the dynamics of respective countries’ capitalization structure in terms of sectorial investment distribution. The proposed method rests on the artificial intelligence approach (neural network method), which is targeted to grasp non-linear dynamics of heterogeneous foreign investment impact on national capitalization structure.     

Maximum likelihood estimators of the dagum model parameters

This paper will show the sample size needed to provide good maximum likelihood estimators of the Dagum model parameters. The principal goal of this study is to verify the asymptotic properties of these estimators for finite sample sizes comparable to the ones employed in the real surveys (for example, the Labor Force Survey).     

Inflation targeting regimes

This paper divides the monetary frameworks of countries that use an inflation target to define their monetary framework into three different regimes: (i) full-fledged inflation targeting, (ii) implicit price stability anchor, and (iii) inflation targeting lite. The regimes are differentiated by the clarity and credibility of the commitment to the inflation target. The revealed preference for different regimes is related empirically to cross-country structural differences in economic and financial development. Policy implications of moving from one regime to another are drawn, especially for emerging market countries aiming at full-fledged inflation targeting.     

Changes in Income Distribution for Different Family Types in Poland

International Advances in Economic Research - This paper compares income distributions for the family types distinguished by the number of children. The primary contribution to the literature of...     

When does transition increase the gender wage gap?

In the context of underlying stability in female participation rates, the gender wagegap, measured by the log of monthly wages, more than doubled in Belarus from 1996 to 2006. In this respect, the country has experienced a variant of the transition which occurred in the former Soviet Union where relative female wages fell by more than female participation. We have used the Machado and Mata (2005) analysis of the gender gap distribution. This reveals that the effect of coefficients on observed characteristics in widening the gap was increasing over time, especially in the lower and middle deciles of the wage distribution. At the same time, the effect of the characteristics themselves in reducing the gap was shrinking. The decomposition of changes in the gap over time, based on Juhn et al. (1991) , confirms that the contraction of women’s relative wages has been caused both by a deterioration in the observed characteristics of female workers and by the associated remuneration. Changes in the residual wage distribution tend to slightly reduce the gap rather than, as is the case elsewhere, to increase it. The analysis carried out in line with Neuman and Oaxaca (2004) suggests that the increased gap was not caused by sample selection. Instead, two observed factors are found to be mainly responsible for the results: hours of work have increased for men more than for women and women have experienced segregation in low‐wage industries.     

Sources of tourist information used by Deaf people. Case study: the Polish Deaf community

The tourism sector is still failing to fully provide for the varied needs of people with a disability. If the current situation is to change, then the characteristics of these needs must be better identified. This paper presents the results of a study on sources of tourist information used by Deaf people, for whom the basic form of communication is sign language. The study was performed in Poland from 2004 to 2010 within the Deaf community (n?=?292) and (for comparison of results) among the hearing section of society (n?=?1780). It has shown that the primary sources of tourist information for both Deaf and hearing individuals are the Internet and the opinions of close ones. Tourist information should be disseminated using sign language. Deaf people must participate in the process of creating the Tourism Information System. The conclusions contain indications for tourism managers on ways of disseminating information to Deaf clients.     

The new Form 8-K disclosures

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated new disclosure requirements in Form 8-K, which became effective on August 23, 2004. The SEC expanded the list of items that have to be reported and accelerated the timeliness of these reports. This study examines the market reactions to 8-Ks filed under the new SEC regime and investigates whether periodic reports (10-K/Qs) became less informative under the new 8-K disclosure rules. We observe that the newly required 8-K items constitute over half of all filings and that most firms disclose the required items within the new shortened period (four business days). We find that all disclosed items (old and new) are associated with abnormal volume and return volatility around both the event and the SEC filing dates, and some items have significant return drifts after the SEC filings. Surprisingly, we find that the information content of periodic reports has not diminished by the more expansive and timely 8-K disclosures under the new guidance, possibly indicating that investors may use periodic filings to interpret the effects of material events that had been disclosed earlier.