The Market Response to Restructuring: A Behavioral Model

In this paper, I model the behavior of producers, consumers, and regulators in deciding to restructure the electricity sector and estimate their equilibrium response to the newly restructured market. The empirical model consists of simultaneous price and restructuring equations with endogenous switching and cross-equation correlation in the errors. This approach allow me to account for the influence of special interest groups and potential selection bias in which countries choose to restructure. I estimate distinct shifts from restructuring in both industrial and residential prices, and for English speaking, Scandinavian, and South American countries. I find that in all countries, it is industrial consumers that experience the price effects of restructuring, while residential consumers remain largely unaffected. In English speaking and Scandinavian countries, industrial prices decrease while in South American countries they increase. This is consistent with the political–economic environment in which these countries have considered restructuring.     

“The people's will”: Canadians and the 1898 referendum on alcohol prohibition

The 1920s American alcohol prohibition is notorious but not unique. Quite a few countries went through a vigorous struggle. But it is in Canada in 1898 that the very first national referendum on prohibition in the world took place. In this article, we focus on this rare and neglected event in Canadian history, in which the government came close but finally did not impose prohibition.In our empirical analysis, we use census district-level data to investigate how the shares of Yes, No and Abstentions vary according to four sets of factors: religious, demographic, social and economic. Our results confirm the literature on temperance and prohibition with religion [Evangelicals against Catholics and Anglicans] as the key explanatory variable, followed by the heterogeneity of the population, measured by the proportion of foreign-born. Urbanization has also the expected (although small) impact. Results for wealth are mixed. The economic interest rationale is not confirmed but that can be explained by the historical context.     

Why do Filipinos desire to work more hours?

In 2018, 16.4 per cent of Filipino workers stated that they wanted to have more work hours in their present jobs, to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer work hours, that is, they declared themselves under-employed. Analysis of the 2015 Labor Force Survey data shows that relative to being full-time employed and not under-employed, the major determinant of being under-employed is the basic pay. Region, educational attainment, sector, and primary occupation are much less important determinants.     

On realising the utopian potential of big data analytics for maximising return on marketing investments

ABSTRACT

This commentary explores the Big Data transition of the ?eld of Marketing. The potential value of Big Data Analytics for both ?rms and customers is investigated and impediments for Marketing are identi?ed. It is concluded that despite the threats and obstacles, exciting challenges and opportunities for creating value are to be explored and exploited by marketing scholars and practitioners.     

Spillover effects from unintended trials on attitude and behavior: Promoting new products through access-based services

Access-based services (ABS) provide an opportunity for brands to promote their new products by enabling (unintended) trials. However, the mechanisms and impact of consumer exposure to products in ABS and the subsequent potential spillover effects on both the brand and the product perception are largely unknown. Our hypotheses are derived from the information integration theory (IIT) and subsequently tested. Study 1 is a field study investigating an unintended trial moderated by involvement and positive experience. The results indicate the positive effects of the unintended trial on product and brand attitudes, brand purchase intention, and word of mouth. In line with IIT, these effects are more pronounced for positive trial experience, although in contrast to IIT, they are less pronounced for high-involvement consumers. While the results of Study 2, an online experiment, show substantial effects of both trials compared with nontrials, they also reveal that intended and unintended trials have a similar impact on attitude, but ABS experiences have a stronger positive impact on brand purchase intention. We thus recommend that brand managers promote not only new products but also their brands in unintended trials. This study fills a gap in current discussions about the trial effect(s) of ABS.     

ABC Inventory Management Support System With a Clinical Laboratory Application

Many manufacturing and service organizations invest a large amount of capital in inventory. For this reason, it is important for inventory managers to reduce the costs associated with inventory. Firms that carry a variety of items require a classification system for the effective management of inventory. The ABC support system is a well-established inventory planning and control method that is used to manage different classes of inventory and reduce inventory costs concurrently. This paper presents a decision support system for ABC inventory management that can be used by managers to determine the efficiency of their inventory policies and to evaluate inventory decisions. The mathematical formulas to support inventory decisions are discussed. Since managers must manage in term of dollars, the quantitative tools are explained in terms suitable for management.     

Service-for-equity arrangements: Untangling motives and conflicts

Many professional service organizations have adopted a little understood contractual form: service-for-equity. Based on in-depth case studies of 12 major professional service providers with a combined experience of 179 equity-for-service deals, this paper documents 18 intended and unintended consequences, emanating from and expanding beyond agency theory, of adopting such a contractual form. Six propositions are developed which speculate how these consequences, categorized under client development, service operations, financial management, and organizational behaviour, affect long run performance. Assuming these propositions cannot be rejected through empirical analysis, the paper also provides managerial guidance for effective implementation of equity-for-service arrangements.     

The impact of ethical cues on customer satisfaction with service

This study examines the effects of ethical and unethical cues on customers’ evaluations of the ethics of a service provider and their subsequent satisfaction with the service. The results of a disguised, laboratory experiment are used to suggest that customers respond to unethical cues in the environment through lower ethical assessments and satisfaction ratings, but that ethical cues may not necessarily increase satisfaction scores when compared to a neutral situation. The implications suggest that ethical cues and an honest service provider may be the expected norm, and thus will lead to (or maintain) satisfaction with the service encounter, while unethical cues will create dissatisfaction.     

A study of political activism in labour courts

We analyse 1234 judicial decisions to estimate political activism amongst judges arbitrating dismissal disputes in Australian labour courts. The political colour of the appointing political party and judges’ work background affect probability of employee success by about 10% points.