The impact of SARS on China's human resources: implications for the labour market and level of unemployment in the service sector in Beijing,Guangzhou and Shanghai

In this paper, we examine the effects of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) on China's human resources, its labour-market and its level of employment and unemployment, looking specifically at what was one of its economically most vulnerable points, the hotel industry. The paper hypothesizes that the greatest impact would be on human resources in the service-industries and on particular sub-sectors, such as employment in hotels, located in three main cities in the PRC, in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, catering to both overseas as well as domestic tourism. It tentatively concludes that the almost dramatic demand and supply ‘shocks’ may have directly affected both the demand for and the supply of labour in the sub-sector, with discernable employment consequences.     

Demographics and the long-horizon returns of dividend-yield strategies

This paper investigates the relationship between demographic changes and the long-run returns of dividend-yield investment strategies. We hypothesise that in a world where components of wealth are mentally treated as being non-fungible, the preference for high dividend-paying stocks by older investors means that the excess returns of high dividend-yielding stocks, relative to other stocks, should be positively related to demographic clientele variation. In particular, we find that, consistent with the behavioural life-cycle hypothesis, long-run returns of dividend-yield investment strategies are positively driven by changes in the proportion of the older population. Our results are robust when controlled for the Fama–French factors, inflation rate, consumption growth rate, interest rates, tax clienteles, time trend and alternative definitions of both dividend-yield strategies and demographic variation.     

大型事件对旅游上市公司经营业绩的影响研究——基于因子模糊综合评价法

基于因子模糊综合评价法，以上海世博会为例，选取2002－2011年长三角旅游上市公司面板数据为样本，研究大型事件对微观企业经营业绩的影响。结果表明，短期的大型事件对上市公司影响十分有限。这一结论对于今后旅游企业如何参与事件，把握事件所带来的机会并从中获得收益具有一定的借鉴意义．     

Age of first hunting experience: Results from a nationwide recreation survey

Abstract

Hunting participation, as indicated in the 1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey, is examined to determine the relationship between age of first hunting experience and adult level of participation. A statistically significant association between these two variables is found. In addition, more than 83 percent of those who hunt began their involvement by 18 years of age. The findings have implications for future hunting participation and the provision of programs for hunters.     

Channel coordination under consignment and vendor-managed inventory in a distribution system

This paper deals with the problem of coordinating a vertically separated distribution system under vendor-managed inventory and consignment arrangements. We formulate the profit-maximization problem and carry out equilibrium analysis under cooperative and non-cooperative settings. In addition, a revenue-sharing scheme joint with a side-payment is proposed, which leads to Pareto improvements among channel participants. Our analysis reveals that the non-cooperative decentralization tends to price higher and stock less, which leads to a lower channel-wide profit. The consistent bias can be rectified by the dominant, cooperative wholesaler or by using the proposed two-part revenue-sharing mechanism.     

When Do Analysts Adjust for Biases in Management Guidance? Effects of Guidance Track Record and Analysts’ Incentives

Prior research indicates that analysts do not fully adjust for the general downward bias in earnings guidance issued by management. We report the results of two experiments designed to investigate how guidance track record and analysts’ incentives jointly explain the extent to which analysts adjust for guidance bias. Our results suggest that analysts with accuracy incentives adjust for management’s track record of downwardly biased guidance when the bias is relatively small (one cent), but those with relationship incentives do not. Furthermore, the difference in adjustment is larger when the bias track record is inconsistent than when it is consistent. Also, when guidance bias is larger (two cents) relative to smaller (one cent), analysts with relationship incentives partially adjust, as they appear to strike a balance between accuracy and their desire to please management. These findings hold implications for investors, regulators, and the interpretation of prior research.     

Interpersonal Relationship,Service Quality,Seller Expertise: How Important Are They to Adolescent Consumers?

Drawing upon social capital theory and psychosocial development theory, this paper argues that a true buyer–seller relationship is a key determinant of favorable consumer behaviors for adolescent consumers of hairstylist services. Other important determinants include quality of the service delivery process (i.e., service quality as measured by the five SERVQUAL factors) and quality of the core service (in this case, the hairstylist's expertise). A survey of 350 adolescent consumers confirms these predictions. It shows that a true interpersonal relationship negatively moderates the positive effects of service quality on consumer satisfaction with, and overall assessment of the hairstylist. This negative moderating effect is labeled resource substitution benefit and the argument made that this is the fourth social capital benefit. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Tick sizes and relative rates of price discovery in stock,futures, and options markets: Evidence from the Taiwan stock exchange

This study examines the competition in price discovery among stock index, index futures, and index options in Taiwan. The price‐discovery ability of the Taiwan Top 50 Tracker Fund, an exchange‐traded fund based on the Taiwan 50 index is examined. The authors find that, after the minimum tick size in the stock market decreases, the bid–ask spreads of the component stocks of the stock index and the Taiwan Top 50 Tracker Fund get lower, and the contribution of the spot market to price discovery increases. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:74–93, 2009     

Information direction, website reputation and eWOM effect: A moderating role of product type

This article examines how the electronic word of mouth (eWOM) information direction (positive vs. negative) and a website's reputation (established vs. unestablished) contribute to the eWOM effect. The article describes a study focusing on the moderating role of the product type (search vs. experience). The results of the experiment show that the eWOM effect is greater for negative eWOM than for positive eWOM, greater for established websites than for unestablished websites, and greater for experience goods than for search goods. The results support the moderating effects of product type on the eWOM information direction-website reputation-eWOM effect relationship. The impact of negative eWOM on the eWOM effect is greater for experience goods than for search goods. Similarly, the impact of website reputation on the eWOM effect is greater for experience goods than for search goods. The findings provide managerial implications for an Internet marketing strategy.     

Intra‐firm differentiation of compensation systems: evidence from US high‐technology firms

While scholars have long recognised the influence of firm decisions on aspects of compensation (e.g. pay level and pay mix), prior compensation studies offer an ambiguous understanding regarding their scope. Some studies argue that firms customise compensation decisions according to employee groups, whereas others assume that firm compensation decisions apply uniformly throughout a firm. To address this research gap, the current study analyses pay levels and pay mixes for R&D employees and administrative employees in US high‐technology firms. Our empirical analyses show that firms make distinct compensation decisions for these two job families, but these decisions are ultimately consistent. These findings highlight firms' intention to strike a balance between customising compensation systems according to employee groups and maintaining internal consistency. Our findings add interesting insights to the strategic HRM and talent management literatures, which claim that firms should differentiate among employees when designing HRM systems.