Cultural value,consumption value,and global brand image: A cross‐national study

In expanding their market to the global level with clear and consistent global brand images across nations, marketers are ever confronting the issue of how to deal with different cultural values. Cultural value is identified as an influential factor on brand image and is widely accepted as one of the crucial concepts in understanding consumer consumption value, which determines choices of consuming everyday products and services. Most firms endeavoring to establish and maintain consistent global brand images, however, adopt a standardized brand image strategy that usually does not consider individual target markets” characteristics, including the concepts of cultural value and consumption value. This study developed a conceptual framework which incorporated cultural value not only as a direct antecedent of brand image, but also as an indirect antecedent of brand image through consumption value, and empirically tested it using the category of apparel. Following this framework, this study hypothesized the differences in brand image, cultural value, and consumption value between the U.S. and South Korea. Data were gathered through surveying university students residing in the San Francisco and Seoul metropolitan areas using a convenience sampling method. A total of 329 completed questionnaires were used in factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results provide insights into standardized brand image strategies and suggest some implementable tools that might prove effective in both countries. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Prototype of Multicomponent Brand Personality Structure: A Consumption Synmbolism Approach

Brand personality (BP) in the postmodern marketplace encompasses a variety of anthropomorphized attributes associated with a brand, reflecting on a wide spectrum of social, cultural, and psychological associations capturing various aspects in everyday life stories of consumers. Most prior research onBP, however, has employed a psychology‐based approach, and has not yet fully demonstrated the concept's market‐driven scope in the contemporary brand schema. To bridge the gap between the practitioner and scholar, this study employed a consumption symbolism approach to develop a multicomponent structure ofBP. A qualitative study was conducted with 36 brands of six product/service categories (fashion/luxury, beverage, automotive, personal computer, cosmetics, and retailer) within a specific context (South Korea). The results yielded a prototype of multicomponent BP structure consisting of one psychological component (traits) and three sociocultural components (narratives of socioeconomic/life scene/physical variability). The findings of the study broaden the current understanding of BP by suggesting a multidisciplinary perspective embracing its sociocultural aspects, and by empirically demonstrating the prototype reflecting on a wide spectrum of consumer narratives.     

Credit Risk Models – Do They Deliver Their Promises? A Quantitative Assessment

We develop a framework to assess the statistical significance of expected default frequency calculated by credit risk models. This framework is then used to analyse the quality of two commercially available models that have become popular among practitioners: KMV Credit Monitor and RiskCalc from Moody's.
Using a unique database of expected default probability from both vendors, we study both the consistency of the prediction and its timeliness. We introduce the concept of cumulative accuracy profile (CAP) that allows to see in one curve the percentage of defaulting companies captured by the models one year in advance. We also use the Miller's information test to see if the models add information to the S&P rating.
The result of the analysis indicates that these models indeed add relevant information not accounted for by rating alone. Moreover, with respect to rating agencies, the models predict defaults more than ten months in advance on average.
(J.E.L.: C52).     

油气公司采用根本原因分析方法提高设备的可靠性

你的继续改进工作在取得初步成效后,是否仍以预定计划为中心而未取得实际进展?你们公司是否把长期存在的问题作为开展工作的动力?你们是否在不同的场所经常重复分析同样的问题?在你们公司里,对于什么是可靠性的问题,每个人是否都有不同的理解?我们公司在拉丁美洲5个国家中都有许多油田和气田,并且都遇到了困难,为了创造持久的利润,我们决定对不断改进的方法全面地进行标准化。改进的方法有:(1)把问题和机遇按轻重缓急依次排列起来;(2)分析这些问题和机遇的根本原因(RC);(3)开发和实施解决方法;(4)继续研究上述各种方法的利润。     

A model of international asset pricing under imperfect commodity arbitrage

This paper examines the effect of imperfect international commodity arbitrage (i.e., violation of the law of one price), modeled as the existence of non-traded goods, on the structure of purchasing power risk, optimal portfolio rules of the risk-averse investors and the equilibrium yield relationship among assets. The major results of the paper include: (i) There are two separate sources of purchasing power risk, i.e., relative price risk and inflation risk; relative price risk is specific to the country in which the investor resides. (ii) In a world of n countries, investors may hold n + 1 hedge portfolios as vehicles to hedge against purchasing power risk; facing different relative prices, investors residing in different countries display divergent portfolio behavior. (iii) In equilibrium, investors are compensated in terms of excess return for bearing not only the systematic world market risk but also the systematic inflation and relative price risks.     

Explaining bank market-to-book ratios: Evidence from 2006 to 2009

This paper examines the market-price to book-value ratio for 6604 bank stock observations from December 31, 2006 through June 30, 2009. We relate each bank’s market-price to book-value ratio to several fundamental ratios and whether the bank took funds from the US Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The results of this study show that banks who took TARP funds have lower market-price to book-value ratios. In addition, lower relative costs, higher non-interest income, and lower assets in non-accrual or foreclosed status are associated with higher market-price to book-value ratios while controlling for size and other bank attributes.     

Understanding the Benefit Sought by Rural Tourists and Accommodation Preferences: A South Korea Case

Rural tourism has been widely acknowledged for its effectiveness in contributing to rural areas’ development. With strong government support, rural tourism has developed in many countries during the last several decades. This study aims to improve the understanding regarding tourism in Korean rural areas using a segmentation approach. The responses of 442 tourists in 23 rural villages were analyzed. Four segments of tourists were identified based on the different benefits they sought for their vacation in rural establishments. The estimation of a multinomial logit model determined the socio‐demographic characteristics and the preferred accommodations of a rural tourist. Discussions and implications of the detailed findings are provided in the last section. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Litigation Risk Increase on Big N Auditor Exits and Audit Quality in the Korean Savings Banking Industry

This study investigates whether an increase in litigation risk results in Big N auditors leaving the industry and examines the impact of this increase on audit quality. Using a sample of Korean savings banks from 2009 to 2015, the study finds that the proportion of Big N auditors sharply decreases after a savings bank crisis, suggesting that Big N auditors are likely to reject riskier clients, while audit quality is unchanged. The results provide new evidence that an increase in litigation risk does not necessarily increase audit quality. The findings have academic and practical implications, as they suggest that policies for improving audit quality should consider auditors’ strategies in response to litigation risk.     

When and Why Do Takeovers Lead to Fraud?

This paper develops a model explaining how acquisitions of controlling block ownership can facilitate post‐takeover fraud by new managers when investor protection is poor. Based on disclosures of embezzlement or breach of fiduciary duty in Korean firms, we find that the probability of explicit looting in takeover targets is 13%, almost five times as large as a matched sample of non‐targets. Post‐takeover frauds are primarily driven by transfers of minority blocks, while the corresponding probability in majority acquisitions is statistically indistinguishable from the non‐targets. These findings may explain why minority acquisitions of controlling blocks are popular under poor investor protection.     

Policy Uncertainty and the Dual Role of Corporate Political Strategies

Firms use active political strategies not only to mitigate uncertainty emanating from legislative activity, but also to enhance their growth opportunities. We find that a firm's systematic risk (beta) can be hedged away by employing various political strategies involving the presence of former politicians on corporate boards of directors, contributions to political campaigns, and corporate lobbying activities. The hedging effect is greater when firms operate in more uncertain industries. In addition, active political strategies are associated with greater firm heterogeneity and make real options more value relevant as potential drivers of competitive advantages in uncertain environments.