Appraising Intangible Assets from the Viewpoint of Value Drivers

This article does not intend to actually valuate intangible assets but focuses to investigate the relative value distribution of corporate intangible assets, and this links closely to the concept and application of value drivers. This is because we believe that drivers or attributes of the value significantly determine how the virtual value of these intangibles can be created for companies. We apply the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to the appraising process of intangible assets. The AHP method can mainly sort the non-financial value drivers in order according to their weighted contributions. Therefore, the key purpose of this article is to develop a tentative model for the evaluation of intangible assets, which helps business to correctly appraise corporate value ratios and avoid bias due to mainly relying on financial statements when measuring an entity’s value. In addition, in view of the significant proportion of intangible assets over total assets in high-technology industries, this research, then, uses six industries in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, as its research objects in order to test the applicability of its model, as well as exploring the value weights of intangible assets and its evaluation among different technology industries. Besides, the empirical result of this article is mainly to support business appraisal and thus improves the effectiveness of value-based management.     

Inter‐temporal changes in analysts’ forecast properties under the Australian continuous disclosure regime

Corporate disclosure regulations are important mechanisms for investor protection. This study examines the inter‐temporal changes in analysts’ forecast properties over the period 1988–2001 as Australia’s continuous disclosure regulation and enforcement intensity changed. The effectiveness of the continuous disclosure regime has been a question of interest since its inception, but research in this area is limited. Our results suggest that analysts’ forecast accuracy and dispersion improved for sample firms in response to the proposal and introduction of continuous disclosure regulations. However, following increased enforcement from 1998, analysts’ forecast dispersion deteriorated for small firms, possibly due to a decrease in private information received by financial analysts as regulators became more proactive in enforcing the ban on selective disclosure.     

Foreign output shocks,monetary rules and macroeconomic volatilities in small open economies

The 2008 financial crisis is marked by the drop in output of major industrial countries which affected small open economies in various degrees. We examine the role of three different types of monetary policy rules in mitigating or exacerbating the effects of a negative foreign output shock on key macroeconomic variables of a small open economy by numerically solving a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. We find that compared to the Taylor rule, small open economies that follow either fixed exchange rate regime or strict inflation targeting tend to stabilize real exchange rate and inflation at the expense of substantial instability in the real economy.     

Good debts,bad debts: Microcredit and managing debt in rural south India

This paper engages with debates around microcredit, once a development success story, but now much critiqued. Arguing that microcredit can only be understood within the wider context of debt, we draw on ethnographic material from two villages in Tamil Nadu, to examine how microcredit through self‐help groups sits within a broader context of indebtedness among the rural labouring classes. We describe patterns and sources of borrowing among the poor, the ways in which debts are managed, negotiated and settled within households and the ways in which the management of debt is mediated by gender, caste, class and aspiration. The paper calls for a more nuanced understanding of debt: some debts are seen as ‘good’ and others as ‘bad’. We explore the ways in which microcredit, channelled through self‐help groups, is—against much contemporary criticism—perceived by women borrowers in our study villages as a source of ‘good debt’ and praised as an enabling factor in their everyday household management as well as in aspirations for mobility and development. We also argue that microcredit can have positive impacts by enabling social investments that enhance status and reduce dependency.     

The robustness of output measures in property-liability insurance efficiency studies

We empirically examine two methods for measuring output in property-liability insurer efficiency studies: the value-added approach and the “flow” (or financial intermediation) approach. The approaches are not mutually consistent. The value-added approach is closely related to traditional measures of firm performance, but the flow approach is not. In addition, efficient value-added approach firms are less likely to go insolvent, while firms characterized as efficient by the flow approach are generally more likely to fail. We also find that the theoretical concern regarding the value-added approach’s use of losses as a measure of output is not validated empirically.     

Exploring the Impact of Customer Satisfaction on Food Retailers' Evolution: Managerial Lessons From Austria

Many studies have shown that customer satisfaction affects customer behavior and loyalty. There are, however, relatively few studies that examine the impact of customer satisfaction on store repatronage behavior by store-type choice. This study examines why Austrian consumers choose a certain store type (i.e., supermarket or bakery) for purchases in a particular product category (i.e., baked goods). Moreover, it assesses the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty (i.e., the repatronage intention). The study found that customers valued different attributes for each store type. It also suggested that customer satisfaction and customers' intention to recommend varied by store type. Additionally, the bakery customers' tendency to spend more is positively related to their satisfaction level. Managerial implications for both types of stores are provided.     

Estimation of Housing Price Jump Risks and Their Impact on the Valuation of Mortgage Insurance Contracts

Housing price jump risk and the subprime crisis have drawn more attention to the precise estimation of mortgage insurance premiums. This study derives the pricing formula for mortgage insurance premiums by assuming that the housing price process follows the jump diffusion process, capturing important characteristics of abnormal shock events. This assumption is consistent with the empirical observation of the U.S. monthly national average new home returns from 1986 to 2008. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of price jump risk on mortgage insurance premiums from shock frequency of the abnormal events, abnormal mean and volatility of jump size, and normal volatility. Empirical results indicate that the abnormal volatility of jump size has the most significant impact on mortgage insurance premiums.     

Marketing research through the salesforce

This article reviews the use and role of the salesforce as an extension of the marketing research function. The purpose of this paper is to provide a tentative assessment of the role of salespeople in the marketing research function as applied to an advanced-technology company active in several industries, countries, and continents.