How does qualitative data collection modality affect disclosure of sensitive information and participant experience? Findings from a quasi-experimental study

Quality & Quantity - Focus groups (FGs) and individual interviews (IDIs) can be conducted in-person or in several different online contexts. We conducted a quasi-experimental study and assessed...     

Toward a spatial understanding of active transportation potential among a university population

Universities and surrounding communities stand to benefit when active travel mode choices are elevated. Despite this, there is little research on travel mode choice at commuter universities and, in particular, the nonlinear spatial relationships among active travel potential and various contextual and compositional factors. The purpose of this study was to examine and visualize linkages among personal, household, density, diversity, and design factors, and active travel (bicycling, walking, and mass-transit modes) among a commuter-university population residing throughout southeastern Michigan, USA. This was accomplished by employing exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The GWR model outperformed the traditional OLS model in terms of goodness of fit (R² = .534 and R² = .461, respectively). A novel cartographic mapping technique was employed to depict where statistically significant parameter estimates negatively or positively influenced active travel. The main finding was that personal, household, density, diversity, and design estimates varied in both magnitude and spatiality throughout the university's study area. Interestingly, distance was not a universal barrier to active travel potential. These variations emphasize the importance of promoting active transportation through localized interventions as well as coordinating efforts among universities and surrounding communities.     

Integration and search engine bias

We study the effects of integration between a search engine and a publisher. In a model in which the search engine (i) allocates users across publishers and (ii) competes with publishers to attract advertisers, we find that the search engine is biased against publishers that display many ads – even without integration. Integration can (but need not) lead to own‐content bias. It can also benefit consumers by reducing the nuisance costs due to excessive advertising. Advertisers are more likely to suffer from integration than consumers. On net, the welfare effects of integration are ambiguous.     

Cross-country diversity and non-IFRS financial performance measures

We investigate the disclosure of non-IFRS performance measures by 400 companies from eight countries using IFRS Standards (Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom) in the years 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2013 (1595 company-years). The incidence of disclosure is higher in UK and France but lower in Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore. Exclusions relating to impairment, tax, and mergers and acquisitions are frequent. Firms making non-IFRS disclosures are more likely to be larger, have higher leverage, and exhibit greater volatility in their reported income. Additional tests show national reporting traditions and practices affect non-IFRS disclosures.     

International or national implementers—Who is better? Evidence from a framing experiment

Behavioral economics has shown that changing small features in framing a context or action may drastically change behavior. A key factor characterizing most development interventions is the salience of either a local or an international implementer. Using the setup of an intervention conducted in Indonesia, we show that the study population in the Acehnese context exhibits higher levels of support for the project if the participation of international actors is highlighted. We find that previous experience with the respective actor is pivotal. Qualitative evidence suggests that internationals' perceived skills drive results, highlighting the importance of strengthened local capacities for positive experiences with local implementers. Overall, the study underlines the benefits of linking framing experiments to the actual experiences of respondents to generate insights into the real world.     

Personal taxes,cost of insurer equity capital,and the case of offshore hedge fund reinsurers

Insurer investment returns are taxed in the United States at the corporate level and at the personal level when they are distributed to shareholders. This paper examines the implications of personal taxes for the tax cost on insurers equity capital and how these tax costs have varied over time under different tax regimes and with different asset portfolios. The paper also discusses how personal taxes provide tax incentives to form offshore hedge fund reinsurers, which provide an interesting case study illustrating the relevance of personal taxes. Finally, the paper discusses the tax treatment of alternative capital arrangements, such as collateralized reinsurance and sidecars.     

Rationalizing forecast inefficiency

We show analysts’ own earnings forecasts predict error in their own forecasts of earnings at other horizons, which we argue provides a measure of the extent to which analysts inefficiently use information. We construct our measure by exploiting two sources of variation in analysts’ incentives: (i) more recent forecasts have greater salience at the time of the earnings release so accuracy incentives are higher (lower) at shorter (longer) forecast horizons and (ii) analysts have greater incentives for optimism (pessimism) at longer (shorter) horizons. Consistent with these incentives affecting the incorporation of information into forecasts, we document (i) current year forecasts underweight (overweight) information in shorter (longer) horizon forecasts and (ii) the mis-weighting is more pronounced when recent news is negative—when analysts have greater (weaker) incentives to incorporate the news into shorter (longer) horizon forecasts. Finally, returns tests suggest that forecasts adjusted for the inefficiency we document better represent market expectations of earnings.