The Cross-Sectional Relationship Between Trading Costs and Lead/Lag Effects in Stock & Option Markets

Prior empirical research has failed to settle the question of lead/lag effects between stock and option markets. This study investigates the relation between cross-sectional differences in trading costs and intraday lead/lag effects in stock and option markets. The data for the study comprise 19 firms sampled at five-minute intervals over a two-month period. Consistent with a trading cost hypothesis, results indicate overall stock market leading behavior. However, the lead appears to be related to option market trading costs. This study uses an error correction model framework to investigate the lead/lag effects. This approach provides information on both the long run equilibrating process as well as the short term interactions between stock and option markets. Information regarding the long run equilibrating process is important to the overall understanding of lead/lag effects and cannot be determined from time series models of differenced data. Specific criteria for assessing lead/lag effects in cointegrated series are also proposed. One advantage of these new criteria is their ability to identify leading behavior in the presence of feedback. All models are estimated with quote data and are constructed to eliminate overnight effects. Hence, the results are robust to previously identified distortions due to closing, overnight, and potential non-trading effects. However, caution should be employed in generalizing the results as the study covers a two-month trading period for a limited number of firms.     

Getting a second chance: the role of imagery in the influence of inaction regret on behavioral intent

Prior research has demonstrated that consumers who take an opportunity and are satisfied (satisfied takers) are likely to avail of a future opportunity when it is presented again but those who forsake an opportunity and experience regret (regretful forsakers) are less likely to do so, exhibiting inaction inertia. In this research we demonstrate when and why regret for inaction may result in the intent to avail of a future opportunity and compare this intent with that of satisfied consumers. Specifically, we demonstrate in two studies that (1) when consumers forgo an opportunity and experience regret, they are motivated to avail of a similar opportunity when it is presented in the future, and (2) this intent by regretful forsakers may be more intense than that experienced by satisfied customers due to the elicitation of mental imagery regarding the anticipated consumption episode. All authors contributed equally to this paper.     

Ecotourism social media initiatives in China

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media by ecotourism management agencies and how this potentially changes the relationship between the ecotourist and the natural environment. It examines the meaning of ecotourism and the way that social media shapes visitor perceptions and meaning through an examination of the content of 775 Sina microblog postings from five leading ecotourism site management agencies in China. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the social media postings, a series of semi-structured interviews was also conducted with followers and management agencies. The findings provide an enhanced understanding of ecotourism marketing and its impacts on the ecotourist while also creating a framework for the use of social media to market ecotourism. The framework outlines the importance of the meanings associated with this form of communication through its promotional appeal to tourists and the outcomes for both the ecotourist and site management.     

The effect of psychological empowerment climate on restaurant food safety,food quality,and financial performance

ABSTRACT

Consumer food safety incidences that result from employee accidents and behaviors can be detrimental and costly to a restaurant organization. Restaurant organizations and hospitality researchers have sought multiple methods of increasing food safety performance through training and intervention, but this study suggests that shared agreement of psychological empowerment may be a key factor in improving food safety performance, and in turn, food quality and store revenues. Using data from a national chain of quick service restaurants, this study used groups of restaurant employees’ psychological empowerment as an antecedent to food safety performance, measured in a food safety audit, and found significant support. Moreover, using consumer evaluations of food quality and the organization's store revenue records, indirect and direct relationships among psychological empowerment, food safety performance, food quality, and revenues were found. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Analysis of the Potential Economic Viability of Shale Gas Resources in Europe

European countries are currently exploring strategies to ensure a strong level of security of energy supply while decreasing its reliance on natural gas imports. With the strong surge in shale gas developments in the USA, similar ambitions have been the ongoing subject of inquiry in Europe. Detailed knowledge about extraction costs is a key issue in determining future shale gas investments in Europe. The paper at hand analyses the potential of European shale gas resources, highlighting their competitiveness against conventional natural gas. It examines the current volume of shale gas resources in Europe and performs a detailed cost calculation to provide an estimation of shale gas production costs. The results indicate that under current market conditions the repetition of the US shale gas boom is by all measures improbable in Europe. Furthermore, in the case that natural prices were to return to historically higher levels, only a few highly productive shale gas formations would be economically competitive.     

Identity in the “Road Racing Capital of the World”: heritage,geography and contested spaces

This article explores the complex relationship between sport and landscape and their role in the expression and maintenance of identity. While discussions have typically emphasised the role taken by stadia and sporting venues in the development and expression of sporting and national identities, fewer have considered the role taken by the wider landscape. It is this landscape that provides the context in which many sports are enacted and watched and it is through the embodied actions and experiences that landscape is given added meaning, reinforcing narratives of space that are implicated in the creation and maintenance of national identities. Yet here, unlike stadia or other sporting venues, space is much less regulated; as a result, participants and observers are also implicated in the creation of “counter geographies” that destabilise “official” narratives of space. Here our focus is on the contested landscapes of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races; an event where sporting narratives have become materially and conceptually part of the landscape. Through a discussion of these landscapes and their expression in the Staying the Course exhibition curated by Manx National Heritage, we contend that geographies of sport must also reflect on the contested nature of sporting spaces.     

Comparing the impact of management on public and private sector nurses in the UK,Italy, and Australia

The research examined the impact of management upon employee outcomes (perceptions of discretionary power, well-being, engagement, and affective commitment), comparing public and private sector nurses in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Overall, 1,945 nurses participated in a self-report survey within these core- and laggard-New Public Management countries. While management influenced employee outcomes for each country, there were significant differences between the public and private sectors, with private sector nurses reporting higher perceptions of outcomes. Importantly, nurses’ engagement was affected by management practice for each country. This study raises important implications for nurse managers, especially public sector managers, described within.     

Publicly traded versus privately held: implications for conditional conservatism in bank accounting

Compared with privately held banks, publicly traded banks face greater agency costs because of greater separation of ownership and control but enjoy greater benefits from access to the equity capital market. Differences in control and capital market access influence public versus private banks’ accounting. We predict and find that public banks exhibit greater degrees of conditional conservatism (asymmetric timeliness of the recognition of losses versus gains in accounting income) than private banks. We predict and find that public banks recognize more timely earnings declines, less timely earnings increases, and larger and more timely loan losses. Although public ownership gives managers greater ability and incentive to exercise income-increasing accounting, our findings show that the demand for conservatism dominates within public banks and that the demand for conservatism is greater among public banks than private banks. Our results provide insights for accounting and finance academics, bank managers, auditors, and regulators concerning the effects of ownership structure on conditional conservatism in banks’ financial reporting.

Does better corporate governance result in higher valuations in emerging markets? Another examination using a new data set

This paper utilizes a new data set from AllianceBernstein that, unlike other corporate governance data, has monthly-updated firm-level governance ratings for 21 emerging markets countries for almost a five year period. With these unique data, we examine how changes in corporate governance ratings impact firm valuation. Using this test we find evidence that improvements in corporate governance result in significantly higher valuations.