Effects of the Door-in-the-Face technique on restaurant customers’ behavior

We tested the Door-in-the-Face technique in a restaurant. After the refusal of a dessert at the end of the meal, waitresses proposed a tea/or a coffee to the customers. This later proposition was addressed immediately after the refusal of the dessert or 3 min later. It was found that the number of customers who ordered coffee/tea was significantly higher in the no-delay condition. Contrast theory was used to explain this effect.     

Adolescents’ perceptions of mother–father dominance in family vacation decisions: a 25-society study

Service Business - This study applies and builds on Davis and Rigaux’s (J Consum Res 1(1):51–62, 1974) triangle of spousal dominance styles of family purchase decisions. We explored...     

Decision making under risk in Deal or No Deal

We analyse the choices of 399 contestants in the Australian version of the television game show Deal or No Deal. We calculate risk aversion bounds for each contestant, revealing considerable heterogeneity. We then estimate a structural stochastic choice model that captures the dynamic decision problem faced by contestants. To address individual heterogeneity, we nest the dynamic problem within the settings of both a random effects and a random coefficients probit model. Our structural model produces plausible estimates of risk aversion, confirms the role of individual heterogeneity and suggests that a model of stochastic choice is indeed appropriate. We find mixed evidence of greater risk aversion by females. We also examine generalizations to expected utility theory, finding that the rank‐dependent utility model adds non‐negligible explanatory power and indicates optimism in probability weighting. Finally, we test, but are unable to confirm, the existence of an endowment effect for lotteries. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Credit constraints and the persistence of unemployment

In this paper, we argue that credit market imperfections impact not only the level of unemployment, but also its persistence. For this purpose, we first develop a theoretical model based on the equilibrium matching framework of Mortensen and Pissarides (1999) and Pissarides (2000) where we introduce credit constraints. We show these credit constraints not only increase steady-state unemployment, but also slow down the transitional dynamics. We then provide an empirical illustration based on a country panel dataset of 20 OECD countries. Our results suggest that credit market imperfections significantly increase the persistence of unemployment.     

Developing enterprise collaboration: a methodology to implement and improve interoperability

The aim of this article is to present a methodology for guiding enterprises to implement and improve interoperability. This methodology is based on three components: a framework of interoperability which structures specific solutions of interoperability and is composed of abstraction levels, views and approaches dimensions; a method to measure interoperability including interoperability before (maturity) and during (operational performances) a partnership; and a structured approach defining the steps of the methodology, from the expression of an enterprise’s needs to implementation of solutions. The relationship which consistently relates these components forms the methodology and enables developing interoperability in a step-by-step manner. Each component of the methodology and the way it operates is presented. The overall approach is illustrated in a case study example on the basis of a process between a given company and its dealers. Conclusions and future perspectives are given at the end of the article.     

On the Timing Ability of Mutual Fund Managers

Existing studies of mutual fund market timing analyze monthly returns and find little evidence of timing ability. We show that daily tests are more powerful and that mutual funds exhibit significant timing ability more often in daily tests than in monthly tests. We construct a set of synthetic fund returns in order to control for spurious results. The daily timing coefficients of the majority of funds are significantly different from their synthetic counterparts. These results suggest that mutual funds may possess more timing ability than previously documented.     

AIDS,Economic Growth and the Epidemic Trap in Africa

Most studies find that AIDS has a relatively weak impact on economic growth because they assume that it affects only one flow variable and only in the short term (the flow of labour available and capable of working at a time t in the economy). But AIDS also has a long-term impact on stock variables that existing models do not take into account, specifically, on both human and physical capital. Integrating these two impacts in a growth model with multiple accumulation factors reverses the findings of standard impact evaluations. A fairly wide range of epidemic effects modifies the economy's long-term growth regime, creating what we might call an epidemic or regressive “trap”. Government action should be designed in view of this risk and should intervene preferentially in favour of human capital, through health and educational spending. Finally, this model changes the cost-efficiency calculations about expanding antiretroviral therapies to a large part of the working population and indicates that such treatment is substantially more cost-efficient than initially thought.     

Does Net Buying Pressure Affect the Shape of Implied Volatility Functions?

This paper examines the relation between net buying pressure and the shape of the implied volatility function (IVF) for index and individual stock options. We find that changes in implied volatility are directly related to net buying pressure from public order flow. We also find that changes in implied volatility of S&P 500 options are most strongly affected by buying pressure for index puts, while changes in implied volatility of stock options are dominated by call option demand. Simulated delta‐neutral option‐writing trading strategies generate abnormal returns that match the deviations of the IVFs above realized historical return volatilities.     

Renegotiation in agency contracts, menus vs. simple contracts

The literature on contracts has shown that renegotiation in agency relationships generates efficiency losses when the principal leads the renegotiation. We show that contractual incompleteness may reduce such efficiency loss. This provides an explanation to the widespread use of simple contracts. We further point at the limited liability of the agent as a source of inefficiency when he leads the renegotiation; this latter result tempers the irrelevancy of contractual incompleteness demonstrated earlier in the literature. I thank E. Del Rey and the referees for their helpful comments and suggestions. Financial support from the EU RTN grant HPRN-CT-2000-00064 is gratefully acknowledged.     

Agglomeration Effects and the Competition for Firms

A two-region economy consists of a given but different number of immobile workers in each region, and a given number of mobile firms. Firms create jobs where they locate, but there is frictional unemployment. Two sorts of agglomeration effects arise: those from economies of scale in matching, and those from production economies external to the firm. Regions may either be part of a unitary state in which case all regional policies are decided by the central government, or they may be part of a federal state in which case some policies are determined by the regional governments. We characterize the resource allocations in both a unitary and a federal state, and identify the set of instruments that are required to replicate the social optimum in each state.