Organizational Visibility,Stakeholder Environmental Pressure and Corporate Environmental Responsiveness in China

This article investigates the relationship between organizational visibility and corporate environmental responsiveness in China. It also examines whether this relationship is mediated by stakeholder pressure, and whether the strength of the relationships among organizational visibility, stakeholder pressures and corporate environmental responsiveness is moderated by the type of enterprise ownership. Based on the responses from a survey involving 131 enterprises, this study suggests a potentially positive and significant correlation between organizational visibility and corporate environmental responsiveness in China. However, the study reveals surprisingly that stakeholder pressure for environmental improvements does not seem to account for the above correlation. Organizational visibility is found to be negatively associated with stakeholder pressure in the case of Chinese‐owned enterprises, and stakeholder pressure has no significant associations with corporate environmental responsiveness. In addition, the moderating effect of enterprise ownership is strongly evidenced, which provides important policy implications for developing effective mechanisms to stimulate environmental management practices. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Price Dispersion in Online Grocery Stores: An Analysis of the UK Market

Search costs is the key determinant of price variance in offline markets. Yet, despite the lack of significant search costs, it is observed that price dispersion in online grocery markets still exist. This paper explores the possible determinants of this phenomena through an empirical model. Price data was gathered for the period of thirteen weeks for twenty-one product categories. In essence, the findings suggest that there is an indication of a price-quality relationship, but more significantly, retailers undertake randomized pricing strategies, culminating in sporadic price changes across the given time period.     

It’s only words: idiom processing,language knowledge and consumer memory of Chinese print advertisements

This study investigated the effects of employing Chinese idioms in headlines on consumer memory. The results indicated that, as hypothesized, the use of idiomatic headlines in print advertisements produced superior aided recall of headlines and recognition of brand names than employing non-idiomatic headlines. High language knowledge individuals also had greater aided headline recall and brand name recognition. However, this knowledge advantage was only observed for advertisements with idiomatic headlines. Aided headline recall generally mediated brand name recognition. Finally, the language knowledge results were robust across different knowledge measures.     

“歧义”——浅谈第五十三届威尼斯双年展中国澳门馆

威尼斯国际艺术双年展始创于1859年,是欧洲最重要的艺术盛事之一,今年已是第五十三届。澳门在2007年首获威尼斯大会邀请参展,今届是澳门第二次参加。今届大会主题是"制造世界"(Making Worlds),策展人丹尼尔·伯恩鲍姆(Daniel Birnbaum)强调本届重点是"近似于生产的     

The modified mixture of distributions model: a revisit

Andersen (J Financ 51, 169–204 (1996)) introduced a modification of the mixture of distributions model based on microstructure arguments. Based on a small sample of five stocks, he infers that this modified mixture of distributions (MMD) model adequately captures the joint behavior of trading volume and volatility. We re-examine this claim using a larger sample of twenty-two stocks and two sample periods. Our tests show that 59% of the sample rejects the MMD model in the period 1973–1991, the same period studied by Andersen. Results for the second period (1993–1999) are more supportive of the MMD, especially for number of trades, although nearly one-third of the sample still rejects the MMD. We conclude that further tests are needed before the general validity of the MMD can be established. JEL Classification Numbers C12, C52     

The augmented Black–Litterman model: a ranking-free approach to factor-based portfolio construction and beyond

The Fama and French factor-ranking approach (1992, 1993, etc.) has been extensively applied in quantitative fund management. However, this approach suffers from hidden factor view, information inefficiency, etc. issues. Based on the Black–Litterman model (1992; as explained in Cheung 2010b Cheung, W. 2010b. The Black–Litterman model explained. J. Asset Mgmt., 11: 229–243. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), we develop a technique that endogenizes the ranking process and elegantly resolves these issues. This model explicitly seeks forward-looking factor views and smoothly blends them to deliver robust allocation to securities. Our numerical experiments show this is an intuitive and practical framework for factor-based portfolio construction, and beyond. This article features: (1) a new and unified framework for strategy combination, factor mimicking and security-specific bets; (2) an elegant and ranking-free approach to factor style construction; (3) worked examples based on the FTSE EUROTOP 100 universe; (4) insight into the classic issue of confidence parameter setting; and (5) implementation guidance in an appendix.     

Investigating the Memorable Experiences of the Senior Travel Market: An Examination of the Reminiscence Bump

The importance of the senior travel market has been well-recognized by tourism marketers and researchers. While academic studies have begun to examine the psychological aspects of senior travelers, more progress must be made to investigate the psychology of memory, particularly with respect to the reminiscence bump, behind the nature of their memorable experiences (MEs). In-depth interviews with 42 respondents revealed five characteristics: identity formation, family milestones, relationship development, nostalgia reenactment, and freedom pursuits. Finally, the practical implications of this study are discussed and several avenues for future research are proposed.     

Analysis of E-commerce and information technology applications in hotels: Business travelers' perceptions

Numerous research studies have been conducted that are related to e-commerce and information technology (IT) applications in the hospitality industry with regard to business operation, profit, output, and management perspective. The focus of this study is to examine current e-commerce and IT applications in the hospitality industry and to identify the business travelers' perceptions in order to improve customer service. One of the problems in the hospitality industry is that customers want advanced e-commerce and IT applications, but restaurants and hotels are not necessarily implementing them. This study discusses the typical problems and obstacles of implementing e-commerce and IT applications in hospitality, using the lodging e-commerce and IT applications to satisfy customers, and developing the lodging e-commerce and IT applications as a corporate competitive advantage. Moreover, this study investigated a variety of e-commerce and IT applications related to customer service, satisfaction, and retention as well as e-commerce and IT applications as a distribution channel for receiving travelers' information and accommodation booking. This study provides valuable implications for hospitality practitioners about customer perceptions relative to e-commerce and IT applications.     

Managing the Risks of Corporate Political Donations: A Utilitarian Perspective

This paper applies a utilitarian analysis to corporate political donations. Unlike the more common rights-based analyses, it is argued that the optimal policy is the one that best satisfies society’s rational preferences concerning donor influence, adequate financing, donor pressure and the cost of maintaining and enforcing the democratic system. This analysis suggests that a ban is best if it would be generally observed and sufficient financing from other sources is available, otherwise a donation cap is a better option. Further, lobbyists should be banned from donating small gifts and drafting bills for candidates. The impact of disclosure and other risk management mechanisms are also considered.     

Brand personality inference: The moderating role of product meaning

Abstract

This study draws on categorisation theory to investigate how consumers make brand personality inferences. Its purpose is to determine the basic category at which consumers make brand personality inferences and whether this level varies for functional and symbolic products. Experimental results show that the basic level of categorisation for brand personality inferences is the brand level for symbolic products and the product type level for functional products. These findings suggest that managers may have less latitude to adopt diverse personalities for functional than symbolic products. The study also demonstrates that, in contrast to prior work, future research on brand personality should consider a wider range of sources of personality.