Pioneering Asian Franchise Brands: Pho24 in Vietnam

Pho24 is Vietnam's largest and most rapidly growing franchise system. In this research, a case study approach is used to study the franchising strategy employed by the organization to achieve rapid growth in Vietnam and internationally. Key people in the organization were interviewed, including the founder/franchiser, franchisees, and company employees. Data were collected over a 12-month period from the organization's operations in three countries: Vietnam, Australia, and Singapore. The findings indicate that cultural and legal contexts heavily influence the franchiser's philosophy. Traditional explanations of franchising, such as resource constraints theory and agency theory, only partially explain the motivations for franchising. An alternative hybrid model of franchising—an Asian partnership model of franchise brand management—is adopted to improve control and collaboration between the franchiser and franchisees.     

A Permanent Jobs Program for the U.S.: Economic Restructuring to Meet Human Needs

This paper proposes a jobs program to address both the chronic problems of unemployment and underemployment in the U.S. economy and the debilitating economic and political impacts of growing inequality in the U.S. The jobs program consists of three parts. First, the reduction of unemployment and underemployment by stimulating output, either under public or private auspices, of infrastructure, or social investment, in areas such as: transportation, education, health care, human services, and parks. Second, to recognize and respond to the failure of the private market to provide needed current public services, which will include a massive upgrading of pay and working conditions of these ??human service?? jobs by expanding public employment, sharing the costs of an enhanced and expanded social safety net. Third, to, explicitly and as a matter of industrial policy, target government investment and overall job growth towards the industries of the future, particularly in the areas of energy, agriculture, and other broadly defined ??green?? technologies.     

Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism

This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate financial reporting decision making. Focusing on firms that experience changes of CFO from male to female, the paper compares the firms' degree of accounting conservatism between pre‐ and post‐transition periods. We find that female CFOs are more conservative in their financial reporting. In addition, we find that the relation between CFO gender and conservatism varies with the level of various firm risks, including litigation risk, default risk, systematic risk, and CFO‐specific risk such as job security risk. We further find that the risk aversion of female CFOs is associated with less equity‐based compensation, lower firm risk, a higher tangibility level, and a lower dividend payout level. Overall, the study provides strong support for the notion that female CFOs are more risk averse than male CFOs, which leads female CFOs to adopt more conservative financial reporting policies.     

The Impact of Earnings Guidance Cessation on Information Asymmetry

This paper studies the impact of quarterly earnings guidance cessation on information asymmetry using a large sample of firms during the years 2002–11. After earnings guidance cessation, information asymmetry may increase because less information is provided to the market. Alternatively, information asymmetry may decrease if managers have less pressure to manage reported earnings to meet guidance numbers. Our study shows guidance cessation significantly reduces information asymmetry compared to matched non‐guiders and guidance maintainers. We also find that firms engage in less earnings management after guidance cessation, especially for firms that had provided guidance on a persistent basis.