Is what you choose what you want?—outlier detection in choice-based conjoint analysis

Choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis has long been a popular technique in market research. Because CBC is dependent upon respondents’ stated preferences, respondent variability should be taken into account in part-worth estimation. In the spirit of Bayesian residuals within the probit framework, this paper proposes a novel respondent variability measure for CBC, called the “utility deviation” (UD), to detect outliers who have unusually high respondent variability. UD is constructed based on the standardized deviation between a respondent’s true and representative utilities on the made choices. We compare UD with the largest absolute realized deviation (LARD) statistic and the typically used metric, root likelihood (RLH), in the performance of outlier detection using simulated and empirical data. The results show that UD performs slightly better than LARD and significantly outperforms RLH. Finally, we show that performing outlier detection to exclude misleading data can significantly improve the quality of estimation and resultant applications.     

Illustrations of financing and tax transfers in owner financed real estate sales

The dramatic increase in seller or creative financing in the late 1970s and early 1980s has captured the attention of many academicians and practitioners. The primary focus in the existing literature is on explaining differences in loan terms between creative financing and conventional financing and on how these differences are capitalized into sale prices. This paper investigates the role of financing opportunity costs and federal income taxation and their consequences on real estate financing. Illustrations of the model show the feasibility of interpersonal financing transfers (between buyers and sellers) and intertemporal tax transfers (across time periods).     

Modelling mean reversion of asset prices towards their fundamental value

In this paper we extend the study of mean reversion behavior by modelling the fundamental value as a stochastic process. The market value of the asset is then modelled as a mean reverting Ornstein Uhlenbeck process towards the fundamental value. Solving backwards, we determine the functional form of the regression equation of changes in asset prices and returns to changes to the fundamental value. Using earnings and dividends as proxies for the fundamental value we test our model empirically. In general, other than the shortest horizon of 1-year, our model shows good explanatory power. Since our model is compatible with Campbell and Shiller (1988) framework in the earnings case and Fama and French (1988) model in the dividend case, the performance of our model has been compared with those two models. In comparison, the performance of our model is comparable to that of Campbell and Shiller and compares favorably with Fama and French.     

INTEREST RATE HEDGING: AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

For hedging, financial and agricultural futures contracts differ in their usefulness. This paper presents a new hedging approach uniquely appropriate to financial futures that better fits the typical hedging situation confronted by those wishing to hedge interest rate risk. The superiority of this new hedging strategy is demonstrated empirically by comparing the strategy with several other methods currently in use.     

A New Measure of Control-Cash Flow Deviation: Cases in Taiwan

The traditionally defined measure of deviation fails to capture the possibility that controlling owners might pledge their shares for bank loans and with that money from bank loans to amplify their personal leverage in the stock market. In this study we construct a newly defined measure of deviation that includes pledge ratio into the definition. Using a sample of 2777 firm-year observations in the sampling period of 2011–2015, we find that the newly defined measure of deviation is negatively correlated with firm’s performance and are more capable of dictating firm’s performance than the traditionally defined measure. We further find that the newly defined deviation could better contrast the performance measures between normal firms and financially-distressed firms.     

Entrepreneurial financing in new business ventures: a help-seeking behavior perspective

How and from whom prospective entrepreneurs seek their start-up capital for new venture formation represent fundamental questions in entrepreneurial financing. Drawing on research of help-seeking behavior, we propose that apart from economic rationale entrepreneurs’ decisions to seek financing may be influenced by socio-psychological factors. Using a scenario experiment (venture risk x relational proximity) to investigate how prospective entrepreneurs considered funding from family and outsiders, it was found that they tended to seek family financing when the family was close and the risk was high, and inclined to seek outsider funding when the venture risk was high and the family was not close. The findings might seem paradoxical but they actually underscore the influence of socio-psychological factors in entrepreneurial financing decisions and offer novel contributions to the entrepreneurship, informal investment, and education literatures.     

Income Convergence in African Countries: Evidence from a Stationary Test With Multiple Structural Breaks

This paper examines the catching‐up (stochastic convergence in real per capita income) hypothesis for 52 African countries with respect to the USA. over the 1969‐2011 period, using a highly flexible stationarity test. The empirical results show (i) that all African countries experienced at least one break, switching between catching‐up and divergence paths during the sample period; (ii) that structural breaks tend to coincide with political instability, trade liberalisation policies and terms of trade shocks; (iii) that among the 52 African countries studied, only five lie on the catching‐up path, while the remaining 47 diverge from the USA. Our results show that the economic performance of African countries fall far behind those of the USA and that the economic growth tragedy of Africa continues.     

An investigation into student satisfaction,approaches to learning and the learning context in Auditing

Arguably, the audit course is one of the most challenging as it links prior accounting knowledge with new audit knowledge that students are generally not exposed to. A mini‐audit group project was implemented at a New Zealand university, and a learning approach and learning experience survey instrument was administered. Responses from 98 students suggest that they perceived the learning experience positively and were encouraged to adopt a deep approach to learning. The findings have implications for accounting educators in the design and development of learning and assessment strategies in an audit course.     

Exploring the drivers of customer engagement behaviours in social network brand communities: towards a customer-learning model

Customer learning is regarded as a process that alters either individual cognition or the outcomes of socialisation. Understanding how the learning process works enables a brand firm to identify a customer’s latent needs. Prior studies have primarily focused on effectively positioning brand knowledge in the minds of customers, but that linear learning process does not apply to the interactive and proactive social media setting. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective, this study proposes a customer-learning model and analyses 373 online questionnaires using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The empirical results confirm that learning motivation and collaborative learning are two core components of customer learning that have positive influences on satisfaction, which in turn has a positive influence on customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) and loyalty. In addition, learning motivation is the driver of collaborative learning. Finally, CEBs also have a positive influence on loyalty. This study also concludes that the social network brand community is an informative customer-learning platform that is characterised by interactivity, collaborative learning and co-creation. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.     

Housing Markets in China and Policy Implications： Comovement or Ripple Effect

The overheated housing market has recently become a top priority of the Chinese authorities and whether the ripple effect exists is key to understanding this housing issue. The present paper uses a cointegration estimation technique for six first-tier Chinese cities during the 2003-2013 period to show that the comovements among housing prices in China are fully reflected in a long-run equilibrium. Using the Toda- Yamamoto causality test, the ripple effect is found to be characterized by a lead -lag relationship. More importantly, it is found that Beo＇ing is the main source of housing price appreciation in China, and should be targeted as the regulatory object to efficiently resolve the troubles in this increasingly high housing-price era.