Ambient Influences on Municipal Net Assets: Evidence from Panel Data

Governments’ net assets balances are viewed as a measure of fiscal health and have been linked to municipal credit ratings. This study explores the extent to which ambient socioeconomic factors are captured in aggregated restricted and unrestricted net assets balances (termed “liquid net assets”) to understand why such balances are relevant to credit analysts and others. We model liquid net assets balances using observable nonaccounting factors (e.g., unemployment rates) to learn whether they reflect such influences. We use panel data for fiscal years 2007–2011 so our results comprehend effects of recent economic fluctuations. We find that liquid net assets balances impound a rich array of influences, bearing a positive association with the mayor‐council form of government, community wealth, the incidence of property crimes, and increases in governments’ business‐type net assets. Liquid net assets balances bear a negative association with liabilities for postemployment benefits, unemployment, and violent crime. The results indicate that net assets balances capture noteworthy debt burden, administrative, and socioeconomic influences and, as such, have meaning beyond their basic accounting interpretation.     

Searching Pareto Optimal Solutions for the Problem of Forming and Restructuring Coalitions in Multi-Agent Systems

Coordination is one of the fundamental research issues in distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems. Current multi-agent coalition formation methods present two limits: First, computation must be completely restarted when a change occurs. Second, utility functions of the agents are either global or aggregated. We present a new algorithm to cope with these limits. The first part of this paper presents a coalition formation method for multi-agent systems which finds a Pareto optimal solution without aggregating the preferences of the agents. This protocol is adapted to problems requiring coordination by coalition formation, where it is undesirable, or not possible, to aggregate the preferences of the agents. The second part of this paper proposes an extension of this method enabling dynamic restructuring of coalitions when changes occur in the system.     

An assessment of the proximity of clothing to self scale for older persons

Sontag and Lee developed the Proximity of Clothing to Self (PCS) Scale, an objective measure of the psychological closeness of clothing to the self, and validated a 4‐factor, 24‐item scale with adolescents. The research reported here extends their work by validating a 3‐factor, 19‐item PCS Scale for use with older persons, age 65 and over. A mail survey was sent to a national random sample of 1700 older persons in the United States resulting in 250 respondents in the final sample. Three analytical rounds of confirmatory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the PCS Scale were conducted by using a structural equation modelling programme. The validated three PCS dimensions (i.e. factors) are clothing in relation to: (1) self as structure – process; (2) self‐esteem – evaluative and affective processes; and (3) body image and body cathexis. The researchers recommend using this 19‐item PCS Scale for future consumer behaviour research on older persons when investigating the importance of dress, clothing needs or clothing involvement to meet basic human needs, self‐esteem, life satisfaction and successful aging.     

Means–end analysis: Does the affective state influence information processing style?

Means–end theory aims at explaining how consumers evaluate products by linking relevant attributes to perceived consequences to desired ends in a hierarchical way, based on core assumptions of cognitive psychology about human information processing. This study investigates the influence of affective states on information processing styles in a means–end measurement situation, thus taking into account an important antecedent and correlate of human decision making and behavior that has received scarce attention so far in the methodological literature on means–end chains. The results reveal that a person's affective state indeed influences the style of information processing. Respondents in a positive mood used more general knowledge structures and processed the laddering questionnaire faster than respondents in a negative or neutral mood. The laddering technique, which measures means–end chains, thus seems to be sensitive to situational effects, and this finding indicates that affective states then also might have an influence on product knowledge and the decision‐making process in a purchase situation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Identifying Factors Consistently Related to Value Line Earnings Predictability

Earnings predictability can affect investment decisions and stock prices. An important source of earnings forecasts for a wide variety of empirical studies has been the Value Line Investment Survey. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that consistently account for cross-sectional differences in Value Line earnings predict-ability. A multivariate model consisting of four company variables and a set of industry indicator variables is used to evaluate the intertemporal consistency of factors related to earnings predictability. Quarterly and annual forecasts are used to measure earnings forecast accuracy. The results by year indicate that one factor, earnings variability, is consistently related to earnings predict-ability.     

Local public goods in an equilibrium : How pecuniarv externalities matter

We study two Nash equilibria among a finite number of jurisdictions which maximize property values by providing public goods. In the first Nash equilibrium, the strategies are LPGs, financed by land taxes. We give conditions under which LPGs will be underprovided and show how this result is linked to price effects caused outside the jurisdiction. In the second Nash equilibrium, the strategies are LPGs and head taxes, with the budget balanced by land taxes. Jurisdiction-specific head taxes have incentive effects, whereas land taxes do not. In this case LPGs will be provided efficiently for the resident population.     

Online travel purchasing: A literature review

Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing focus on the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as the impact that they have had on the tourism industry and on travelers’ behaviors. However, research on what drives consumers to purchase travel online has typically been fragmented. In order to better understand consumers’ behavior toward online travel purchasing, this article offers a review of articles that were published in leading tourism and hospitality journals, the ENTER proceedings, and several articles from other peer-reviewed journals, found on the main academic search databases. The antecedents of online travel shopping found are classified into three main categories: Consumer Characteristics, Perceived Channel Characteristics, and Website and Product Characteristics. Finally, this study identifies several gaps and provides some orientation for future research.     

Satisfaction,organizational commitment and future action in charity sport event volunteers

• Charity sport events (CSEs) are a key revenue source for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) with large numbers of volunteers needed for success and cost‐effectiveness. This study explored determinants of CSE volunteers' satisfaction, organizational commitment and intended future actions (CSE, other NPO activity/event volunteering, donating money). Relay for Life volunteers (N = 290) from one Australian state completed a cross‐sectional survey. Significant pathways were found from socializing/enjoyment (β = 0.17), fighting cancer (β = 0.29), financial support (β = 0.21) motives and social norm (β = 0.23) to satisfaction; 52% variance was explained. Age (β = ?0.09), survivorship (β = 0.09), region (β = 0.07), fundraising goal (β = 0.08), advocacy (β = 0.15), financial support (β = 0.25), social/enjoyment (β = 0.23) motives, social norm (β = 0.23) and satisfaction (β = 0.21) were linked with commitment; 63% variance was explained. Paths between satisfaction, commitment and intended future actions (CSE, NPO activity/event volunteering) were significant (βs = 0.17–0.43). Future targets to increase CSE volunteer satisfaction and commitment involve similar (social/enjoyment) and diverse (action‐oriented) motives, with satisfaction and commitment key contributors to future actions supporting NPOs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Determinants of the Allocation of Volunteer Time: Church-Related versus Other Non-market Activities

This paper analyzes the relative time allocation decisions of individuals who volunteer time to a religious institution. The most important factor influencing the amount of time spent in church ministry relative to other non-market activities is educational attainment. In general, religious volunteers who are college-educated are significantly more likely to spend relatively more time working in church ministry than devoting time to family responsibilities, engaging in spiritual practices, or volunteering time to civic/community organizations. The presence of school-aged children tends to diminish the relative amount of time spent volunteering in church ministry. The findings of this study suggest church ministry perceived as being child-friendly or strengthening one’s spirituality is more likely to attract relatively greater time commitments from its volunteers.