A dynamic interregional theory of migration and population growth

The authors attempt to bring the theory of regional amenity value determination together with a theoretical framework on migration to form a cohesive theoretical model. They build on previous efforts to do this by introducing factors such as the housing market and determination of the equilibrium level of real full income. The implied geographical focus is on the United States.     

The impact of high-quality firm achievements on shareholder value: Focus on Malcolm Baldrige and J. D. Power and associates awards

Marketing managers face increasing pressure to justify any strategic action with financial metrics that facilitate comparative evaluations with alternative options. Using event study method, the authors focus attention on the impact of high-profile quality achievement awards on the stock prices of the award-winning firms. Two types of awards are investigated: the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) and J. D. Power and Associates Awards (JDPAA). Previous event studies found no major impact of MBNQA announcements on the stock price of MBNQA winners; in contrast, this study’s results show that these awards generate significant shareholder value for MBNQA winners. With respect to the JDPAA, the authors— analyses did notfind any such impact in the Automotive, Travel, and Finance categories. Multiple regression analyses suggest that firms with higher amounts of intangible assets are more likely to create shareholder value. Implications of the results for different decision horizon perspectives are derived. Siva K. Balasubramanian (siva@cba.siu.edu) is the Henry J. Rehn Professor of Marketing in the College of Business Administration at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His research investigates the impact of marketing strategies on shareholder value, new product diffusion, marketing communications, and methodological issues in measurement. His publications have appeared in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, theJournal of Consumer Affairs, Review of Agricultural Economics, theJournal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, AgBioForum, and theBritish Food Journal. Ike Mathur (imathur@cba.siu.edu) is a professor of finance at Southern Illinois University (SIUC). He has served as interim dean for the College of Business and chair of the Department of Finance, all at SIUC. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100 articles and 14 books. He has published in theJournal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Banking and Finance, theJournal of International Money and Finance, theJournal of Futures Markets, Economic Letters, the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of Business Research, theJournal of Business, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, and the Journal of Macromarketing. He serves on the editorial board of a number of journals and is the editor of theJournal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money, and theJournal of Multinational Financial Management. Ramendra Thakur (ramendra@siu.edu) is an assistant professor at Utah Valley State College. His research interests are in customer relationship management, e-commerce, high-tech marketing, and marketing models. He has published in theMarketing Management Journal, the International Journal of E-Business Research, and theJournal of Website Promotion. In addition, his scholarly works have been published in several national and international conference proceedings. He is also on the editorial board ofIndustrial Marketing Management.     

THE DYNAMICS OF REGIONAL POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

The authors investigate what Muth labels as the "chicken and egg" or what others label it as "jobs follow people" versus "people follow jobs" debate by studying the dynamic relationships of changes in population and employment in the snowbelt, the sunbelt, and the nine census regions of the United States. The vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling method is used for the annual time series data (1955–1988) on population and employment. The Granger causality tests show that, in the snowbelt region, population tends to precede employment, while in the sunbelt region, the opposite is true. The impulse response functions generated for the forecasting decade suggest that "jobs follow people" in the snowbelt and "people follow jobs" in the sunbelt. Similar findings in general hold for the census regions belonging to the snowbelt and sunbelt. These findings raise doubts about the proposition of others that the growth process is either demand or supply-driven in all phases of regional growth.     

Payment For Risk: Constant Beta Vs. Dual-Beta Models

Fama and French's (1992) assertion that investors receive premium payments for risk associated with the book value to market price (BE/ME) and size and not for holding beta risk has sparked a lively debate concerning risk factors that are priced in the market. Howton and Peterson (1998) use a dual-beta model to test the Fama and French conclusions. They conclude that the significant relationship between beta and returns depends on the use of the dual-beta model. This work, however, ignores the results reported by Pettengill, Sundaram, and Mathur (PSM, 1995). PSM find a significant relation between a constant risk beta and returns when data are segmented between up and down markets, but do not consider the impact of size and BE/ME. In this paper we show that the PSM (1995) market segmentation procedure alone provides a sufficient condition to identify a significant relation between beta and returns in the presence of size and BE/ME. Dual market betas may be relevant in explaining risk and return. However, the market segmentation procedure of PSM (1995) is the critical condition for finding a significant relationship between returns and betas.     

The Influence of Repetitive Health Messages and Sensitivity to Fluency on the Truth Effect in Advertising

Although merely repeating a product claim does not influence the objective validity of the claim, it often increases the subjective validity of the claim (the truth effect). Research notes that the truth effect plays an important role in health advertising. The present research investigates the moderating role of sensitivity to feelings of fluency (or processing ease) on the truth effect. The truth effect was more pronounced when the need for affect was high rather than low (Study 1) and when consumers were primed to trust their feelings (Study 2). Finally, Study 3 and Study 4 replicate these findings using advertising appeals. Advertisements that encourage consumers to focus on their feelings increase susceptibility to the truth effect.     

Convenience,Satisfaction, and Post-Purchase Behavior in India's Health Insurance Market

ABSTRACT

Understanding the antecedents and implications of “service convenience” has acquired added importance with consumers' growing desire for ease during product or service exchange. Although the effects of service convenience, as a first-order construct, on post-purchase behavior have been studied in different business contexts, not much has been done in the case of a second-order construct which has been attempted here. The present study seeks to examine the mediating role of consumers' satisfaction as well as the moderating role of organizational and consumer personal factors that have not been sufficiently explored in the marketing literature. Structural equation analysis is adopted to test the hypothesized relationships using responses from 424 consumers who have purchased health insurance from six leading insurers in India. The findings validated that the service convenience affects consumer satisfaction, which, in turn, plays both a direct and mediating role in influencing consumers' repurchase intention. However, the role of organizational and consumer personal factors as moderators between service convenience and consumers' satisfaction could only be established indirectly through post-hoc analysis, which calls for further research. The results have important implications for planning, designing, and managing the health insurance business.     

Price distortions,financing constraints and second-best investment rules in the transportation industries

This paper analyzes the second-best pricing and investment rules to be followed in the transportation industries in the presence of intermodal competition, exogenous price distortions, and financing constraints, using both theoretical and simulation analysis. It shows that price distortions and financing constraints in one mode will not only affect the investment rules in that mode, but will also affect the pricing rules and investment decisions in all other modes. While the theoretical discussion indicates that the second-best pricing and investment rules are quite complex, the simulation analysis indicates that the benefit function is relatively flat, suggesting that the costs of using simpler first-best rules may be relatively small.     

How do bond investors perceive dividend payouts?

We explore how bond investors view corporate cash distributions through dividends and how that view influences corporate cost of debt. Explaining between 45 and 67 percent of variance in credit spreads at the time of issuance, our model reveals a non-linear association between dividend payouts and investment return expected by bondholders. In particular, while bondholders view cash disbursements in small amounts as a positive signal, large dividend payouts are viewed negatively. Our results thus provide support for both the signaling hypothesis and for the agency-cost-of-debt hypothesis. The results are robust even after controlling for firm size, growth opportunities, profitability, leverage, business risk, asset tangibility, and term structure. Exploiting the 2003 dividend tax cut as an exogenous shock, we demonstrate that our results are not vulnerable to endogeneity problems. Finally, we find no evidence of corporations timing the payouts strategically to influence the cost of debt.     

Beyond bankruptcy: Does the US bankruptcy code provide a fresh start to entrepreneurs?

This paper assesses the extent to which the US bankruptcy system is effective in providing small businesses a “fresh start” after a bankruptcy filing. I use data from the 1993, 1998 and 2003 National Survey of Small Business Finances to explore how firms fare after a bankruptcy filing. On the positive side, previously bankrupt firms are not any more burdened than the average small firm by problems relating to profitability, cash flow, health insurance costs, or taxes. Further, the fact that these firms are surviving several years after the filing is itself a testament to the efficient functioning of the US bankruptcy system. It suggests that the bankruptcy system goes a long way toward helping businesses recover after a bankruptcy filing.