Creditor Rights,Country Governance,and Corporate Cash Holdings

This study examines the impact of creditor rights and country governance on cash holdings using a sample of firms from 47 countries. We hypothesize that cash holdings are smaller when both creditor rights and country governance are high. In these circumstances firms will not need to hold as much cash for future investments needs (precautionary funds) because firms will expect that funds will be available in the future. Our findings support our hypothesis and hold for alternative definitions for cash holdings, different country samples, different definitions of governance and concerns about endogeneity.     

Advertising and the Department of Energy's Campaign for Energy Conservation

Abstract

Motivating consumers to conserve energy has proven to be a difficult task in the United States. One tactic that has been used on a limited basis by the Department of Energy is paid advertising. This paper examines the role of conservation within the country's broader energy problems, delineates several consumer issues that affect the success of government conservation programs, discusses the controversy surrounding the use of paid advertising to promote consumer conservation efforts, and describes those DOE programs that have used paid advertising as an integral component of conservation program strategy.     

A Perspective‐Based Understanding of Project Success

Answering the call for alternative approaches to researching project management, we explore the evaluation of project success from a subjectivist perspective. An in‐depth, longitudinal case study of information systems development in a large manufacturing company was used to investigate how various project stakeholders subjectively perceived the project outcome and what evaluation criteria they drew on in doing so. A conceptual framework is developed for understanding and analyzing evaluations of project success, both formal and informal. The framework highlights how different stakeholder perspectives influence the perceived outcome(s) of a project, and how project evaluations may differ between stakeholders and across time.     

The Status of Econometrics in the Economics Major: A Survey

In this article, the authors describe the place of econometrics in undergraduate economics curricula in all American colleges and universities that offer economics majors as listed in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2010” guide (U.S. News & World Report 2009). Data come from online catalogs, departmental Web sites, and online course syllabi. About one-third of the schools require econometrics of all students majoring in economics, about half require it of none, and a sixth require it of some, but not all, economics majors. Among universities with economics PhD programs and liberal arts colleges, almost all those ranked in the top 10 require it. Below the top 10, there is little correlation between ranking and econometrics requirements. Liberal arts econometrics classes are much more likely to require research projects than their counterparts in universities.     

An Academic Publisher’s Response to Plagiarism

Plagiarism strikes at the heart of academe, eroding the fundamental value of academic research. Recent evidence suggests that acts of plagiarism and awareness of these acts are on the rise in academia. To address this issue, a vein of research has emerged in recent years exploring plagiarism as an area of academic inquiry. In this new academic subject, case studies and analysis have been one of the most influential methodologies employed. Case studies provide a venue where acts of plagiarism can be discussed and analyzed in a constructive manner, and that is the primary purpose of this article. Unlike previous studies, however, we focus on the role of the publisher, a key player in dealing with acts of plagiarism, but one who has received little attention in the academic literature. Specifically, we examine how an academic publisher addressed allegations of plagiarism and how the publisher’s decision-making affected the outcome. We analyze the case by applying the guidelines from different frameworks and ethical theory and develop recommendations from the lessons evidenced, the second main objective of our article. This analysis advances the dialog on academic plagiarism by exploring the role of the publisher from a deontological perspective of ethical absolutism.     

The entry‐mode decision of Chinese outward FDI: Firm resources,industry conditions,and institutional forces

How do Chinese firms make their entry‐mode decision for their outward investments? Based on the three theoretical perspectives that balance the “strategy tripod,” our study conducted empirical tests using survey data collected from outward‐investing Chinese firms. We found that the cost advantage of the investing firm and learning opportunities in the host industry have positive effects on the likelihood of a Chinese firm opting for wholly owned subsidiary against joint‐venture entry mode, while the market attractiveness of the host industry, host‐country restrictions, cultural barriers, and cognitive pressures have negative effects. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predictors of registered nurses' willingness to remain in nursing

A major question about the adequacy of the future supply of nurses is how many will stay in the profession. The relationship between scheduling and propensity to stay or leave the nursing profession was examined in this study. This analysis suggests there are definite characteristics of the work schedules that can influence a nurse's inclination to stay or leave the profession. This is not simply a question of "overwork," but of matching work schedules and hours as closely as possible to employee expectations. This suggests management needs to find a way to pay attention when nurses request changes in hours. The mere fact of changing schedules will not solve the nursing shortage, but it is one action within the management control of any organization employing nurses that could have a positive effect on retention.     

Business cycle amplification with heterogeneous expectations

This paper studies the implications for business cycle dynamics of heterogeneous expectations in a stochastic growth model. The assumption of homogeneous, rational expectations is replaced with a heterogeneous expectations model where a fraction of agents hold rational expectations and the remaining fraction adopt parsimonious forecasting models that are, in equilibrium, optimal within a restricted class. Our approach nests the literature on rational expectations in business cycle models with a recent approach based on adaptive learning. We demonstrate that (i.) heterogeneous expectations can lead to substantial improvement in the internal propagation of equilibrium business cycle models and (ii.) the internal propagation depends on the degree of heterogeneity. A calibrated model with heterogeneity provides a closer fit to business cycle data than its representative agent, rational expectations counterpart.