Self-organized criticality in a herd behavior model of financial markets

This paper explains the fat-tail distribution of asset transaction volumes and prices by a model of rational herd behavior of traders. Each trader decides whether to buy an asset by observing private information and other traders’ actions. A trader’s buying action reveals his positive private information and affects the other traders’ beliefs in favor of buying, leading to strategic complementarity. A power-law distribution emerges for the number of buying actions in a static Nash equilibrium. This model provides an economic reason as to why the stock market has to exhibit a criticality in the connectivity of the traders’ actions. I am benefited by comments from the seminar participants at University of Tokyo and the Econophysics Colloquium 2006 at International Christian University, the editors of the special issue, and particularly an anonymous referee.     

The effects of the PDCA cycle and OJT on workplace learning

In the present article, we examined the effects of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and on-the-job-training (OJT) on workplace learning. We defined workplace learning based on the concept of an organizational learning cycle. Using survey data from a Japanese fire and marine insurance company, we found that PDCA, OJT (empowerment), and reflective communication had positive effects on workplace learning. These results suggest that quality management, empowerment and reflective practice may help to significantly improve workplace learning. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications of this study.     

The role of human capital on the performance of manufacturing firms in Bangladesh

The efficiency determinants of manufacturing firms in developing countries have received increasing attention over the past few decades. This study examines the role of top managers' human capital and other exogenous determinants of the efficiency of manufacturing firms in Bangladesh by using heteroscedastic single‐step stochastic frontier analysis. We find that general human capital represented by educational qualification and specific human capital formed by work specific experience show different ways of impact on firm performance. Specifically, education has both a direct impact on firm outputs and an indirect impact as an efficiency determinant, whereas experience affects only technical efficiency.     

POPULATION AGING AND CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY IN JAPAN

This paper analyses how consumption inequality within a fixed cohort grows with age using Japanese household microdata. Following the method developed by Deaton and Paxson (1994), we obtain the following results. First, consumption inequality starts to increase at the age of 40. Second, younger generations face a more unequal distribution from the beginning of their life-cycle. Third, half of the rapid increase in the economy-wide consumption inequality during the 1980s was caused by population aging, while one-third was due to the increasing cohort effect. The paper compares the above results with those of Deaton and Paxson.     

Von neumann facets and the dynamic stability of perfect foresight equilibrium paths in neo-classical trade models

I am grateful to two anonymous referees for useful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Competitive fairness and the concept of a fair price under Delaware law on M&A

The entire fairness test that the Delaware Court of Chancery developed in the famous Technicolor case defines what constitutes fair dealings and fair pricing. This study introduces a new concept of fairness, called competitive fairness, that covers entire fairness. It develops what I call open market bargaining theory and demonstrates that the Technicolor outcome is an open market bargaining equilibrium, which can be thought as competitively fair under the nondiscrimination rule of markets.     

Promoting employee’s self‐change skills: The role of job characteristics,goal clarity and learning goals

Personal growth initiative (PGI), i.e., self‐change skills, is necessary for employees to adapt to changing environments, but research examining the antecedents of PGI in an organizational context is limited. The present research investigated the antecedents of PGI in the workplace. Using a two‐wave questionnaire survey, data were collected from 204 employees, including nurses, medical technicians and administrative staff, at six healthcare organizations in Japan. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal clarity and learning goal orientation were positively related to PGI, whereas autonomy, skill variety and job complexity were not significantly related to PGI. The results also showed that goal clarity positively moderated the effect of skill variety on PGI, yet, negatively moderated the effect of job complexity on PGI. This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how personal and situational factors influence employees’ self‐change skills in the workplace.     

Human resource development to facilitate experiential learning: the case of Yahoo Japan

Although work experiences are recognized as important mechanisms for developing leaders in organizations, existing research has focused primarily on work assignments rather than on human resource development (HRD) systems that promote experiential learning of managers. The primary goal of this study was to develop an HRD model for facilitating experiential learning by examining the case of Yahoo Japan, which has transformed its HRD system based on experiential learning theory. The results indicate that Yahoo Japan has promoted experiential learning at the individual level by introducing new HRD systems consisting of four elements: reflection support (one‐on‐one meeting and coaching training), assignment support (HRD meeting and job rotation), assessment support (360‐degree appraisal and one‐on‐one meeting assessment) and visionary support (a vision and values). Although these elements are closely associated with each other, reflection support plays a key role in the HRD system. The proposed model is discussed from theoretical and practical viewpoints.     

The role of sales beliefs in facilitating experiential learning: An empirical study of Japanese salespeople

The purposes of this research were to examine developmental experience at different career stages and to clarify the role of sales beliefs in promoting experiential learning of salespeople. By applying the theoretical framework of expertise research and cognitive psychology, data from Japanese real estate salespeople were analyzed. Results suggest that (1) experiential learning is activated in the later stage (from 6 to 10 years) of a career, and (2) salespeople who balance customer and goal achievement orientations learn from others in the early stage (from 1 to 5 years) of their careers. A discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications is presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A brand choice model for TV advertising management using single-source data

A brand choice model for TV advertising management using single-source data is proposed. The model replaces household-specific advertising exposure, which is often used as a covariate in a brand choice model, with gross rating points (GRP), a managerial control variable for advertising. In particular, given daily GRP, a probabilistic model of advertising exposure for heterogeneous customers is integrated into a brand choice model with advertising threshold under a Bayesian framework. Through hierarchical modeling, demographic information on panels provides managerial insights into advertising planning.