Exchange rate pass-through in Korea and Thailand: Trends and determinants

An important but age-old transmission channel of global factors into domestic prices is via exchange rate movements. This paper examines the extent and evolution of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) into Korea's and Thailand's consumer and import prices at the aggregate level for the period over the last two decades. We find that ERPT appears to be consistently higher for Thailand compared to Korea; while for both nations ERPT of their respective bilateral rates with respect to the US dollar is higher than with respect to the Japanese yen. The paper also investigates if and how ERPT has changed over time, especially during and after the currency crisis period of 1997–1998, as well as its macroeconomic determinants.     

Constructing conceptual models for knowledge capture and delivery systems

Appropriate conceptualization of the nature of entities and relationships in a problem domain is a key prerequisite to the successful design of computerized decision aids for business, especially those developed for more than one idiosyncratic user. The need for a reliable conceptual model is particularly acute in the design of decision support systems that must function in problem‐solving situations with no existing theoretical framework or where theory and practice differ considerably.

This paper presents an interative procedure for developing a reliable conceptual model by testing the “fit”; of successive revisions of the model against a collection of “think‐aloud”; verbal problem‐solving protocols of people with experience in the domain. The model is revised each time until it is verifiably and consistently accurate. Such a procedure, it is argued, is more objective and reliable than intuition or traditional knowledge engineering and requires considerably less experimental data collection and analysis than more elaborate empirical model development procedures.

The feasibility of this procedure is illustrated by using it to construct a conceptual model for a computer‐based system that seeks to capture knowledge used during project planning and deliver it for use during project control.     

Competing mechanism games of moral hazard: communication and robustness

We consider multiple-principal multiple-agent models of moral hazard: principals compete through mechanisms in the presence of agents who take unobservable actions. In this context, we provide a rationale for restricting principals to make use of simple mechanisms, which correspond to direct mechanisms in the standard framework of Myerson (J Math Econ 10:67–81, 1982). Our results complement those of Han (J Econ Theory 137(1):610–626, 2007) who analyzes a complete information setting where agents’ actions are fully contractible.     

Switching behavior in automobile markets: A consideration-sets model

Consideration-set formation and the direct and indirect consequences of consideration-set size on switching behavior in automobile markets provide the focus for this model development and testing effort. Empirical support is provided for a model revealing that consideration sets, formed as a consequence of prior experience, product knowledge, and satisfaction, play a substantial role in a consumer’s decision to switch or repurchase the same brand acquired on the previous purchase occasion. Consideration sets are shown to affect the switching decision both directly and indirectly (by motivating retailer search activities). His research has appeared inJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Economic Psychology, andPsychology and Marketing.     

How Task-Facilitative Interactive Tools Foster Buyers’ Trust in Online Retailers: A Process View of Trust Development in the Electronic Marketplace

While there is a sustained interest in research focusing on issues relating to trust development in the electronic marketplace, significant gaps remain in the literature. In particular, little is known of the underlying processes that may be occurring in online trust development. For example, research suggests that factors such as site design and navigability are among the factors that impact trust perceptions. Extant literature, however, is largely silent about why certain trust-related effects are observed in online environments. In this paper, we propose a new process-centric perspective for understanding the formation of online trust—through buyer's assessment of the e-retailer's assistive intent, implicitly embedded in task-facilitative interactive tools. Specifically, we develop and test a model delineating the relationship between seller's provision of interactive product information management and product information comprehension tools, buyer's perceptions of seller's assistive intent, and buyer's initial trust in the seller. The results of two studies provide support for the trust-enhancing effects of task-facilitative informational tools and the mediating role of buyer's perceptions of seller's assistive intent. Importantly, these effects occur without any explicit expressions of seller's intentions. The results also suggest that the efficacy of interactive informational tools in engendering perceptions of seller's assistive intent, and hence trust, varies with the buyer's level of involvement with and knowledge of the product category.     

A methodology for managing risk in electronic transactions over the Internet

The explosive growth of the Internet has made possible an economic transformation in which commerce will become largely electronic. In this vision, the medium of communication and negotiation becomes a distributed network of computers equipped with robust, secure and trusted “cash” mechanisms. It is thus of paramount importance to design mechanisms that will ensure timely and reliable transactions in cyberspace. In this paper we present a methodology for quantitatively managing the risk and cost of executing transactions in a distributed network environment by exploiting an analogy with modern financial portfolio theory. We illustrate the methodology with several concrete examples under different pricing schemes, as well as with empirical measurements of Internet traffic. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rationing in IPOs

We provide a model of bookbuilding in IPOs, in which the issuer can choose to ration shares. Before informed investors submit their bids, they know that, in the aggregate, winning bidders will receive only a fraction of their demand. We demonstrate that this mitigates the winners curse, that is, the incentive of bidders to shade their bids. It leads to more aggressive bidding, to the extent that rationing can be revenue-enhancing. In a parametric example, we characterize bid and revenue functions, and the optimal degree of rationing. We show that, when investors information is diffuse, maximal rationing is optimal. Conversely, when their information is concentrated, the seller should not ration shares. We provide testable predictions on bid dispersion and the degree of rationing. Our model reconciles the documented anomaly that higher bidders in IPOs do not necessarily receive higher allocations.     

Success-producer and failure-preventer marketing skills: A social learning theory interpretation

This study examines organizations that emphasize differing types of marketing skills. It is based on a national survey of Health Maintenance Organizations. The organizations are first classified into groups based on their distinctive marketing skill configurations. Six groups were identified. Next, differences between these organization types are examined with respect to organization strategy, characteristics of the chief marketing executive, organizational environment, and performance. These results suggest that more successful organizations develop particular constellations of marketing skills. The results generally appear consistent with a social learning theory perspective on marketing skill development.