Internationalization and employability: the role of intercultural experiences in the development of transferable skills

Policy-makers are increasingly advocating market-based reforms to increase choices for service users and therefore to drive improvement through competition. This article assesses this approach in a hospital trust where there is plenty of scope for patients to choose providers and so for reforms based on a market logic to work. The market had very little impact on the hospital's activities, but demands from the Department of Health and the strategic health authority for the hospital to become more market-oriented were creating the potential for significant dysfunctional consequences.     

The Journal of Advertising and the Development of Advertising Theory: Reflections and Directions for Future Research

In this article, I provide some thoughts that guided my decision making while I was editor of the Journal of Advertising (2003–2006). Specifically, I reflect on the definition of theory and how it has been and should be used in the advertising discipline. In particular, I attempt to distinguish between weaker (contextual) and stronger (universal) theories and present my views on how future research in advertising can proceed in developing useful theories within this domain.     

IS IT IS OR IS IT AIN'T MY OBLIGATION? REGIONAL DEBT IN A FISCAL FEDERATION*

This article studies the repayment of regional debt in a multiregion economy with a central authority: Who pays the obligation issued by a region? With commitment, the central government will use its economy‐wide taxation power in support of its objective to smooth distortionary taxes and consumption across regions. Absent commitment, this tool of the central government may be exploited to induce it to bail out regional government deficits. We characterize the conditions under which bailouts occur and their welfare implications. In particular, we show when the gains from a federation may outweigh the welfare costs of a bailout. We use these insights to comment on actual fiscal relations in three quite different federations: the United States, the European Union, and Argentina.     

The long-run Phillips curve and non-stationary inflation

Modern theories of inflation incorporate a vertical long-run Phillips curve and are usually estimated using techniques that ignore the non-stationary behaviour of inflation. Consequently, the estimates obtained are imprecise and unable to test the veracity of a vertical long-run Phillips curve. We estimate a Phillips curve model taking into account the non-stationary properties in inflation and identify a small but significant positive relationship between inflation and unemployment. The results also provide some evidence that the trade-off between inflation and the rate of unemployment in the short-run worsens as the mean rate of inflation increases.     

Institutional Change of Accounting Systems: The Adoption of a Regime of Adapted International Financial Reporting Standards

Richard Mattessich, New York: Garland Publishing (New Works in Accounting History), 2000, £43.00, xii +179pp. ISBN: 0-8153-3445-1     

Two Classroom Simulations in Financial Risk Management and Insurance

ABSTRACT: Few classroom experiences provide as much educational value as a simulation exercise. A properly structured simulation provides students with the motivation to learn, the opportunity to explore strategies in an environment conducive to experimentation, and the immediate instructional benefit of watching their decisions affect the outcome of the collective simulation experience. This article describes the procedure and relative success of two classroom simulations for students in introductory and intermediate risk management and insurance courses. The first simulation replicates the risk management function of futures contracts through the use of hypothetical traders in the corn market with different risk management needs. The corn futures trading simulation achieves several goals for an introductory course in risk management and insurance: (1) students learn the importance of capital market risk management mechanisms; (2) students understand the transfer of risk among hedgers and speculators; and (3) students receive exposure to the concept that risk management is both possible and necessary for both speculative and pure risks. The second simulation mimics the operation of the market for homeowners insurance. By dividing students into consumer groups and insurer groups, participants experience the effect of chance events and insurance purchase decisions on their wealth. Small groups of upper‐level students act as insurers, and must price, package, and sell their product with a limited amount of surplus. Introductory students serve as consumers with limited resources who must survey the market and decide what product to buy and from whom. The competitive element and relatively unregulated market provide students with the incentive to innovate in a market for a common type of insurance and also demonstrates the need for some amount of insurance regulation. These simulations supply a simple way to enhance students' understanding of important basic concepts in a format that provides a welcome break from the traditional lecture format.     

On The Log-Linear Analysis Of Multiple Response Data

Log-linear procedures have been recommended for analyzing data that are in the form of counts or frequencies (Iacobucci and McGill 1990). In its current form, the recommended procedure does not deal with multiple response data (i.e., more than one thought per response category). The paper proposes analytical modifications that researchers need to consider when fitting models with this type of data. The problems and recommended modifications are illustrated with two distinct data sets. The first involves consumers' attribution responses to negative word-of-mouth communication about a brand whereas the second pertains to consumers' cognitive responses toward an advertisement. Results in each case indicate that researchers may generate erroneous conclusions about the significance of estimated parameters if the recommendations are ignored.     

An Empirical Assessment of the Influence of March and Simon’s Organizations: The Realized Contribution and Unfulfilled Promise of a Masterpiece

March and Simon’s Organizations is a seminal work in management studies. We assess the contribution Organizations has made to management studies through a citation context analysis of 1,400 articles from top management journals. By categorizing the content from Organizations cited in subsequent works, we find that two related categories associated with cognitive limits and routines or programs account for half (50.5%) of all citation contexts since 1990. We also investigate whether citations to Organizations have been peripheral or substantial to the citing authors’ claims, how cited content has changed over time, and the extent to which citing works have provided empirical evidence to test March and Simon’s propositions or have been critical of their assertions. Our investigation reveals disturbingly few attempts to empirically validate the assertions made in Organizations. Overall, we provide a critical reflection on how well subsequent scholarship fulfils the aims and promise heralded by this masterpiece.     

Evaluating Adolescents’ Responses to Internet Ads: Role of Ad Skepticism,Internet Literacy,and Parental Mediation

In this article, we first compare adolescents’ responses to two formats (easily recognizable versus not easily recognizable) Internet ads. We find that Internet literacy and ad skepticism are necessary for adolescents to effectively apply persuasion knowledge to identify both ad formats. Second, we demonstrate that parental mediation and parents’ levels of Internet skills are critical for children’s development of Internet literacy. As a result, this article advances our understanding of adolescents’ responses to different Internet ad formats and the influential role of parental mediation in facilitating children’s development of such skills.