A mechanism for reducing small-business customer waiting-line dissatisfaction

This paper presents a technique whereby a small business (i.e. a one-cash register operation) can reduce customer waiting-line time dissatisfaction in the purchase stage of the consumer decision process. When the queue length reaches or exceeds critical value N^*, another employee is temporarily transferred to the role of ‘server assistant’ to increase the effective service rate; when the queue length eventually decreases to a second critical value N_*, the server assistant returns to primary duties. An optimal customer-reneging decision model is utilized to model the reneging character of the queue. Simulation experiments confirm key hypotheses concerning the behaviour of the queue and compare the effectiveness of a computed (N^*, N_*) policy with that of alternatives.     

Competence-based Approaches to the Assessment of Professional Accountancy Training Work Experience Requirements: The ICAS Experience

Most professional accountancy bodies' qualification processes encompass three components: a prescribed programme of professional education, some form of work experience, and a formal final examination to determine professional competence. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) suggests that purely theoretical and knowledge-based education does not meet the needs of all employers. Thus professional bodies are encouraged to find ways to deliver and assess relevant competences in the most appropriate manner. Despite educationalists suggesting that performance measurements based on direct observation within the work place are more effective at measuring competences than traditional paper-based examinations, assessment strategies within the accountancy domain remain conservative. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) was one of the first professional bodies to introduce a competency-based approach to work based assessment in 1999 and subsequently undertook a review of the process in 2004. The data collected for the review was undertaken by way of a questionnaire to authorized training offices, in-depth interviews with employers, and discussions which emanated from a Working Party which included internal ICAS employees, an academic and a representative from a large accountancy firm. This paper presents the findings of the review, discusses the pertinent issues in relation to work based assessment and outlines the changes that were made to the competency-based approach adopted by ICAS. It concludes with recommendations for future practice.     

Revisiting MacCannell's site sacralization theory as an analytical tool: Historic prophetstown as a case study

Historic Prophetstown in Battle Ground, Indiana is intrinsically connected to a pivotal event in Native American and United States military history. While it appears to have all the necessary elements to become a successful tourism attraction, it consistently teeters on the verge of insolvency. Applying sociologist Dean MacCannell's ( 1976 ) five‐stage site sacralization theory as an analytical lens to investigate the site revealed that it has never successfully moved beyond MacCannell's first stage (i.e. naming), which may be a key factor contributing to low visitation and poor economic performance. This suggests that MacCannell's theory can offer unique insights into site development. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eliciting Willingness‐to‐Pay through Multiple Experimental Procedures: Evidence from Lab‐in‐the‐Field in Rural Ghana

This paper has the objectives of (a) comparing estimated willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) across three elicitation mechanisms (a Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak [BDM] auction, a kth price auction, and a choice experiment [CE]) and (b) examining how these vary by participation fee. The product under consideration is kenkey made with nutritious maize, biofortified with vitamin A, which gives it a distinct orange color, in contrast to the white and yellow varieties that are traditionally consumed. We use an experiment consisting of 14 treatment arms, conducted in rural Ghana. Our estimation strategy explicitly accounts for the censored (typically at the market price) nature of the bids in the auctions, and the apparently lexicographic choices of several individuals in the CE. We find no evidence of economically meaningful (defined by the minimum currency unit of five pesewas) differences in WTP (although they may be statistically significant) across elicitation mechanisms, or by participation fee, a result that is in contrast to that found in much of the literature. A secondary finding is that the provision of nutrition information positively and significantly affects the marginal WTP for the new maize.     

A causal analysis of psychological climate and leader behavior relationships

Individual perceptions of the work environment, or psychological climates, have been shown to be important determinants of work attitudes such as satisfaction and job involvement. However, little is known concerning the relationships between psychological climate and other variables that may lead to or cause these perceptions. This research examined causal relationships among dimensions of psychological climate and leader behavior. Specifically, the investigation attempted to determine whether leader behavior caused psychological climate, or whether psychological climate caused leader behavior. Eithty-five foremen from a truck manufacturing facility participated in the study over a 17-month period. Results of cross-lagged panel correlations and causal path analysis indicated that psychological climate caused leader behavior. Since one individual's perceptions of his/her work environment can only indirectly be linked to another person's (in this case, the leaders) behavior, an intervening variable is required to explain these findings. This variable may be a consensual or organizational climate.     

The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Effort,Course Selection,and Major Choice: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis

The authors apply a regression-discontinuity design to identify the causal impact of letter grades on student effort within a course, subsequent credit hours taken, and the probability of majoring in economics. Their methodology addresses key issues in identifying the causal impact of letter grades: correlation with unobservable factors, such as motivation, and direction of causation. They find no evidence that letter grades influence undergraduate students’ course-taking behavior or decision to major in economics. They find that, within a course, the first exam letter grade can affect student performance on the second exam.     

The global macroeconomics of NAFTA

Previous empirical studies of NAFTA have commonly used trade models that do not allow international capital flows to adjust to changes in regional trade arrangements such as NAFTA. This paper explores the dynamic implications of NAFTA with particular focus on the short-run and longer-run adjustment of financial capital. This adjustment affects the global allocation of physical capital and therefore changes the growth prospects for a country such as Mexico. Our results suggest that Mexico and the world economy gain more from NAFTA than merely a static reallocation of production possibilities. In the short run, the adjustment of financial capital affects nominal and real exchange rates. This adjustment is far more important for the short-term allocation of trade flows than partial equilibrium adjustment of trade based only on changes in long-term price differentials.     

International evidence on misspecification of the standard money demand equation

This paper tests the proposition that the interest rate in the standard money demand equation acts as a proxy for the expected change in interest rates. If this is true, the interest elasticity in the standard equation will depend on the expectations process for interest rates. Using cross-country data, we find that there does exist a relationship between the observed interest elasticity in the standard equation and the predictability of future interest rates from current interest rates.     

Corporate goal structures and business students: A comparative study of values

Are the values of business students of today synchronized with the reality of the present business environment? Two hundred twenty-two business students rated the importance of twenty corporate goals. Moreover, the students rated the same goals as they perceived chief executive officers (CEOs) would have rated them. Significant differences were found between the two ratings, with students ranking social and employee-oriented goals as more important than they perceived CEOs would have.