The Seven Faces of Singaporeans: A Typology of Singapore Consumers and Their Aspirations and Life Satisfaction

A large-scale representative survey was conducted to examine lifestyle patterns of Singaporeans. The data were analyzed using a three-step approach. First, the underlying dimensions of Singaporeans' value system were identified using factor analysis. Based on 45 lifestyle and value items, six factors were obtained. The analysis suggests that the value system of Singaporeans can be described using the following six factors: (1) family values, (2) entrepreneurial spirit, (3) status, (4) traditional values, (5) materialism, and (6) society orientation. Second, these six factors were then utilized to identify clusters of Singaporeans with similar value profiles. The cluster analysis identified the following seven major groups of Singaporeans: (1) Traditional Family Oriented, (2) New Age Family Oriented, (3) Entrepreneurs, (4) Aspirers, (5) Materialists, (6) Pragmatists, and (7) Independents. Finally, to examine whether the identified value-based clusters could also be differentiated in terms of key demographic variables, a discriminant analysis was conducted. The results showed that the seven clusters had distinctive patterns along demographic variables. The examination of the aspirations and life satisfaction of the clusters showed that significant differences did exist among themselves. These differences in aspirations and life satisfaction were consistent with the traits and attitudes of the respective clusters and provided ample support to the grouping of the clusters.     

Self‐Reported vs. Market Estimated House Values: Are Homeowners Misinformed or Are They Purposely Misreporting?

Extant research finds significant gaps between a homeowner's self‐reported house value and market estimates, and that the gap is largest for underwater homeowners. Prior studies, however, have largely overlooked the possibility that homeowners’ self‐reported house value may be more accurate due to private information. Previous research has also neglected the possibility that there could be discordance between what homeowners know and what they report as their house value. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines how the choices of households reveal their knowledge of the true home value. In so doing, we find that that post move housing choices reveal that market estimates are accurate assessments of the housing value. Further, we find evidence that these underwater homeowners are aware of the actual house value, but are reporting them incorrectly. The results show that misreporting underwater homeowners are as likely to be late on their mortgage payments as homeowners that are reporting negative equity. Underwater homeowners’ reluctance to admit their losses accords with the theory of loss aversion.     

STOCK MARKET CONSEQUENCES OF POLITICAL VIBRANCY

We define areas with strong geographic ties to powerful politicians as politically vibrant and show that they are characterized by greater value-relevant information generation and symptomatic of equity market segmentation. Political vibrancy entails greater levels of local bias and local comovement and has two important return predictability implications. First, it enhances local institutions’ informational advantages; their trades’ ability to forecast local stock returns exceeds that of nonlocal institutions. Second, in support of the view that information diffuses slowly into prices, stock returns of firms from politically vibrant areas predict returns of similar firms in other areas.     

Capital Structure and Investment Financing of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Vietnam

Insufficient sources of internal financing and inaccessibility of external financing are acknowledged as crucial constraints on new investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study examines how capital structure is related to investment decision for SMEs in Vietnam. In particular, we investigate the effect of capital structure on the decision to seek new investment as well as the choice of its financing sources. The main results reveal that SMEs with high financial leverage tend to engage more in seeking new investment. Moreover, empirical results demonstrate that among SMEs seeking new investment, those with higher financial leverage are more likely to choose external financing rather than internal financing. These results confirm the dynamic feature of the pecking order theory in the context of SMEs’ capital structure in Vietnam.     

Exchange Rates and Economic Recovery in the 1930s: An Extension to Asia

Scholars have found a positive relationship between the magnitude of currency depreciation and the extent of recovery from the Great Depression for Europe and Latin America. The relationship between currency depreciation and economic activity during the Great Depression for Asian economies has not yet been explored. This paper examines this topic using data from 13 Asian economies: China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. We find that Asian economies responded in a similar way to currency depreciation during the Great Depression as did European and Latin American countries.     

Who goes where and how? Firm and country characteristics in the choice of FDI type and location

This paper examines the roles of firm and country characteristics in determining multinationals' choice of foreign direct investment (FDI) type and location. Using Korean firm‐level data, we find that highly productive firms are more likely than their less efficient counterparts to invest in tough markets and choose a combined FDI strategy rather than a solely horizontal FDI or vertical FDI strategy across host countries. These findings, consistent with recent theories in international economics, indicate that firm and country heterogeneities play a significant role in determining the FDI strategy of a multinational enterprise.     

Debates over labor reforms in Post‐Mao China (1978–1995)

Why was it that, from 1978 to 1995, the central government of the People's Republic of China did not successfully implement labor reforms? The paper explains the outcomes of China's labor reforms in a statist perspective. The hypothesis is that, despite labor reforms of 1978 to 1995, due to the limited autonomy of the central government, China has not successfully formulated and implemented employment reforms. Ideological coherence and organizational unity among the central party‐state elites are the preconditions for the autonomy, or more accurately, relative autonomy of central governments. Conflicts and debates among various factions destroy the cohesion of the central government, weakening the relative autonomy of the central government to act as a coherent entity.     

Tax Motivated Income Shifting and Korean Business Groups (Chaebol)

Abstract:  This paper examines tax-induced income shifting behavior among affiliated firms in Korean business groups (chaebols). Korean corporate income tax law does not require consolidated tax returns, and business groups with a large number of affiliated member firms have incentives to shift income across member firms to reduce the overall taxes of the group. For a large number of Korean companies that are subject to external audits, we perform univariate and multivariate regression analyses on the income shifting behavior of chaebol firms compared with non-chaebol control firms. Our evidence suggests that tax-motivated income shifting activities exist among chaebol firms, and that the extent of income shifting is found to depend on its effect on non-tax cost factors such as the earnings, leverage, and cash flow rights of the controlling shareholders. We also find that income shifting is more pronounced in chaebol firms where the control-cash flow divergence is relatively large, suggesting that income shifting is affected by the controlling shareholders' opportunism. Our study provides some insights on the intra-group income shifting activities where research is limited.     

Share repurchase,executive options and wealth changes to stockholders and bondholders

We test the signaling and wealth transfer hypotheses around the announcement of share repurchases using a recent and larger sample of data than previously examined while employing a methodology designed to enhance the power of our tests. Disentangling the wealth transfer and signaling hypotheses is difficult; they are not mutually exclusive and can have opposite effects for bondholders. Wealth transfers decrease bondholder wealth while positive signals increase it; the combined result obscures tests of each hypothesis. By focusing on sub-samples where signaling is more and less likely to be present we increase our ability to isolate the separate effects. In addition to traditional tests of wealth effects, we feature information inherent in the correlation of wealth changes to equity and debt. Our results are generally consistent with the positive signaling effect of stock repurchases, but also provide some support for wealth transfer. Our work also emphasizes the importance of trying to disentangle the various hypotheses. In the subset of option funding repurchases, where signaling effects are less likely, the positive correlation of wealth changes between stockholders and bondholders is completely eliminated. Bond ratings are much more likely to be upgraded in samples without executive options which is precisely where the signaling effects are expected to be concentrated. Firms with weaker shareholder rights experience greater bondholder wealth losses at the announcement of stock repurchases.     

The role of consideration sets in brand choice: The moderating role of product characteristics

This study investigates the role of consideration sets in brand choice. Brand‐level aggregated data are used to capture the responses of consumers who face a number of international and domestic brands in markets rather than two or three brands in experimental designs, as in Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001). Empirical evidence from path analysis shows that the consideration set for hedonic products includes a smaller number of dominant brands, whereas the consideration set for utilitarian products includes more and diverse brands. The probability of being finally chosen from the consideration set differs according to product characteristics: hedonic vs. utilitarian. The authors discuss managerial implications and suggestions for future research. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.