Distortions in Real Estate Transactions with Out-of-State Participants

Using the MLS and the land registration data from Indiana, this paper identifies and explains price distortions associated with out-of-state sellers and buyers in the housing market. We find that out-of-state buyers pay 20.4% higher prices than local buyers, and the premium is fully explained by the former purchasing larger homes than the latter. On the other hand, out-of-state sellers receive a 21.2% price discount, among which 9.3% is attributable to differences in transactional characteristics, 3.2% is explained by increased motivation and weak bargaining power of out-of-state sellers, and 1.5% is due to differences in agent characteristics and behaviours. The remaining 7.2% discount varies systematically with the informational disadvantage of out-of-state sellers, and with the market condition. Our results are robust to model misspecification.     

The Determinants of Price in Internet Auctions of Used Cars

This study analyzes how auction, seller, and product factors influence the price premium in an eBay used car auction market. In auctions with at least one bid, the reputation of the seller, title status, and the time the auction ended influenced the price premium on the highest bid. For auctions that resulted in a sale, cars with clear title and dealers were able to secure significantly greater price premiums, but seller reputation had no significant effect. Using a binary logit model, cars had a greater probability of selling if the seller had a better reputation. The quality of the presentation and number of pictures did not enhance the price premium in any of the models.

Organizing information into useful management reports: Short cases to illustrate reporting principles and coding

The accounting information systems course snatches students from their comfort zone of debits and credits and drops them into the position of czar of information needed by managers to make decisions and manage their day-to-day operations. Instructors of this course have the daunting task of teaching students how to report information in a way that it is meaningful to managers. These reports must adhere to principles not necessarily pertinent to the financial statements with which students are already familiar. These principles of management reports include concise and timely reports, inclusion of physical as well as monetary data, and exception reporting. The authors have developed and used three different teaching cases that resemble real-world experience to help students understand and apply these reporting principles. These cases can be used individually, and instructors might choose to use more than one of them in their AIS course. In addition, these cases challenge students to develop data coding methods that must be used to enable the generation of reports adhering to these principles. Learning objectives, implementation guidance, and teaching notes are provided. Feedback from students on the use of these cases has been overwhelmingly positive. The cases were administered at two universities (the authors’ university and another university) during the fall 2013 semester. The questionnaires administered to the instructor and the students are provided. Results included in this paper suggest that both the students and the instructors found the cases interesting and useful.     

The Relationship of Communication, Ethical Work Climate, and Trust to Commitment and Innovation

Recently, Hosmer (1994a) proposed a model linking right, just, and fair treatment of extended stakeholders with trust and innovation in organizations. The current study tests this model by using Victor and Cullen's (1988) ethical work climate instrument to measure the perceptions of the right, just, and fair treatment of employee stakeholders.In addition, this study extends Hosmer's model to include the effect of right, just, and fair treatment on employee communication, also believed to be an underlying dynamic of trust.More specifically, the current study used a survey of 111 managers to test (1) whether right, just, and fair treatment influences trust, both directly as well as indirectly via communication, and (2) whether trust influences perceptions of commitment and innovation. Strong support for the study's hypotheses and Hosmer's (1994a) model was found. Such findings support those who argue that moral management may be good management.     

Legal reform and aggregate small and micro business bankruptcy rates: evidence from the 1997 Belgian bankruptcy code

Many Continental European countries recently reformed their bankruptcy legislations to stimulate reorganization and firm survival. We show that the Belgian 1997 bankruptcy code reform, which implemented several international best practice recommendations, significantly reduced aggregate small and micro business bankruptcy rates. However, using distributed lag models to control for the relationship between bankruptcy rates and macroeconomic variables such as real GDP growth, consumer confidence, inflation, etc., we find that the new code’s impact is not the same for all types of companies. Specifically, while the beneficial effect of the reform is largely similar between small firms (i.e. stock corporations) and micro firms (i.e. partnerships), it is only significant in certain industries (manufacturing and trade). Overall, our results indicate that especially the measures taken to limit domino bankruptcy effects are likely to have had a substantial impact. Our findings have several policy implications for the evaluation and modification of the bankruptcy system.

Homeowner Warranties: A Study of the Need and Demand for Protection Against Unanticipated Repair Expenses

The decision to purchase a home often is made without complete information concerning the structural soundness of the dwelling or the condition of its mechanical systems.
This paper presents detailed information on the nature and magnitude of unanticipated home repair costs on the basis of data obtained from a HUD-sponsored survey of some 1800 households that purchased existing homes two years prior to the survey. The potential market demand for home inspection and warranty programs is estimated on the basis of data obtained from a second survey of approximately 1800 recent home purchasers. Finally, the economic feasibility of two potential government warranty programs is examined and a number of tentative policy conclusions are drawn.