Are there common values in first-price auctions? A tail-index nonparametric test

We develop a consistent nonparametric test of common values in first-price auctions and apply it to British Columbia Timber Sales data. The test is based on the behavior of the CDF of bids near the reserve price. We show that the curvature of the CDF is drastically different under private values (PV) and common values (CV). We then show that the problem of discriminating between PV and CV is equivalent to estimating the lower tail index of the bid distribution. Our approach admits unobserved auction heterogeneity of an arbitrary form. We develop a Hill (1975)-type tail index estimator and find the presence of common values in BC Timber Sales.     

Employee work values and organizational attachment in North Mexican maquiladoras

Maquiladoras in Northern Mexico are currently plagued by low organizational attachment among production workers. Workers often feel little psychological commitment to their maquiladora, and turnover rates in the plants average about 10 per cent per month. In this study we examine the role that work values play in maquiladora workers' attachment to their organizations. An analysis of data from 227 production workers in two maquiladoras reveals that the upward-striving value (a desire continually to seek a higher-level job) is positively associated with turnover intentions and negatively associated with organizational commitment, while the social-status-of-job value (the perception that a good job merits respect) is positively associated with organizational commitment. The findings offer guidance to managers and management scholars attempting to understand and combat the organizational attachment problem in Northern Mexico.     

Monitoring Tourism on the UK's First Long-Distance Cycle Route

This paper describes a research programme carried out on a newly created long-distance cycle route in northern England during 1996 and 1997. The survey sought to: profile users, monitor the overall number of users, describe their spatial and temporal distribution and quantify their economic impacts. This was achieved using a combination of automatic counters, field interview questionnaires, self-completion questionnaires and telephone interviews. The data showed that for 1996 between 12,000 and 15,000 people used the route spending between £1.07 and £1.85 million. Over half the service providers along the route were found to have benefited. In 1997 fewer people used the route, 11,000 cyclists, and the economic impacts have declined in proportion to the use levels. Causes of the reduction of user numbers are considered. The methodology applied is described, and associated issues are discussed. Conclusions are drawn concerning the performance of the route in terms of the cycle tourism niche market. The implications for other cycle routes with tourism potential are considered.     

Decentralization, Integration and the Post-Bureaucratic Organization: The Case of R&d

We assess the relevance of theories of increased decentralization in post-bureaucratic organizations for understanding changes in the organization of the research and development (R&D) function. Analysis of a sample of companies shows that R&D is less decentralized than contemporary accounts suggest, and there are few signs of it becoming more decentralized. We present evidence on the organization of R&D in two sectors (mechanical engineering, and food and drink), which suggests: (1) most firms remain centralized in their approach to R&D, relative to other functions; (2) firms that adopt a more decentralized approach to R&D do so for more complex reasons than have been recognized; (3) inter-functional integration remains a critical issue, for centralized and decentralized organizations alike; (4) introducing market principles into R&D brings risks of market failure.     

The impact of diverse measures of default risk on UK stock returns

A number of recent papers examine the relationship between default risk and equity returns, and the results are mixed. These studies employ different measures of default risk and we find that correlations between eight diverse measures of default risk tend to be less than 50%. Nonetheless, we find that the relationship between stock returns and diverse measures of default risk tends to be consistent; default risk is a significant determinant of stock returns and this relationship is “hump backed”, as predicted by Garlappi and Yan (2011).     

Export planning orientation and its antecedents: Evidence from exporting IT products

There is strong support in the export literature for a positive relationship between export planning and export performance. However, little is known about the drivers of export planning. In addressing this knowledge gap, this article proposes that export planning is usefully analyzed in terms of a managerial orientation. Regarding the antecedents of export planning orientation, the focus here is on the role of factors internal to the firm, especially its exporting mindset (export necessity and export commitment). This article also examines to what extent export confidence (psychic distance and marketing advantage) moderates the relationship. The empirical results show that export commitment has a strong and positive effect on a firm's export planning orientation. This relationship is moderated by psychic distance and marketing advantage. Specifically, the results show that the greater the psychic distance and the weaker the marketing advantage, the stronger the relationship between export commitment and a firm's export planning orientation. The results also show that management's perceived export necessity has a negative effect on a firm's export planning orientation and that this relationship remains unaffected by psychic distance and marketing advantage.     

Information overload and disclosure smoothing

Review of Accounting Studies - This paper examines whether managers can reduce the detrimental effects of information overload by spreading out, or temporally smoothing, disclosures. We begin by...     

SECURITIZATION: A FINANCING STRATEGY FOR EMERGING MARKETS FIRMS

With emerging markets now in crisis, companies in developing countries are finding it difficult to obtain financing. Securitization, a transaction structure in which the securities sold to investors are backed by a company's receivables, is one of the few vehicles with at least the potential to provide financing at economic rates in the current environment of uncertainty.
Unlike U.S. securitization issues, emerging markets transactions often use a structure known as "future flows" securitization, in which the securities are backed by receivables that are not expected to be generated until after issuance. This article begins by describing how the process of future flows securitization carves out securities with levels of political risk acceptable to foreign capital market investors. Then it traces the history of emerging markets securitization from its origins in Latin America to its more recent uses during the Asian crisis. Securitization helped bring foreign investors back to Latin America after its debt crisis of the early 1980s. And while the Asian crisis has sharply reduced new issuance for all kinds of emerging market financings, the volume of securitization issues appears to have declined less precipitously than other types of transactions geared to foreign investors. Moreover, investment bankers are now hard at work planning new securitization issues for companies in both Latin America and Asia.
In exploring the longer-term effects of securitization on both domestic issuers and their economies, the author suggests that securitization could play a pivotal role in restoring emerging markets companies' access to global financial markets. Indeed, with a few exceptions such as Malaysia, most emerging markets are now responding to the crisis by taking measures to protect investors, such as requiring greater financial transparency and dispelling legal uncertainties that have discouraged securitization in particular and overseas investment more generally.