A MCGP decision aid for homebuyers to make the best choice

This study adopts a new approach, the multi-choice goal programming (MCGP), to evaluate houses in order to help homebuyers to find better house based on the residential preferences. According to the function of MCGP, homebuyers can set multiple housing goals with multiple aspiration levels. This increases the flexibility to find a suitable house. Compared with other classical methods such as checklist and analytic hierarchy process, MCGP is more efficient, especially while considering a lot of housing criteria and house alternatives. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of MCGP decision aid for housing selection, a real case study is then provided. Furthermore, ten volunteers are invited to participate in the empirical experiment. The results also validate the effectiveness and efficiency of MCGP decision aid.     

The Asymmetric Information Problem in Taiwan's Cancer Insurance Market

This paper investigates the problem of asymmetric information in Taiwan’s cancer insurance market. Through the survey data, we find evidence of adverse selection existing in this market. Furthermore, we collect additional information on the individual, and find that the individual’s family cancer history contains additional valuable information. It can not only more accurately predict the probability of contracting cancer, as well as predict the willingness to purchase extended cancer insurance, but it can also help to mitigate the severity of adverse selection in the insurance market.     

Intergenerational appeal in advertising: impacts of brand–gender extension and brand history

An intergenerational (IG) appeal in an advertising campaign usually presents a nostalgic image with family portraits, emphasizing the traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation or harkening back to the ‘good old days’ between father and son, or mother and daughter. The IG appeal can effectively enhance a brand's image and induce that all-important consumer purchase. This paper takes gender differences (father/son or mother/daughter) into consideration while examining two moderators related to branding: (in)congruent brand–gender extension and brand history. Results indicate that a well-established brand history enhances the effects of the IG appeal. In addition, a congruent brand–gender extension increases the effects of the IG appeal. More interestingly, IG appeals can be effective in presenting a less established brand which has an incongruent brand–gender extension.     

Extending the link between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intention: a moderated mediation model

This study extended the research on the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intention by developing a moderated mediation model. This model posits that the link between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intention is mediated by attitudes toward entrepreneurship and planned entrepreneurial control, and that these mediation processes are further moderated by subjective norms. Based on a sample of 308 valid responses, regression analysis yielded two noteworthy results. First, entrepreneurial self-efficacy positively affects intention through attitudes toward entrepreneurship and planned entrepreneurial control. Second, the direct effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on intention decreases as subjective norms increase. By contrast, the indirect intention effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy through attitudes toward entrepreneurship and planned entrepreneurial control increase as subjective norms increase. In addition, the results indicated that subjective norms positively affect entrepreneurial intention. These findings indicated that the model advances the use of the theory of planned behavior and can be used to define a person as an entrepreneur.     

TRADE AND DIVERGENCE IN EDUCATION SYSTEMS

This article presents a theory on the endogenous choice of education policy and the two‐way causal relationship between trade and education systems. A country's education system determines its talent distribution and comparative advantage; the possibility of trade by raising the returns to the sector of comparative advantage in turn induces countries to further differentiate their education systems and reinforces the initial pattern of comparative advantage. Specifically, the Nash equilibrium choice of education systems by two countries interacting strategically are necessarily more divergent than their autarky choices, and yet less than what is socially optimal for the world.     

Measuring service experience: a utility-based heuristic model

This research aims to construct a model to evaluate service experience. We develop a novel model for service experience by incorporating positive and negative dimensions. We demonstrate that greater utility from experience results in greater value of service experience. We also discovered negative dimensions are the key reason; especially waiting time. We separated five groups to help firms explore deeper insights from various dimensions. The value of service experience in group of middle range has the greater contrast between positive and negative dimensions than the other groups. Service providers can obtain customer perception to adjust or revise the service components.     

Does prior record matter in the wealth effect of open-market share repurchase announcements?

This study investigates whether prior experience of share repurchases matters in the market reactions to the subsequent repurchase announcements. Specifically, we study the prior record on actual buybacks and post-announcement stock performance. We find that upon the announcement of share repurchases, stock markets not only respond more positively to those made by firms that have better record on actual buyback following their previous repurchase plan announcements, but also experience a stronger reaction for announcing firms with better stock performance after prior repurchase announcements. These results hold even after controlling for other variables that are found important in influencing the market reactions to repurchase announcements.     

试论地方高校创新型人才培养的机制和平台——以三峡大学研究生教育创新实践为例

激烈的国际竞争形势和创新型国家的建立需要培养大批拔尖创新人才。大学是培养创新型人才的摇篮,而培养基础厚实、知识广博、学问精深、思维创新的人才,必须建立科学有效的创新型人才培养的平台和机制。文章结合三峡大学研究生教育创新工作实践,对地方综合性大学如何构建培养创新人才的平台和机制提出了对策和建议。     

Effectiveness of promotional premiums: The moderating role of affective state in different contexts

This research explores the influence of affective state on ad and product judgments for advertising that features promotional offers of high and low price value. Consistent with expectations, Study 1 found that for happy participants, high‐price value premiums generated higher ad believability ratings, which in turn enhanced ad and brand attitudes. For sad participants, however, the positive effects of high‐price value premiums were attenuated due to message believability discounting. It is proposed that the moderating influence of affective state on responses to ads featuring premiums should be more likely to emerge when attention to premiums is high, as in situations where ads feature less important product attributes or when consumers plan to purchase a product. Study 2 found that the interaction between affective state and premium value was significant when ads featured less important product attributes, but not when they featured important product attributes. Study 3 found that the interaction was significant for participants who intended to purchase the product in the near future, but not for those who did not have purchase intentions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.