Interviewing in two‐sided matching markets

We introduce the interview assignment problem, which generalizes classic one‐to‐one matching models by introducing a stage of costly information acquisition. Firms learn preferences over workers via costly interviews. Even if all firms and workers conduct the same number of interviews, realized unemployment depends also on the extent to which agents share common interviewing partners. We introduce the concept of overlap that captures this notion and prove that unemployment is minimized with perfect overlap: that is, if two firms interview any common worker, they interview the exact same set of workers.     

A test of the different implications of the overconfidence and disposition hypotheses

Under both the overconfidence and disposition biases, a positive relationship is predicted between prior returns and subsequent trading volume. However, theoretically the overconfidence and disposition effects have different implications on the relationships between the long- and short-position gains of traders and their subsequent buying and selling activities. We examine a unique dataset obtained from the Taiwan Futures Exchange which records all account-level trades and orders. Our data and methodology have the advantage of being able to empirically differentiate these two effects and we demonstrate that different types of traders exhibit different types and levels of behavioral biases.     

Correlation, Models, and Risk Management in Challenging Times

This paper considers correlation, models, and risk managementin light of recent financial market events. It begins with areview of key contributing factors, then considers the roleof liquidity in measuring default risk, and highlights somelessons learned from the experience as events continue to unfold.It concludes by discussing some key ways in which regulatorsare moving forward to address the current situation, mitigatefuture risk, and strengthen the resiliency of the global financialsystem.     

Growth, crisis and change in the insurance industry: a retrospect

The insurance industry currently finds itself in a revolutionary situation characterized, in part, by the impact of new direct marketing techniques, facilitated by new technologies; by corporate restructuring and the creation of international mega-corporations; and by the accelerating globalization of the industry. This article surveys recent research on insurance history with the aim of placing these developments in their long-run context. Three areas are examined for evidence of continuities and discontinuities with the past: namely, the impact of technology, the interaction between markets and organizational change, and the globalization of insurance and its relationship to economic growth.     

The Relaxation of Entry Barriers in the Banking Industry: An Empirical Investigation

Until recently, state laws restricted entry into local banking markets in many states by limiting both branching and multibank holding company (MBHC) operations. To the extent that these laws impeded entry into local banking markets, the removal or relaxation of the restrictions should have reduced barriers to entry, leading to more competitive price levels in the affected markets. This paper tests for such effects by examining the changes in deposit interest rates offered by banks operating in markets affected by liberalization of state banking law relative to the changes in deposit interest rates offered during the same time period by banks operating in markets not affected by such liberalization. We find evidence that liberalization of state laws restricting intrastate MBHC operations, interstate branches, and interstate MBHC operations caused deposit interest rates to become more competitive. We, however, find no evidence of such effects associated with the removal of restrictions on intrastate branching.     

Corporate social performance, financial performance and institutional ownership in Canadian firms

This study examines the relationship of corporate social performance (CSP) to financial performance (FP) and institutional ownership. We perform our empirical analyses on a large-sample of publicly held Canadian firms and use a novel independent measure of CSP. Based on tests utilizing four years of panel data, we found no significant relationship between a composite measure of firms’ CSP and FP. However, we found significant relationships between individual measures of firms’ CSP regarding environmental and international activities and FP. Our findings indicate a significant relationship between firms’ composite CSP measure and the number of institutions investing in firms’ stock. In addition, we found significant relationships between firms’ CSP ratings regarding their international activities and product quality and the number of institutions investing in firms’ stock. These findings, while subject to the limitations inherent in the use of specific CSP measures, provide mixed support for the business case for CSP.     

Issues in decentralizing the provision of education

This paper analyzes some of the problems that arise in decentralizing education to the private sector. We concentrate on the difficulties that result from the heterogeneity of students and competition among schools in a location setting. We analyze two main issues, the resources expended by schools and the mix of students in schools, and report on results for two others, the location of schools and their number. For each of these, we investigate the extent to which decentralizing the provision of schooling results in an efficient allocation of resources, and consider the use of vouchers to improve the situation. Our analysis draws on elements of three distinct methodologies: the theory of clubs, location theory, and the theory of monopolistic competition. We find that private schooling will typically be inefficient, but that inefficiency may sometimes be corrected by appropriately designed vouchers.We would like to thank Olivier Debande, Jean-François Wen, two anonymous referees, and seminar participants at the 1st meeting of the Canadian Public Economics Study Group and the 51 st congress of the International Institute of Public Finance for helpful comments. Stefan Buergi and Luc Savard provided useful research assistance. We are also grateful to the SSHRCC and the FCAR for financial support.     

Identifying the gaps in ethical perceptions between managers and salespersons: A multidimensional approach

This research examines, in a general manner, the degree and character of perceptual congruity between salespeople and managers on ethical issues. Salespeople and managers from a diversity of organizations were presented with three scenarios having varying degrees of ethical content and were asked to evaluate the action of the individual in each scenario. Findings indicate that, in every instance, the participating managers tended (1) to be more critical of the action displayed in the scenarios, (2) to view the action as violating a sense of contract or promise, and (3) to view the action as less culturally acceptable than did the salespeople.Tony L. Henthorne is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Henthorne has published in such journals asPsychology and Marketing andJournal of Professional Services Marketing.Donald P. Robin is Professor of Business Ethics and Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Robin is coauthor with Eric Reidenbach of two recent books on business ethics. Dr. Robin has contributed several articles on business ethics in such journals asJournal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Business Ethics. He is also a frequent lecturer on the topic of business ethics.R. Eric Reidenbach is the Director of the Center for Business Development and Research and Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Reidenbach has written numerous articles for such journals asJournal of Business Ethics, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Dr. Reidenbach has coauthored two books on business ethics.     

A conceptual model of corporate moral development

The conceptual model presented in this article argues that corporations exhibit specific behaviors that signal their true level of moral development. Accordingly, the authors identify five levels of moral development and discuss the dynamics that move corporations from one level to another. Examples of corporate behavior which are indicative of specific stages of moral development are offered.R. Eric Reidenbach is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Business Development and Research at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has written extensively on business and marketing ethics.Donald P. Robin, Professor of Business Ethics and Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Mississippi, is coauthor with R. Eric Reidenbach of two recent books on business ethics with Prentice-Hall. He is a frequent lecturer on business ethics and is the author of several articles on the subject.