Inflation targeting and business cycle synchronization

Inflation targeting seems to have a small but positive effect on the synchronization of business cycles; countries that target inflation seem to have cycles that move slightly more closely with foreign cycles. Thus the advent of inflation targeting does not explain the decoupling of global business cycles, for two reasons. Indeed business cycles have not in fact become less synchronized across countries.     

Stickiness of Rental Rates and Developers’ Option Exercise Strategies

In this study we incorporate sticky rents into a real options model to rationalize the widely documented overbuilding puzzle in real estate markets. Given the assumption that developers’ objective function is to maximize total revenue by selecting an optimal occupancy level, our model provides a better explanation of the phenomena we observed in the real world than the traditional market-clearance based real options models. We also show that developers’ exercise strategies can be affected by the size and the type of property markets. In other words, developers’ exercise strategies could differ among markets and under different conditions. Submitted to Cambridge—Maastricht 2005 Symposium.     

Bank risk taking and changes in the financial condition of banks' small and midsized commercial customers, 1978–1988 and 1988–1991

This study examines the pattern of bank risk taking through the 1980s and early 1990s, as reflected in the reported financial condition of banks' small and midsized customer firms. Using industry data published in Robert Morris Associates'Annual Statement Studies, we examine the ten-year period 1978–1988 to ascertain changes in the financial condition of banks' commerical customers during the 1980s, and the following three-year period 1988–1991, to determine financial condition changes in customer firms during the early 1990s. Empirical results suggest banks' small and midsized commercial clientele shifted toward riskier organizations From 1988 to 1988, confirming the popularized notion of banks' increased tolerance for risk during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1991, however, banks' client firms evidenced a pattern of risk reduction, which is consistent with the argument that banks have retrenched in their risk taking in recent years, shifting back toward a more financially sound customer base.     

Multiple student learning objectives in basic business statistics: Strategies,assessment, and recommendations

The basic business statistics course is ideal for incorporating multiple objectives related to program learning goals common at most business schools. Along with quantitative reasoning skills, activities are described that allow the measurement of student outcomes related to oral communication and ethics. Strategies include the hidden curriculum approach, term projects involving real data, class presentations, and an emphasis on the ethical use of statistics. These approaches are implemented across multiple sections over multiple semesters, illustrating the untapped potential of this course for achieving multiple learning goals as well as how results can be used to refine assessment methods and improve instruction.     

An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem,Power, and Materialism

What causes adolescents to develop consumer’ ethical beliefs? Prior research has largely focused on the negative influence of peers and negative patterns of parent–child interactions to explain risky and unethical consumer behaviors. We take a different perspective by focusing on the positive support of parents and peers in adolescent social development. An integrative model is developed that links parental and peer support with adolescents’ self-worth motives, their materialistic tendencies, and their consumer ethical beliefs. In a study of 984 adolescents, we demonstrate support for a sequential mediation model in which peer and parental support is positively related to adolescents’ self-esteem and feelings of power, which are each associated with decreased materialism as a means of compensating for low self-worth. This reduced materialism is, in turn, associated with more ethical consumer beliefs.     

The Effects of Compensation Structures and Monetary Rewards on Managers’ Decisions to Blow the Whistle

Recent research indicates that compensation structure can be used by firms to discourage their employees from whistleblowing. We extend the ethics literature by examining how compensation structures and financial rewards work together to influence managers’ decisions to blow the whistle. Results from an experiment indicate that compensation with restricted stock, relative to stock payments that lack restrictions, can enhance the likelihood that managers will blow the whistle when large rewards are available. However, restricted stock can also threaten the effectiveness of whistleblowing systems without the presence of large financial rewards for whistleblowing. Thus, the large potential rewards for whistleblowing enacted by the Dodd–Frank Act appear timely as firms are moving toward compensation agreements that include greater proportions of restricted stock.     

Ethics During Adolescence: A Social Networks Perspective

Marketing research on adolescents’ ethical predispositions (EP) and risky behaviors (RB) has focused primarily on individual difference variables. The present study, in contrast, examines the social network positions that an adolescent occupies within a group. A survey of 984 adolescents demonstrates that EP and RB stem from a balance between assimilation (i.e., centralities within the peer network) and individuation (i.e., need for uniqueness). In particular, we show that adolescents with close first-degree relationships within a specific peer group (measured by high degree centrality) and/or high need for uniqueness have lower EP and engage in more RB, while adolescents that are more central to the entire network (measured by high closeness centrality) have higher EP. The theoretic and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Linking international adaptation strategy,immigrant effect,and performance: The case of home–host and cross-market scenario

Previous studies suggest that a proper fit between business strategy and human resource management can enhance a firm's financial performance. Building on prior findings, this study proposes that an ideal match could occur on the choice of international adaptation strategy and immigrant effect (IE). This match would have a significant effect on firms’ financial performance. The proposed framework is examined using the experience of 121 firms operating across the Greater China region in the home–host and cross-market scenarios. It is found that the extent of adaptation strategy is positively associated with the choice of IE in both home–host and cross-market scenarios and that IE has significant direct and indirect effects on market share and profitability in the cross-market scenario. This study proposes a new strategy–human resource management-performance framework. The findings established provide some implications for researchers and managers.