Corruption and private participation infrastructure projects: The influence of vicarious experience and national animosity

This paper investigates the influence of vicarious experience and national animosity on the relationship between corruption and the performance of private participation infrastructure projects. Our analysis of 27,264 projects in 114 countries from 1997 to 2013 shows that higher levels of corruption are associated with higher risk of project failure. We also find that this effect is weakened by the presence of other firms from the same industry, as firms may learn from other companies how to deal with corruption. In contrast, we find the effect is strengthened by the presence of other firms from different industries. This result is due to a lower applicability of knowledge and to an increase in national animosity and discrimination from local stakeholders.     

Starting Small: How Icewine Diffused in the Mature Canadian Wine Field

How do small players' product innovations initially diffuse within a mature organizational field? This paper studies endogenous and exogenous factors that facilitate the spread of a product innovation—icewine—introduced by small players within the Canadian wine field. Using data from 1985 to 2000, I find support for my hypotheses that environmental jolts, theorization of small players' innovations by small players within the media, and innovation recognition by authorities in other more prestigious fields increased the extent to which icewine has been diffused within the field. Specifically, my study sheds light on how small players can initiate change within mature fields with the support of other institutional players.     

Eficacia de la inspección laboral cuando la normativa varía según el tamaño de la empresa. El caso del Perú

Se analiza el impacto del control del cumplimiento de cuatro normas laborales (salario mínimo, cotización a pensiones, contrato de trabajo escrito y horas de trabajo) en el Perú, donde la reglamentación y las sanciones varían según el tamaño de la empresa. Con datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares y una estrategia de variable instrumental, la autora se centra en un margen de ajuste previamente no analizado, la reducción del tamaño de la empresa para beneficiarse de normas más flexibles y sanciones más bajas. Los resultados muestran que la inspección tuvo poco efecto en el grado de conformidad o en el tamaño de las empresas.     

The Commitment to Income-Decreasing Accounting Choices as a Credible Signal to Reducing Information Asymmetry: The Case of Asset Revaluations*

Bagnoli and Watts (2005) proposed that a manager could reduce information asymmetry by choosing an income-decreasing accounting choice that signals the firm's relatively good future prospects. A limitation in testing this theory is that most income-decreasing accounting choices over time reverse such that aggregated earnings would be the same, regardless of the choice. One income-decreasing accounting choice that never reverses is the choice of upward asset revaluation, where the resulting gains are recognized through other comprehensive income and reduce future earnings by increasing future depreciation expense. In the United Kingdom, prior to FRS15, firms had the option to upwardly revalue on a one-time basis. FRS15, and subsequently International Financial Reporting Standards, however, require those firms that upwardly revalue precommit to revalue on a consistent basis. This precommitment sacrifices future reporting discretion, which, according to the aforementioned study, serves as a costly signal of a firm's relatively good future prospects that reduces information asymmetry. The choice not to upwardly revalue, therefore, serves as a signal of a firm's relatively poor future prospects and also reduces information asymmetry, but this choice does not require precommitment such that the reduction in information asymmetry would be less than the choice to precommit to upward revaluations. Using a propensity-score matched-pair design on a sample of United Kingdom firms to test our predictions during the period requiring precommitment, we find lower forecast dispersion, lower return volatility, and a lower cost of capital for firms that precommit to upward asset revaluations, relative to those firms that choose not to upwardly revalue their operating assets. Keywords: upward asset revaluations, income-decreasing accounting choice, information asymmetry, precommitment     

An FsQCA Investigation of eWOM and Social Influence on Product Adoption Intention

Abstract

Following the causal complexity theory, fsQCA has emerged as an advanced methodology in examining hypotheses and creating new theories in social science. However, fsQCA falls short dealing with structural associations and with latent variables when multi-faceted scales are combined into a single indicator by mean. To extend the application of fsQCA, the study demonstrates an approach to investigate a multi-layered problem of eWOM, social influence, and product adoption intention. The findings from fsQCA successfully confirmed the results from the statistical approach that eWOM and social influence have structural associations with customer adoption intentions of new high-tech products.     

The Direct and Indirect Effects of Self‐Efficacy on Salespeople's Emotional Exhaustion and Work‐Family Conflict: A Study Using the Job Demands‐Resources Model

This study integrates Social Cognitive Theory with the Job Demands‐Resources Model to examine self‐efficacy in relation to emotional exhaustion and work‐family conflict (WFC) in a sample of 192 employees. The results obtained through structural equation analysis show: a negative association between self‐efficacy and both work overload and emotional exhaustion; a positive relationship between work overload and both emotional exhaustion and WFC; that work overload mediates the relation between self‐efficacy and both emotional exhaustion and WFC; that role ambiguity moderates the relation of self‐efficacy with work overload; and that tenure in the sales territory moderates the relation of work overload with WFC. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultra-fast broadband investment and adoption: A survey

In recent years, and in line with EC plans, telecom operators have been facing the need to deploy high-speed, fiber-based infrastructure. What is the socio-economic impact of these new investments on growth and local development? What are their effects on the labor market outcomes, in terms of firm productivity and entrepreneurship? What is the role of regulation and competition in spurring the deployment and the adoption of ultra-fast broadband networks? In this survey, we review the existing literature on ultra-fast, fiber-based broadband network, devoting special attention to the results and to the methodology used in the most recent studies.     

Genuine brands or high quality counterfeits: An investigation of luxury consumption in China

This study examines the effects of different marketing and manufacturing factors on the perceived quality gap and willingness to pay (WTP) for genuine luxury brands. Using the survey data of 786 Chinese consumers, the results show that three marketing factors (product innovation, price promotion, and sales environment) and two manufacturing factors (production in country of brand origin and difficulty in producing the products) all indirectly influence WTP through a perceived quality gap between originals and counterfeits. These effects differ significantly among consumers with different counterfeit and genuine brand purchasing experiences. For consumers with counterfeit purchasing experience, it is important to emphasize the manufacturing factors in the marketing strategies; however, for consumers who only buy genuine brands, marketing factors play a more important role. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retailer service acceptance: simply adding a service to the offer portfolio or committing to marketing it

By virtue of their significant influence on customers’ decisions, retailers’ acceptance of a service plays a significant role in the success of that service. Therefore, retailers’ acceptance of the service and commitment to selling the service must be ensured. However, this issue has attracted limited attention in acceptance research, which tends to focus on goods, technologies and consumers. Based on a survey of consumer durables retailers in three countries, this study focuses on retailer acceptance of a complimentary use-guarantee service, which is meant to maintain customer’s ability to use a semi-durable consumer product. The results of this study link retailers’ perceived usefulness, and commitment & effort to their service acceptance. Manufacturer support was found to moderate the relationship between ease of use and acceptance. Further, nationality, retailer’s own use of the service as a consumer and the importance of the manufacturer’s business for retailers were important for retailer acceptance. Thus, manufacturers need to focus as strongly on retailer acceptance as on the end customer acceptance to ensure service success. They also need to ensure the usefulness of the service for retailer, give retailers a reason to commit to the service sales and provide enough support to make retailers comfortable in selling the service.     

Revising Audit Plans to Address Fraud Risk: A Case of “Do as I Advise,Not as I Do”?*

Prior research documents that auditors fail to revise audit plans to effectively address identified fraud cues. While auditors may understand what evidence would address such cues, we propose that auditors fail to apply this understanding because they use implemental mindsets when making decisions for themselves (i.e., deciding). However, we also propose that auditors use deliberative mindsets when advising. To test our predictions, we assign auditors to a decider or an advisor role in a realistic case that contains seeded fraud cues and asks them to consider revising last year's plan. We also manipulate whether the case prompts auditors to revise the plan unconventionally. Results indicate decider-condition auditors use implemental mindsets: Prompted deciders follow the unconventional plan without regard to underlying fraud risk and unprompted deciders stick with the same-as-last-year plan. Advisor-condition auditors use more deliberative mindsets: In the prompt and no prompt conditions, they identify plans that are strongly linked to their own fraud risk assessments and that better align with experts' recommended plan for effectively addressing the seeded fraud cues. Supplemental analyses suggest deciding and advising auditors both follow the experts' plan when they believe in its potential effectiveness but, after controlling for the influence of perceived effectiveness, deciding auditors follow it to a greater extent simply because they believe the PCAOB wants it. By contrast, advising auditors do not exhibit signs of excessive PCAOB influence. Our findings provide evidence that seeking informal advice (or thinking like an advisor) helps auditors to effectively revise audit plans in response to identified fraud risk—it helps when a prompt is present or not, suggesting it complements rather than merely substitutes for interventions meant to improve auditors' judgment and decision making.