The association between employee stock option disclosures and corporate governance: Evidence from an enhanced disclosure regime

This study examines the role of corporate governance in employee stock option (ESO) disclosures following the revision of AASB 1028 Employee Benefits in 2001. We find that, while firms do not fully comply with AASB 1028 ESO disclosures, they voluntarily provide other ESO disclosures. In relation to corporate governance measures that have a role in the financial reporting process, we find two corporate governance measures dominate our results—the quality of auditor and duality of the role of CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors. We show that, in general, external auditor quality has positive incremental association with both mandatory and voluntary ESO disclosures while the dual role of CEO and chairperson of the board is associated with lower levels of mandatory disclosure.     

Tourism distribution channels in Wellington,New Zealand

This paper outlines a multiple method approach used in Wellington as a way of researching issues of distribution channels for tourism in urban areas. The study combines information obtained from interviews with providers and intermediaries, visitor surveys and the analysis of catalogues to present a systematic examination of distribution channels for a range of accommodation and attractions. The results highlight the complexity of distribution channels in Wellington, with variations occurring by market segment and by type of accommodation and attractions. Chain hotels have the most complex channels. Smaller properties and attractions tend to pursue simpler ‘at destination’ distribution strategies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elements of manpower forecasting and scheduling

Frequent updates of planning forecasts and scheduling would permit a company to head-off impending layoffs, as well as to take advantage of changes in sales forecasts to eliminate or reduce over- and under-shoot in manning schedules. With the computer to minimize time and cost, such updates are practical.     

Fundamental indexation via smoothed cap weights

If prices of individual stocks are unbiased but noisy approximations to fundamental values, there will be a gap in returns between the standard cap-weighted market portfolio and the one based on fundamentals. The discrepancy occurs because, relative to fundamentals, cap-weights are too large (small) for stocks with positive (negative) deviations from fundamental values. It follows that the usual cap-weighted portfolio will underperform relative to the fundamental-based portfolio as long as prices revert to fundamental values. This has led Arnott et al. to propose new market indices based on a firm’s fundamental size as measured by its revenues, number of employees, and so on. In this paper we follow the same principle but propose to estimate fundamental weights using a smoothed average of standard cap-weights. Since the putative excess returns of a fundamentals-weighted portfolio requires reversion to fundamental values, and because fundamental values are likely to change slowly, we can estimate current fundamentals by smoothing the time series of a stock’s noisy prices. The determination of fundamental size in terms of accounting data is thereby replaced by a simple estimate based on price history. We derive expressions for expected returns of the market capitalization-based and fundamentals-based portfolios under various assumptions about (i) the random deviations from fundamental values and (ii) the change in fundamentals over time. We present empirical comparisons between portfolios and find the returns of the fundamentals-based portfolios exceed the standard indices by an amount comparable to the prior estimates that used accounting data to determine size.     

Information Technology Professionals’ Perceived Organizational Values and Managerial Ethics: An Empirical Study

This paper summarizes the results of an analysis of empirical data on ethical attitudes of professionals and managers in relation to organizational core values in the Information Technology (IT) industry. This study investigates the association between key organizational values as independent variables and the ethical attitudes of IT managers as dependent variables. The study also delves into differences among IT non-managerial professionals, mid-level managers, and upper-level managers in their ethical attitudes and perceptions. Research results indicated that IT professionals from mechanistic organizations were much more likely to report – compared to those from organic organizations – that managers in their corporate environment engage in behaviors considered unethical and that successful managers were more unethical relative to unsuccessful managers. There were significant differences between the upper-level managers and the mid-level managers and between the mid-level managers and the IT non-managerial professionals on certain key ethical issues. This paper discusses the conceptual framework, hypotheses, research methodology, data analysis, implications of the findings, and suggested areas of further research. K. Gregory Jin, D.B.A, is Professor of the MIS Department, Ancell School of Business, Western, Connecticut State University. He has published numerous conference papers, chapters, and articles in such areas as MIS professional ideology and ethics, communication and control, behavioral issues in information systems development, role of IT and human factors in business process reengineering, service learning in database design, systems theory, MIS participant action research strategy, and political factors in IT management. He has more than twenty years of MIS administrative and professional experiences. He holds a D.B.A. in Information Technology Management from George Washington University. He is a member of the Association of Information Technology Professionals and a former member of DSI. Ronald G. Drozdenko, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department, Ancell School of Business, Western Connecticut State University. He is also the founding Director of the Center for Business Research at the Ancell School. Dr. Drozdenko has co-directed more than 100 proprietary research projects since 1978 for the marketing and research and development departments of several corporations, including major multinationals. These projects were in the areas of strategic planning, marketing research, product development, direct marketing, and marketing database analysis. Dr. Drozdenko co-authored Optimal Database Marketing: Strategy, Development and Data Mining and also has published professional and academic articles and book chapters. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Missouri and is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Society for Consumer Psychology, and the Academy of Marketing Sciences. Richard A. Bassett, D.P.S, is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Western Connecticut State University. He was founder and CEO of Bassett Computer Systems, Inc. for 17 years where he was involved with the design and implementation of information systems for hundreds for small and midsized businesses. He has authored several papers and articles in such areas as web-design as a web-master, web-based course design, the security threats and concerns faced by telecommuters, minimal steps required to secure a Local Area Network and the technology decision challenges which growing companies face. He is actively involved with technology endeavors of numerous nonprofit organizations including: The Children’s Center, Bridges of Milford, North Haven Rotary, Communicare, and the Amber Alert System. He holds a D.P.S. in Computing from Pace University.     

Horse racing and gambling: comparing attitudes and preferences of racetrack patrons and residents of Sydney,Australia

Thoroughbred breeding and racing has survived on the ability of racing administrators to capture gambling revenue, whether it is proximal, remote or virtual. Given this relationship, there is surprisingly little academic work on the perceptions of gambling, preferences for different forms of gambling, preferences for different types of thoroughbred races that may facilitate gambling, and the relationships between viewing thoroughbred races and gambling on these events. We address this important gap in the literature through a study involving racing patrons at two Sydney racecourses, including midweek and weekend racing meetings, and a corresponding study of four Sydney suburbs, with differing socio-economic characteristics. Our research highlights the variety of attitudes to gambling and the diversity of gambling experiences among participants. It situates contemporary technological innovations such as internet gambling within a longer history of approaches to revenue capture that address the impermanence of existing borders and revenue arrangements based on the control of defined space.     

Quantile models and estimators for data analysis

Quantile regression is used to estimate the cross sectional relationship between high school characteristics and student achievement as measured by ACT scores. The importance of school characteristics on student achievement has been traditionally framed in terms of the effect on the expected value. With quantile regression the impact of school characteristics is allowed to be different at the mean and quantiles of the conditional distribution. Like robust estimation, the quantile approach detects relationships missed by traditional data analysis. Robust estimates detect the influence of the bulk of the data, whereas quantile estimates detect the influence of co-variates on alternate parts of the conditional distribution. Since our design consists of multiple responses (individual student ACT scores) at fixed explanatory variables (school characteristics) the quantile model can be estimated by the usual regression quantiles, but additionally by a regression on the empirical quantile at each school. This is similar to least squares where the estimate based on the entire data is identical to weighted least squares on the school averages. Unlike least squares however, the regression through the quantiles produces a different estimate than the regression quantiles.     

Systematic review and analysis of efficacy of recombinant factor IX products for prophylactic treatment of hemophilia B in comparison with rIX-FP

Abstract

Aims: Prophylaxis with standard-acting recombinant factor IX (rFIX) in hemophilia B patients requires frequent injections. Extended half-life (EHL) products allow for prolonged dosing intervals, and so reduce this treatment burden. Three technologies are employed to extend the half-life of FIX; glycopegylation, Fc-fusion, and albumin fusion. rIX-FP is a novel albumin fusion protein, which allows for a prolonged dosing interval of up to 14?days. A systematic review and indirect statistical comparison was performed to evaluate the efficacy of both EHL and standard-acting rFIX products compared with rIX-FP in Phase III trials for prophylaxis in adult hemophilia B patients.

Materials and methods: A systematic search was conducted in both EMBASE and PubMed to identify Phase III trials of prophylactic rFIX treatment in previously treated hemophilia B patients aged ≥12?years (FIX ≤2%). Annualized bleeding rate (ABR), spontaneous ABR (AsBR), and joint ABR (AjBR) data were extracted from each study. A z-test was performed using the mean of each parameter, and the mean difference in outcome between studies was calculated.

Results: Seven articles investigating six rFIX products were identified. Median ABR, AsBR, and AjBR ranged from 0–3.0, 0–1.0, and 0–1.1 (means = 0.8–4.26, 0.13–2.6, and 0.34–2.85), respectively. rIX-FP achieved the lowest median and mean values in all three parameters. Z-tests showed that mean ABR was significantly lower for rIX-FP 7-day prophylaxis compared with the majority of standard-acting and other EHL rFIX products.

Limitations: The low number of appropriate trials available for comparison limits the quantity of data available for comparison, and restricts the use of methods of adjustment for variance in study design or patient characteristics. However, these limitations are shared with similar analyses published in this field.

Conclusion: This indirect comparison of Phase III trials indicates that rIX-FP efficacy compares favorably vs other rFIX products for prophylaxis in hemophilia B.