The Information Content of Management's Prospective Comments in Financially Distressed Companies: A Note

Prior research revealed management's prospective comments (MPCs) in annual reports to be informative with respect to companies' future performance. As the finding was derived from analyses of random samples of companies, it is not known whether it is generalizable to companies that are experiencing financial distress. This study investigates whether disclosure of MPCs in the annual reports of companies experiencing financial distress is informative with regard to their future viability. The MPCs of 140 Australian public companies that had experienced significant losses were identified and then categorized as optimistic, pessimistic, mixed or no MPCs. Results from logistic regression analysis indicate that such MPCs provided information incremental to that contained in historical financial information about companies' future viability. It was also found that, while companies that did not disclose any MPCs were more likely to fail than companies that disclosed optimistic MPCs, they were as likely to fail as companies that disclosed pessimistic or mixed MPCs. This suggests that financially distressed companies avoid disclosing MPCs in the absence of an optimistic outlook, a finding that supports Darrough and Stoughton's (1990) theory of selective disclosure.     

Tourists’ hotel event experience and satisfaction: an integrative approach

ABSTRACT

Tourists’ hotel event experiences have received little attention in tourism research. By proposing an integrated model of expectation–confirmation theory (ECT) and the experience economy concept, this research explores the relationship between tourists’ event experience and their satisfaction regarding the hotel event setting. The hypothesized model was empirically validated using a sample of 663 tourists who experienced a holiday event at a resort hotel. Results confirmed that the integration of the experience economy and ECT provided a better understanding of tourists’ post-satisfaction in a pleasure-driven setting. This affective–cognitive approach advances the knowledge of tourists’ experiences and satisfaction at hotel events.     

The sources of the Kuznets relationship between road fatalities and economic growth

This paper reports the results of an empirical analysis of the Kuznets curve relationship between per capita income and road fatalities across 60 countries over the period 1972-2004. This relationship hypothesizes that the number of road fatalities increases with increasing motorization in the early stages of economic growth. Eventually, due to advances in technical, policy and political institutions, it declines as per capita income increases. The quality of political institutions as well as improvements in medical care and technology are hypothesized to impact road fatalities. Results indicate evidence of a Kuznets curve relationship between per capita income and road fatalities for both highly developed and less developed countries and support our hypothesis that changes in institutional quality and medical improvements underlie the Kuznets relationship. The evidence presented in this study suggests that lowering corruption levels as well as improvements in medical care and technology would help to reduce road fatalities.     

An Analysis of the Deposit-taking Market of Hong Kong

This paper analyzes the deposit-takingmarket in Hong Kong prior to the deregulation ofinterest rates in 1994. We argue that bankingregulations, in the forms of branching restrictionsand interest-rate ceilings, had created amonopsonistic market for short-term bank deposits. Asa result, banks in Hong Kong had earned asubstantially wider interest-rate margin than banks inother Asia-Pacific countries and the United States. We provide procedures to estimate the economicsignificance of the foregone interest and find themonopsonistic rent to be in the order of 1% of theGross Domestic Product of Hong Kong for the period1987 through 1994.     

The Link Between Organizational Ethics and Job Satisfaction: A Study of Managers in Singapore

Based on a survey of 237 managers in Singapore, three measures of organizational ethics (namely, top management support for ethical behavior, the organization's ethical climate, and the association between ethical behavior and career success) are found to be associated with job satisfaction. The link between organizational ethics and job satisfaction is argued from Viswesvaran et al.'s (1998) organizational justice and cognitive dissonance theories. The findings imply that organizational leaders can favorably influence organizational outcomes by engaging in, supporting and rewarding ethical behavior.     

Communication of Private Information and the Valuation of Initial Public Offerings in Singapore

This study examines a sample of 108 initial public offerings in Singapore between 1987 and 1993, and documents the effects of four channels of entrepreneurial communication, that is, retained ownership, audited report, auditor choice and underwriter choice on the valuation of new issues. Our results indicate that retained ownership and book value of equity are significantly and positively associated with the valuation of initial public offerings in Singapore. Underwriter choice and auditor choice are not significant in explaining the valuation of initial public offerings. Issues listed on the Main Board are valued higher than those on Sesdaq (Stock Exchange of Singapore Dealing and Automated Quotation). Firms choosing the auction system are valued higher than those choosing the fixed system.
This paper provides evidence on the valuation of new issues in an emerging market in the Asia-Pacific region. The results are of interest to investors, investment bankers and companies seeking a listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange. We provide some insights on how new issues in the Singapore market are valued.     

On the Ethics of Management Research: An Exploratory Investigation

While there is an abundant academic literature on professional codes of ethics, there appears to be few devoted to assessing the compliance of management research with such codes. This article presents the results of applying the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) Code of Professional Ethics and Practices to research articles based on probability sample surveys in the top three academic journals covering tourism, hospitality, and related fields. Four research questions are posed to focus application of the WAPOR Code to nearly 200 articles published in three recent years. Content analysis of these articles, documented by a measure of intercoder reliability, indicates that it is feasible for multiple coders to accurately apply the WAPOR Code to such articles. None of the articles examined complied with all WAPOR standards, and fewer than half of them complied with half of the standards. Finally, we find that there is some difference among the three journals in compliance, but this difference is relatively small. In sum, there is very little compliance with ethical standards in the field of management research studied here.     

An application of the theory of planned behaviour to understand compliance with daytime running headlights law among motorcycle riders

Abstract

Fatal motorcycle crashes are a persistent problem in Southeast Asia. In many respects, road safety experts have acknowledged conspicuity issue as one of the main causes of such accidents. To mitigate this deficiency, daytime running headlights (DRHs) law has been documented among the widely exercised countermeasures. The present study aimed to explore socio-psychological factors shaping intentions towards use of DRHs among Malaysian motorcyclists, because compliance level with this rule has remained constant since 1996 (80%). For this purpose, a model was constructed through the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to evaluate factors affecting motorcyclists’ intentions towards compliance with DRHs law. A series of statistical analyses were performed to explain the effect of these factors and to predict degree of compliance with this rule. The model applied on a sample of university students (N?=?398) demonstrated that the TPB components could significantly predict motorcycle riders’ behaviours and degree of compliance with DRHs law. Moreover, it would be of assistance to policy-makers to recognize groups of motorcyclists more likely to cause an increase in traffic accidents. In general, regular educational campaigns were recommended to raise awareness regarding consequences of not using DRHs and also to nurture factors influencing motorcyclists’ attitudes towards DRHs.     

Using a Validation Process to Develop Market Segmentation Based on Travel Motivation for Major Metropolitan Areas

Studies on market segmentation based on travelers' push motivation have been conducted without implementing a statistically validated procedure for establishing the segmented markets. The purpose of this study is to identify validated traveler market segments by examining what travelers' push motivation dimensions are among the heterogeneity of travelers to a major metropolitan area. The six push motivation dimensions were extracted from the 20 motivation items by conducting factor analysis (i.e., Social/Interaction, Excitement/Fun, Relaxation, Sightseeing, Family/Friends, and Sports). Cluster analysis identified the three homogeneous groups of travelers. Subsequent discriminant analysis verified the existence of the three travelers' markets in the metropolitan area. Managerial implications are suggested for the three push motivation‐based segments.     

Effects of Advice on Auditor Whistleblowing Propensity: Do Advice Source and Advisor Reassurance Matter?

Journal of Business Ethics - We conduct an experiment to investigate the joint effects of advisor reassurance and advice source in enhancing the impact of advice on auditors’ whistleblowing...