Business Commons^™

The Influence Of Firm Dispositions On Interfirm Relationship Formation In Business Markets, Jean L. Johnson, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The central premise of this paper is that firm level characteristics or behavioral traits, referred to as predispositions, influence how the firm behaves and interacts in its interfirm relationships (EFRs). This augments traditional approaches that focus on the intra-relationship perspective and/or on environmental influences on the relationship. Firm predispositions of strategic intent and relational proclivity are expected to individually, and in combination, increase the extent of connectedness between partners in interfirm relationships. In turn, through connectedness, they affect relationship effectiveness in terms of reciprocity, information exchange, and cooperation. Results indicated that the predispositions increased connectedness, but combinational effects were not …

Analysis Of The Financial Assurance Plan In The License Application For A Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, F. Gregory Hayden, Scott Fullwiler

College of Business: Faculty Publications

Our purpose is to evaluate the efficiency of the financial assurance plan in the license application' submitted by American Ecology Corporation (AEC) to site, design, and build a new technological facility in Boyd County, Nebraska, for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). Efficiency means the ability to accomplish desired effects. Thus, efficiency considerations begin with social beliefs and ethics in order to know what is desirable. "Ethics can be considered a system of guidance designed to assist in living within a society. . . . That we must live together installs the positive requirement of doing good for one …

Assessing The Economic Understanding Of U.S. High School Students, William Walstad, Ken Rebeck

College of Business: Faculty Publications

Economics instruction in U.S. high schools is basically delivered in two ways. About half of high-school students take a required or elective course in economics, according to transcript data. The great majority of these students (about 95 percent) enroll in a regular course that focuses on basic economic concepts with applications. The remaining small percentage of students take a college-oriented course that is often called “honors” or Advanced Placement (AP) economics. Economics instruction for the other half of high-school students, if it is provided at all, is typically delivered in the context of other courses in the high-school curriculum in …

Research In Economic Education: Five New Initiatives, Michael K. Salemi, John J. Siegfried, Kim Sosin, William Walstad, Michael Watts

College of Business: Faculty Publications

Research is essential for improvement in teaching and learning economics. William E. Becker et al. (1991) called for new research on the relative merits of multiple-choice and essay tests, on the lasting effects of course work in economics, and on the effects of instructors, instructional techniques, and new technologies on student learning. To respond to the call, the Committee on Economic Education (CEE) of the American Economic Association recruited Robin Bartlett, William Becker, W. Lee Hansen, Peter Kennedy, and the authors to organize a conference that would jump-start new research projects.

Report Of The Committee On Economic Education, William Walstad

College of Business: Faculty Publications

A major event in 2000 was a Research Projects Conference that the Committee sponsored in May with funding From the Association. The 20 economists participating in the Conference were: Rajshree Agarwal, Sam Allgood, Robin Bartlett, William Becker, Betty Blecha, William Bosshardt, Myles Boylan, Joseph Daniel, T. Aldrich Finegan, W. Lee Hansen, Peter Kennedy, Mark Maier, Kim Marie McGoldrick, Michael Salerni (conference chair), John Siegfried, Wendy Stock, John Taylor, Wilbert van der Klaauw, William Walstad, and Michael Watts. Important research questions in economic education were discussed at the Conference, and teams of economists were organized to design new projects to answer …

Exponential Bonus-Malus Systems Integrating A Priori Risk Classification, Llufs Bermudez, Michel Denuit, Jan Dhaene

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

This paper examines an integrated ratemaking scheme including a priori risk classification and a posteriori experience rating. In order to avoid the high penalties implied by the quadratic loss function, the symmetry between the overcharges and the undercharges is broken by introducing parametric loss functions of exponential type.

Analyzing Management Fees Of Pension Funds: A Case Study Of Mexico, Tapen Sinha

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

Though the rates of return for public pension funds have been high over the past two decades, one critical aspect of the financing of this type of fund is often overlooked: high management fees. As a result, the rates of return for workers who have invested in these funds have not necessarily been high. Management fees charged on pension funds in Mexico result in a leakage of funds in the order of 20-30% of the fund. That is, the amount at retirement would have been 20-30% higher had there been no fees. A model is developed that includes all the …

Empirical Tests Of The Fundamental-Value Hypothesis In Land Markets, Angeline M. Lavin, Thomas S. Zorn

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

The land-price boom of the 1970s followed by the bust of the 1980s generated considerable interest in the determination of land prices and the study of whether those prices reflect fundamental value. In this article, three techniques are used to examine the fundamental- value hypothesis in Iowa and Nebraska agricultural land markets. Duration dependence tests indicate that land markets are not affected by rational expectations bubbles. Conversely, Markov chain and time-reversibility tests suggest that land prices depart from fundamental value due to the existence of nonrandom price changes and asymmetric land price patterns. The results of this research should be …

Fitting Loss Distributions In The Presence Of Rating Variables, Farrokh Guiahi

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

This paper focuses on issues and methodologies for fitting alternative statistical models-parametric probability distributions-to samples of insurance loss data. The interactions of loss distributions, deductibles, policy limits, and rating variables in the context of fitting distributions to losses are discussed. Fitted loss distributions serve an important function in pricing insurance products. The methodology developed in this paper is applied to a sample of insurance loss data that has the lognormal as the underlying loss distribution.

A Sensitivity Analysis Of The Premiums For A Permanent Health Insurance (Phi) Model, Ben D. Rickayzen

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

This paper presents an analysis of the parameters used in a multi-state model for permanent health insurance (PHI). The model is a simplification of that used in the United Kingdom. To avoid using duration dependent probabilities, the model splits the sick state into several sub-states to act as a proxy for duration spent in a particular state. This enables a Markov approach to be adopted. Lapses are incorporated within the model, and the net premium for a particular policy is tested for sensitivity to the various parameters used, including their interaction with the lapse rate. One of our conclusions is …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 9 (2001), Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

(The complete issue, including) ARTICLES

Analyzing Management Fees of Pension Funds: A Case Study of Mexico • Tapen Sinha 5

Premium Earning Patterns for Multi-Year Policies with Aggregate Deductibles • Thomas Struppeck 45

Exponential Bonus-Malus Systems Integrating A Priori Risk Classification • Lluis Benmidez, Michel Denuit, and Jan Dhaene 67

Fitting Loss Distributions in the Presence of Rating Variables • Farrokh Guiahi 97

Linear Empirical Bayes Estimation of Survival Probabilities with Partial Data • Mostafa Mashayekhi 131

Controlling the Solvency Interaction Among a Group of Insurance Companies • Alexandros Zimbidis and Steven Haberman 151

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Premiums …

Premium Earning Patterns For Multi-Year Policies With Aggregate Deductibles, Thomas Struppeck

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

MUlti-year policies with large aggregate deductibles or multiple triggers raise some interesting issues about the correct amount of unearned premium reserve that a company should carry. Examples in this paper illustrate some of the difficulties that arise when trying to establish such reserves. The basic approach taken here is that the pure premium portion of the unearned premium reserve should always be adequate to cover the remaining risk. This approach, however, can lead to some unusual and controversial earning patterns; there are even situations where a negative premium is earned. In addition, the earning pattern for a particular loss scenario …

Linear Empirical Bayes Estimation Of Survival Probabilities With Partial Data, Mostafa Mashayekhi

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

In this paper we consider linear empirical Bayes estimation of survival probabilities with partial data from right-censored and possibly left-truncated observations. Such data are produced by studies in which the exact times of death are not recorded and the length of time that each subject may be under observation cannot exceed one unit of time. We obtain asymptotically optimal linear empirical Bayes estimators, with respect to the squared error loss function, under the assumption that the probability of death under observation in a unit time interval is proportional to the length of observation. This assumption is sometimes implied by Balducci's …

Controlling The Solvency Interaction Among A Group Of Insurance Companies, Alexandros Zimbidis, Steven Haberman

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

Pooling of risks is an efficient risk management technique used by large employee benefit schemes of multinational companies to self-insure their retirement and other benefit obligations. This technique forms a basis for formulating a general control theoretic model for the interaction between insurance companies within a pooling network. The objective of these insurance companies is to avoid insolvency yet maintain stable premium and surplus processes. A general control system of equations that is used as a model for the interaction of m insurance companies within the network is first analyzed. An analytic solution is provided. Questions concerning the stability and …

Leader–Member Exchange And Its Dimensions: Effects Of Self-Effort And Other’S Effort On Relationship Quality, John Maslyn, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Two hundred thirty-two manager-subordinate dyads provided data on the effort expended toward the development of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships, how such effort related to expectations about relationship quality, and intentions to exert future effort toward relationship development. For both managers and subordinates, higher quality LMX relationships were reported and expectations were met when the other member of the dyad put forth effort into relationship development. One’s own higher effort coupled with lower effort by the other was associated with a lower quality LMX relationship. Examination of the 4 dimensions of LMX (R. C. Liden & J. M. Maslyn, 1998) revealed …

Leadership In Complex Organizations, Russ Marion, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This paper asks how complexity theory informs the role of leadership in organizations. Complexity theory is a science of complexly interacting systems; it explores the nature of interaction and adaptation in such systems and how they influence such things as emergence, innovation, and fitness. We argue that complexity theory focuses leadership efforts on behaviors that enable organizational effectiveness, as opposed to determining or guiding effectiveness. Complexity science broadens conceptualizations of leadership from perspectives that are heavily invested in psychology and social psychology (e.g., human relations models) to include processes for managing dynamic systems and interconnectivity. We develop a definition of …

Differential Effects Of Incentive Motivators On Work Performance, Alexander D. Stajkovic, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In this field experiment, we first compared the performance effects of money systematically administered through the organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod.) model and routine pay for performance and then compared the effects of O.B. Mod.- administered money, social recognition, and performance feedback. The money intervention based on the O.B. Mod. outperformed routine pay for performance (performance increase = 37% vs. 11%) and also had stronger effects on performance than social recognition (24%) and performance feedback (20%).