Business Commons^™

Social Enterprise: A Moral Framework For Leadership And Excellence?, Kevin Teo, Leng Leroy Lim

Social Space

We are in the midst of a global socio-economic transition and the way we think about the economy is changing. Here, Kevin Teo and Leng Leroy Lim trace the ideas and movements that have shaped beliefs about economics, business, and leadership, then challenge these assumptions to advance a new moral ethos for a new age.

The Financial Crisis And Global Supply Chains, Robert Mefford

Finance

The financial crisis which erupted in 2007 has already had profound effects on the global supply chains of multinational firms and will likely permanently alter some fundamental supply relationships. This essay explores what some of the consequences have been to date and speculates about future effects. Of course, the length, scope, and severity of the financial and economic crisis will determine how significant and permanent these impacts are, and it is impossible at this point in time to forecast this accurately. But in any case there have already been major developments in global supply chains that are likely to persist …

Marketing Orlando As A Tourism Destination: Collaboration And Competitiveness, Youcheng Wang

Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications

No abstract provided.

Grant Writing Handbook For Our Lady Of Fatima Parish School, Tracy Severson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This manual is an applied thesis written for Our Lady of Fatima Parish School, a small Catholic school located in Huntington, West Virginia. Its purpose is to introduce novice grant writers to the terms and processes associated with grant writing for this particular parochial school. The manual guides the fledgling writer through church and school history, ideas and strategies to develop the grant, grant writing and the post-submission process. Only examples from submitted church grants are referenced and all address Our Lady of Fatima needs and mission statement. The handbook is intended as a springboard for grant writing in the …

The Alliance Formation Puzzle And Capacity Constraints, Kai A. Konrad, Dan Kovenock

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The formation of an alliance in conflict situations is known to suffer from a collective action problem and from the potential of internal conflict. We show that budget constraints of an intermediate size can overcome this strong disadvantage and explain the formation of alliances.

Competition For Fdi With Vintage Investment And Agglomeration Advantages, Kai A. Konrad, Dan Kovenock

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Countries compete for new FDI investment, whereas stocks of FDI generate agglomeration benefits and are potentially subject to extortionary taxation. We study the interaction between these aspects in a simple vintage capital framework with discrete time and an infinite horizon, focussing on Markov perfect equilibrium. We show that the equilibrium taxation destabilizes agglomeration advantages. The agglomeration advantage is valuable, but is exploited in the short run. The tax revenue in the equilibrium is substantial, and higher on “old” FDI than on “new” FDI, even though countries are not allowed to use discriminatory taxation. If countries can provide fiscal incentives for …

Origins And Resolution Of Financial Crises: Lessons From The Current And Northern European Crises, Finn Østrup, Lars Oxelheim, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Since July 2007, the world economy has experienced a severe financial crisis that originated in the U.S. housing market. Subsequently, the crisis has spread to financial sectors in European and Asian economies and led to a severe worldwide recession. The existing literature on financial crises rarely distinguishes between factors that create the original strain on the financial sector and factors that explain why these strains lead to system-wide contagion and a possible credit crunch. Most of the literature on financial crises refers to factors that cause an original disruption in the financial system. We argue that a financial crisis with …

Indiana State University Financial Report 2009, Indiana State University

Financial Reports

No abstract provided.

Family Structure Choice: Taxation As An Incentive To Change, Aman Khanna

The Corinthian

Traditionally defined as the union of one man and one woman charged with the responsibility of rearing children, the notion of family now includes a variety of living arrangements including non-marital cohabitation and single parents. The current study investigates individual incentives to change family structure from a person’s original status as single. This conceptual research, which is grounded in theories of marriage, proposes that federal, personal income tax is an input to change in family structure. A model of family structure change and propositions of the relationship between the federal tax and family structure are developed.

High-Versus Low-Context National Cultures: Preferences For Type Of Retailer And For Human Interaction, Gregory E. Osland, Bela Florenthal

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

A purpose of this research is to investigate differences between low-and high-context national cultures in retail settings. In particular, we examined cultural differences in preference for human interaction while shopping, "emotional warmth" characteristics, perception of quality service, and retail channel preferences. As businesses more frequently employ multi-channel strategies in global settings, this topic of national culture gains importance and can shed light on key factors that shape consumers' retail preferences. Our findings indicate that national cultures differ in terms of retail channel preferences, preference for human interaction, and relationships between the two. Managerial implications and future research are addressed, as …

Winning, Running, And Renewing The Outsourcing Contracts, Z Perunovic, M Christoffersen, Robert Mefford

Finance

The paper explores how vendors deploy competences and capabilities across the outsourcing process in order to win, run, and renew outsourcing contracts. The results of a multiple-case study of three contract electronics manufacturers (CEMs) show that different combinations of capabilities are required for a vendor to win, run, and renew outsourcing contracts. Permanent capabilities are constantly present across the process, while temporary capabilities, depending on customer requirements, can be added or removed from the portfolio of capabilities.

Social Insurance, Commitment, And The Origin Of Law: Interest Bans In Early Christianity, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the historical importance of ideology-based, economically inhibitive laws, we know little about the economic factors underlying their origin. This paper accounts for the historical emergence of one such law: the Christian ban on taking interest--a doctrine that shaped the evolution of numerous financial contracts and related organizational forms. A game-theoretic analysis and historical evidence suggest that the Church's commitment to providing social insurance for its poorest constituents encouraged risky borrowing, which the Church attempted to limit by banning interest. The analysis highlights the applicability of the rational choice framework to seemingly irrational actions and laws, the role of nonmonetary …

Market Volatility Asymmetries: The Effects Of Stock Market Returns On Realized And Implied Volatilities, Matthew M. Chestnut

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Volatility is an integral and inescapable variable of financial engineering, modeling, and finance theory itself Classical financial economics proxies volatility for risk itself, as it becomes difficult to predict future price realizations of a given asset when that asset exhibits significant price volatility over a given time. However, the nature of volatility as it is explained by classical financial economics has been extensively questioned in the previous three decades, since it is characterized as a function of uncertainty aggregate market psychology-that is, as a function of fear, greed, exuberance, and other fundamental human instincts and emotions. While previous research has …

Can Non-State Certification Systems Bolster State-Centered Efforts To Promote Sustainable Development Through The Clean Development Mechanism, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Kelly Levin, Benjamin Cashore

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Increasing economic globalization has coincided with the emergence and escalating influence of non-state actors and organizations in domestic and international policymaking, from shaping policy agendas to promoting private authority. The latter phenomenon has arisen, at least in part, from a critique of states' failures to adopt effective and enduring environmental policies. Rather than contest "command and control" institutions, non-state strategies embrace market approaches built around incentives and price mechanisms. Several forms of non-state authority have emerged, including corporate social responsibility, provision of information through labeling, and self-reporting.

Is The United States Postal Service's Business Model Broken? Fixing The Model Through Innovation Not Competitive Postal Services, Paul J. Martin

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This project suggests that the United States Postal Service (USPS) business model that utilizes very large mail volume revenues to cross-subsidize last-mile delivery is broken by the continuing trend of paper documents converted to electronic documents. As the paper to electronic conversion trend continues, the USPS will need to develop additional revenue sources and/or cut costs to survive without government funding. In response to the shift from paper mail to electronic mail, other countries have liberalized postal services to make competitive postal mail systems with the goals of achieving postal service innovation, better service, and reduced prices. Postal liberalization is …

An Analysis Of The Intra-Regional Trade In The Middle East And North Africa Region, E. M. Ekanayake, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

This paper analyzes the intra-regional trade and investment flows in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region using an augmented gravity model applied to panel data. The study uses annual trade and investment data for the period 1980-2006. There is a growing awareness among countries in the MENA region regarding the importance of international trade and foreign direct investment for stimulating growth and integrating into the world economy. The research will attempt to achieve the following objectives: (a) analyze the intra-regional trade and investment flows in the MENA region; (b) identify the major determinants of trade and investment flows …

U.S. Energy Policy And The Presumption Of Market Failure, Peter Z. Grossman

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

The article presents an analysis of U.S. energy policy, focusing on the question of whether it is able to correct market failures in terms of alternative energy sources. The question of whether any such market failures exist is said to be a separate question, and an argument is presented that governments generally are not competent to fix such problems even when they do exist. A discussion of U.S. energy policy from the early 1970s to the 21st century is presented. Programs designed to encourage technological innovations such as biofeuls, nuclear fusion, and electric vehicles are analyzed.

Reit Ipos And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark Pyles

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

We examine Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that went public between 1986 and 2004. Consistent with previous studies, we find that REIT IPOs are associated with lower levels of underpricing relative to traditional issues. We also find that REITs are associated with smaller file price revisions. Both findings are potentially attributable to the lower level of uncertainty associated with pricing REITs. In contrast, using an alternative measure of issuance costs that incorporates the share retention decision by preexisting owners, we find no significant difference between REIT and non-REIT issues, suggesting the results of previous studies …

Public-Private Partnerships: Lessons Learned From A Partnership: Consolidated Contractors Company And The Morganti Group Inc. (Ccc/Morganti), Al-Balqa’ Applied University (Bau)/Al-Huson University College (Ahuc) And The Usaid Jordan Economic Development Program, Hussien Al-Wedyan, Terry S. Lane, David Lowther, Gwen El Sawi

Center for Social Policy Publications

This paper describes a Public-Private Partnership that brings together: Al-Balqa’ Applied University/Al-Huson University College (AHUC); Consolidated Contractors Company and the Morganti Group Inc. (CCC/MORGANTI); Al-Huson Career Development Center (CDC); and USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ). The Partnership enhances CCC/MORGANTI with its corporate responsibility initiative in Jordan as well as addressing CCC/MORGANTI’s labor force needs from Jordan and in the MENA Region. The lessons learned from the process of developing this partnership may be applied to other potential and emerging partnerships in other sectors. The paper draws on principles and best Education and Training Public/Private Partnerships Improved Workforce Demand-Driven Skills …

A Response To Bruni And Sugden, Julie A. Nelson

Economics Faculty Publication Series

An article by Luigino Bruni and Robert Sugden published in this journal argues that market relations contain elements of what they call ‘fraternity’. This Response demonstrates that my own views on interpersonal relations and markets – which originated in the feminist analysis of caring labour – are far closer to Bruni and Sugden's than they acknowledge in their article, and goes on to discuss additional important dimensions of sociality that they neglect.

Brokering Up: The Role Of Temporary Staffing In Overcoming Labor Market Barriers, Françoise Carré, Brandynn Holgate, Helen Levine, Mandira Kala

Center for Social Policy Publications

Alternative Staffing Organizations (ASOs) are social-purpose businesses created by community-based organizations and national nonprofits to “broker up” job seekers, starting with temporary assignments and forming bridges to better jobs. Funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation, the Alternative Staffing Demonstration examined four ASOs around the country for a three-year research project, with 18 months of close monitoring, exploring, and assessing the ASO model. The Center for Social Policy studied how ASOs structure the services they provide, handle day-to-day management issues, and sell their services. We found the ASO model was variously adapted to generate short-term employment, build work experience, provide …

The Rise Of Private Equity Media Ownership In The United States: A Public Interest Perspective, Matthew Crain

Publications and Research

This article examines the logic, scope, and implications of the influx of private equity takeovers in the United States media sector in the last decade. The strategies and aims of private equity firms are explained in the context of the financial landscape that has allowed them to flourish; their aggressive expansion into media ownership is outlined in detail. Particular attention is paid to the public interest concerns raised by private equity media ownership relating to the frenzied nature of the buyout market, profit maximization strategies, and the heavy debt burdens imposed on acquired firms. The article concludes with discussion of …

Sustainable Development And Exhaustible Resources: The Case Of Bauxite Mining In Vietnam, Hoa Hoang

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

In 2007, the Vietnamese government declared an ambitious master plan to extract its bauxite resources, mainly concentrated in the Central Highlands. The impact of bauxite mining on the livelihoods of indigenous people and the macroeconomy have been debated by many scientists, economists, environmentalists, and journalists, both in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese who live overseas. From a holistic perspective to sustainable development, this paper analyzes the potential impacts of the Tan Rai and Nhan Co bauxite mining and alumina refining projects, the major part of the Vietnamese government’s master plan. At a macroeconomic level, the possible occurrence of the “resource …

An Investigation Into The Forecasting Methods Of Dayton Power And Light, Andrew John Gleason

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Dayton Power and Light commissioned this capstone project to test DP&L’s hypothesis that individual forecasting models for each of its different customer classes when combined will generate a better forecast of total load than their current practice of using one model that does not make a distinction between the electrical use of different customer classes. This hypothesis was based on the observable fact that a change in weather does not create a change in electrical consumption equal across all customer classes. Forecasting models were created for each customer class within the data limitations. A forecasting model for total load was …

Gaming In Massachusetts: Can Casinos Bring 'Good Jobs' To The Commonwealth?, Marlene Kim, Susan Moir, Anneta Argyres

Labor Resource Center Publications

This study examines the quality of jobs in the United States gaming industry and analyzes enabling legislation in five states that have legalized gaming. The authors find that the gaming industry -- particularly the unionized sector of the casino hotel industry -- provides good jobs with good wages and benefits for workers with less than a high school degree. The authors conlcude that workforce development efforts in Masschusetts must include strategies to address improving the quality of entry-level jobs.

The Jec Revisited: Did Debt Undermine Stability?, Peter Z. Grossman, Kathy A. Paulson Gjerde

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

The Joint Executive Committee (JEC), one of the most studied cartels in all of economics, was at best partially successful at maintaining collusion. The railroad cartel faced frequent breakdowns and re-contracting efforts. This paper considers the effects that large capital debt may have had on the members of the JEC. The JEC is compared to the express cartel of the period in which all firms were creditors. The latter had no breakdowns during the same period. It is shown through a small modification in an oligopolistic supergame that debt-burdened firms are Jess likely to maintain a stable cartel agreement than …

Price Dispersion With Directed Search, Gabriele Camera, Cemil Selcuk

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

We present a model that generates empirically plausible price distributions in directed search equilibrium. There are many identical buyers and many identical capacity-constrained sellers who post prices. These prices can be renegotiated to some degree and the outcome depends on the number of buyers who want to purchase the good. In equilibrium all sellers post the same price, demand is randomly distributed, and there is sale price dispersion. Prices and distributions depend on market tightness and on the properties of renegotiation outcomes. In a labor market context, the model generates a strong empirical prediction. If workers can renegotiate the posted …

The Effects Of Gaming On Residential Real Estate Prices And Sales: A Case Study Of Las Vegas: 1990--2008, Christopher Alan Miller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation empirically investigates the effects of the gaming industry on a local economy, specifically housing prices and sales in the city and surrounding areas of Las Vegas. This study explores many of the economic effects that Las Vegas' relatively unrestricted gaming industry has on surrounding home prices and sales and analyzes the specific forces and the issues they involve. As of this writing, little to no research has used seminal economic theories to analyze the effects of the performance of a locale's gaming industry on the surrounding residential real estate market. This study addresses this gap by examining the …

Competitive Strategy, Alliance Networks, And Firm Performance, Goce Andrevski

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the interplay between competitive strategy and alliance network structure in explaining firm performance in highly volatile environments (e.g., personal computers or consumer electronics). In particular, I examine the following three questions: (1) Which competitive strategies enable firms to gain superior performance? (2) How do these strategies affect the firm‘s networking behavior and lead to the formation of particular network positions? (3) What optimal combinations of competitive strategies and network structures maximize firm performance?

Firms can outperform rivals by pursuing two types of competitive strategies: advantage-creating and advantage-enhancing. Each of these strategies creates different needs, motivations, and opportunities …

Mills B. Lane, Jr. And Enterprise In A New South, Randall L. Patton

Faculty Articles

For a century, Citizens & Southern Bank was a fixture in Georgia. In 1991, the C&S brand name disappeared in a merger with North Carolina National Bank. This was one of the bittersweet consequences of the slow, confusing swirl of bank deregulation after 1970, when institutions such as C&S simply disappeared, swallowed by the "winners" in the new competitive environment of interstate banking in the 1980s and 1990s. Even earlier, however, the Lane family had ceased to control the bank started by Mills Lane, Sr. in 1891. Mills B. Lane, Jr. was the last member of the Lane family to …