Business Commons^™

Challenges To Comsumer Protection Legislation In Tourism Contexts, Verity Greenwood, Larry Dwyer

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

Many destinations worldwide have enacted laws to protect consumers in general but which have relevance to tourists as consumers and thus destination competitiveness. The impact of any such consumer protection, however, is limited by certain complexities that erode consumer confidence within tourism contexts. These relate to unstable tourism environments, the changing dynamics of the travel services chain, growing product complexity, information failures, changes in consumer values, and technological change. Examples are provided of consumer laws relevant to each of these important features of tourism. Issues for further research into the links between consumer protection legislation and destination competitiveness are discussed.

Conference Reports: Journal Of Tourism Consumption And Practice Volume 6 No.2 2014, Graham Busby

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

VII International Tourism Congress – The Image and Sustainability of Tourist Destinations, Muscat, Oman, 2-4 December 2014

An Experimental Investigation Of Reciprocity And Formal Controls With Labor Market Competition, Michael John Majerczyk

Theses and Dissertations

DISS_abstract> Most experimental research related to agency settings, such as participative budgeting, has examined how formal controls, such as audits and reviews, influence the behavior of managers. Alternatively, a growing literature in managerial accounting examines the effects of using informal social controls. Some of these studies have examined the ability of the gift-exchange model from economics, founded on reciprocity, to function as a suitable control. Within the social context of an experimental labor market, I examine the relationship between the type of control employers implement (i.e., reviews, a formal control versus reciprocity, an informal control) and the amount of budget …

Tybee Island Small Business Incentive Programs, Nate Baker

Georgia Municipal Association Practicum (2013-2022)

No abstract provided.

Developing Central And Eastern Europe As A Hub For Global Entrepreneurship: Budapest And Prague As Cases In Point, Bala Mulloth, Andreas Antonopoulos

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

It can be stated that Central and Eastern Europe is fast becoming a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. There appears to be a robust ecosystem where universities/business schools, venture capitalists and non-profit organizations are working together to promote entrepreneurship at several levels. This paper seeks to explore the entrepreneurial ecosystems prevalent in 2 prominent central and eastern European capital cities – Budapest and Prague, often referred to as the “Entrepreneurial corridor” of the CEE due to the straight line they represent geographically, cutting across the CEE region and being the main centers of entrepreneurial activity in this region. In the …

Research Of The Sustainability Of U.S. Public Debt And The Influence For Chinese Economy And Finance, Zikun Xu

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In the summer of 2010, the U.S. debt ceiling dispute attracted the attention of the world, and financial markets were shocked when Standard & Poor's finally cut the United States AAA rating. But with the increase of the debt ceiling as well as the European sovereign debt crisis intensified, the U.S. national debt problem was temporarily covered up. It must be noted, however, that the U.S. national debt has ballooned to the highest level since World War II, the ratio of national debt to GDP has reached to nearly 100%, coupled with the long-term U.S. fiscal deficit and the continuing …

Judge Rakoff V. The Securities And Exchange Commission: Are "Neither Admit Nor Deny" Settlement Agreements In Securities Cases In The Public Interest?, Daniel T. Hubbell

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

“DPAs [(Deferred Prosecution Agreements)] have had a truly transformative effect on particular companies and, more generally, on corporate culture across the globe,” declared Lanny Breuer, the head of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on September 13, 2012.2 Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) are settlement agreements between a prosecutor and a defendant in which the prosecutor agrees to either defer or forego prosecution in return for the defendant’s cooperation in an ongoing investigation or prosecution, as well as an agreement to comply with the requirements of the settlement. Rather than forcing prosecutors to …

Applying Insights From Behavioral Economics To Policy Design, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

The premise of this article is that an understanding of psychology and other social science disciplines can inform the effectiveness of the economic tools traditionally deployed in carrying out the functions of government, which include remedying market failures, redistributing income, and collecting tax revenue. An understanding of psychology can also lead to the development of different policy tools that better motivate desired behavior change or that are more cost-effective than traditional policy tools. The article outlines a framework for thinking about the psychology of behavior change in the context of market failures. It then describes the research on the effects …

What Makes Annuitization More Appealing?, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, Stephen P. Zeldes

Faculty Publications

We conduct and analyze two large surveys of hypothetical annuitization choices. We find that allowing individuals to annuitize a fraction of their wealth increases annuitization relative to a situation where annuitization is an “all or nothing” decision. Very few respondents choose declining real payout streams over flat or increasing real payout streams of equivalent expected present value. Highlighting the effects of inflation increases demand for cost of living adjustments. Frames that highlight flexibility, control, and investment significantly reduce annuitization. A majority of respondents prefer to receive an extra “bonus” payment during one month of the year that is funded by …

The Efects Of Cryptocurrency Wealth On Household Consumption And Investment, Darren Aiello, Scott R. Baker, Tetyana Balyuk, Marco Di Maggio, Mark J. Johnson, Jason Kotter

Faculty Publications

This paper uses transaction-level bank and credit card data to identify cryptocurrency investors and assess the impact of crypto wealth fuctuations on household consumption, as well as on investments in other assets. We fnd an $0.09 MPC from crypto gains, exceeding most previous estimates from unrealized equity gains. However, crypto investors are mostly also active equity investors, with many similar consumption patterns across gains from both asset classes. Households sell cryptocurrencies to increase discretionary and housing expenditures, with the latter causing local house price appreciation.

Peer Effects In Risk Aversion And Trust, Kenneth R. Ahern, Ran Duchin, Tyler Shumway

Faculty Publications

Existing evidence shows that risk aversion and trust are largely determined by environmental factors. We test whether one such factor is peer influence. Using random assignment of MBA students to peer groups and predetermined survey responses of economic attitudes, we find causal evidence of positive peer effects in risk aversion and no effects in trust. After the first year of the MBA program, the difference between an individual and her peers' average risk aversion is only 41% as large as the difference was before starting the MBA. Finding no peer effects in trust is consistent with recent research showing that …

The Effects Of Team Flow On Performance: A Video Game Experiment, Mark Keith, Greg Anderson, Doug Dean, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

Research on effective team work has traditionally explained team performance as a result of team cohesion and goal commitment. Team cohesion was originally defined as the general level of attraction the team members had to all others in their group. This social relations-based concept of team cohesion is generally a strong indicator of team performance. However, more recent research has stressed the importance of incorporating the team members’ mutual level of commitment to the team task as another sub-dimension of cohesion. When including task commitment, team cohesion is a somewhat weaker predictor of team performance (Beal et al., 2003). To …

Youth Time Outside: A Comparison Of Time Use Methodologies, Michael B. Edwards, Mat D. Duerden, Robin D. Lizzo, Katherine S. Campbell, Lauren M. Kamper

Faculty Publications

Significant public attention has been given to the perceived lack of youth time spent outside. Diverse approaches make it difficult to develop consensus around youth time-use patterns and guide efforts to get kids outside. The purpose of this study was to compare results of a 7-day time diary used to document adolescent outdoor time with results from other time-use methodologies. Seventh graders (N=43) were selected to complete week-long time-use diaries and recall surveys. Time diary estimates were compared to an online survey, a simulated two-day time diary, and a simulated experience sampling. Results suggested that differences existed between time outside …

A Critical Examination Of Couple Leisure And The Application Of The Core And Balance Model, Peter J. Ward, Keith W. Barney, Neil R. Lundberg, Ramon Zabriskie

Faculty Publications

This study further clarified the relationship between couple leisure involvement, couple leisure satisfaction, and marital satisfaction through examining the core and balance framework as it has been applied to the relationship between couple leisure and marital satisfaction. The sample consisted of 1,187 couples across the United States (N = 2,374). SEM analyses supported previous findings, indicating satisfaction with couple leisure involvement was far more important when predicting marital satisfaction than the amount of leisure involvement. Furthermore, while core marital leisure satisfaction was the driving force in the explanation of variance in marital satisfaction, findings suggested before that can happen there …

Addressing Posttraumatic Stress Among Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans And Significant Others: An Intervention Utilizing Sport And Recreation, Jessie L. Bennett, Neil R. Lundberg, Ramon Zabriskie, Dennis Eggett

Faculty Publications

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an existing "couples" adaptive sport and recreation program called Higher Ground developed by Sun Valley Adaptive Sports to reduce symptoms of PTSD, facilitate posttraumatic growth, and enhance marital satisfaction for veterans with PTSD and their significant others. The sample consisted of two experimental groups ( Group A five couples, Group B six couples) and a control group (six couples). ANCOVA analysis indicated significant decreases in PTSD symptoms and increases in marital satisfaction among the experimental groups following participation in the recreation program. Findings support the use of recreation programs …

Individual Characteristics And The Disposition Effect: The Opposing Effects Of Confidence And Self-Regard, Kathryn Kadous, William B. Tayler, Jane M. Thayer, Donald Young

Faculty Publications

We conduct two experiments to examine potential causes of the disposition effect. In Experiment 1, we rule out beliefs in mean reversion as a cause of the disposition effect. Although a belief in the mean reversion of stock prices should be independent of whether an investor owns or only follows the stock, we show only investors who own the stock behave as though prices will reverse. In Experiment 2, participants buy and sell securities over multiple periods. We find that self-regard and investing confidence (two types of self-esteem) have opposing influences on investors’ tendency to hold losing investments. Investors with …

Are State Tax Amnesty Programs Associated With Financial Reporting Irregularities?, Neal Buckwalter, Nathan Y. Sharp, Jaron H. Wilde, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Determinants And Consequences Of Information Acquisition Via Edg, Michael S. Drake, Darren T. Roulstone, Jacob Thornock

Faculty Publications

Using a novel dataset that tracks all web traffic on the SEC’s EDGAR servers from 2008-2011, we examine the determinants and capital market consequences of investor information acquisition of SEC filings. The average user employs the database very few times per quarter and most users target specific filing types such as periodic accounting reports; a small subset of users employ EDGAR almost daily and access many filings. EDGAR activity is positively related with corporate events (particularly restatements, earnings announcements, and acquisition announcements), poor stock performance, and the strength of a firm’s information environment. EDGAR activity is related to, but distinct …

Proposing The Affect-Trust Infusion Model (Atim) To Explain And Predict The Influence Of High- And Low-Affect Infusion On Web-Vendor Trust, Paul Benjamin Lowry, Nathan Twyman, Matthew Pickard, Jeffrey L. Jenkins, Son Ngoc Bui

Faculty Publications

Trust is just as essential to online business as it is to offline transactions but can be more difficult to achieve—especially for newer Web sites associated with unknown Web vendors. Research explains that Web vendor trust can be created by cognitive and affective influences. But under what circumstances will emotion more powerfully impact trust and when will cognition be more powerful? Theory-based answers to these questions can help online Web vendors design better Web sites that account for unleveraged factors that will increase trust in the Web vendor.

We adapt the Affect Infusion Model to propose the Affect-Trust Infusion Model …

Library Instruction Case Wiki, Andy Spackman

Faculty Publications

We hope you find the guides and case studies collected here helpful, and we invite you to contribute by discussing your experiences on the discussion page for each case study, and by submitting case studies you have developed and used in your own instructional efforts.

Cases for Advanced Business Students

• Building a Company List - Trucking in Texas
• Company and Market Research - Big Sweety and the Chocolate Manufacturing Industry
• Determining Market Size - Infant Formula
• Entrepreneurial Marketing - The Comic Book Guy
• Global Trade and Economics - Manufacturing Medical Instruments
• International Business - Launching the Wii
• International Marketing - …

You Said What? Assessing The Impact Of Collaboration Technologies And Message Characteristics Using Physiological Measures, Taylor M. Wells, Alan R. Dennis

Faculty Publications

Collaboration technologies often are effective but sometimes they can distort messages, especially in emotional communication. We propose and test a theoretical model to explain how different technologies and message characteristics influence the emotional responses of recipients and how recipients evaluate the emotional content of the messages. Two collaboration technologies—email and voicemail—were examined because they differ in richness and naturalness. As some individuals are more capable in interpreting and understanding emotion, we also examined the role of emotional intelligence. The results show that a message sent via email was likely to trigger a different immediate psychophysiological emotional response and be evaluated …

Stories From The Workplace: Using Mini-Modules Online To Increase Student Motivation And Learning, Jon Balzotti, Janet Roberts

Faculty Publications

In this article, we describe the incorporation of video modules into three professional communication classrooms. These modules were designed to give both teachers and students access to professional practitioners and their views about the changing role of communication in the 21st century workplace. We incorporated these modules into professional communication courses (junior/senior level technical communication course) and courses in the disciplines (freshman and senior engineering design courses). The article discusses how content designed to simulate the language conventions of friendly conversation can impact student motivation and foster greater participation in the professional communication classroom.

Education And Training Of Specialist Sexual Offence Investigators In Victoria, Australia From 2009 To 2011, Jennifer Anne Turnley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The topic of training specifically designed for investigators of sexual offences has received little attention from academic researchers to date. Previous studies have not described training provided to police investigators of sexual offences in Australia. This thesis developed Turnley’s Framework for the Examination of Police Training in Sexual Assault Investigation, to examine and describe a Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigative Teams (SOCIT) Course, provided to Victorian Police from 2009 to 2011. This entailed triangulation of findings from non-participant observations of one SOCIT Course, with quantitative and qualitative data sourced though an in-depth interview with course trainers; feedback sheets voluntarily …

Trust And Financial Reporting Quality, Jace Garrett, Rani Hoitash, Douglas F. Prawitt

Faculty Publications

Using unique survey data from Great Place to Work R Institute, we investigate the association of intraorganizational trust (i.e., employees’ trust in management) with three aspects of financial reporting: accruals quality, misstatements, and internal control quality. We find that trust is associated with better accrual quality, lower likelihood of financial statement misstatements, and lower likelihood of internal control material weakness disclosures. However, these effects are not uniform across all companies. Consistent with trust improving financial reporting quality through improved information production and information sharing, we find that trust is significantly associated with financial reporting quality in relatively decentralized firms, but …

Early Vs. Late Adoption Of Radical Information Technology Innovations Across Software Development Organizations: An Extension Of The Disruptive Information Technology Innovation Model, Jessica Luo Carlo, James Gaskin, Kalle Lyytinen, Gregory M. Rose

Faculty Publications

This paper extends the disruptive information technology innovation model (DITIM) by exploring the impact of adoption timing on innovation outcomes within software development organizations during a disruptive innovation cycle. The DITIM suggests that radical changes in computing platforms result in pervasive and radical innovations in software development organizations across three innovation types: base technologies adopted, services produced and processes adopted. Upstream attributes (amount and radicalness) of the base innovations impact effects in-kind downstream (a.k.a., strong order effects) on services and processes. Extending these tenets of the DITIM, we posit that during disruptive information technology (IT) innovation, the temporal stage of …

A Comparative Study Of Public Service Motivation Among Organizational Units In A Public University, Demerris Rochelle Brooks-Immel

Doctoral Dissertations

In the current economic climate of decreased utilitarian and extrinsic rewards, public higher education organizations are challenged to identify low-cost yet satisfying ways to motivate their employees. Previous researchers suggested that the motivation of public employees is a significant aspect of job satisfaction and job choice, attendance, retention, and performance, all of which impact organizational effectiveness. An understanding of what aspects of the organization, its values, and its mission are appealing to employees provides the organization with insight into how best to design work to be meaningful and rewarding; therefore, public-employee motivation should garner the attention of recruiters, managers, and …

Mindfulness In Organizations, Jochen Reb, Ellen Choi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This chapter discusses the practice of mindfulness in organizations. In the first section we describe the growing interest in mindfulness training among organizations and discuss possible reasons for this development. We then review work on the definition and concept of mindfulness as they have been developed in psychology and organizational scholarship. In the second section, we discuss different forms of mindfulness practice in organizations, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as the most prominent. The third section reviews empirical evidence on the effects of mindfulness on work-related outcomes and processes such as employee performance, employee well-being, leadership, and ethical decision making. …

Bank Valuation In Malaysia: An Empirical Comparison Of Conventional And Interest-Free (Islamic) Banking Models, Charlie Charoenwong, Ramin Cooper Maysami, David K. Ding

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Islamic banking, according to institute for Islamic Banking and Insurance "refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of the Shari'ah (Islamic rulings) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Shari'ah prohibits the payment or acceptance of interest charges (riba) for the lending and accepting of money, as well as carrying out trade and other activities that provide goods or services considered contrary to its principles." The thrust of the current article is to examine the underlying factors and variables that guide the valuation of a sample of five Malaysian …

How Jamini Roy Found A Home In Baker Street, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Jamini Roy is considered the father of Indian modern art as he attempted to use his paintings to find cultural independence from Western notions of art grafted by the British on its colonies. This quest was taking place alongside the India's fight for political independence. On his death in 1972, the Indian government declared his art national heritage and banned all further exports. The chapter describes how one of the largest collections of Jamini Roy paintings in the world came to be curated in an apartment on Baker Street in London.The author interweaves the story of Jamini with his own …

Perspective-Taking And Willingness To Engage In Intergroup Contact, Cynthia S. Wang, Kenneth Tai, Gillian Ku, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current research explored whether perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with stereotyped outgroup members. Across three studies, we find that perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with negatively-stereotyped targets. In Study 1, perspective-takers sat closer to, whereas stereotype suppressors sat further from, a hooligan compared to control participants. In Study 2, individual differences in perspective-taking tendencies predicted individuals’ willingness to engage in contact with a hooligan, having effects above and beyond those of empathic concern. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that perspective-taking’s effects on intergroup contact extend to the target’s group (i.e., another homeless man), but not to …