Working Papers

We propose that face-to-face contact fosters the development of rapport and thereby help negotiators coordinate on mutually beneficial settlements in mixed-motive conflicts. Specifically we test the hypothesis that, in a cooperative climate,…

We review recent literature on competitive reactions and strategic thinking and offer several observations. Evidence is mounting that strategic thinking is an unnatural act, made difficult by natural individual biases and organizational…

Regime-switching models are well suited to capture the non-linearities in interest rates. This paper examines the econometric performance of regime switching models for interest rate data from the US, Germany and the UK. There is strong evidence…

This paper describes behavior conventions that are stable long run outcomes of reinforcement behavior rules in two-person repeated games. Each player plays the repeated game with a fixed but endogenous aspiration, a payoff level that is…

This study tests predictions that pricing multiples on an incremental explanatory power of equity book value (net income) increase (decrease) as financial health decreases. Tests using a sample of 396 bankrupt firms and a larger, pooled sample…

As emerging economic regions (EERs) play a significant role in global economies, managers of multinationals have become increasingly aware of the importance of relevant international expansion in these regions. Facing potential market…

This paper tests whether revaluations of fixed assets by U.K. firms are associated with changes in firms’ underlying economic fundamentals. We find, as predicted, that upwards fixed asset revaluations under U.K. GAAP are significantly positively…

This study investigates whether the relevance, reliability, and timeliness of Australian asset revaluation differ across types of assets, including investments, property, plant, and equipment, and intangibles. We also investigate whether they…

Several theories of reputation and herding (see, e.g., Scharfstein and Stein (1990), Zwiebel (1995), and Prendergast and Stole (1996) predict that herding among agents should vary with career concerns. Our goal in this paper is to test for this…

In recent years, the supermarket industry has become increasingly competitive. One outcome has been the proliferation of a variety of pricing formats, and considerable debate about how these formats affect consumers’ store choice behavior. This…

We argue that a common organizational practice—the hiring new workers via employee referrals—provides key insights into the notion of social capital. Employers who use such hiring methods are quintessential “social capitalists,” viewing workers’…

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting the performance of Japanese overseas subsidiaries. The following five factors are incorporated in the model: subsidiary location, characteristics of parent company, ownership levels and…

This paper addresses the interplay of strategy, organization, and incentives in a global company. The basic framework takes one step further Chandler’s perspective that structure follows strategy by incorporating incentives chosen in response to…

Some firms, particularly in high-tech, appear to view technology and cost leadership as separate and distinct ways of achieving high profiles within a given product market. In contrast, we develop a model of technology competition suggesting that…

This paper studies the pricing of “private information”, that is information which is of value only (or mainly) for a specific consumer. In private information markets, firms are familiar with their client’s decision problem and consumers…

Using a sample of petroleum refining firms, this paper provides evidence that earnings sensitivity measures analogous to those mandated by the SEC’s (1997) new market risk disclosure rules are positively associated with stock market determined…

Both Transaction Cost Economics and Property Rights Theories offer explanations of the boundaries of the firm based on ideas of ex post bargaining and hold-up. These theories are quite distinct in their empirical predictions, but neither offers a…

The extent to which management influences accounting recognized in financial statements and the extent to which investors are able to identify such influence are fundamental questions in financial reporting research. This study contributes to…

We propose that need for closure (NFC) leads attributors to respond to an ambiguous social stimulus by increasing reliance on implicit theories received from acculturation. Hence, the influence of NFC should be shaped by the knowledge structures…

This paper analyzes the emergence of norms from an evolutionary perspective. It is hypothesized that norms diffuse not necessarily because they are functional for the communities in which they are embedded but because in certain selection…