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Financial expert systems have been developed in the past few years for applications such as credit assessment, portfolio management, and insurance underwriting. The decision making process of the experts in these application domains to a large extent relies on intuitive knowledge acquired by these experts after many years of practice. Eliciting and formalizing this knowledge is a critical phase in the design and development of such expert systems. This paper describes a prototype expert system for auditing and evaluating workers' compensation insurance premiums. This system differs from the abeve expert systems in that most of the experts' knowledge is explicitly accessible as regulations in procedures and manuals. This expert system is an instance of what can be called an expert system for regulation management (ESRM). The main role of the expert in the development of an ESRM is to explain regulations. The expert system presented here exhibits two features critical to the effectiveness of an ESRM: (i) an appropriate representation of complex regulations, and (ii) the capability to incorporate frequent changes to regulations quickly.

The aim of this research paper is to examine why concert promoters sometimes advertise sold‐out live music shows when nobody can buy tickets any longer.

Durkheim's theory of religion as a thrilling social activity is used to hypothesize that the advertising of sold‐out events reminds audiences that star performers are popular and therefore helps to generate the “buzz” around them. Interviews with a series of promoters from the USA, UK and Canada revealed, however, that they see more immediate and mundane reasons for advertising sold‐out shows, including building the artist's career profile and training consumers to buy next time round.

It was found that promoters could also organize the sales and advertising process to bring sold‐out events into being. While their explanations diverged from a Durkheimian schema, the results of their actions did not. In effect they serendipitously did cultural work to further the Durkheimian process without being consciously concerned by it as an explanation of motives.

This paper suggests that the Durkheimian model illuminates a point of connection between commerce and affect in the reception of star performances. Further research on live music using the model as a hypothesis may therefore be useful.

The neoclassical ethos is predicated on a goal of efficiency, which is assumed to be advanced through competitive markets where market-clearing wages are achieved when the demand for labor is exactly equal to the supply of labor. In such a market, there is no such thing as unemployment because wages either rise or fall until the demand for labor is exactly equal to the supply of labor. At the wage at which demand equals supply, all those willing and able to work at that wage will be employed. If more people are willing to work, the wage will fall further, thereby inducing firms to hire more workers, with the result being that the supply of labor once again equals the demand. Conversely, when firms are unable to hire as many workers as they would like, the wage rises to induce additional people to enter into the workforce until supply and demand are once again equal.

Plant-based eggs have recently been developed to provide consumers with a healthier, animal-friendlier and more sustainable alternative to conventional eggs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic attribute preferences for three prototypes of plant-based egg, namely the liquid, powder and egg-shaped.

Nine focus groups in the United Kingdom and nine in Italy were conducted, with a total of 180 participants. A thematic analysis of results was conducted.

In terms of intrinsic product attributes, consumers' preferences for colour, shape, taste, ingredients, nutrients, method of production and shelf-life for plant-based eggs were revealed. Regarding the extrinsic attributes, preferences for price, packaging, country of origin and product naming emerged. Similarities and differences between consumers from the two countries are also discussed. Differences in preferences also emerged between vegan and non-vegan consumers.

This study adds to the existing knowledge on consumers' preferences for new plant-based food alternatives and identifies future quantitative approaches based on qualitative findings.

Results from this study can assist plant-based egg manufacturers in improving their products in line with consumers' expectations, which may help reducing risk of product failure.

This study is the first to investigate consumers' preferences, expectations and needs for new food products like plant-based eggs and provides information that can be practically applied by manufacturers, as well as suggestions for future research.

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of audit engagement team’s ethical leadership, trainee auditors’ reporting intent and other selected factors on their likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities.

The present investigation is based on 150 effective questionnaire responses provided by a group of trainee auditors working for certified public accounting (CPA) firms. The questionnaire items relating to trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities are based on Crawford and Weirich’s (2011) classification of common forms of fraudulent financial reporting. The authors’ measurement of the audit engagement team leaders’ ethicality is based on the ethical leadership scale developed in Newstrom and Ruch (1975) and Kantor and Weisberg (2002). Regression models are used to testify the authors’ hypotheses on the correlations of the trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities with audit engagement team’s ethical leadership, trainee auditor’ reporting intents and other selected factors.

The major conclusion of this study is that there is a significantly positive correlation between trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities and their perception of audit engagement team leader’s ethicality. This paper also points out that trainee auditors’ higher evaluation of stable firm–client relationship reduces their likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities, whereas their concerns with future career development increase the likelihood of reporting. In addition, this paper documents the fact that male trainee auditors more easily perceive the ethicality of their team leader than females, and that trainee auditors with less academic achievements (lower GPA) tend to perceive more easily the ethicality of their team leader than those with better academic achievements (higher GPA).

Two business ethics variables constructed and used in this study, i.e. trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities and engagement team leader’s ethicality, can be applied in future research on whistleblowing in the audit profession.

Practical implications can also be drawn from the findings to enhance the ethical management at both engagement and firm levels.

This paper contributes to the audit research literature by providing evidence on the significant positive impacts of team leader’s ethicality on the entry-level audit professional’s likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities.

Literature on entrepreneurial finance has long overcome the view of an investor as a sole provider of financial capital. Entrepreneurs need to consider more aspects when deciding on an investor. Especially the depiction of corporate venture capital (CVC) investors has long highlighted advantages and disadvantages compared to independent VC (IVC) investors. The authors investigate what drives entrepreneurs' preferences for CVC relative to IVC and thereby focus on two key issues in the entrepreneur's consideration – the role of resource requirements and exit strategies.

The data were collected in an online survey that gathered information on several characteristics of entrepreneurs and their ventures. The resulting data set of 105 German entrepreneurs was analyzed using logistic regression and revealed important drivers for entrepreneurs' investor preferences.

The study’s findings confirm that the venture's resource needs, specifically the need for marketing resources and access to the corporate network, which play a significant role in the decision on whether a CVC or IVC investor is preferred. Moreover, the analysis debunks the hypothesis that entrepreneurs view a CVC investment as the first step toward acquisition. However, those entrepreneurs striving for an IPO are less likely to prefer CVC.

The study expands the literature on CVC attractiveness and specifically considers the entrepreneurs' intentions and needs. The results confirm but also debunk some widespread perceptions about why entrepreneurs choose to pursue financing from a CVC investor.

Social entrepreneurs (SEs) often face various challenges whereby they rely on the support of others to realize their objectives. In this context, ecosystem thinking is very helpful to understand how various stakeholders can assist SEs. The purpose of this paper is to develop a classification of the different types of support that third parties can provide to SEs.

The authors have developed the arguments in this paper based on a literature review of 258 articles on ecosystem thinking and social entrepreneurship. Articles have been retrieved from the Web of Science database, using as search parameters on the one hand publications in top journals, and on the other articles with more than 60 citations. In addition, the authors have received recommendations for relevant good-quality articles following a snowball procedure.

This paper contributes by distinguishing three support categories for SEs – fuel, hardware and DNA – based on what we know from ecosystem thinking. This paper elaborates on the building blocks of each support category, points at the relevant actors and discusses the interrelatedness across support categories.

The three support categories are developed by building on predominantly ecosystem literature. This study implies that the scalability of SEs’ social impact does not only depend on their strengths but also on how well they are supported.

The three support categories are complementary to the strengths of individual SEs. SEs can therefore start with what they have, and then gradually expand their support structure by surrounding themselves with stakeholders that can assist them with fuel, infrastructure and DNA.

Social enterprise theories have elaborated on the various challenges that SEs face. Lack of resources, lack of staff, lack of professional management, underdeveloped networks and mission drift are seen as the most pressing. Although the relevant literature does rightly point out the indispensable support of others, it does so without differentiating between the kinds of support that can help SEs increase their social impact. This paper offers to remedy this by creating three separate support categories: fuel, hardware and DNA.