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Explores the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of Asian and Hispanic credit card holders. Outlines a conceptualization of the relationships between alternative payment systems and various demographic and behavioural variables, which may serve as a preliminary theoretical framework for analyses of payment systems. Discusses the implications and their importance to marketers.

Reports on a study designed to explore the effects of religion and religiosity on perceived risk in purchase decisions. Asserts that religious values represent the most basic element of a consumer′s cognitive world, and can be meaningfully related to lifestyles. Concludes that religious individuals tend to perceive higher risks in their purchase decisions.

The difficulties that MR poses for comparativists were anticipated 40 years ago in Sidney Verba's essay “Some Dilemmas of Comparative Research”, in which he called for a “disciplined configurative approach…based on general rules, but on complicated combinations of them” (Verba, 1967, p. 115). Charles Ragin's (1987) book The Comparative Method eloquently spelled out the mismatch between MR and causal explanation in comparative research. At the most basic level, like most other methods of multivariate statistical analysis MR works by rendering the cases invisible, treating them simply as the source of a set of empirical observations on dependent and independent variables. However, even when scholars embrace the analytical purpose of generalizing about relationships between variables, as opposed to dwelling on specific differences between entities with proper names, the cases of interest in comparative political economy are limited in number and occupy a bounded universe.² They are thus both knowable and manageable. Consequently, retaining named cases in the analysis is an efficient way of conveying information and letting readers evaluate it.³ Moreover, in practice most producers and consumers of comparative political economy are intrinsically interested in specific cases. Why not cater to this interest by keeping our cases visible?

The success of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is at least as much a function of management ability and behavior as it is of industry characteristics or environmental factors. These managers display human limitations that affect judgment. Yet International business (IB) researchers tend to ignore management in their research, treating the firm as a black box. To the extent top management team (TMT) is considered, rational behavior in classical economic sense is assumed. Behavioral elements were studied by others in different fields. Clearly, managers behave according to different rules than those assumed in much of the IB literature. Further, managers are not part of a herd but unique. The result of such a lacuna is that theory fails to predict actual behavior and does not allow best guidance for policy options. The chapter summarizes research on behavioral decision making and calls for its application in future research in international business.

The success of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is at least as much a function of management ability and behavior as it is of industry characteristics or environmental factors. MNE managers, like all managers, display human limitations, e.g., overconfidence that affect judgment. Yet IB researchers still tend to ignore management in their research, treating the firm as a black box. To the extent that the top management team is considered, rational behavior in the classical economic sense is assumed, yet, clearly, managers behave according to different rules than those assumed in much of the IB literature. Further, managers are not part of a herd, but unique. The result of such a lacuna is that theory fails to predict actual behavior and does not allow best guidance for policy options. The paper summarizes research on behavioral decision making and calls for its application in future research in international business.