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Multi-unit discounts (MUDs, e.g. “3 for $4”) typically increase sales relative to other discounting frames. This study demonstrates the value of MUDs by showing that positive multi-unit price/quantity signals are potent enough to match and even exceed the sales produced by larger discounts on single items. However, there is reason to believe that MUDs can produce neutral effects in some cases (e.g. among consumers interested in only single-unit purchases) and even negative effects in others. In addition, the study considers whether MUDs can, in some cases, reduce purchase quantities by signaling smaller-than-otherwise-planned purchase amounts and/or lower-quality products.

The effectiveness of MUDs is tested in both the field and lab. Study 1 models purchase quantities stemming from 2,374 purchases of discounted items at a mass retailer. Purchased products ranged in type from pantry items to apparel and electronics, and ranged in price from 44¢ to $99.99. There were 1,530 single-unit discounts, 596 two-unit discounts and 248 discounts, involving three or more units. Study 2 consists of a laboratory experiment that overcomes the shortcomings of Study 1 by accounting for non-purchasers, controlling for product classes and testing whether smaller MUDs can lead to lower purchase quantities for larger-purchase-quantity products.

The results of both the field study and the laboratory experiment indicate that MUDs’ monetary cue (savings) and purchase-quantity cue (volume) increase purchase quantities. Generally, purchase quantities increased monotonically with the number of units offered in the discount. In fact, the quantity cue is so effective that it can increase sales enough as to substitute for larger discounts. However, in some instances, MUDs can decrease intended purchase quantities. The negative effect of MUDs is the most pronounced for larger unit deals, offering deeper discounts on perishable goods.

This research is the first to demonstrate that the power of the signals provided by MUDs may be so positive as to lead them to be more effective than discounts of substantially larger value but also so negative as to render them less effective than single-units discounts. This negative outcome poses a threat beyond those typically associated with discounts, in that rather than consumers simply discounting a discount, in which case the discount remains positive even if their impact at the margin wanes, the MUD frame may actually reduce sales.

In this chapter, we evaluate the dollar amount spent on advertising relative to sales, profit margin, and growth rates to study the effectiveness of advertising in today’s retail environment, and whether it leads directly to higher sales and increased profits affording positive earnings for the investor. The study illustrates the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to benchmark 16 apparel firms to evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising dollars on the sales, profit margin, growth, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and return on investment (ROI).

This study aims to shed light on driving factors of research and development (R&D) investments by considering financial statement-based characteristics, audit quality, and Schumpeterian variables. This study distinguishes between capitalized R&D investments and expensed R&D investments by taking different accounting treatments into account. Based on a sample of listed manufacturing firms on Borsa Istanbul over 2013–2018, this study concludes that (i) competition (size) decreases (increases) R&D investments, (ii) big4 auditors pay more attention to the proper accounting treatment of R&D investments, (iii) internal financing does not affect R&D investments, and (iv) liquidity (leverage and marketing expenditures) plays a positive (negative) role in only capitalized R&D investments.

This action research explored the use of structured writing formats including writing frames and writing guides to improve high school student historical writing.

Collected data involved the result of a pre-test and post-test comparing writing scores of students before and after the intervention, students' survey and co-teacher's interview.

The findings indicated that the intervention of writing frames and writing guides had a positive effect on student writing performances. Discussions and implications for further studies were also included.

The findings informed the teacher that general writing skills could be applied across the curriculum.

Legal intermediation is an emerging theoretical concept developed to grasp the importance of the process and actors who contribute to legal endogenization, in particular in the field of economic activities and work governed by various public regulations. This chapter proposes to extend the analytical category of legal intermediary to all actors who, even if they are not legal professionals, deal on a daily basis with legal categories and provisions. In order to deepen our understanding of these actors and their contribution to how organizations frame legality, this chapter investigates four examples of legal intermediaries who are not legal professionals. Based on field surveys conducted over the past 15 years in France on employment policy, industrial relations, occupational health and safety regulation, and forensic economics, I make three contributions. First, the cases show the diversity of legal intermediaries and their growing and increasingly reflexive roles in our complex economies. Second, while they are not legal professionals per se, to different degrees, these legal intermediaries assume roles similar to those of legal professionals such as legislators, judges, lawyers, inspectors, cops, and even clerks. Finally, depending on their level of legitimacy and power, I show how legal intermediaries take part in the process of legal endogenization and how they more broadly frame ordinary legality.

The purpose of this paper is to try to reach the main factors that could put national security at risk as a result of government cloud computing programs.

The paper adopts the analytical approach to first lay foundations of the relation between national security, cybersecurity and cloud computing, then it moves to analyze the main vulnerabilities that could affect national security in cases of government cloud computing usage.

The paper reached several findings such as the relation between cybersecurity and national security as well as a group of factors that may affect national security when governments shift to cloud computing mainly pertaining to storing data over the internet, the involvement of a third party, the lack of clear regulatory frameworks inside and between countries.

Governments are continuously working on developing their digital capacities to meet citizens’ demands. One of the most trending technologies adopted by governments is “cloud computing”, because of the tremendous advantages that the technology provides; such as huge cost-cutting, huge storage and computing capabilities. However, shifting to cloud computing raises a lot of security concerns.

The value of the paper resides in the novelty of the topic, which is a new contribution to the theoretical literature on relations between new technologies and national security. It is empirically important as well to help governments stay safe while enjoying the advantages of cloud computing.

WE wish for our readers a Good New Year. Whether it would be appropriate to wish readers a Happy New Year at this stage will depend upon many factors. Even before these words appear in type we may be involved in the more intense struggle for the very existence of our country which everyone seems to think must come sooner or later. The ultimate outcome of that we do not doubt, but while it continues we shall need all the strength, spiritual, mental and physical, that we possess. Nevertheless, it will be a good new year if we remain sensitive to all the needs and opportunities that surround us.

The purpose of this paper is to examine which forms of compensation are more efficient at affecting employee attitudes, thus extending efficiency wage theory from wage-based compensation to profit sharing and stock-based compensation.

Three models of efficiency wage theory were tested: shirking, turnover and gift exchange. The effects of those three modes of compensation (wages, profit sharing and stock) were contrasted for the three models of efficiency wage theory.

The findings were that raising wages is the most efficient form of compensation in the turnover and shirking models, while in the gift exchange model profit sharing and stock-based compensation may function like efficiency wages.

This is the first study of this particular issue.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the value relevance of goodwill and its additional aspects during a long-term period in Greece. Furthermore, by implementing two of the most popular value relevance models, the Ohlson’s price and Easton and Harris’ return model, this study examines the impact of goodwill on Greek stock prices from 2007 to 2018, a period of 12 years in which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are applied. Furthermore, this study analyzes how goodwill’s value relevance changes as it ages and during the Greek debt crisis.

In order to test the value relevance of goodwill we implemented two of the most popular value relevance models, Ohlson’s price and Easton and Harris’ return model. Our sample consists of non-financial listed Greek companies that reported positive goodwill accounting balances on their financial statements during the financial period from 2007 to 2018. Finally, we applied fixed-effects regression model to all equations.

The results provide evidence that the year-end goodwill accounting balance is value relevant, and that the debt crisis has improved goodwill’s information content. Finally, the empirical findings suggest that only current year acquired goodwill is value relevant compared to older goodwill, and therefore, goodwill’s impact on stock prices is decreasing as it ages.

A noteworthy limitation of this study is that it focuses on a specific code-law country Greece, which is a relatively small economy compared to the whole Eurozone. This research contributes to the research literature as it confirms other research findings in the European context and specifically that goodwill based on IFRS is value relevant to financial statement users. Additionally, it investigates for the first time how goodwill was affected by the Greek debt crisis. Finally, it contributes to other researcher’s debate concerning the duration of goodwill’s value relevance in a code law environment such as Greece.

Financial analysts and institutions are provided with more assurance about goodwill’s financial reporting quality to be embedded in the financial evaluation process of corporates. As this research confirms that goodwill should be regarded as an asset, companies should obtain better financial ratings from financial institutions and investors and thus will have better access to equity and debt funding.

We investigate the value relevance of goodwill in Greece during a long-term period of 12 years. Additionally, our study examines the impact of the Greek debt crisis on the information content of goodwill accounting balances and the period during which accumulated goodwill balances and within-year acquired goodwill maintain its value relevance. Our research could assist accounting standard setters such as the International Accounting Standard Board to evaluate the quality of specific standards such as IFRS 3 “Business Combination” and IAS 38 “Impairment of Assets.”