Search results

The aim of this study is to understand a family firm's choice of related-party transaction (RPT) types and analyze their value impacts to separate the abusive from benign RPTs.

It uses a 10-year panel of BSE-listed 378 family (and 200 non-family) firms. The fixed effects, logit and difference-in-difference (DID) models help examine value effects, propensity and persistence of harmful RPTs.

Loans/guarantees (irrespective of counterparties) destroy firm value. Capital asset RPTs decrease the firm value but enhance value when undertaken with holding parties. Operating RPTs increase firm value and profitability. They improve asset utilization and reduce discretionary expenses (especially when made with controlled entities). Family firms have larger loans/guarantees and capital asset volumes but have smaller operating RPTs than non-family firms. They are less likely to undertake loans/guarantees (and even operating RPTs) and more capital RPTs vis-à-vis non-family firms. Family firms persist with dubious loans/guarantees but hold back beneficial operating RPTs, despite RPTs being in investor cross-hairs amid the Satyam scam.

Rent extractability and counterparty incentives supplement each other. (1) The higher extractability of related-party loans and guarantees (RPLGs) dominates the lower extraction incentives of controlled parties. (2) Holding parties' bringing assets, providing a growth engine and adding value dominate their higher extraction incentives (3) The big gains to the operational efficiency come from operating RPTs with controlled parties, generally operating companies in the family house. (4) Dubious RPTs seem more integral to family firms' choices than non-family firms. (5) Counterparty incentives behind the divergent use of RPTs deserve more research attention. Future studies can give more attention to how family characteristics affect divergent motives behind RPTs.

First, the study does not single out family firms for dubious use of all RPTs. Second, investors, auditors or creditors must pay close attention to RPLGs as a special expropriation mechanism. Third, operating RPTs (and capital RPTs with holding parties) benefit family firms. However, solid procedural safeguards are necessary. Overall, results may help clarify the dilemma Indian regulators face in balancing the abusive and business sides of RPTs.

The study fills the gap by arguing why some RPTs may be dubious or benign and then shows how RPTs' misuse depends on counterparty types. It shows operating RPTs enhance operating efficiencies on several dimensions and that benefits may vary with counterparty types. It also presents the first evidence that family firms favor dubious RPTs more and efficient RPTs less than non-family firms.

This study examines agricultural lending by commercial banks and the competition they face from the Farm Credit System (FCS) and non-traditional lenders, including merchants, dealers and other input suppliers.

We construct a measure of commercial banks' perceived competition with FCS or non-traditional lenders using the individual responses to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey between 1999 and 2019. Through regression analysis of an unbalanced panel of survey responses, we present a number of stylized facts on the relationship between perceived competition and farm loan rate spreads, collateral requirements, loan delinquencies and expected lending volumes.

Our analysis shows that the two sources of competition have very different effects on commercial bank lending terms, loan portfolio riskiness and expected loan volumes. With these results in mind, we offer a number of suggestions for future research.

We leverage the unique characteristics of the Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey to examine the competition with non-traditional lenders that cannot be observed using administrative data.

This study aims to devise generalized unconstrained optimization models for ascertaining the optimal level of product quality and production capacity level by modeling both product price and production cost as a function of product quality. Further, interrelations among investment for quality, product quality and production volume are considered. This study contributes toward the extant research, in that nuances related to price, production volume, and product quality are fused together such that two broad operational strategies of product quality optimization and production capacity optimization can be contrasted.

To achieve the research objectives, the authors evolve unconstrained optimization models such that optimal product quality level and optimal production capacity level can be obtained employing the principles of differential calculus aimed at maximizing the manufacturer's profit. Specifically, nuances related to quality technology and efficiency, and quality loss cost has also been integrated in the integrated model. Thereafter, employing numerical analysis for a generalized product, the detailed workings of evolved models are demonstrated. The authors further carry out the sensitivity analysis to understand the impact of investment for quality onto the manufacturer's profit for both operational strategies.

The research demonstrates that the manufacturer would be better off adopting production capacity optimization strategy as an operational policy, as opposed to product quality optimization policy for the manufacturer's profit maximization. Further, considering the two operational strategies, the manufacturer does not obtain the highest possible theoretical profit when pertinent variables (product quality and production capacity) are set at highest possible theoretical level. This research discusses that in low-volume and high-margin products, it might be useful to adopt a product quality optimization strategy as a production capacity optimization strategy results in significantly high quality loss cost.

The findings of our study have a significant implication for industries such as steel-making, cement production, automotive industry wherein the conventional wisdom dictates that higher level of production capacity utilization always results in higher level of revenues. However, the authors deduce that beyond certain production capacity utilization, striving for higher utilization does not fetch additional profit. This work also adds to the extant research literature, in that it integrates the nuances of product quality, production volume and pricing in an integrative manner.

The demand for oil in agricultural production increases continuously with the world oil price soaring, reflecting a rigid growth characteristic, but there are no clear reasons for this. The purpose of this paper is to assess the essential reasons of this issue in theoretical and empirical perspectives.

The paper develops the model of derived demand for petroleum in agro‐production; analyzes the effect on agricultural labor‐machinery due to the changes in relative price of input factors; and reveals the reasons for the rigid growth of the demand for farm diesel; as well as estimates the substitution of agricultural machine for labor.

The results indicate that the rigid growth characteristic of the demand for farm diesel is due to the adjustment of the product and factor markets; and the most important reason is the changes in structure of the agro‐production inputs caused by the relative soaring price of agricultural labor‐machinery.

The government should attach importance to its impact on farmers and take effective measures to insure the stable development of agricultural production.

This research investigates the main reasons for the rigid growth characteristic of demand for oil in China's agro‐production from a novelty perspective. The proposed conceptual model is unique, it analyzes the substitution of agricultural mechanical for labor from the perspective of changes in relative price, and selects the two level constant elasticity substitution production functions to estimate the substitution of agricultural machinery for labor.

Examines the influence of several size‐related factors on retail management′s choice of the organization′s functional division structure and multiunit operating system based on data collected from a sample of retail department store personnel managers in the United States. Suggests that the retail organization′s size and the number of functional divisions employed are directly related. After nearly two‐thirds of a century, department stores continue to use the basic functional‐division organization developed by Paul Mazur which has been modified into a model that includes: merchandising, publicity and promotion, store operations, finance and control, and personnel. The study further reveals a link between the organization′s size and retail management′s choice of a multiunit operating system. Implications are provided to assist management in evaluating the appropriateness of the firm′s functional division structure and operating system in response to several key factors.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of onsite restaurant business volume on slot machine gaming volume at a Midwestern racino property. The results provide management with critical estimates for use in determining the overall value of the restaurant space. Additionally, operators are able to examine whether it makes sense to operate restaurants at a loss, based on the notion that the dining outlets are contributing to gaming volumes.

Time series multiple regression analysis is used to analyze daily performance data, providing an estimate of the change in the dollar amount of slot wagers resulting from a one‐unit increase in the dollar value of restaurant sales.

The theoretical model advanced herein explained 81 percent of the variation in the aggregate, daily dollar value of slot wagers. A one‐dollar increase in the variable representing overall restaurant sales produced a $91 increase in slot wagers (or $7.44 in slot win).

Regression analysis does not prove cause and effect. The result was produced from a single data set. Operators are encouraged to examine their own data via the method and model advanced herein.

The results provide management an opportunity to examine whether the slot win associated with the restaurant operations exceeds the operating losses incurred by the restaurants, and, if so, by how much.

This is the first study to examine empirically the relationship between restaurant and gaming business volumes at a racino. Specifically, no published study includes statistically derived estimates of the impact of changes in on‐site restaurant volume on a racino's slot wagering volume.

Soft actuators using pneumatic-chamber (PneuNet)-based designs have been of interest in the area of soft robotics with scope of application in the area of biomedical assistance and smart agriculture. Researchers have attempted to investigate multiple chambers in parallel to examine their deformation characteristics. However, there is a lacuna for investigation of the deformation characteristics of four parallel chambered soft actuators. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively investigate the different possible actuation scenarios and the resulting bending/deformation behaviours.

Therefore, in this study, a four-chambered PneuNet actuator is numerically investigated to evaluate the effects of pressurization scenarios and pressure levels on its performance, operating reaching and working volume.

The results of this study revealed that two-adjacent chamber equal pressurization and three-chamber pressurizations result in increased bending. However, two-opposite chamber pressurization reduces the bending angle with pressure levels in the lower pressure chamber. The maximum bending angle of 97° was achieved for single-chamber pressurization of 300 kPa. The two-adjacent chamber unequal pressurization can achieve a sweeping motion in the actuator along with bending. The working volume and reaching capability analysis revealed that the actuator can reach around 71% of the dimensional operating space.

The results provide fundamental guidance on the output nature of motion which can be obtained under different pressurization scenarios using the four-chambered design soft actuator, thereby making it a practical guide for implementation for useful applications.

The comprehensive pressurization scenarios and pressure level variations reported in this study will serve as fundamental operating guidelines for any practical implementation of the four-chambered PneuNet actuator.

The article presents the “cost‐volume profit analysis (CVP)” for the hotel industry.

The rapid development of multinational companies (MNCs) has resulted in the need for accounting systems which function to report, evaluate and control international operations and their managers' effectiveness. While the problems surrounding the evaluation and control of domestic firms remain the same for MNCs' parent company managers, the question of which country's currency should be used in the evaluation process represents additional complexities for them. The choice is essentially either that of the parent company currency or the currency of the foreign subsidiary. Parent company managers may also use both of these currencies, but it is likely that this choice will result in different decisions regarding the performance of foreign operations (see Demirag, 1987,1987a, 1987b). The aim of this paper is to critically review the theoretical and empirical literature on the use of parent and/or foreign subsidiary accounting information used by multinational companies in the evaluation of their foreign subsidiary operations and managers. In doing so, the paper addresses the following two questions. First, to what extent is translated information, untranslated information or both types of information significant in the evaluation of foreign subsidiary operations and their managers' performance in MNCs? Second, what are the major contextual variables which influence MNC foreign currency accounting practices in performance evaluations?

The purpose of this article is to describe a method of assessing brand equity quantitatively.

The article describes an example of analysis using publicly available financial data to assess brand equity.

Brand equity measurement has been an elusive goal for product managers. While qualitative definitions are available, few studies have attempted to quantify a product or company's brand equity. Using financial analysis techniques focusing on return on equity and return on assets, the case examines the results of two distinct brand equity growth strategies. The first is growth by acquisition; the second, organic brand development. Using historical financial data for the Safeway corporation, the case calculates the brand equity effects of two distinct marketing strategies. In the example, organic brand development, the traditional task of the brand manager, results in higher brand equity.

As in all case studies, the specific conditions found in one organization may not be found more generally in others. Readers are cautioned that the conclusions drawn may have limited applicability.

The work illustrates a technique that a product/service manager may use to assess the brand equity effects of a marketing strategy.

The work describes a technique not widely publicized in the brand literature.