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This study compares the role of procedural justice in motivating organizational retaliatory behaviors between two employee samples, one American and the other Taiwanese. The cross‐national generality of procedural justice effects on retaliation are examined with regard to three issues. First, this study considers the comparability of the link between procedural justice and retaliation between the two national samples. Second, it examines whether procedural justice effects on retaliation are mediated by organizational identity in both samples, as has been found in previous research based on U.S. employees (Tyler & Blader, 2000). Third, it investigates whether procedural justice is defined similarly in the two samples. Results indicate moderate cultural variation in the influence of procedural justice on retaliation and in the mediating role of organizational identity. Specifically, although procedural justice was slightly less predictive of retaliation among the Taiwanese sample, the association between justice and retaliation for these respondents was fully (as opposed to partially) mediated by organizational identity. Significant national differences also emerged in the meaning of procedural justice. Taiwanese employees demonstrated a balanced influence of relational and instrumental concerns when making overall procedural fairness perceptions, while U.S. employees defined procedural fairness primarily in terms of relational concerns.

The authors of this study aim to investigate possible explanations of the prevalence of price clustering in the final offer prices of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The authors use final offer price in M&A deals to investigate the price clustering phenomena. The authors used regressions and logistic regressions to examine potential factors that might affect pricing strategy by looking into one-time acquirers and experienced serial acquirers.

Price clustering increases with negotiation uncertainties characterized as competitive bidding, number of bidders, challenged deals and duration. Moreover, the authors find persistent price clustering in experienced serial acquirers that are more experienced and better equipped with handling uncertainties, suggesting a preference of using round numbers regardless of levels of uncertainties. The authors' evidence shows that price clustering results from a combination of Harris' (1991) costly negotiation hypothesis where round prices may be used to lower search costs and psychological bias and preference.

The authors appear to be the first to investigate alternative theories that support M&A offer price clustering behavior, finding that both the costly negotiation and psychological bias and preference theories apply to M&A final price formation. Thus, the authors' major contribution, specific to the M&A process, is a clarification of physical and psychological factors associated with bidding and negotiation behavior. The authors are confident that the authors' study impacts conventional knowledge regarding M&A deal negotiation strategies, including bidding behavior, contract negotiation, financial analysis, management practices and risk management.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the OpenIPO process, vis‐à‐vis traditional bookbuilding, and evaluate the suitability of the OpenIPO for various types of companies, market conditions, and assets.

This paper develops the pros and cons of the OpenIPO process, vis‐à‐vis the traditional bookbuilding method, in light of the recent academic literature on securities auctions and the results of the OpenIPOs Hambrecht has conducted, as of mid‐2004.

The main advantage of the OpenIPO process is that it precludes many of the abuses recently observed in investment banking; however, it is not well suited for complex businesses that are either difficult to value or far removed from the public eye.

Only nine OpenIPOs have been conducted by Hambrecht, or using the Hambrecht method, as of the completion of this paper in mid‐2004.

The paper foresees the OpenIPO process of Hambrecht as supplementing, rather than supplanting, the traditional bookbuilding method. This could come about through the emergence of the OpenIPO as a more viable alternative to bookbuilding, or possibly through some hybrid type of offering in which individual investors play a larger role in price discovery, via the internet, and shares are allocated through both the internet auction and traditional bookbuilding.

Managers considering an initial public offering have a choice between the OpenIPO process of Hambrecht, used in the Google offering, and the traditional bookbuilding process. The choice of the OpenIPO has become more viable not only because of the Google offering, but due to the severe criticism the traditional method has received in recent years for alleged abuses related to the pricing and allocation of shares. This paper assists managers in evaluating this choice IPO offer type while rigorously evaluating the pros and cons of the OpenIPO process and its likely future role in the investment banking industry.

Acquisitions of bankrupt firms can be beneficial because the bankrupt targets may be more receptive to acquisition offers for the purpose of survival, courts can override any resistance that may occur, information on the target is disclosed within the formal reorganization plan, acquirers can accrue tax benefits, and acquirers may assume favorable debt contracts. However, two disadvantages of acquiring a bankrupt firm are higher costs of completing the conversion and the high degree of uncertainty about the target's future cash flows. Results of our analysis suggest that firms announcing acquisitions of bankrupt targets experience favorable wealth effects. Thus, the market appears to anticipate that the present value of future cash flows derived from the target will exceed the cost of the acquisition. Our analysis also found that acquisitions of bankrupt firms yield more favorable wealth effects than acquisitions of healthy firms. The acquisitions of bankrupt firms were especially well received by the market when the acquirer was the sole bidder and when the target's business was closely related to that of the acquirer.

Historically, public services were provided by public institutions because they were seen as either the best-insulated or most sensitive to public sentiments. Today, the fusing of public responsibility with private expertise draws on research and theory stretching from Taylor’s scientific management to Osborne and Gaebler’s reengineering of government. This paper focuses on the historical promises and pitfalls that have come to define public service contracting in the twenty-first century. It describes the experiences of the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) with purchase of service contracts. The exploration of LAWA’s approach provides insight on how managers meet the community’s needs for efficiency and equity by capitalizing on contracting for public services.

An examination of insider trading before and after the announcement of Credit Watch placements sheds new light on the study of both bond rating changes and insider trading. This paper utilizes Credit Watch placements classified by 11 indentifiable trigger events for the years 1981‐1990. We find significant insider purchases before positive implication placements, but no sales before negative implication placements. Among individual trigger events, we observe significant insider purchases before and after placements due to improved operating performance, bidding on a firm with a higher debt rating and firms increasing their debt‐to‐equity ratios. Significant insider purchases are found before placements due to purchasing assets. Significant insider sales are found before and after placements due to poor operating performance.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic assessment of the magnitude of transaction costs of public infrastructure delivery, based on the three attributes of transaction costs, being the asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency of a transaction.

Non-parametric tests were used to test the transaction cost differences between different procurement types.

The authors find empirical support, based on a sample of 172 public infrastructure projects in Belgium, that construction firms make higher relation specific investments to their transaction partners under a public-private partnership (PPP) than a under a traditional public procurement (TPP). In addition, the authors found that PPP transactions are burdened by a greater uncertainty and a less mature market than TPP transactions.

Given the complexity of this research, the scope is limited to: a strict distinction between two procurement types, one geographical area, a limited time scope and a focus on the private sector. Hence, the authors suggest that further research broadens the scope of either one of these aspects in order to get a better understanding of the total transaction cost burden of the public infrastructure market.

This study offers policy makers form a better understanding of the transaction cost implications when evaluating different procurement types.

This paper serves as one of the first systematic comparative analyses of the magnitude and determinants of transaction costs for the delivery of public infrastructure.