The University of Buckingham Press Journals
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The power of priors: How confirmation bias impacts market prices
Get PDFOne form of confirmation bias is the tendency for people to ignore information that is inconsistent with their current beliefs. While confirmation bias is the subject of both analytical models and experiments in accounting and finance, its effect on market prices has not been studied due to limitations associated with traditional financial markets. In eleven real-money movie box office prediction markets, confirmation bias was induced in all traders via the explanation effect, i.e. a requirement to submit a box office forecast and an explanation prior to trading. When all traders are subject to confirmation bias, market prices do not accurately reflect new, value-relevant information. However, in comparable a set of seven real-money movie prediction markets that included both traders who have not been subject to explanation requirement and those who have, we find efficient incorporation of new information into market prices. This study extends our knowledge of the conditions under which individual trader biases affect market prices and provides potential insights into open questions about forecasting errors among financial analysts.
Lessons from the Junket Business in Atlantic City and in Macao
No full textAlthough junket operators can help casino operators secure business from premium patrons, there has been limited study of this topic in the academic literature. Recent junket business developments in Atlantic City (the most strictly regulated jurisdiction in the US), and in Macao (the world’s largest gambling market) have led to new insights and understandings of the junket business, and this paper identifies key lessons learned from these two major casino markets. The qualitative research interview was adopted due to the under-researched nature of the junket business. This study is based on the institutional theory to analyze human interactions and activities in terms of overt or implicit rules involved in the junket business. A review of the literature and interview findings indicates that junket operators may play a more important role with the economic slowdown, since their business is focused on bringing patrons from strong regional or national economies. This can be achieved by adopting certain location-specific strategies to match changes in the regional market. Diversified product offerings, rather than price reductions, are critical to entice premium patrons in the face of increasing casinos in nearby region. Despite the economic contribution of the junket business, some junket practices might be perceived as exploitative of patrons. Apart from the appropriate balance between the public policy to minimize social costs and an appropriate regulatory standard, a jurisdiction needs to consider such local contexts as its unique culture and junket operators’ intention to promote their interest, in order to better regulate the junket business
Parimutuel system of the Japanese race track: Voting and ranking process
No full textWe investigated a time series of betting rates in a pari-mutuel betting system of Japanese horse races. Principal component analyses and cluster analyses suggest that the level of expectation for the favorite is the most important factor when classifying races. The dataset of the odds determined before the races used in this study is exceedingly large and detailed compared to previous studies. We also conducted detailed research on whether bets placed on the favorites tend to be concentrated just before the race
A study of cohesion in international postgraduate Business students’ multimodal written texts: an SF-MDA of a key topic in finance
Get PDFEmpirical research studies of finance students’ language use have investigated students’ performance in finance courses and the effect of class attendance on students’ performance.Similarly, research on accounting students’ texts has been directed at readability of accounting narratives and lexical choices. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) based research in multimodal communication and representation has been confined to school and workplace contexts. Whereas multimodal communication investigations in tertiary contexts has been conducted across the fields of mathematics, science and computing, and nursing, business courses have not been explored. The purpose of this paper is to report on a case study designed to investigate the key multimodal academic literacy and numeracy practices of ten international Master of Commerce Accounting students enrolled at an Australian university. Specifically, it aims to provide an account of the salient textual and the logical patterns through the analysis of cohesive devices in a key topic in the Principles of Finance course, namely capital budgeting techniques and management reports. This study is pertinent as most international ESL/EFL students’ enrolments in Australia and elsewhere is in business programs. This study is underpinned by Halliday’s (1985) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach to language and Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesion analysis scheme. The study employs a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) for the analysis of cohesive devices in the participants’ multimodal texts. Lexical cohesion formed the largest percentage of use, and in particular repetition of the same lexical items, followed by reference.The findings contribute to the description of the meaning-making processes in these multimodal artefacts. They provide a potential research tool for similar investigations across a broad range of educational settings. Implications of the findings for finance students and educators are finally presented
THE NUREMBERG TRIALS AND THEIR LEGACY FOR THE RIGHTS OF PATIENTS AND RESEARCH SUBJECTS
Get PDFWhen does clinical research designed to save lives and advance medicine become assault and murder? In the twentieth century the line between legitimate research on human subjects and criminal assault has been variously drawn. The demands of the researcher and the voice of the research subject and patient have received varying recognition. With the upswing of clinical research in the early twentieth century and some dramatic breakthroughs in medicine there was a tendency to heroise the researcher in the ‘fight’ against disease. In Nazi Germany, there were strong pressures to conduct research on lives deemed worthless in the hope of producing valuable breakthroughs in medical research to benefit the nation and race. After all, if the mentally ill and racially inferior Jews and Gypsies were going to be killed, their bodies might still serve a useful purpose. After WW2 the Nuremberg Trials were conducted on the basis of ‘crimes against humanity’, and by documenting wartime atrocities did much to safeguard human rights and dignity. After the four-power International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg came the trial against 20 Nazi doctors and three SS administrators: this concluded with a declaration on the conduct of research based on the autonomy and consent of the research subject
THE MODEL FOR A PATH FORWARD. A PROPOSAL FOR A MODEL LAW DEALING WITH CYBER-SQUATTING AND OTHER ABUSIVE DOMAIN NAME PRACTICES
Get PDFThe internet has revolutionized the way we interact with information and each other. Among the internet’s many applications, e-commerce ranks at the top. Businesses derive significant value from a robust online presence which arguably begins with a strong domain name.Websites are identified by internet protocol (IP) addresses which consist of sets of numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS) is the internet’s address book. Its function is to allow internet users to identify websites with more memorable indicia than a set of numbers such as words, phrases and acronyms. Given that businesses often devote significant resources to growing brand recognition and the goodwill associated with their trademarks, many of them tend to register domain names under those trademarks. Domain names (unlike trademarks) are unique which further increases a trademark holder’s interest in securing ones that consumers would likely associate with its goods or services.Cyber-squatters seek to profit from the DNS by engaging in a form of “online speculation”. They register domain names that are either identical or confusingly similar to trademarks and then attempt to sell the domain name(s) to a legitimate trademark holder for a profit.The current regulatory framework dealing with cyber-squatting comprises of: 1) The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and variants thereof; 2) The American Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA); and 3) National trademark laws. This paper argues that while partially effective, the current framework is lacking.A review of UDRP panel statistics reveals a steady flow of complaints since 2000 with a marked upswing from 2005 forward. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, the largest UDRP resolution provider, receives between 1700-2600 complaints per year relating to cyber-squatting. Cyber-squatting is therefore clearly an issue that requires further or better regulation.The UDRP, ACPA and trademark statutes all suffer from significant shortcomings. This paper seeks to identify those shortcomings and propose a potential solution: a model law relating to cyber-squatting and other abusive domain name practices. The model law would create specific causes of action for cybersquatting and the abusive practice known as “reverse-domain name hijacking”. It would also comport certain key provisions to aid in the harmonization of an internationally accepted body of “domain name law”.While a model law approach itself suffers from certain shortcomings (most notably the requirement that it be adopted in a significant number of states to become effective), this paper demonstrates that those shortcomings are far outweighed by its benefits
THE ANTECEDENTS OF GAMBLING BEHAVIOUR FROM A SOCIAL MARKETING PERSPECTIVE
No full textThis paper investigates Italian gamblers’ behaviour with particular reference to the intensity of participation and economic involvement. Despite the high incidence of gambling among the Italian population, studies aimed at investigating gambling behaviour are lacking. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to identify the main factors that promote and maintain such behaviour. A survey was conducted using a sample of regular and occasional gamblers. Regression analysis showed that socio-demographic characteristics (gender, income and level of education) significantly affect gambling involvement. In addition, the use of the online channel, the self-limitation of budget and the habit of getting rid of coins received as change - an aspect of gambling behaviour never analysed in the literature - are important predictors of the intensity of participation and level of spending. The study integrates previous findings on the consumer purchasing process. The results are useful for designing social marketing strategies aimed at reducing the demand and promoting responsible gambling
FACILITATING AWARENESS AND INFORMED CHOICE IN GAMBLING
Get PDFResearch demonstrates that a large proportion of individuals have reduced levels of self-awareness of behaviour when gambling, through a process of dissociation (Powell, Hardoon, Derevensky, & Gupta, 1996) and narrowed attention (Diskin & Hodgins, 1999). This can be detrimental to the decision-making process, especially as players become increasingly stimulated, which can negatively impact upon gambling behaviour. Therefore, in an attempt to limit irrational gambling behaviour, and gambling beyond levels at which one had initially intended, emphasis is placed on harm minimisation approaches that attempt to increase self-awareness of behaviour and increase awareness of the probable outcomes of participation in gambling, by providing easily understood and relevant information in a timely fashion. Fundamentally, this refers to the provision of information pertaining to 1) Personal Behavioural Information - information provided to the player regarding amount of time and money spent gambling, and 2) Game Transparency Information – information that outlines to the player how the game operates e.g. probabilities of winning. Structural and situational characteristics of gambling may not however, be conducive to supporting self-regulation and self-control, making the process of facilitating awareness more challenging than one would initially assume. The following paper reviews evidence for the efficacy of strategies aimed at facilitating awareness during gambling, referring to behavioural information and game transparency, as well as problem gambling information and referral
LORD DENNING, MAGNA CARTA AND MAGNANIMITY
Get PDFLord Denning’s assessment of Magna Carta at its 750th anniversary has stood the test of half a century: “the greatest constitutional document of all times—the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot”. His longer, but still succinct, article for The Times for the same anniversary has not been bettered. Yet at the time of Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary we have lost sight of two other works of Lord Denning which could make a distinctive contribution to our current constitutional debates. Whereas Lord Neuberger has linked the real Magna Carta to the fictitious Holy Grail in an entertaining lecture on law and myth, for legal scholars the Holy Grail is a long lost text or case. An earlier essay identified the links between the opening clause of Magna Carta 1215 and s 13 of the Human Rights Act 1998 as worthy of rediscovery. This article presents two further candidates: a neglected lecture on Borrowing from Scotland by Lord Denning in 1961 and a neglected Court of Appeal decision in 1975 applying Magna Carta, in which Lord Denning presided as Master of the Rolls, R v Secretary of State for the Home Office, ex p Phansopkar.[6Between them, they can offer refreshing insights into contemporary constitutional controversies.
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND APPREHENDED BIAS: SKIRTING MAGNA CARTA PROTECTIONS?
Get PDFThe significance of this paper is in discussion of the wholesale obliteration of religious and other rights among Australian Aboriginal people, constituting a subspecies of continuing genocide. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia states its directive on religion as follows.‘The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.’This constitutional section prohibits the making of laws, as stated, but does not prohibit administrative action imposing religious procedures. Neither does it prohibit official administrative action to restrain the free exercise of religion in Australia.