1984 research outputs found
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Service Gratuities and Tipping: A Motivational Framework
No full textIn many countries around the world, consumers leave voluntary payments of money (called “tips”) to service workers who have served them. Since tips are an expense that consumers are free to avoid, tipping is an anomalous behavior that many economists regard as “irrational” or “mysterious.” In this paper, I present a motivational framework that offers plausible explanations for: (1) why people tip, (2) how tipping norms came into existence and evolve over time, (3) why tipping varies across individuals and situations, (4) why tipping is more common for some occupations than others, and (5) why tipping varies across nations. Many hypotheses generated from this framework are supported by existing research, but many other implications of the framework have yet to be adequately tested. Thus, the framework provides a promising and much needed theoretical guide for future research on a fascinating consumer behavior
The Real Oscar Curse: The Negative Consequences of Positive Status Shifts
Get PDFWe examine the negative consequences of upward mobility following a sudden positive status shift. Building on sociological and social psychological research on status and happiness, we argue that status disruption and status deprivation provide different explanations of why sudden positive status shifts can have negative consequences for upwardly mobile social actors. We use the “Oscar curse,” the colorful belief that misfortune paradoxically befalls Academy Award winners, as our empirical context for studying the negative consequences of positive status shifts. We find no evidence of a professional Oscar curse; male and female Oscar winners and Oscar nominees appear in more films following their Oscar experiences than do other actors. We find most evidence of a male personal Oscar curse: survival analysis shows that the divorce rates of male Oscar winners and nominees increase following the Oscars but not the divorce rates of female Oscar winner and nominees. Our survival analysis suggests also that status disruption accounts for the negative male Oscar winner effect, whereas status deprivation accounts for the negative male Oscar nominee effect. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for status theory and how our study draws attention to the negative aspects of the proliferation of tournament structures in organizations and other aspects of social life
A Comparison of Hotel Indices with Hotel Properties and Portfolios
Get PDFThanks to the availability of transaction data and the work of Real Capital Analytics (RCA), hotel operators and investors now have access to indices that track the price appreciation of hotels.1 RCA’s data is one basis of the recently developed Cornell Real Estate Market Indices, which track hotel transaction prices. While the technology used to create these indices has been around for decades,2 the major limitation was the availability of reliable transactions data. Now that we have such indices, the question this paper seeks to address is to determine the extent to which the indices track a hotel investor’s portfolio. By determining how representative these indices are of the price appreciation we actually observe in hotels, we can examine the usefulness of these indices for benchmarking a hotel investor’s portfolio
Unleashing Innovation
Get PDFUsing a sample of venture capital (VC)-backed initial public offering (IPO) firms, we study the effect of financial intermediaries’ tight leash on entrepreneurs’ innovation productivity. We find that financial intermediaries’ tight leash impedes innovation: IPO firms are significantly less innovative when VCs interfere with their development more frequently through staging—as measured by a larger number of VC financing rounds. To establish causality, we exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the frequency of direct flights between VC domiciles and IPO firm headquarters that are due to airline restructuring. Our identification tests suggest a negative, causal effect of VC staging on firm innovation. Furthermore, staging is more detrimental to innovation when innovation is more difficult to achieve and when VCs are less experienced with the industry in which their entrepreneurial firms operate. By documenting a previously underrecognized adverse consequence of VC stage financing, our evidence suggests that contract mechanisms are at play so that short-termist incentives can be cultivated even in a private equity market populated with long-term, sophisticated investors
A Quarter-Century Focus on Improving Service Quality
No full text[Excerpt] The first International Quality in Service Symposium (QUIS) that took place in 1988 in Karlstad, Sweden, represented a particularly important starting point and stimulus for the scientific discussion of service management issues. Since then, service management research has developed significantly, and a specific scientific community has evolved. At several prestigious universities all over the world, service research centers have been established and a growing number of service-related books have been published. Moreover, an increasing number of academic journals with a focus on services are gaining an international reputation
Using Cash Flow Dynamics to Price Thinly Traded Assets: The Case of Commercial Real Estate
Get PDFPrevious studies of share repurchase have primarily focused on examining announcement effects and long-term operating performance in order to distinguish among the diverse possible hypotheses for repurchase. One of the most important rationales they have studied is the over-investment hypothesis: firms repurchase in order to avoid investing in negative net present value projects. While the recent empirical analyses have presented some indirect evidence in support of the over-investment hypothesis, this study examines this rationale for repurchase from a unique perspective, empirically showing that project returns have an important influence on the decision to repurchase shares. Our sample of firms consists of 125 real estate investment trusts (REITs) in order to utilize a time series of real estate capitalization rates (property ROAs) from market transactions on different property types. These cap rates proxy for a REIT’s project opportunity set. Using a both Logit and Tobit models that corrects for other possible buyback rationales, we show that during periods with relatively low cap rates, REITs are more likely to both repurchase shares and repurchase larger amounts of shares than when cap rates are high
Female Executives in Hospitality: Reflections on Career Journeys and Reaching the Top
No full textStructured interviews with twenty women who are top corporate executives or entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry revealed the talent, resourcefulness, and support required to achieve such a position. During the interviews, these successful women cited these three keys to career advancement: (1) the importance of taking thoughtful risks, including non-linear assignments; (2) the criticality of networking; and (3) the significance of finding a sponsor. Two notable challenges for these executives were the possibility that they would be regarded as a token and the need to integrate their work and family life. They noted that keys to meeting work and family responsibilities were having flexibility and autonomy in their schedules and engaging a strong support network, which usually included a life partner. Eight of the twenty had stepped away from corporate roles to run their own businesses. These entrepreneurs acknowledged the considerable work responsibilities resulting from their choice; however, gaining control of their careers made the effort worthwhile and the experience meaningful
Second Quarter 2014: Prices Rise as Expected, Moderate Price Growth Is Anticipated
Get PDFPrices do reflect RevPAR. In the previous issue (2014Q1), we had revisited the year-over-year change in RevPAR relative to our Repeat Sale Index. Since we showed that the year-overyear change in RevPAR is a leading indicator of price fluctuations in hotel properties, we expected prices to reflect the positive momentum in the second quarter. The second quarter has come and gone, and we are happy to report that prices have increased as predicted
Letter from the Editors
Get PDF[Excerpt] We are honored to present the 12th Volume of the Cornell Real Estate Review (CRER), a student edited and managed publication with oversight from faculty in the Baker Program in Real Estate at Cornell University. A continuation of the tradition of thought leadership in real estate, the CRER strives to promote practical learning and to introduce readers to new concepts and practices. As editors, it is our duty to marry scholarly discourse with professional applicability and to create a publication that reflects the values of the Baker Program
2014 Industry Leader Award: Jorge M. Pérez
No full text[Excerpt] Jorge M. Pérez is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Related Group, the largest multi-family real estate development firm in the United States. Under Pérez’s direction, The Related Group has redefined the South Florida landscape. Since its inception in 1979, the firm has steadily built and managed more than 60,000 apartments and condominium residences, becoming Florida’s top multi-family developer and the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States