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Despite scholarly critiques, use of the Net Promoter Score (NPS®) continues to grow in popularity among firms. Even researchers who criticize NPS recognize its potential for predicting desirable customer behaviors and revenue growth. However, a firm's goal in measuring NPS is not to simply assess it, but to be empowered to improve that score. This goal begs an important question: Does a "net promoter" study provide the insights that a firm needs to improve their NPS? The critical, but untested, assumption in NPS use is that the insights gained from open-ended customer comments in a net promoter study can be used to set improvement priorities that will increase future NPS likely-to-recommend ratings. Through two distinct studies, one in a business-to-business context with auto dealership decision-makers and one in a business-to-consumer context with vehicle repair customers, we investigate this assumption. Our results reveal that the critical untested assumption of a net promoter study is questionable. The convergence is low to moderate between open-ended priorities from a net promoter study and predictors of the standard 'likely-to-recommend' NPS question. We also find that the convergence between customers' open-ended priorities and their stated and derived priorities from closed-ended responses is higher for NPS detractors and passives than promoters, but it is still only moderate. The strength of this convergence of priorities is also impacted by the wording of the questions used to elicit customers' open-ended priorities. Firms using open-ended comments to set priorities should ask customers, especially detractors, to identify areas for improvement. In addition, they should supplement open-ended customer feedback with closed-ended questions to get customers' performance ratings in relation to their specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since we wrote "Crowdsourcing as a solution to distant search" a decade ago, enthusiasm for crowdsourcing's capacity to produce remarkable solutions to some problems has continued to grow, and profiting from crowdsourced solutions has become a strategic goal for more and more firms. Crowdsourcing research has progressed impressively, with more progress made in researching the phenomenon than in theorizing about it. We are deeply honored by the 2022 Decade Award. In this manuscript, we reflect on the factors that led to this progress in crowdsourcing research, and how the theoretical insights from our paper––e.g., markets in the hierarchies-markets dichotomy are made up of markets with ex ante contracts and crowdsourcing (markets with no ex ante contracts)––may have influenced that progress. Also, because profits have become the ultimate goal of a large number of the seekers of solutions through crowdsourcing, we present an outline of a framework for exploring the impact of crowdsourcing on a seeker's profitability. The framework builds on insights from the paper and new constructs in crowdsourcing such as artificial intelligence (AI), the crowdsourcing process, revenue models, complementary assets, and organizing to minimize crowdsourcing disadvantages that we have added. We conclude with suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a common practice that business and economy compartments share the seating capacity of a short or medium-haul European flight, with the middle seats in the business compartment kept vacant to enhance comfort and privacy for business passengers. The two compartments are separated by a movable curtain whose position determines the capacity allocated to each compartment. By postponing the decision on curtain position until departure, airlines gain extra flexibility in their capacity allocation. We formulate an airline's problem of dynamically determining the curtain position and the subset of fare products to offer in each compartment to maximize the combined revenue from business and economy passengers. We show that the airline should offer a business (resp., economy) fare product if and only if its fare exceeds a business (resp., economy) threshold or bid price. We then establish monotonicity properties which are useful in expediting the computation of the optimal policy. An extended model where the airline has the option to offer a free upgrade (from economy to business class) to a new arriving economy passenger is presented, and a necessary condition on when to offer upgrades is provided. Using a large-scale and real-life case study based on a proprietary dataset, we demonstrate significant revenue improvements from postponing the decision on curtain position, compared to the current practice of fixing it at the beginning of the booking horizon. Furthermore, we provide guidance for the implementation of our policy, taking into account passengers' seat selection and substitution towards lower fare classes. We also discuss the implications of our work in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the licensing of a cost-reducing innovation in a Cournot oligopoly where an outside innovator uses three part tariffs that are combinations of upfront fees, per unit royalties and ad valorem royalties. Under general demand, the maximum possible licensing revenue under three part tariffs can be always attained by a policy that uses at most two of the three components. For relatively significant innovations, there exists an optimal policy consisting of a per unit royalty and upfront fee and a continuum of other optimal policies that are three part tariffs whose all components are positive. Completely characterizing optimal policies under linear demand, we show that for oligopolies with four or more firms: (i) pure upfront fees are optimal for insignificant innovations; (ii) for intermediate and significant innovations: (a) there is a continuum of optimal policies which always includes a two part tariff with a unit royalty and upfront fee and (b) a two part tariff with an ad valorem royalty and fee or a two part royalty can be optimal for some, but not all parametric configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercropping is proposed as a promising strategy to meet future food demand while reducing agriculture's environmental impact by re-diversifying agricultural fields. Strip cropping, a form of intercropping, has a potential to simultaneously deliver multiple ecosystem services including productivity, while facilitating management as strip width can be adjusted to the working width of available machines. While the yield performance of strip cropping systems is influenced by the interaction between neighboring crops, to date, empirical studies on the performance of various crop combinations in strip cropping systems are limited. Here we used three-year data (2020–2022) from a 64-ha organic strip cropping system in the Netherlands to (1) evaluate the effects of crop neighbors and strip cropping on yield and (2) explore if optimizing the allocation of crop neighbors in alternative strip cropping configurations can improve yield and revenue performances. We analyzed the edge effect and strip cropping effect on yield of six crops grown in strips, each neighboring a total of five crops. The yield data was then used to evaluate the performance of the current and alternative strip configurations in terms of LER and relative revenue. Results showed that except for the positive effect observed on potato when neighboring celeriac or broccoli, edge effects lacked statistical significance. Strip cropping effect varied per crop: positive for faba bean and parsnip, neutral for celeriac and potato, and negative for oat and onion. Analysis across crops showed an overall significant positive strip cropping effect on yield. These findings highlighted the value of analysis at the cropping system level in developing designs aimed at unlocking the potential of strip cropping. The positive but variable strip cropping effects observed in the current experimental design and the two alternative configurations suggests prioritizing an overall increased crop diversity over optimizing their spatial arrangement. While we demonstrated increased productivity with strip cropping, further research is needed to expand the database on optimal crop combinations, extending the evaluation beyond yield and revenue performances to facilitate broader adoption of strip cropping in the Netherlands and Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spatial public goods game (SPGG), punishment effectively promotes cooperation but often reduces the collective benefits of cooperators and punishers. In order to increase revenue, we propose a probabilistic interaction domain model considering both strategy type and payoff level. In this model, players are divided into two types, successful players with payoffs higher than the payoff threshold and failed players with payoffs lower than the payoff threshold. A successful player is less likely to change the interaction range than a failed player. Through extensive simulations, it is shown to verify that a higher payoff threshold leads to a more pronounced promotion effect on cooperation and corresponds to a higher cooperation return. Moreover, introducing dynamic interaction domain can rapidly remove defectors from the vicinity of cooperative players on regular lattices. Reducing the payoff gap between punishers and cooperators helps mitigate the system's second-order free-riding problem. Additionally, through analysis of the critical parameters, it is revised that incorporating diversity in interaction structures substantively enhances cooperation level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax collection with limited enforcement capacity may be consistent with both high- and low-delinquency regimes: high delinquency reduces the effectiveness of threats, thereby reinforcing high delinquency. We explore the practical challenges of unraveling the high-delinquency equilibrium using a mechanism design insight known as divide-and-conquer. Our preferred mechanism takes the form of prioritized iterative enforcement (PIE). Taxpayers are ranked using the ratio of expected collection to capacity use. Collection threats are issued in small batches to ensure high credibility and induce high compliance. Following repayments, liberated capacity is used to issue the next round of threats. In collaboration with a district of Lima, we experimentally assess PIE in a sample of 13,432 property taxpayers. The data validate and refine our theoretical framework. A semi-structural model suggests that keeping collection actions fixed, PIE would increase tax revenue by roughly 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Netflix is the market leader in the streaming entertainment industry. In 2020 and 2021, Netflix's subscriber numbers and revenue increased. During the first two quarters of 2022, Netflix lost millions of subscribers, revenue and profit declined and its share price and market capitalization deteriorated. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and why a company with such a strong track record as Netflix can experience this crisis and, most importantly, how it overcame the crisis and returned to growth. Design/methodology/approach: This case study investigates Netflix's rise, fall and recovery between 2020 and 2023 using qualitative research methods. It examines earnings calls, transcripts and letters to shareholders as well as the views of investment analysts, journalists and academics. Findings: Netflix turned its fortunes around because its leaders faced the crisis head-on. They acknowledged that previous strategic decisions were no longer working, that no advertisements were on the platform and that there was no account sharing and they reversed these decisions. Netflix also realized that it needed to innovate, so it partnered with Microsoft to execute its go-to-market with advertising. It also launched games, made strategic acquisitions of gaming studios and developed its capabilities with new products. Originality/value: This is a valuable case study. Investigating how a company as successful as Netflix can encounter a severe decline and how it changed its strategies and tactics to reverse the decline provides important lessons for other companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: How can retailers incentivize customers to make healthier food choices? Price, convenience, and taste are known to be among the main drivers behind such choices. Unfortunately, healthier food options are often expensive and not adequately promoted. However, we are observing recent efforts to nudge customers toward healthier food. Methodology/results: In this paper, we conducted a field experiment with a global convenience store chain to better understand how different add-on bundle promotions influence healthy food choices. We considered three types of add-on bundles sequentially: (i) an unhealthy bundle (when customers purchased a coffee, they could add a pastry for $1), (ii) a healthy bundle (offering a healthy snack, such as fruit, vegetable, or protein, as a coffee add-on for $1), and (iii) a choice bundle (the option of either a pastry or a healthy snack as an add-on to coffee for $1). In addition to our field experiment, we conducted an online laboratory study to strengthen the validity of our results. Managerial implications: We found that offering healthy snacks as part of an add-on bundle significantly increased healthy purchases (and decreased unhealthy purchases). Surprisingly, this finding continued to hold for the choice bundle, that is, even when unhealthy snacks were concurrently on promotion. However, we did not observe a long-term stickiness effect, meaning that customers returned to their original (unhealthy) purchase patterns once the healthy or choice bundle was discontinued. Finally, we show that offering an add-on choice bundle is also beneficial for retailers, who can earn higher revenue and profit. Funding: This research was supported by the James McGill Scholar Award Fund, the Scale AI Chair Program, IIVADO (Institut de valorisation des données) Fundamental Research Project Grant, and two Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023.0336. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the supply efficiency of ecological products (EPSE) is of great significance to protect the ecological environment, promote the development of green industry and the sustainable growth of the economy. This paper focuses on constructing an evaluation index system for EPSE and exploring the relationship between the development level of the digital economy (DE) and EPSE in China. To measure the EPSE, the study employs the Undesirable Slacks-Based Measurement (SBM) Model across 30 provinces, cities and districts in China from 2011 to 2022. Furthermore, the research utilizes spatial econometric models, panel threshold effect models, and other methodologies to investigate the impact mechanism and nonlinear relationship between DE and EPSE. The research shows that: (1) The overall level of EPSE in the study area is relatively low, with significant development differences observed; (2) The DE has a nota-ble spatial spillover effect on EPSE, with a significantly negative impact in neighboring areas; (3) The development of the DE promotes EPSE through the upgrading of human capital structure, industrial structure, and increases in local government fiscal revenue and corporate operating profits; (4) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of DE on EPSE varies significantly across eastern, central, and western China, with positive effects pronounced in the eastern and western regions; (5) Regression results of the threshold effect indicate a significant single threshold effect on the impact of DE development level on EPSE. Specifically, when the threshold value is less than 0.1232, DE significantly contributes to the improvement of EPSE. This paper contributes new literature evidence and factual references to the understanding of the causal relationship between DE and EPSE. The findings highlight the importance of considering spatial spillover effects, impact mechanisms, and regional heterogeneity in analyzing the relationship between DE and EPSE. The research also suggests that promoting the development of the digital economy could be a viable strategy to enhance EPSE, especially in regions where the threshold value is below 0.1232 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Price competition in the tomato market may lead Italian processing companies to adopt product differentiation strategies to attract consumers and raise revenues. Exploring consumers' preferences for processed tomato products' attributes can support companies in implementing product differentiation strategies and succeed in the market. Methods: This study used a convenience sample of 602 Italian consumers to identify consumers' preferences for processed tomato products' attributes selected through a literature review and tested by the Best Worst Scaling (BWS) method. Also, a two-step cluster analysis was used to identify and size consumer groups with common preferences for tested product's attributes. Results: Overall, our results showed that Italian consumers of processed tomato products strongly preferred attributes such as Country of origin, Organic, and Social and economic sustainability labels. In addition, the analysis shows the existence of three distinct consumer segments such as "traditional," "pricesensitive," and "sustainable" consumers. The largest one was price-sensitive consumers followed by sustainable and traditional ones. Discussion: Our findings have practical implications for producers and policymakers. Producers may use claims about the product's origin jointly with an organic production logo and ethical label to differentiate their products and raise revenues. Likewise, policymakers should enhance monitoring and control measures to ensure with environmental, social, and economic sustainable standards compliance. This will support building consumer trust for those credence attributes. Overall, this study adds valuable insights to the existing literature on consumer preferences for processed tomato products, providing results with high external validity using a large convenience sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigator-initiated clinical studies (IICSs), also referred to as non-commercial, academic or independent clinical studies, address important research questions that are usually neglected by industry despite their high societal value. Indeed, industry may direct their focus and resources on studies that will yield results and products that can ultimately generate revenue for the company. Conversely, IICS research questions include (a) refining or getting new indications of available treatments (drug repurposing); (b) optimisation, by comparing various health products or treatment regimens; and (c) innovation, especially for advanced therapies. Multinational IICSs increase the scientific quality of the data by exchange of research ideas, scientific techniques and tools. Participation of patients from different geographical, social and ethnic backgrounds equally adds to the value of study results and yields more generalisable evidence than a study confined to a single geographical location. Multinational IICSs are generally sponsored by non-profit/academic organisations and publicly funded. Funding has been already identified as a main challenge for the conduct IICS and especially for clinical trials (IICTs, IICS where a medical intervention is directly tested). Main barriers to the conduct of multinational IICTs with public funding include: Limitations of budget and duration of the eligibility of costs Lack of flexibility to move funds transnationally Tendering rules Complexity in the reporting of the eligible costs to funders We describe why there is a need to support multinational IICS, what should be their objectives and what are the current funding mechanisms in Europe. Strategies for funding multinational IICS should evolve to mitigate identified barriers, thus facilitating research that can provide answers to highly relevant questions in healthcare which are less likely to be answered by studies funded by the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of supercharging technology, charging stations will face supercharging piles and fast-charging piles coexisting for a long time. The traditional unified service fee pricing model will face the problem of slow-charging vehicles occupying supercharging piles, and the advantages of supercharging facilities cannot be fully utilized. Considering factors such as station revenue, station utilization rate, and user willingness, this paper constructs a differentiated pricing model for multi-power-level charging facilities based on capacity and electricity service fees. It reveals the impact of this pricing model on the economy and user satisfaction of charging stations. In addition, a multi-objective optimization model is constructed and solved by a multi-objective particle swarm method to determine the pricing strategy of different power levels that adapt to the actual situation. The results show that the differentiated pricing mechanism can increase the station revenue by about 10.74% and the station stack power utilization rate by about 7.14%, and user satisfaction is higher, which is better than the conventional pricing mechanism. Therefore, the proposed charging pricing strategy can provide a decision-making reference for charging station operation and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to manage knowledge pertaining to micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) actors in the business, agriculture and industry sectors. This study uses text mining techniques, specifically Latent Dirichlet Allocation Mallet, to analyze the data obtained from the in-depth interviews. This analysis helps us identify and understand the issues faced by these actors. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the authors use big data and business analytics to recalculate the MSME business vulnerability index in 503 districts and 34 provinces across Indonesia. Subsequently, the authors conduct in-depth interviews with MSME actors in Medan, Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali and Manokwari, West Papua. Through these interviews, the authors explore their strategies for surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent of their digital literacy, and the application of technology to maximize sales and business outcomes. Findings: The findings reveal that, for the sustainable growth of MSMEs during and after the pandemic, collaboration across the Penta-Helix framework is essential. This collaboration enables the development of practical solutions for the challenges posed by COVID-19, particularly in the context of the "new normal." In addition, the authors' survey of MSMEs involved in agriculture, trade and processing sectors demonstrates that 58.33% experienced a decrease in income during the pandemic and 12.66% reported an increase in revenue. In contrast, 25% experienced no change in income before and during the pandemic. Originality/value: This research contributes significantly by offering comprehensive insights obtained from in-depth surveys conducted with MSMEs across multiple sectors. The findings underscore the importance of addressing the challenges MSMEs face and highlight the need for collaboration within the Penta-Helix framework to foster their resilience and success amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mukaddime Journal is the property of Mukaddime Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Digitalization and multi-channel strategy have appeared as recurrent themes in retailing for years, yet some major international as well as domestic mass retailers have chosen to retain a single, physical channel focus for customer transactions. These retailers, despite the digital mindset preoccupying the retailing sector, have chosen to rely fully, or predominantly, on their stores to generate revenues. A number of questions arise from this approach. This paper aims to understand the rationale for marketing and strategic practices which appear to go against the dominant, strongly digitally oriented, discourses and practices in the field of retailing. Why do some retailers choose not to add a digital transactional channel? Are there defensible reasons for this choice? Can such a strategy successfully create value? Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on a qualitative, multiple case study of the strategies adopted by Primark (fashion) and Aldi (food), two major retailers that retain a largely single-channel transaction focus, in France and the UK. Findings: This research suggests that some retailers may still be able to succeed by maintaining a single-transactional physical channel to avoid a cost trap which extensive moves towards digitalization of transactions might mean for them. In such circumstances, refusing to adopt a digital value proposition may be a means of preserving the success of their original business model. Originality/value: Despite the weight of academic and practitioner discourses on the urge to undertake digital transformation, this work provides a comprehensive illustration of the rationale for sticking to a single physical channel to preserve the profitability of a traditional store-based business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently,the process of budgeting, expenditure budget execution and reporting the state revenue and expenditure budget in ministries/agencies uses an integrated information system. Using an integrated system, all data is available in an information system and can be accessed easily, faster and more safely. This study aims to analyze how successful the implementation of web-based SAKTI pilot project. The data used comes from a questionnaire on the number of respondents who obtained 244 samples from 10 ministries/ government agencies. Data analysis used descriptive statistical analysis and Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) using R-Studio and WarpPLS 7.0 software. According to the findings, system quality, information quality, service quality all had a positive significant effect on user satisfaction and user satisfaction had a significant and positive effect on net profit. Based on the results of the hypothesis, it can be concluded that the implementation of the SAKTI piloting has been going well and according to user expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economica: Revistă Ştiinţifico-Didactică is the property of Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (AESM) / Academia de Studii Economice din Moldova (AESM) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Today, with the Industrial Revolution 4.0, digital transformation is taking place strongly in many different fields. Digital transformation can bring a competitive advantage to enterprises. However, enterprises also spend a lot of money to implement digital transformation. Therefore, whether or not digital transformation increases company performance is always of concern to company leaders. This paper aims to analyse the impact of Digital Transformation on Financial Performance, including Revenue, Profit and ROA in Vietnam. Digital Transformation is represented by the variables Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things. We used Google Forms to survey 314 leaders of enterprises in Vietnam. Then, we used descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis to analyse the data. Research results show that Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence positively impact financial performance. Enterprises that apply digital transformation have better financial performance than other enterprises. In contrast, there is no connection between the Internet of Things and financial performance. In addition, Firm type and Firm size also affect financial performance. FDI enterprises have higher performance than others, and more giant-sized enterprises have higher performance than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many individuals aspire to start their own businesses and achieve financial success. Before launching a business, they must decide on a location and the type of service to offer. This decision requires collecting and analyzing various characteristics of potential locations and services, such as average revenues and foot traffic. However, this process is challenging because it demands expert knowledge in data collection and analysis. To address this issue, we propose Neural Tensor Factorization (NeuralTF) and Explainable Neural Tensor Factorization (XNeuralTF). These methods automatically analyze these characteristics and predict revenues. NeuralTF integrates Tensor Factorization (TF) with Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP). This integration allows it to handle multi-dimensional tensors effectively. It also learns both explicit and implicit higher-order feature interactions, leading to superior predictive performance. XNeuralTF extends NeuralTF by providing explainable recommendations for three-dimensional tensors. Additionally, we introduce two novel metrics to evaluate the explainability of recommendation models. We conducted extensive experiments to assess both predictive performance and explainability. Our results show that XNeuralTF achieves comparable or superior performance to state-of-the-art methods, while also offering the highest level of explainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This teaching case examines challenges in developing technical communication students as organizational leaders managing content strategy through analysis of a graduate course incorporating a client project. Method: Forty-five graduate students enrolled in a content strategy course conducted content audits and assessments for six clients. Their final strategic roadmap reports were analyzed to determine their aptitude for aligning content strategies with business goals. Results: While students adeptly identified technical content quality issues, the majority struggled to connect these to business implications. A minority of students explicitly linked their strategic recommendations to business metrics, such as revenue growth. This outcome suggests a deficiency in achieving the course's intent to instill a businessoriented approach to content strategy. Conclusion: The case identifies several challenges, including client maturity levels, the intricacy of business contexts, and the ambitious scope of the course's objectives. Proposed enhancements involve restructuring client interaction, integrating more industry expertise, focusing the project's reporting component, and refining the course's aims. These measures aim to strengthen the strategic business thinking and leadership capabilities of technical communication students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of local revenue, egovernment, and capital expenditure on the financial performance of local government and how e-government mediates the effect of local revenue on financial performance. The population of this study includes 29 regencies and 6 cities in the Central Java Province, Indonesia. The purposive sampling technique was utilized to compile 76 samples. Descriptive statistical analysis and partial least squares testing with structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. The results indicate that local revenue has no significant impact on financial performance, while e-government has a positive effect, and capital expenditure has a negative effect. Moreover, local revenue has a positive impact on e-government, and e-government mediates the effect of local revenue on local government financial performance. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of establishing effective budgets to improve regional revenue and invest in e-government for local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This case asks graduate and undergraduate accounting students to apply the current U.S. GAAP revenue recognition standard (ASC Topic 606) that became effective for public companies in 2018 and nonpublic companies in 2019. Students should grasp the new rules and understand how the nuances of manufacturing contracts (e.g., number of performance obligations, transaction price allocation, shipment options, product customization, and contract cancelation and compensation) can affect the recording and timing (over time or point in time) of revenue recognition. This case also encourages students to independently research the technical aspects of U.S. GAAP regarding the accounting treatment of these contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students reasonably assume that financial reporting provides useful insights into financial performance. Alaska Gold is an instructional case that is based on a disguised real-world company, where reported GAAP-based financial statements obfuscate the firm's underlying economics. The Company mined gold for its first two years of operations but reported zero gold revenue for each of these years because it did not sell any. In the third year, the Company sold all of the gold mined to date—and reported gold revenue and related cost of gold sold. Students use publicly available data to prepare an alternative analysis that unveils the economics of what really happened to Alaska Gold in each of the three years 2017–2019. The situation helps students appreciate that accounting rules, business models, managerial discretion, and economic context are important to understanding and evaluating financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of digitalization on the performance of insurance intermediaries, who still play a key role in the revenue generation of insurance companies. By using an interdisciplinary approach, this study is the first to examine the extent and type of digital technologies used by intermediaries, their impact on performance with respect to revenue, productivity, and interaction with clients, and the role of digital stress in this context. The research is exploratory, which is why a research model with many variables and relationships between them was built. The quantitative multivariate method of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied as it allows the simultaneous estimation of models with multiple dependent variables and their interconnections. In this context, data collected in 2022 from 671 insurance intermediaries from Germany, whose demographic distribution in the sample is representative of the German insurance market, were analyzed. The findings show that insurance intermediaries use many digital technologies compared to other industries, particularly those that create added value in their daily work. Empirical evidence also showed that using digital technologies positively affects performance but induces perceived digital stress. As this study reveals, the latter diminishes the positive effects on performance. Technology optimism, technological skills, and organizational support reduce the severity of stress. This means that insurers can start here to support intermediaries to mitigate the performance-limiting effects. This study adds to the insurance literature by providing a broader understanding of how insurance intermediaries deal with digitalization and what it means for their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of mobile e-business, it has become common for customers to experience an explosion of instant desire to consume in a short period of time. Companies are harnessing this momentum, hoping to better capture, retain and convert these consumer desires into actual sales orders. Consequently, companies also need to use pre-sales call centers to provide the satisfied service and motivate more customers to repurchase, thereby increasing the revenue. The function of the call centers is updated from providing post-sales service to providing pre-sales consultation. In this regard, this paper examines the impact of delayed announcements consisting of queue information on customer repurchase behavior in pre-sales call centers. We classify the queuing information into no-information, part-information and full-information according to the level of information by constructing a simulation model. In the simulation experiments, some application scenarios are set up to describe the load of the call center. In all the given scenarios, we find out the full-information, which provides the delay time, is always the best. Moreover, the different methods for estimating the delay time to provide the full-information, namely LES, EA, EA2 and WA–LES, are compared. We find optimal announcements for the application scenarios set out in the time-varying scenario as well. Consequently, considering there exists certain cost for the company to make WA–LES announcements, while some call centers can only provide part-information instead, this paper investigates the impact of estimate bias on customer repurchase behavior and company revenue. Subsequently, the company revenue is further investigated in two extended experiments, where repurchase influence power and repurchase number are limited. The analysis ideas and simulation logic of this paper have good reference significance for e-commerce pre-sales call centers, and the suggestions for setting information levels in practice while considering customer repurchase behavior are also clearly given in the conclusion of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of a new generation of applications such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and 5G has brought fog computing as cloud development toward the edge network. It is done by adding an extra layer of resources to meet low latency, high performance, mobility, and interoperability challenges. The development of fog markets and new beneficial business paradigms such as fog services considerably affect the future of fogonomics (which is defined as the economics of fog computing). Thus, it is a challenging issue to design a market-oriented model to deal with the economics-based resource management in fog computing, which adjusts the resource supply of Fog Resource Providers (FRPs) and the demands of User Services (USs) based on users' requirements while satisfying all parties' utilities. This paper proposes the Fog-Marketing scheme consisting of a Resource Propagation Component (RPC) and a Contract-aware Market Selection Component (CMSC) for resource provisioning in multi-tier fog computing. The RPC is deployed in each fog node to perform hierarchical resource propagation of FRPs to auction-based Fog Decentralized Markets (FDMs) close to USs to increase revenue opportunities, and embedded CMSC in the user agent applies a matching strategy to assign USs and FDMs aims to promote USs' utility. The simulation results under extensive experiments confirmed that the proposed scheme succeeded in reducing the Round-Trip-Time, increasing the revenue of FRPs, and improving the utility of USs compared to existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective tax structure is vital in order to maintain fiscal stability. In the context of fiscal policy, tax revenue serves as an indispensable source of public expenditure. Tax Bouyancy measures the responsiveness of tax revenue to changes in Gross Domestic Product. The main objectives of this study was to show the percentage share of each component to the total revenue and their responsiveness to the growth in Gross State Domestic Product for a period of 13 years (2011-23). The study found out that majority of revenue comes from grants from centre; above 60% for the whole period indicating high financial dependence on the centre. The share of own tax and own non tax to the total revenue was below 8% and 4% for the whole period. The study found out that the degree of tax buoyancy for total tax revenue was 1.2 which implies that total tax revenue increased more than proportionately to increase in income. It finding also showed that except for Own Non tax revenue (0.45) and Grants from centre (0.76), the buoyancy of own tax revenue (2.04), shared tax (2.44) and total revenue (1.2) are more than unity for a period. Among different component, own non-tax revenue and grants from centre showed stability during the same period. The article concludes by suggesting for revamping of sick industries, exploring petroleum reserve, lifting of Liquor prohibition in the state and developing tourism industry to enhance own revenue generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors influencing restaurant operators' intention to terminate their relationship with food delivery apps. This research develops a model with key variables based on the loyalty theory and adds variables reflecting the specific context of the food delivery app market. The face-to-face survey of 128 restaurant managers was conducted in South Korea from Oct 1st to Oct 30th, 2020, and the data obtained were analyzed by SEM. The results showed that distrust is a direct antecedent of their intention to terminate. However, there is no significant relationship between dissatisfaction and that intention. Revenue increase is negatively associated with dissatisfaction, whereas exposure opportunities are positively associated with dissatisfaction. The fee paid for food delivery apps, lack of control of delivery service, goal incongruity, and transparency are shown to be the important determinants of distrust. Our findings will enhance the understanding of the food delivery app market in South Korea and the relationship between the food delivery app and the small restaurant. Based on the results, recommendations for prospect research and theoretical and practical implications are presented. Plain language summary: The number of people using food delivery apps instead of going to a restaurant has increased significantly during Covid-19 pandemic. As food delivery apps become essential to people, partnering with one is not a matter of choice but a requirement for small restaurant operators. However, food delivery apps are not purely advantageous and many small restaurant operators insist that their relationship with these apps is unfair. This study investigates why small restaurant operators intend to terminate their relationship with food delivery apps during Covid-19 pandemic. This research develops a model with key variables based on the loyalty theory and adds variables reflecting the specific context of the food delivery app market. The face-to-face survey of 128 restaurant managers was conducted in South Korea. The results showed that distrust is a direct antecedent of their intention to terminate. However, there is no significant relationship between dissatisfaction and that intention. Revenue increase is negatively associated with dissatisfaction, whereas exposure opportunities are positively associated with it. The fee paid for food delivery apps, lack of control of delivery service, goal incongruity, and transparency are shown to be the important determinants of distrust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media has become an outlet for extremists to fundraise and organize. While governments deliberate on how to regulate, some social media companies have removed creators of offensive content —deplatforming. I estimate the effects of deplatforming on revenue and viewership, using variation in the timing of removals across two video-streaming companies — YouTube, and its far-right competitor, Bitchute. Being deplatformed on Youtube results in a 30% increase in weekly Bitcoin revenue and a 50% increase in viewership on Bitchute. This increase in Bitchute activity is less than that on YouTube, meaning that deplatforming works in decreasing a content creator's overall views and revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an evolving construct with the power to transform and dominate the way we live, work, and play. Business decision-makers constantly grapple with how to maximum corporate revenue and profits to achieve stakeholder satisfaction, while minimizing internal and external organizational risks. Corporate leaders understand their C-Suite roles and generally support the implementation of AI; but many do not consider how their AI decisions impact the organizational cyberculture and the well-being of their employees. This paper explores the ethical ramifications of AI upon the employees, the philosophies that underpin leaders' decision-making to incorporate AI within the overall cyberculture, and the primary concerns of employees regarding how algorithms of robotics, machine-learning, expert systems, and language-processing may impact their livelihoods. We approach this research challenge from the perspective of several philosophical theories of Social Contract, Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Phenomenology to better understand how each approach affects the informed decisions of leaders to determine if it is possible to ethically balance innovation while considering the welfare and future of their employees. Interpretation of the literature suggests there are key underlying philosophical themes and patterns relevant to achieving a healthy AI cyberculture responsibly and ethically. Findings indicate that successful implementation of workplace AI includes aligning strategic business objectives with open communication and employee training to increase AI acceptance and mitigate risk of layoffs and job loss. We theorize that a hybrid philosophical framework supporting a behavioral practice of trust and transparency between leadership and the workforce, can result in an ethical workplace solution that supports AI, a cyber-lebenswelt that successfully integrates technology into employees daily lived-world experiences [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce is a boom in the modern business. E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce is one of the most dynamic and important sectors of the economy as well as one of the main factors leading to greater competitiveness. The development of E-commerce is driven by rapidly expanding Internet access, but also by growing mobility and popularity of portable devices, via which customers order goods and services at a convenient time and place more and more frequently. The strength of a business is determined by how well it can manage to provide its products and services at the right price, time, and quality. In today's fierce competitive world, E-commerce businesses are often up against their peers from different geographical regions. It makes perfect sense for a company to expand its operations geographically, which would allow them the advantages of quickly reaching out to more customers and building good word of mouth for the brand. But, it also give rise to the risks like additional costs associated with logistics, longer delivery time than expected, problems with adjusting the inventory levels to match customer needs at each location, etc. That's why it makes sense to think about Return to Origin (RTO) before calculating revenue and profits. So, this paper is on impact of RTO on E-commerce business and it also discussed preliminary findings of research undertaken with the Indian ecommerce company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of tax jurisdictions are implementing the concept of cooperative compliance into their tax systems. It aims to improve tax compliance by building an enhanced relationship between tax authorities and taxpayers. In principle, the programme is aimed at large taxpayers capable of engaging in aggressive tax optimization that is detrimental to state revenue. Dedicating the programme exclusively to large taxpayers may raise doubts about whether it violates the principle of equality before the law. In Poland, the legislation governing the cooperative compliance programme was introduced on July 1, 2020. As in other countries, it was targeted at large taxpayers. The article therefore discusses the question whether the Polish legal regulations on cooperative tax compliance are in line with the constitutional principle of equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to validate the theoretical finding that digital MNEs avoid physical presence norms of permanent establishment and royalty characterization rules for business and royalty taxation, respectively, to escape tax incidence in the market economy, using information, communication and technology features and transfer pricing (TP) manipulations. Design/methodology/approach: Multiple case studies of MNEs from technology sector, based on judicial decisions in 141 cases, over taxability of profits earned from Indian economic activities. Additional in-depth case study of the Uber Group to study the tax avoidance structures under platform economy, by routing of Indian profits through The Netherlands, a tax haven. Findings: The study finds a significant number of digital MNEs earning profits from India and avoiding tax by defying physical presence and royalty characterization. In majority of the cases, demand-side business activities are discharged through incorporating and remunerating affiliates at cost plus low markup, thus avoiding tax incidence, using TP manipulations under the arm's length principle applied by governments for benchmarking the intragroup transactions of the MNEs. Research limitations/implications: The research findings validate the view that digital features promote tax avoidance in the market economy. Originality/value: The originality of the study lies in the validation of profit shifting through digital features from the developing market economy and portending that digital MNEs defy physical presence to avoid business taxation through TP manipulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although theoretical studies suggest that customers may have an impact on a supplier firm's accounting practices, empirical evidence remains limited and inconclusive. We posit that geographic clustering increases the likelihood of communication between customers and that managers who perceive this likelihood will make more disciplined revenue reporting decisions. Using major customer data from China, we find that firms with more geographically clustered customers report less absolute discretionary revenue. This result is more pronounced when the supplier's customers are more likely to communicate with each other, when their demand for information is stronger, when supplier-customer information asymmetry is more severe, and when the supplier has less bargaining power. The main results survive after addressing endogeneity concerns and a serial of other robustness tests. Our findings offer insight into how the relationship between customers relates to earnings quality and we extend the literature on corporate geographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selling fixed assets when the current operating income is decreasing is essential for managing real earnings among companies. Therefore, this study aimed to design a model for realizing tangible fixed asset sales revenue and investments to address the real earning in the Tehran Stock Exchange. This inductive and correlational-analytical study was conducted on 138 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2018, of which 1242 samples were selected using the systematic elimination method. First, the model of Gunny (49) and the proposed model were tested after passing the necessary assumptions and in a statistical sample, and the proposed model showed a better fit. In the second step, the remaining values of the two models were tested as real earning management with several other variables in a new model. The results showed both models’ reasonable explanatory power and a weak relationship with some variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the business provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the biggest corporate tax cut in US history. We draw five lessons. First, corporate tax revenue fell by 40 percent due to the lower rate and more generous expensing. Second, firms with larger declines in their effective tax wedge increased investment relatively more. In aggregate, we suggest a loose consensus from the literature that total tangible corporate investment increased by 11 percent. Third, the business tax provisions increased economic growth and wages by less than advertised by the Act's proponents, with long-run GDP higher by less than 1 percent and labor income by less than $1,000 per employee. Fourth, provisions that increase foreign investment by US-based multinationals also boost their domestic operations. Fifth, some of the expired and expiring provisions, such as accelerated depreciation, generate more investment per dollar of tax revenue than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Problem definition: Product service plays a crucial role for brands to retain customers and spur revenue growth. It is, however, often outsourced to a third-party provider, driven by cost savings and the ability to focus on core businesses. Although there is a large body of literature studying service outsourcing, the impact of service environment uncertainty (i.e., changing customer needs and shifting resource requirements) has received sparse attention in the past but is becoming a major concern because of increased market turbulence. This research explores how environment uncertainty in service provision influences a brand's intent to outsource, and, if the brand decides to outsource, how it can retain the potential cost advantages offered by a third-party provider. Methodology/results: This research develops a normative model to explore key drivers that impact service outsourcing outcomes under environment uncertainty and partial observability. We find that environment uncertainty can accelerate a brand's propensity to outsource, and a brand typically benefits from outsourcing initially. Yet, we show that such benefits can dissipate over time because of partial observability. Monitoring efforts help to mitigate the adverse impact of environment uncertainty and partial observability, but cannot attain anticipated outsourcing benefits unless monitoring is costless. In contrast, nudging service providers to self-report the cost of resources is effective even if the monitoring cost is high. Managerial implications: Brands should carefully consider environment uncertainty, partial observability, and monitoring ability when deciding whether to outsource product services to third-party providers. A heuristic monitoring policy can be effective when the monitoring cost is very high or very low but can perform poorly when the monitoring cost is in the intermediate range. Thus, outsourcing is more attractive when environment uncertainty is significant, but the value of outsourcing can only be realized when (a) partial observability is insignificant, (b) monitoring is inexpensive, or (c) provider self-reporting can be nudged. If none of the conditions hold, then the brand can suffer significant losses from the anticipated benefits of product service outsourcing. Funding: This research is partially supported by the first author's 2022 Dean's Excellence Summer Research Grant from W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0222. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]