Journal of Applied Business and Economics
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Journal of Applied Business and Economics North American Business Press Atlanta - Seattle – South Florida - Toronto Journal of Applied Business and Economics Editors Dr. Adam Davidson Dr. William Johnson Editor-In-Chief Dr. David Smith NABP EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Dr. Andy Bertsch - MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Jacob Bikker - UTRECHT UNIVERSITY, NETHERLANDS Dr. Bill Bommer - CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO Dr. Michael Bond - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Dr. Charles Butler - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Jon Carrick - STETSON UNIVERSITY Dr. Mondher Cherif - REIMS, FRANCE Dr. Daniel Condon - DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO Dr. Bahram Dadgostar - LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY, CANADA Dr. Deborah Erdos-Knapp - KENT STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Bruce Forster - UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, KEARNEY Dr. Nancy Furlow - MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY Dr. Mark Gershon - TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Dr. Philippe Gregoire - UNIVERSITY OF LAVAL, CANADA Dr. Donald Grunewald - IONA COLLEGE Dr. Samanthala Hettihewa - UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT, AUSTRALIA Dr. Russell Kashian - UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, WHITEWATER Dr. Jeffrey Kennedy - PALM BEACH ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Dr. Jerry Knutson - AG EDWARDS Dr. Dean Koutramanis - UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA Dr. Malek Lashgari - UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD Dr. Priscilla Liang - CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, CHANNEL ISLANDS Dr. Tony Matias - MATIAS AND ASSOCIATES Dr. Patti Meglich - UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, OMAHA Dr. Robert Metts - UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO Dr. Adil Mouhammed - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, SPRINGFIELD Dr. Roy Pearson - COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY Dr. Veena Prabhu - CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES Dr. Sergiy Rakhmayil - RYERSON UNIVERSITY, CANADA Dr. Robert Scherer - CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Ira Sohn - MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Reginal Sheppard - UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA Dr. Carlos Spaht - LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, SHREVEPORT Dr. Ken Thorpe - EMORY UNIVERSITY Dr. Robert Tian – SHANTOU UNIVERSITY Dr. Calin Valsan - BISHOP'S UNIVERSITY, CANADA Dr. Anne Walsh - LA SALLE UNIVERSITY Dr. Thomas Verney - SHIPPENSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Christopher Wright - UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA Volume 14(3) ISSN 1499-691X Authors have granted copyright consent to allow that copies of their article may be made for personal or internal use. This does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale. Any consent for republication, other than noted, must be granted through the publisher: North American Business Press, Inc. Atlanta - Seattle – South Florida - Toronto ©Journal of Applied Business and Economics 2013 For submission, subscription or copyright information, contact the editor at: [email protected] Subscription Price: US$ 360/yr Our journals are indexed by UMI-Proquest-ABI Inform, EBSCOHost, GoogleScholar, and listed with Cabell's Directory of Periodicals, Ulrich's Listing of Periodicals, Bowkers Publishing Resources, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Canada. Our journals have been used to support the Academically Qualified (AQ) faculty classification by all recognized business school accrediting bodies. This Issue What Did the Hair Dryer Cost?............................................................................................................... 11 Thomas E. Buttross, George Schmelzle This case demonstrates the various types of “costs” that students will be exposed to in a cost/managerial accounting course. This case, a simple example of a student replacing a hair dryer, can be presented on the first day of class and can introduce students, in an interesting way, to many different cost calculations along with the justification for each calculation. The purpose of the case is to stimulate discussion the first day of class and to help students appreciate the complexity and usefulness of cost accounting systems. Investigating the Impact of Economic Uncertainties on Attendance of Premier League Soccer in the United Kingdom and Major League Soccer in the United States .................................. 16 Ross Peterman, Nichaya Suntornpithug This research analyzes correlation of attendance of English Premier League and Major League Soccer to their respective nations’ household disposable incomes from 2002 through 2008. By examining professional soccer attendance in countries with a vast discrepancy in soccer popularity throughout a period of economic uncertainty, fan behavior is greater understood. Evaluation of Mechanisms for Globalizing Information Systems Programs ...................................... 24 Anu Gokhale As US businesses continue to grow their international presence, they need professionals who understand the practices in other parts of the world. This is most applicable for Information Technology and Information Systems related professionals who frequently communicate with vendors and clients outside the US. Research establishes that US educational programs in information systems and technology would be strengthened by enhancing student and faculty knowledge of technology deployment models and business practices as well as the culture and customs in other parts of the world. This Delphi study surveyed faculty and students to investigate more effective mechanisms to accomplish this goal. Virtues of Investment Fund Recommendations: Consumer Reports and Money Magazine ............... 35 C. Edward Chang, Thomas M. Krueger In February 2007, Consumer Reports (CR) and Money magazine (MM) published investment fund recommendations. CR recommended only mutual funds while about one fifth (13 of 67) of MM selections were exchange-traded funds. Enough time has now passed to allow for a rigorous evaluation of these two selections. The findings of this study consistently laud the performance of both recommendations, because both significantly outperform category averages. The abnormal performance of CR funds appears to arise from minimizing risk, whereas MM funds’ strength lies in reducing costs and making selections that will benefit more from market advances. What Drives Employee Stock Options Programs? Safeguarding Human Capital and Recruiting Wanted Skills ..................................................................................................... 53 Yu Peng Lin We believe that the investments in firm-specific human capital are at risk from employee turnovers and that a firm’s productivity is improved when capital and skill are better matched. We extend the attraction and retention justifications associated with employee stock options programs by hypothesizing that such programs are used more often by firms that invest in employee training and new physical capital. Our hypotheses are largely borne out in our panel of 219 U.S. firms between 1990 and 1999. The empirical results support a positive association between the likelihood of employee stock option programs adoption and investments in employee training and physical capital. Empirical Analysis of Bicultural Border College Students’ Attitudes Toward Money ....................... 70 Yeong Nain Chi, Gaurango Banerjee The objectives of this study were to investigate bicultural border college business students’ attitudes toward money, and to use the results to educate students about the possible impacts of their money attitude dimensions on their financial behavior patterns. A questionnaire survey using five-point Likert- type Money Attitude scale developed by Yamauchi and Templer (1982) was employed. Empirical results based on the K-means cluster analysis identified three groups of respondents. Statistical analyses revealed that there were significant differences between the money attitude dimensions with respect to cluster, gender and student classification. The New Economic Reality and the Unemployment Rate: Will It Ever Get Below 5% Again? ......................................................................................................... 83 Robert L. Howard, Belinda P. Shipps The unemployment rate has been at 8% or higher during most months since June 2009, when the last recession ended. In the past, the unemployment rate rose during recessions, continued to rise after the official end of the recession, but then declined substantially. Some changes have occurred in the current economy, however, which may prevent the normal decline in the unemployment rate after our most recent recession. We evaluate these and make a conclusion of their impact on the unemployment rate and society. Foreign Direct Investment Flows: An Examination of Its Distribution Among Middle- and Low-Income Countries ........................................................................................ 108 Gabriel Manrique, Val Vlad, Yanping Chong The potential effects foreign direct investment (FDI) has on growth and employment have led many developing countries to compete for FDI. In a period of rapid globalization the competition for FDI inflows has become intense. We examine factors that affect the distribution of relative shares of FDI flows among low- and middle-income developing countries using panel data. We use a simultaneous equations model to account for the bidirectional determination between the FDI stock and FDI flow. Estimation results demonstrate that countries with higher GDP growth rates, lower tax rates, smaller cost of business start-up, less corruption and higher secondary school enrollment are more successful in attracting FDI. Risk, Return, and Income Mix at Commercial Banks: Cross-Country Evidence ...........................