Karyn Neuhauser

On the Use of Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices in the Classroom: Evidence From a Survey of Faculty and Students

The authors investigated faculty and student perceptions regarding the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in the classroom. Students differed markedly from faculty, with students exhibiting much greater acceptance of in-class use of technology. Among students, the authors found that gender affected perceptions. Specifically, male students were more accepting of in-class use of technology than were female students. Also, graduate students were more disturbed by off-task use of laptop computers in class than their undergraduate counterparts. This research should be of interest to postsecondary educators and administrators in attempting to bridge the student-faculty generation gap, and in formulating policies regarding the use of electronic devices in the classroom.

Survey research in finance

Purpose - To provide an introduction for the special issue on surveys, to give an overview of the survey literature and debate, and to provide direction for future research using the survey method. Design/methodology/approach - Survey of the relevant literature. Findings - The survey technique can be productively applied to a large number of finance topics but researchers must be careful to incorporate the same degree of rigor used with other research methods. Originality/value - Summarizes and ties together the papers included in the special issue and explains the overall contribution of the special issue on surveys.

Is Liquidity Symmetric? A Study of Newly Listed Internet and Technology Stocks

Imbedded in liquidity measures is an implicit assumption of symmetry. Although market microstructure models rely on this assumption, there may be directional pressure that creates differences in buy and sell liquidity. This paper develops methods of assessing asymmetric liquidity and empirically examines a sample of newly listed Internet and technology stocks that are hypothesized to be especially subject to asymmetry due to the rapid inflation and deflation of the Internet bubble. Evidence of asymmetric liquidity is observed and the level of asymmetry is found to change over time. These findings suggest that the assumption of symmetry is inconsistent with more precisely constructed market liquidity measures.

The Global Financial Crisis: what have we learned so far?

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to provide a cohesive review of the major findings in the literature concerning the Global Financial Crisis. Design/methodology/approach - – Papers published in top-rated finance and economics journal since the crisis up to the present were reviewed. A large number of these were selected for inclusion, primarily based on the number of citations they had received adjusted for the amount of time elapsed since their publication, but also partly based on how well they fit in with the narrative. Findings - – Much has been done to investigate the causes of the Global Financial Crisis, its effects on various aspects of the financial system, and the effectiveness of regulatory measures undertaken to restore the financial system. While more remains to be done, the existing body of research paints an interesting picture of what happened and why it happened, describes the interrelationships between the mortgage markets and financial markets created by the large scale securitization of financial assets, identifies the problems created by these inter-linkages and offers possible solutions, and assesses the effectiveness of the regulatory response to the crisis. Originality/value - – This study summarizes a vast amount of literature using a framework that allows the reader to quickly absorb a large amount of information as well as identify specific works that they may wish to examine more closely. By providing a picture of what has been done, it may also assist the reader in identifying areas that should be the subject of future research.

An analysis of failed takeover attempts and merger cancellations

Purpose - This study seeks to analyze the differences between merger cancellations and three types of takeover failures: failures that are associated with targeted share repurchases (greenmail), failures in which the sole bidder simply withdraws the offer, and failures that are accompanied by a general share repurchase (buyback). Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses event study methods and regression analysis. Findings - The paper observes negative target stock price reactions around all types of takeover failures and merger cancellations. However, the cumulative effect of takeover attempts is positive, suggesting that even unsuccessful tender offers generate permanent gains to target firm shareholders, while the cumulative effect of canceled mergers is negative. Furthermore, the market reaction to greenmail-induced takeover failure announcements is no worse than that of voluntary withdrawals, suggesting that greenmail may play an efficient role in mitigating the effects of takeover bid withdrawals. Finally, while bidder wealth is destroyed in takeover failures, the effect of merger cancellations on bidders is considerably more devastating. Originality/value - The paper provides evidence of negative stock price reactions to all forms of merger failure. The paper also shows that the cumulative effect of all types of takeover failures is still positive: suggesting that being put into play is still beneficial overall but that canceled mergers destroy value for both targets and bidders. The paper shows that the market reaction to greenmail-induced failure announcements is no worse than other forms of failure. Finally, while there is an immediate downturn in target prices around a failure, the negative outcome is more severe for the bidders. Thus, the market sees that there was something useful about the anticipated change in corporate control, which was lost when it failed to be completed.

Are all dividends created equal? Australian evidence using dividend-increase track records

Recent research indicates that the signal sent by a dividend change is more powerful for longer histories of unchanged dividends. We study the dividend history of Australian firms to investigate whether the signalling power of a dividend increase varies with the frequency of repetition. We find that the first three consecutive dividend increases are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns, and subsequent increases are generally not significant, even after controlling for the interaction effect with the simultaneously announced earnings information. Our results support the hypothesis that repeating a dividend increase eventually leads to a reputation for further increases and weakens the value of subsequent increases as a means of disseminating managements private information.