We’ve all seen the photos of people queuing outside stores, eager to buy the latest hot product. “Buying frenzies” are a favorite topic in the media, and everyone has an opinion about them, and many may have even joined such a queue for a mobile phone or game console. One of Hong Kong’s most notable buying frenzies occurred when Apple released its iPad 2 in ... Read More

The financial sector plays a central role in the modern economy, as is evident from the wide and deep macroeconomic impact of the global financial crisis in 2007–2009. There are at least two channels through which the financial sector can influence the “real economy” -- the part concerned with producing goods and services -- namely the financing of capital ... Read More

Diet Crystal Pepsi was launched in 1992 after getting a strong response in test markets, but a year later the product was pulled from the shelves after weak sales. Similarly, Frito Lay Lemonade and countless other products that passed the pilot phase went on to be failures. How could there be such a mismatch of early promise and subsequent performance? ... Read More

Short selling is undoubtedly a controversial activity; it is motivated by the belief that the price of the stock will decline, so it can be bought back at a profit. Previous research has shown that short sellers can identify earnings manipulation and fraud before they are publicly revealed. But this is for earnings manipulation that has already taken place ... Read More

Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB), in which employees contribute to the well-being of their organisation through their voluntary actions, is generally considered critical to organisational performance and long-term viability. Numerous studies have teased out the determinants of OCB, but they have left an important gap: how does it play out in a ... Read More

Accidents, natural disasters, labor strikes, quality issues, machine breakdowns… such supply disruptions are the stuff of nightmares for senior managers. Two strategies widely used to mitigate these problems are source diversification and demand/pricing management. Researchers Xiting Gong, Xiuli Chao and Shaohui Zheng studied more efficient strategies of ... Read More

Why and when do forced sales of assets result in discounts of “fire sale” proportions? Although it is known that fire sale discounts exist and can be substantial, it has been difficult to identify when forced sales result in fire sale discounts. Forced sales are typically triggered by industry-wide or asset-specific adverse shocks that affect both supply and ... Read More

“Consumers that viewed item j also viewed items j .” Anyone who regularly shops at popular online sites such as Amazon.com, Target.com and Staples.com, will be familiar with this feature, along with “consumers that viewed item j ultimately purchased items j ”. Availability of such online consumer data provides new ways for marketers to better understand ... Read More

A one-off event provided HKUST researchers with an unparalleled opportunity to investigate a “hot topic” related to stock markets: post-earnings announcement drift, or PEAD. It is defined as a significantly positive relation between currently announced earnings “surprises” (when results are above or below expectations) and subsequent stock returns. What ... Read More

The venture capital (VC) industry plays an important role in supporting entrepreneurship and innovations in a range of industries. It functions as a gatekeeper, selecting promising new ventures for continued investment and support. It also serves as an intermediary, linking capital providers—large institutions such as endowments, foundations, and pension ... Read More