Browsing by Author "Johnson, Norman A."
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Item Achieving Higher Quality Healthcare at Lower Costs: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of Accountable Care Organization(2017) Nwafor, Onyi; Johnson, Norman A.Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of healthcare organizations that agree to assume joint responsibility for the quality and costs of care for a defined patient population. - 1,000 (or 20%) of US hospitals participating. - 28 million beneficiaries. - Expected to reach 105 million persons in 2020. - Start-up and operating costs: $11.6 million - $26.1 million.Item Can Threats and Fear Foster Security? Cognitive and Emotive Forces of Fear Appeals on Information Security Behavior(2018-12) Durner, Vanessa; Cooper, Randolph; Elfenbein, Hillary Anger; Grimes, G. Mark; Johnson, Norman A.; Patrick-Ralhan, Vanessa M.Individual users can create vulnerabilities in an organization’s information security by carelessness, negligence, and/or noncompliance with security policies and procedures, so it is important for organizations to motivate employees’ security behavior. Fear appeals are messages designed to motivate behavioral change by describing a threat associated with a behavior, but existing theories fail to explain how a fear appeal evokes fear and how fear influences behavior. A better understanding of the factors influencing responses to information security fear appeals would help organizations to design security messages in ways that increase their persuasive effectiveness. Therefore, this dissertation offers theoretical and empirical work to expand knowledge about these factors. This research develops an emotion process model and a behavior process model for fear appeal threats, based on a synthesis of theories from psychology, organizational behavior, and neuroscience. These models were tested in a series of experimental studies to investigate how threat-based message components can drive emotion and cognition to motivate appropriate security behavior. The first study consisted of a lab experiment that manipulated each message component (threat severity, threat vulnerability, and emotional interest) in a separate stimulus to determine its influence on an individual’s feeling state. The second study consisted of a lab experiment that manipulated combinations of fear appeal components to determine the influence of their interactions on an individual’s feeling state. The results of these experiments indicate that fear appeals influence an individual’s feeling state in different ways, depending on the fear appeal’s composition. The third study consisted of a field experiment that investigated the degree to which fear appeals motivate individuals to improve their password behavior. The results of this experiment indicate that feeling state fully mediates the relationship between a fear appeal’s threat verbalization and an individual’s beliefs, where those beliefs subsequently influence attitude, intention, and observed and perceived behavior associated with password use. This dissertation thus provides evidence that security messages can leverage emotion to motivate individuals to perform appropriate security behavior.Item Essays in Asset Allocation(2016-05) Gao, Xin; Jacobs, Kris; Nardari, Federico; Susmel, Raul; Johnson, Norman A.This dissertation consists of two essays in asset allocation. In the first essay, I explore the question of how investors should optimally incorporate commodities in their multi-asset portfolios, or even if they should at all. To tackle this problem, I conduct a comprehensive out-of-sample assessment on the economic value of commodities in multi-asset investment strategies for both mean-variance and non-mean-variance investors who exploit the predictability of time-varying asset return moments. With both monthly and quarterly rebalancing frequencies, I find that predictability makes the addition of commodities profitable even when short-selling and high leverage are not permitted. For instance, a mean-variance (non mean-variance) investor rebalancing quarterly, with moderate risk aversion and leverage, would be willing to pay up to 108 (155) basis points per year after transaction cost for adding commodities into her stock, bond and cash portfolio. In the second essay, I study the economic value generated by active equity mutual funds from an investor’s perspective. I employ an optimization-based portfolio approach to construct a composite investment strategy of U.S. active equity mutual funds. The strategy jointly exploits the conditioning information conveyed by multiple fund characteristics and macroeconomic variables about the cross-section of fund performance. Based on an extensive out-of-sample performance evaluation, I find that the proposed strategy consistently outperforms a large set of passive investments that rely on index funds as well as the strategies that exploit the fund characteristics on an individual basis. The outperformance is net of fees and expenses and after precluding short-sales and leverage. I further show that the proposed strategy’s superior performance derives from effectively exploiting the predictive power of distinct fund characteristics to shift portfolio allocation toward (away from) funds with future outperformance (underperformance) as market conditions evolve over time. The findings indicate that investing in active equity mutual funds can add significant economic value for investors if the time-varying predictability in fund performance is properly taken into account and if an optimal portfolio approach, as opposed to simpler strategies based on sorting or on equal-weighted schemes, is adopted.Item Essays on Asset Pricing in Currency Markets(2021-12) MA, Mark; Susmel, Raul; Jacobs, Kris; Doshi, Hitesh; Johnson, Norman A.The first essay, “The Cross-Section of Idiosyncratic Volatility and Expected Returns in Currency Markets” studies the effect of idiosyncratic volatility (IV OL) in currency markets. In equity markets, Ang et al. (2006) and Ang et al. (2009) show that stocks with higher IVOL have lower returns. This negative relation between IV OL and returns is called the “idiosyncratic volatility puzzle.” We study whether the same IV OL puzzle exists in currency markets. We measure IV OL based on the model proposed by Verdelhan (2018). We use daily data for 33 major currencies ranged from July 2006 to March 2021. We find that the IVOL puzzle also exists in currency markets, especially for developing markets currencies. We also analyze the sources of IVOL from the perspective of global government governance, central bank autonomy, currency regime and financial crisis, and national culture. The currency regime and currency crisis are the key dominant sources of IVOL. The second essay, “Beta and Semibetas in Currency Markets,” decomposes the CAPM-beta in currency markets, following Bollerslev et al. (2019), in Semi- βs. We compute four Semi-βs: βN (computed from the covariance when the market and the currency have both negative returns), βP (computed from the covariance when the market and the currency have both positive returns), βM− (computed from the covariance when the market has a negative return and the currency has a positive return), and βM+ (computed from the covariance when the market has a positive return and the currency has a negative return). We find strong support for the pricing of β. The significance and positive pricing of β is robust to different specifications, sample composition, and level of aggregation. With respect to the semi-βs, only βP is priced, with a positive sign. This holds for monthly and bi-monthly levels of aggregation. With respect to the upside and downside βs, we find support for the pricing of the downside βs, when controls are included. There are substantialvi dynamic connections among the βs and semi-βs, with the currency semi-βs showing higher linkages than the currency βs.Item Essays on Healthcare Coordination(2018-05) Nwafor, Onyi; Johnson, Norman A.; Robinson, Powell; Sahin, Funda; Keller, Robert T.In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the push for various organizational interventions aimed at improving the coordination of healthcare delivery services. Two examples of such interventions are care coordination teams (CCTs), which are used in hospitals to coordinate patient flow across care units; and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), which are used to coordinate care delivery across healthcare organizations. Despite the widespread adoption of, and continued push for these interventions, there is very little systematic and rigorous research investigating their impacts on operational performance, such that to date, how beneficial they are remains an open question. Research findings in this area have been inconclusive, and there is a lack of theory to explain or reconcile these inconclusive results. This dissertation, which consists of two essays, addresses these shortcomings. The first essay focuses on the value of CCTs to hospitals. Using theories of organizational coordination, we develop hypotheses describing the influence of CCT structure on the efficiency and effectiveness of patient flow processes, and how team-patient coordination causally mediates this direct effect. We test this hypothesis in a field study of CCTs using quasi-experimental methods. The second essay focuses on the recent emergence of ACOs as an organizational form that can promote care coordination across healthcare organizations. Drawing on the contingency theory of organization, we propose and test the hypothesis that input uncertainty, knowledge insufficiency, and prevalence influence hospitals’ decision to participate in ACOs, as well as its effect on cost and quality performance. The theoretical contribution of this dissertation focuses on clarifying how these organizational interventions work to affect performance. The practical contribution focuses on identifying specific elements of the intervention that are most beneficial to hospitals, and conditions under which these interventions work best.Item Essays on Nudges in Information Systems(2021-08) Collier, Cassie Artman; Johnson, Norman A.; Ives, Blake; Cooper, Randolph; Patrick-Ralhan, Vanessa M.; Grimes, G. MarkIndividuals increasingly make important decisions utilizing information systems. Behavioral economics research shows that aspects of a choice-making environment can influence individuals’ decision-making even though they have no impact on the rational elements of the decision. However, this perspective is under-studied in information systems research, which has primarily considered users to be rational actors. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how a particular design element of information systems impacts users’ decision-making in non-rational ways. The design element of interest is nudges, which are aspects of choice architecture that predictably alter decision-makers’ behavior without forbidding options or changing incentives. To date, the efficacy of nudges in IS has been understudied and the investigations that have been completed have been primarily empirical and lacking in theory. The three papers of this dissertation aim to 1) review and organize the existing fragmented IS nudge literature, 2) develop a deep theoretical understanding of a specific nudge type, and 3) empirically investigate this nudge type in a novel context with a theoretical foundation. Specifically, the first paper of this dissertation is a literature review that summarizes the role nudges have played in extant IS literature, analyzes theoretical inconsistencies in the existing research, and provides methodological and theoretical guidance for future IS researchers investigating nudges. The second paper builds on the first by delving into the many competing theoretical explanations for a specific type of nudge: the default nudge, which is a choice that will be selected if the decision-maker does not actively choose. The final paper utilizes work from the first two projects to empirically investigate how default nudges affect decision-makers’ charitable donations online. This empirical work helps to tease apart conflicting theoretical explanations and predictions to unpack what is currently a black box regarding how and why digital nudges impact behavior. It helps us understand charitable donation decision-making by incorporating social value orientation, defaults, and proximity of social norms and using both animation and real-time personalization to capitalize on attributes of the IT artifact. Overall, this dissertation enriches our understanding of nudges in general, but specifically in the context of information systems. The work contributes to future research on IS design and improves our understanding of decision-making online.Item Exploring a Broader View of Technology Acceptance(2010-05) Steel, Douglas; Chin, Wynne W.; Johnson, Norman A.; Penney, Lisa M.; Schwarz, Andrew H.The primary aim of this dissertation is to establish the generalizability of the scale items used to measure 5 psychological acceptance constructs proposed by Schwarz and Chin (2007). While an initial test of validity and reliability was established by Schwarz (2003) using covariance-based structural equation modeling, a stronger test was performed to establish the generalizability of the items through a series of multigroup invariance tests. Having used 3 new independent data sets, we present the results of the combinatorial analyses of 3 pairwise comparisons of the data sets as well as a test comparing all 3 data sets simultaneously. Both confirmatory factor models and structural models were applied to examine whether item measures are identically reliable and whether the relationships among these 5 constructs also remain the same. Structurally, two models incorporating these 5 constructs were applied to predict an overall general acceptance construct and the construct of infusion. While the nomological relationships among these acceptance constructs varied as expected, the correlations and item loadings remain invariant. Therefore, the results answer the questions: (1) Can the acceptance constructs proposed by Schwarz and Chin be captured by reliable and accurate measures? (2) Are these constructs distinct from one another? and (3) Do they act similarly in different contexts? Finally, to provide a platform for more research on workplace outcomes, this research explores the notion of technology infusion, an important form of usage. Given that the 5 psychological acceptance constructs have predictive value toward infusion, we establish a means for further study of the concept.Item Leveraging Online Consumer Interest Tracking Data in Market Response Modeling(2014-08) Damangir, Sina; Du, Rex Y.; Hu, Ye; Blair, Edward A.; Johnson, Norman A.; Tirunillai, SeshadriThis dissertation develops techniques that use the information from online tracking data for analyzing market response. In theory, the observed market response originates from latent characteristics of the market such as consumers’ preference for products and features and the competitive landscape. Understanding these latent characteristics is essential in making high quality marketing decisions. However, finding a reliable and inexpensive proxy for them is a challenge. We explore the possibility of using insights from “big data” sources to better identify these latent characteristics. We apply our techniques to analyze the market for automobiles in the US. In Essay 1, we explore the potential of using trends in online searches for feature-related keywords as proxies for trends in the relative importance consumers place on the corresponding features. The relative importance consumers place on features may vary over time due to factors beyond the control of marketers (e.g., shifts in economic conditions, advances in technology). We make the baseline attractiveness of 70 top-selling automobiles a function of Google Trends indexes for five common features: fuel efficiency, acceleration, body type, cost to buy, and cost to operate. We find strong empirical evidence supporting the notion that the evolution of feature search intensity contains genuine information about shifting consumers’ tastes. In essay 2, we propose a model that identifies (1) the position of products on a latent perceptual map, (2) the consumer segments, and (3) the ideal point of the preference for each segment. The product positions are inferred using a novel approach using big data on online consumers’ activities. We show that our proposed approach performs better than alternative approaches in identifying latent product positions.Item The Role of Emotion in the Newsvendor Problem(2020-08) Forero, Santiago; Johnson, Norman A.; Peng, David Xiaosong; Patrick-Ralhan, Vanessa M.; Zhao, MingThe newsvendor problem is a foundational model for decision making in inventory and supply chain management. In its simplest form, the newsvendor must decide how many units to order of a perishable product that has stochastic demand. This single-period inventory problem sets the groundwork for more complex inventory decisions and has relevant applications in a diverse set of business fields such as capacity allocation, revenue management, and staffing in service industries. The optimal policy prescribing the order quantity that maximizes the expected profit is well documented. Not surprisingly, behavioral studies have found that human decision making deviates from the rational expected-profit-maximizing order. Interestingly, however, two systematic patterns arise when people make these decisions and have been replicated across multiple studies for almost two decades. First, when individuals adjust their order quantity over consecutive periods, they tend to do so in the direction of the most recent demand realization. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as demand-chasing. Second, when order quantities are averaged across periods, they tend to fall between mean demand and the optimal order quantity. This pattern has come to be known as the pull-to-center effect. Existing literature suggests dispositional factors, like whether people tend to follow an anchoring and insufficient adjustment heuristic, may explain these patterns. However, these studies have primarily assumed an observer’s perspective and have failed to identify what the cognitive mechanism that explains why people choose a particular order quantity is. Supporting this claim, a recently published literature survey concluded that there is a lack of understanding of what the cognitive processes that drive ordering behavior are and hence, it is unclear what the underlying explanation for these effects is. This dissertation addresses these shortcomings in two essays. The first essay focuses on demand-chasing. By considering the actor’s perspective, we show that the situation in which decisions are made in the newsvendor problem explains why people chase demand, and thus dispositional inferences are unwarranted. In an experimental setting, we test our hypotheses which are based on counterfactual thinking theory and find that decision makers experience a negative cognitive-based emotion—regret—, and this emotion predicts demand-chasing behavior. The second essay focuses on the pull-to-center effect. Having identified, in our first essay, a crucial cognitive mechanism through which ordering behavior can be explained, we develop hypotheses describing the influence such mechanism has on average order quantities being pulled-to-center. Results show that as decision makers chase demand their average order quantity is more pulled-to-center, but this effect is contingent on the level of knowledge individuals have about the newsvendor problem. In conjunction, these essays provide a comprehensive understanding of decision making in the newsvendor problem by identifying a cognitive-based emotion resulting from situational factors and showing how it affects ordering behavior in the form of demand-chasing, which in turn affects aggregate level patterns and performance. The theoretical implications of this dissertation focus on explaining why people order what they do and providing a single unifying mechanism through which past findings can be interpreted and reconciled. The practical implications focus on specific managerial actions that help mitigate the deleterious effects of self-blame that occur when people regret the choice they made.