This paper studies the structure of collaboration in the Journal of Finance for the period 1980-2009 using publication data from the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). There are 3,840 publications within this period, out of which 58% are collaborations. These collaborations form 405 components, with the giant component capturing approximately 54% of total coauthors (it is estimated that the upper limit of distinct JF coauthors is 2,536, obtained from the total number of distinct author keywords found within the study period). In comparison, the second largest component has only 13 members. The giant component has mean degree 3 and average distance 8.2. It exhibits power-law scaling with exponent a = 3.5 for vertices with degree C5. Based on the giant component, the degree, closeness and betweenness centralization score, as well as the hubs/authorities score is determined. The findings indicate that the most important vertex on the giant component coincides with Sheridan Titman based on his top ten ranking on all four scores.

Results of studies from various fields suggest gaps in knowledge and needed research to help understand the factors that explain degrees of vulnerability among the aged to marketing communications. Suggesting the employment of more global measures of consumer vulnerability in relation to consumer welfare, a blueprint that encompasses emergent theories and methods of studying behavior in social science is presented to guide future research on older consumers' vulnerability. Insights gained from new conceptualizations and methodologies relevant to the study of older consumers' vulnerability may better inform public policy initiatives.

This research examines compulsive buying as an impulse‐control disorder, a form of maladaptive behavior believed to have its roots in early‐in‐life experiences of family adversities. Unlike previous research that has typically studied only the effects of family divorce on compulsive buying, this study examines the effects of disruptive family events within the broader multitheoretical life course framework. A sample of 327 young adults is used to test the hypothesized relationships derived from the main life course perspectives. The results show alternate paths leading to compulsive buying, beyond those uncovered in previous studies. By offering a broader overarching framework, the article shows how previous efforts to study compulsive buying can be improved, pointing to the value of the multitheoretical life course approach in understanding consumption phenomena.

Compulsive buying affects the well-being of millions of consumers globally by resulting in depression, unmanageable debt, and lower satisfaction with life. This research examines the mechanisms that link aversive family events experienced in childhood to compulsive buying tendencies in early adulthood. The article develops a set of hypotheses derived from the main theoretical perspectives of the multi-theoretical life course paradigm, and it uses a sample of 492 young adults to test them. The results suggest that social processes are the underlying mechanisms that promote the development of compulsive buying tendencies. Family disruptions reduce intangible family resources that then shape the nature of interactions with peers and parents. Peer communications in formative years are directly linked to both obsessive-compulsive and impulse-control dimensions of compulsive buying in early adulthood. The study findings help interpret and integrate previous research streams on compulsive buying from different fields of social sciences. Implications of the findings are offered along with directions for further research.

Although hearing loss afflicts millions of adults globally, most of them elderly, a relatively small percentage of them purchase hearing aids, and buyers regularly delay purchase for years. This study provides explanations for the likelihood and timing of the purchase of hearing aids. Data from a large-scale national mail survey of 507 hearingimpaired persons in the United States reveal that consumers do not make decisions in a time vacuum or in isolation from previous life experiences. Rather, their hearing aid purchase decision is time dependent, and time exerts different effects on consumers depending on their stage in life. Because hearing impairment is a condition experienced by consumers globally, the study findings have implications for theory and practice worldwide.