Strategic management decisions and actions involving international joint venture formations are significant to many firms and have major economic consequences. Previous empirical evidence on the effects of joint venture formation announcements on shareholder wealth reveals that firm value is more often positively impacted. However, many previous analyses of shareholder wealth from joint venture formations do not fully explore cross-sectional differences in managerial incentives to pursue these international investments. The primary purpose of this study is to exploit these cross-sectional differences using agency theory to explain managerial behavior and subsequent shareholder effects. This study capitalizes on agency theory’s notion that managers are not necessarily motivated solely by the maximization of firm value, but instead are interested in maximizing their own utility. The study’s findings are consistent with agency theoretic hypotheses based on a broad cross-section of international joint ventures. Results demonstrate that shareholder returns to international joint venture formation exhibit considerable variability and, importantly, are at least partially explained by cross-sectional differences in agency incentives. Specifically, returns to shareholders are positively related to the level of managerial ownership and inversely related to the level of free cash flow. Moreover, a positive relation is found between shareholder returns and the joint interaction between leverage and free cash flow. These findings indicate that the effect of international joint venture formation on shareholder value is not uniform and, more importantly is at least partly influenced by managers’ agency incentives.

Relatively little is known of the cognitive and perceptual abilities of mandrill monkeys (Mandrillus sphinx). Here, we document how seven adult mandrills were trained to effectively use a touchscreenmediated testing system. Upon mastering use of this device, subjects were presented with two automated discrimination tasks; one requiring discrimination of the target from an array of distracters using color, the second requiring discrimination by shape. Examination of individual differences in both training and testing performance provided evidence that position in the social hierarchy and circumstances of the testing environment impacted learning. Further, examination of error production revealed that errors were not distributed randomly, with subjects being attracted to a biologically relevant color and a shape that was featurally similar to the target.

This study investigates the formation of international joint ventures into emerging markets and the corresponding implications to shareholder wealth. Empirical evidence from this study reveals that formation of international joint ventures into emerging markets are value enhancing for shareholders. The formation of international joint ventures increases firm value by more than 1%, on average. This study also investigates two important factors for their influence on the market's assessment of the joint venture formation-the complexity of the joint venture and the political risk of the host country. Evidence in this study reveals that less complex ventures into emerging markets reap significantly greater shareholder wealth effects relative to more complex ventures. Evidence also reveals that shareholders receive a risk premium for accepting greater political risk. In addition to understanding the ramifications of international joint venture formation, this study has relevance for managers' site selection decisions when considering venture complexity and the political risk of emerging markets.

Purpose This study aims to examine several hypotheses, in conjunction with fundamental accounting concepts, to explain variations in the explanatory power of earnings for returns. Design/methodology/approach The authors explore three factors for their impact on the explanatory power of earnings. First, the accounting period preceding the earnings report is characterized by distinct intratemporal subperiod behavior. Recognizing this intratemporal nonstationarity is hypothesized to increase the explanatory power of earnings. Second, disaggregation of earnings into operating components is hypothesized to increase the explanatory power of earnings. Moreover, joint consideration of these first two factors is investigated. Third, the authors hypothesize that recognizing fundamental accounting concepts such as timeliness, predictive value, objectivity and verifiability offer key insights into the explanatory power of earnings. Findings The authors explore a sample of firms with management forecasts, which yields natural intratemporal subperiods – preforecast, forecast and realization periods – to generate hypotheses rooted in fundamental accounting concepts. The empirical evidence shows that recognition of nonstationary intratemporal behavior and earnings disaggregation yields a significant increase in the explanatory power of earning for returns. These findings are linked to fundamental concepts of accounting information. Originality/value This study is unique as it examines the joint role of nonstationarity and disaggregation in assessing the information conveyed in earnings. Importantly, results on these factors are linked to fundamental accounting concepts of timeliness, predictive value, objectivity and verifiability, along with their inherent trade-offs.