Richa Panchgaur   Ashish Kumar Verma   and Alok Kumar   

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the economic well-being of rural households, forcing them to adopt a new survival strategy. The adverse effects of the lockdown were most acutely felt by the rural population, given their pre-existing deprivation in terms of living standards, access to daily necessities, and financial resources. This study aims to evaluate the economic status of rural households amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the present study explores the deprivation in the average monthly income of households from the period before the COVID-19 pandemic to the time of the survey. This study is based on cross sectional data of 300 households in 30 villages of Varanasi district situated in northern region of India and eastern region of Uttar Pradesh. Logistic regression was used for assessing the concern of economical needs and Wilcoxon sign rank test was used for measuring the change in average monthly income of the households. Households belonging to OBC, SC/ST, and other minority categories had 6.71 and 9.14 times higher odds of facing a lack of daily necessities, including rations, during the pandemic. Moreover, there was a significant difference observed in average monthly income of the households according to the socio demographic characteristics of the households. This study sheds light on the disparities and challenges faced by rural households during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions and support mechanisms to address the economic vulnerabilities within these communities.

Imed Daly   Emna Jaballah   and Lassaad Lakhal   

This study aims to analyze the impact of decisional, contractual, and relational determinants on the success of information technology (IT) outsourcing in Tunisian companies. To meet this objective, a conceptual model has been developed to explain the relationship between factors identified through the literature review and IT outsourcing success. This model will be verified empirically by adopting the structural equations model method on a database collected from 130 Tunisian companies that have outsourced some or all of their information technology functions. The empirical results of this research reveal that IT outsourcing success is not entirely determined by decision-making factors. However, contractual quality and relationship quality are critical to IT outsourcing success. Three recommendations are proposed to help companies improve IT outsourcing success: (1) Companies are required to avoid outsourcing elements of their information Technology (IT) that are closely tied to their core business, as this can negatively impact outsourcing success. (2) They need to establish clear, detailed, and well-structured outsourcing contracts to ensure they receive the expected service quality from providers. (3) The company is asked to establish a climate of trust and cooperation with its service provider.

Callistus Tabansi Okeke   Clement I. Ezeanyaeji   Chibuike R. Oguanobi   and Ogochukwu T. Ugwunna   

Quasi-success guarantee of Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme has placed it at the crest of entrepreneurial incubator known to mankind. The study examined the relationship between the Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme and entrepreneurial orientation in Anambra state, Nigeria. The study was anchored on the social exchange theory (SET) to bring out the potency and the impact of exchange of activities between masters/Ndi-Oga and their apprentices/Umu-Boi through the mechanism of entrepreneurial orientation. Survey research design was adopted for this study. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses from members of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) that passed through the scheme and currently have their own apprentices. The hypotheses of the models were tested using E-View Software Ver.10. The findings from the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between the dimensions (Source of Seed-Capital at the End of Apprentices Indentureship, Exposure of Business Owners to the Apprenticeship Scheme and Business Turn Over) of the Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme and the five dimensions (Autonomy, Competitive Aggressiveness, Innovativeness, Proactiveness and Risk Taking Ability) of entrepreneurial orientation in Anambra state, Nigeria and therefore concluded that the Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme is distinctive and dynamic since, at completion of the apprenticeship, the apprentices who pass through the scheme receive seed capitals/equipment to start their own businesses/workshops. The study proffers the following recommendations amongst others that: the Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme should be used to cultivate an innovative mindset, this equips them with the skills needed to thrive in competitive business environments; the Igbo apprenticeship (Igba Boi) scheme will be pivotal in nurturing a culture of innovation, proactiveness and resilience needed to embrace risk-taking as an essential aspect of entrepreneurship among apprentices.

Sandeep Bhattacharjee   

This paper applies the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck technique to investigate price corrections within the area of top blue-chip equities. This article also examines the characteristics and performance of prominent blue-chip companies, which are usually considered the cornerstone of reliable, long-term investment portfolios. Blue-chip stocks represent large, financially stable corporations with a history of steady performance, substantial market capitalization, and a reputation for dependability. These stocks are shares of major, well-established, and financially reliable firms with a solid reputation for stability and performance. Most often, they are leaders in their field, making them appealing to both individual and institutional investors seeking lower-risk, predictable returns over time. Investors consider blue-chip firms for their steady balance sheets, continuous revenue, profitability, and low debt levels. Many blue-chip corporations pay dividends, delivering regular and usually growing payments to shareholders. Therefore, understanding these stochastic price corrections is vital for investors and market analysts attempting to manage volatility and enhance trading strategies. In this research paper, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model, a stochastic differential equation, is employed due to its proficiency in describing mean-reverting behavior found in financial markets. By estimating parameters such as the mean reversion rate, long-term mean, and volatility using historical price data, the model provides insights into the dynamics of price corrections over time. Through simulations and empirical analysis, this study illustrates how the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process can offer valuable predictions and assessments of price corrections for five major blue-chip stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Tesla, using Python version 3.10.14. This approach aids investors in making informed decisions within the dynamic landscape of blue-chip stock investments. The analysis results indicate that although differences exist between the actual price movements of all observed blue-chip stocks, Brownian movements for these stocks are close to zero. Although different points of oscillation were observed for each blue-chip stock, a similar mean-reverting behavior was identified across all measured stocks. Thus, it can be concluded that the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model, combined with Brownian motion, is a crucial method for mean reversion that effectively manages stochastic price corrections for leading blue-chip stocks.

Tomasi Mutya   and Robert Agwot Komakech   

Advancement of Mobile Money (MoMo) promotes inclusive finance for economic development in developing countries. Although mobile devices have wide coverage in developing countries like Uganda, the MoMo adoption rate is not aligned. Improving the MoMo adoption frequency may reduce inequality, poverty, and hunger, and enable innovations in low-income countries. Thus, the study examines the antecedent factors of MoMo adoption in Uganda, using a modified UTAUT2 model. Quantitative data was collected from 302 MoMo users (MTN and Airtel), and a systematic sampling technique was applied. The structural equation model was used for analysis. Findings indicate that perceived convenience, perceived credibility, price, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and performance expectancy impact MoMo adoption, while hedonic motivation was insignificant. These findings provide valuable insights for financial institutions, telecom firms, and central banks on the factors that drive MoMo adoption and can help enhance customer satisfaction and referral base while promoting sustainable financial inclusion through 1) provision of customised mobile applications that require less effort, 2) regular system maintenance by telecom companies to ensure uninterrupted mobile money performance, 3) promoting group saving schemes with mobile money to encourage more people to adopt and use it, 4) pricing strategies being equitable and transparent, 5) government agencies like the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) advertising credible telecom companies, 6) telecom companies and financial institutions supporting mobile money agents with uninterrupted liquidity to serve rural communities. The study contributes to digital finance literature and provides practical insights for the future.

Nitish Kumar Arya   

This paper provides new empirical evidence for the existing literature on tax buoyancy in the Indian tax system. The objectives of this paper are to identify the relation between gross tax revenue (GTR) and gross domestic product (GDP) at constant and current market prices in India by fitting a log-regression model with an interaction variable to the stationary time series data based on augmented Dicky Fuller and Phillips-Parron tests for the period 1950–51 to 2021–22. The result shows that the GTR to GDP ratio is increasing at a constant rate with the increase in GDP during the pre-tax reform period (1950-51 to 1991-92) in India. And gross tax buoyancy estimate is more than unity during post tax reform (1991-92 to 2021-22) and the entire study span (pre-reform period and post-reform period) evincing the fact that the ratio of GTR to GDP is increasing with the increase in gross domestic product at a constant market price during post tax reform period and overall period (1950-51 to 2021-22). One of the major findings that have emerged from our study is that there is a unidirectional causality running from aggregated income to aggregated tax revenue. The tax system performs poorly in mobilising revenue, and the tax revenue of India is low by international standards. Tax revenue exhibits high buoyancy with income, particularly in the secondary sector, indicating significant potential for revenue generation through rising incomes. These findings highlight the necessity for coordinated government efforts to implement appropriate policy measures for effective tax design and administration.

Mohammed Itma   

This study discusses the impact of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip on the housing demand of the West Bank and argues that encouraging the rental sector is an important strategy to reduce these impacts. The study analyses the institutional database and observes the changing demand for housing in the West Bank during the first half of 2024. It also interviews 30 decision-makers and investors to explore how the war influenced the market for both ownership and rental housing sectors. The study results sustain the failure of both ownership and rental sectors to contain the housing crises caused by poverty, shortage of supply, and increasing prices. The war created influential factors on housing demand, such as changing residential places and seeking low-cost housing. Such factors result from the renewed needs of householders in wartime based on decreasing safety requirements in some areas, decreasing many householders' income, and shortage of housing financing. The main finding of the study sustains that adapting the over-facilitation of homeownership as a primary housing policy in the West Bank for the last three decades, simultaneously with the exaggeration in protecting the tenants of residential properties, has caused the weakness of the housing sector in facing the sudden change in demand resulting from the war. The study further discusses a proposed guideline for maintaining the current rental sector to contain this crisis.

Richa Kalpesh Saxena   Abhishek Budki   and Anish Gupta   

Financial technology has seen significant growth in providing financial services. This growth, however, is not immune from the emerging risks that can cause a hurdle for FinTech adoption. This study explores the influence of consumer risk perceptions on FinTech platforms with the help of data collected from 200 individuals. For this research, only payment services and trading platforms were included, while crypto and blockchain could have also been meaningful parts to explore in this study. The study developed and tested the hypothesis based on eight independent variables against the risk and benefit perceptions of FinTech platforms using regression. The results indicate that the "Security and Privacy Risk" & "Functional and Regulatory Risk" together explained a significant amount of variance in risk-benefit perceptions of FinTech. Thus, it can be concluded that FinTech companies must divert their efforts to reduce consumer perceptions of safety and functional risks to better appeal to them. Further, the differences between the FinTech platforms were assessed using Tukey's HSD test performed to one-way ANOVA. The results for this test stated that the "Functional and Regulatory Risk" proved GPay to be preferred over PayTM and Other platforms. An independent factor t-test was also conducted, which concluded that the male gender is more sensitive to the "Security and Privacy Risk." Other than providing new directions for future research in the developing FinTech domain, the findings of this research may be crucial to FinTech companies, policy makers, and banks for B2B purposes.

Mutiara Ria Despita Maharani   Titin Agustina   Ati Kusmiati   Yuli Hariyati   Ebban Bagus Kuntadi   and Agus Supriono   

Indonesia, as the world's first TSNR exporter, is not necessarily able to compete with Thailand in the international market. Indonesia's natural rubber productivity is relatively low compared to Thailand, which has caused several TSNR factories to stop operating. The existence of global competition requires TSNR Indonesia to be able to compete with Thailand. The aim of this research is to analyze the competitiveness, market position and export development potential of TSNR Indonesia and Thailand. This research uses quantitative analytical methods. The data analysis used is RCA (Revealed Comparative Advantage), EPD (Export Product Dynamic) and X-Model Potential Export Products. The research results show that Indonesia and Thailand's TSNR exports have a high comparative advantage in the five export markets. Indonesia's TSNR exports do not have a competitive advantage in the five export destination countries, while Thailand's TSNR exports have a competitive advantage in the United States, India and South Korea. Indonesia's TSNR export markets are the United States, Japan, China and India as potential markets and South Korea as a less potential market. Thailand's TSNR export markets in the United States, India and South Korea are optimistic markets, while Japan and China are potential markets.

Md Imran Hossain Milon   Mohammad Abdul Hannan Pradhan   and Mahmuda Sultana   

The relationship between external debt and economic growth is crucial for developing countries. Furthermore, external debt is considered a double-edged sword for emerging nations like Bangladesh. Excessive borrowing may lead to severe financial challenges rather than enhancing economic growth and stability. In addition, the obligation to repay this debt results in a wide range of myopic policies that are extremely harmful to achieving sustainable development goals. Bangladesh has experienced a substantial and rapid increase in its external debt in recent years. Hence, it is essential to evaluate its effect on economic growth. This research investigated the influence of external debt on economic growth by utilizing annual time series data from 1976 to 2019, as well as the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing method. The findings reveal a negative and significant influence of external debt on economic growth both in the short and long run. These results authenticate the debt overhang effect, where high levels of debt hinder economic performance by creating uncertainty and discouraging investment. Further, trade and human capital have a significant positive impact on economic growth in the long run. Conversely, gross fixed capital formation and population growth have no significant effects on long-term economic growth. The country's government might diminish its dependency on external debt, maintain a favorable market structure, and enhance trade openness and investment in human capital to augment its economic growth.

Yuciana Wilandari   Gunardi   and Adhitya Ronnie Effendie   

The estimation of claims reserves is of great importance to insurance companies. In liability insurance, payments for claims often take a long time to be made after the incident. To complete these payments, claims reserves are necessary. The individual claims reserve estimates provided by the individual run-off triangle provide information related to each policyholder's claims data, such as the ID claim, the occurrence period, the reporting period, the period of claims closed, and the payment data. To calculate individual claims reserve estimates, the Reserving by Detailed Conditioning (RDC) method is used. However, this method does not take into account the policyholder's personal information, such as age and gender. Therefore, in this article, the Cluster method is used. The aim of this research is to calculate individual claims reserve estimates using the RDC method and the K-Mode Clustering method. The K-mode clustering is used because the claims data used is health insurance data, which is in the form of categories. The data information from patients on health insurance includes gender, clinic, severity level, number of days of treatment, treatment class, type of return, and type of patient. The data was first grouped into 4 clusters, and then each cluster calculated its claims reserve estimate using the RDC method. The claims reserve estimates obtained were compared with individual claims reserve estimates without grouping using Mean Square Error Prediction (MSEP). The results of this article show that the estimated individual claims reserves using grouping have MSEP values that are smaller than the estimated individual claims reserves without grouping.

Salla Nithyanth Kumar   Kanak Singh   and Pritee Sharma   

The analysis of the Water, Energy, and Food Nexus (WEF nexus) gained importance as another opportunity to integrate management of natural resources. The inherent links among the three resources in the WEF system would purport integrative thinking. Although, these links are intertwined in a complex way, still they can lead to identifying the possibilities of interpreting new trade-offs and synergies. The efforts in this direction are severely constrained by the lack of available data. In this vein, this study aims to apply a quantitative approach namely- a composite indicator for indicating integrated resources management. The Asian geography is chosen to conduct the analysis since Asia is geopolitically and economically important. Furthermore, we analysed India’s progress in realising the integrated management of the resources in comparison to the highest and lowest seven countries' scores on the Index. In doing so, it provides an opportunity to prescribe policy directions to progress in terms of sustainable development, allocation and access to the natural resources, and environmental protection. Coming to the methodology, we used the composite indicators and the scoreboards ‘COIN’ tool developed by the Joint Research Centre: Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards, Ispra, Italy. A conceptual framework is developed to select indicators arising from the dimensions of people, governance, and environment without jeopardising the dimensions of sustainability. The data sources are secondary. The raw dataset went under a series of treatment procedures such as missing values imputation, dealing with outliers, normalisation, and aggregation. The results are visualised through radial diagrams.

Elena Gjorevska   

Entrepreneurial orientation in developing countries may not be observed in isolation from the specifics of their surroundings. In fact, as the country develops and moves from a developing country to an industrialized nation, its business environment, as well as the needs for products and services changes dramatically. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the position of market immaturity impacts the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs' success in developing countries. In this direction, the study elaborates on five identified patterns between the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions (risk taking, innovativeness, pro-activeness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness) and the SMEs' success of the six selected private healthcare businesses in the Republic of North Macedonia. Applying a multiple case study research strategy, the study examines if the position of market immaturity encourages SMEs to take more risks and initiate more innovative undertakings, and if this factor impacts positively SMEs' proactive market approach, autonomy within the organizations and their competitive aggressiveness. Results show no disparity in confirmation of the positive market immaturity influence over the companies' positions of risk taking, innovativeness, pro-activeness, and autonomy. A study has shown that patients need more healthcare services, but with higher quality and expertise. The reasons behind these trends have been detected through people's awareness of healthy needs and lifestyles, as well as their increased healthcare literacy resulting from internet and globalization trends. However, results show that market immaturity influence has been shown to be insignificant on competitive aggressive actions in all cases. It may be concluded that while the surrounding opportunities coming from the market immaturity position encourage SMEs to proactively undertake innovative activities at certain levels of risk, at the same time, the unsaturated position of competition on the market distinguishes the businesses from aggressive competitive activities. Recommendations for entrepreneurs in developing countries stand that they should respond to the increasing needs for private healthcare services that the immature market position has to offer, but at the same time, continuously track clients' needs, since the market lifecycle continues to evolve and the market position should be revised regularly.

Jiboye Temitope Favour   

The study identified the variables affecting informal trade activities in Nigeria and the Benin Republic, as well as the effects of security issues brought on by such trade on the economy of Nigeria. The research also looked at how Nigeria's economy might be affected by the security issues caused by informal trading. These were done in an effort to correlate illegal commerce with security issues in Nigeria and the Benin Republic. In-depth interviews and the use of a standardized questionnaire were used to collect primary data. Data from 100 respondents were gathered using a purposive sampling approach. Namely, 50 Custom officers, 25 Immigration officers, and 25 Police officers at the Nigeria and Benin border. 50 unauthorized border merchants were randomly chosen for in-depth interviews in order to gather information. The main data also included the researcher's own observations. Atlas and SPSS were used to analyze the data. The study found that law enforcement officials thought that unless the government took action to address these issues, informal trade would have a negative impact on formal trade. The survey also showed that the respondents said that they are aware of illegal drug trafficking, car theft, armed robberies along the border and in the nearby area, trafficking in guns and people, smuggling in gasoline and crude oil, and vandalism. Law enforcement officials and the traders both agreed that Covid-19 came to Nigeria via certain traders who travelled to deal in Benin. The study came to the conclusion that there is a link between informal commerce and security issues in Nigeria and Benin Republic and that it is one of the main ways that insecurity is experienced in these two nations. Some recommendations were therefore suggested.

Sheng Wang   

So far, there is no realistic and feasible path way to achieve the "double carbon" strategy of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization in Fujian, although everyone is focusing on tapping the potential of traditional energy such as hydropower and thermal power generation models, developing and utilizing new energy such as wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy and other renewable energy utilization models, and reforming and improving the green environment. However, the existing energy utilization model and environmental improvement model still have a big gap to achieve the "double carbon" strategy on schedule. By establishing digital finance theory, from the perspective of financial inclusiveness characteristics of digital finance to solving the thorny problem of "financing constraints" in traditional finance, this paper aims to fully utilize small and medium-sized wind energy with huge amount and wide distribution on the surface, break through the shortcomings of existing wind energy utilization models, accelerate the process of technological innovation, and gradually step on the road to achieving the "double carbon" strategic goal of Fujian in the foreseeable future decades along a feasible way, forming a new framework for the strategy. That is, the new path guidance diagram is implemented. Digital finance theory refers to the theory that studies the dynamic relationship between the closed-loop or multi link jump movement of digital finance and the projection radiation of financial activities. Digital finance theory, almost a non-dissipative system, is a new stage in the development of traditional financial theory, which is a new financial theory based on digital technology, big data, blockchain and many other cutting-edge technologies today.

Eko Sakapurnama   

A study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer preferences in Indonesia would likely examine how the pandemic has affected the buying habits, needs and behavior of consumers in the country. It would also likely look at how these changes have impacted businesses in Indonesia and the strategies they have implemented to adapt to the new market conditions. The study would likely include data and analysis on various sectors such as retail, e-commerce, food and beverage, and hospitality. It would also likely consider the government policies and regulations related to COVID-19 and how they have affected consumer behavior and business operations. The research method was carried out on Q3, 2020, through an online survey to respondents who live in Jakarta Great Area, Indonesia. The findings of such a study would likely indicate that, in addition to prioritizing basic necessities, consumers have reduced their spending on other goods. The transportation and tourism industries were found to be among the hardest hit sectors, as per the study's respondents. In the automotive industry, consumers have been more hesitant to purchase new or used cars. The pandemic has led to a significant decrease in vehicle sales, and therefore, innovative policies and incentives are needed to revive the industry. The government of Indonesia would need to develop various policies and incentives to aid in the economic recovery post-pandemic.

Mohammed Itma   and Momtaz Hussein   

It was noticed that the post-Covid-19 pandemic (the year 2021) showed an economic crisis with many economic influences, and the radical changing of currency exchange values in Palestine is one of the most. Such currencies are Israeli, Jordanian and American currencies. This fact affected all economic sectors, especially the housing sector. This paper tries to understand the economic effects of the pandemic on the Palestinian housing market with special reference to the changes in currency values. Although many countries have suffered from economic impacts due to the pandemic, Palestine is chosen as a case for the complicity of the economic situation, as there is not a local curacy for the Palestinians yet. The effects of the currency fluctuation exchange were discussed in terms of financing, constructing, selling, and renting housing units. Then the paper explores the results of observations and interviews with many institutional investors, economic experts, and decision-makers to understand these impacts. The investigation revealed that the latest currency fluctuation –during the year 2021-greatly affected the private sector represented by ordinary investors, and small and large real estate development companies alike, and also affected the ability of individuals to buy housing, which also decreased the effective demand for housing in Palestine to a very low rate. This led us to believe that the Palestinian housing market is fragile and not prepared to receive sudden economic changes –such as this pandemic- due to the lack of a local currency for the Palestinians. Accordingly, a set of recommendations was listed to reduce such impacts in the future and to ensure supplying suitable housing units in terms of healthy, economic, and social aspects.

Jianbo Bao   Jiajia Luan   and Shiqi Zhang   

In a new era of economic development, the growth of the service industry has made a lot of progress, and the consumption pattern of residents has also changed. Consumption has shifted from subsistence to development, and then to enjoyment. In contrast, China's service industry is obviously in short supply, thus there is a clear imbalance between the supply and demand structures. Currently, balancing consumption demand and service industry supply is imperative. China is vigorously promoting supply-side structural reform. In the background of supply-side structural reform, in order to better adapt the development of the service sector to the changes in the consumption structure, this paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between the consumption structure and the development of the service sector based on data from China for the period 1991-2020, studies the current situation and development trend of China's consumption, analyzes the problem of insufficient supply of service industry. The conclusion is that there is a long-term stable relationship between the consumption structure and the development of the service industry, and the change of the consumption structure can promote the development of the service industry. Based on this, we propose relevant policy recommendations for the development of the service industry and the promotion of the upgrading of urban and rural residents' consumption. This is of great significance for promoting the development of China's economy, promoting the transformation and upgrading of China's consumption, and is also conducive to the development of China's service industry towards high-quality development. At the same time, it also provides some reference for the relevant research and practice of developing the service industry and promoting consumption upgrading in the world.

Kaberia Salome Kanini   Hannah O. Bula   and Stephen M. A. Muathe   

Sustained growth and development of economies is mainly attributed to the manufacturing sector, and is often the differentiator between developed and developing countries. In Kenya, the sector has played a crucial role, with a contribution of 10% to gross domestic product for the duration from 2008 to 2014. Statistics show that in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the contribution deteriorated to 8.4%, 7.7% and 7.54% respectively, which implies possible deindustrialization. The government’s goal of achieving a robust manufacturing sector through Big Four Agenda may not be fruitful if this trend continues. Informed by these trends, the study sought to establish the connection between social capital and firm performance among the micro, small and medium manufacturing enterprises. Keys among the existing theories applied in the study are social capital theory and behavioral theory of the firm. The sample size was 384 licensed manufacturing businesses operating within Nairobi City County, derived from a population of 61,931. The study applied descriptive and explanatory research designs. Primary data was collected, and analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The outcomes showed that relational and cognitive social capital had a positive and significant effect on performance of micro, small and medium manufacturing ventures, whereas structural social capital was noted to have a significant effect. This study recommends that the firms’ management taps into additional and diverse networks to drive innovation, and subsequently create a competitive edge for their firms.

Aspridis M. George   

After the Olympic Games of 2004, Greece was at the center of dramatic situations and faced serious economic and social problems, especially at the beginning of the 2010s. Initially, the economic and social crisis along with the memorandums and then the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the development of the Greek economy at both macro and micro levels. In recent years, many efforts have been made for the overall recovery and growth of the Greek economy. Seven sub-categories have been formulated by the Greek Ministry of Development and Investment, including multiple modules of modules and actions for the development of the economy. One of these sub-categories refers to sustainable development. Public policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Change, Adaptation Planning and others are regarded as key formative actions for any country, let alone Greece. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are applied to monitor policies relating to sustainable development. These targets are the monitoring and key performance indicators of the development strategy for public policies, whose targets monitor and attest to the development strategy course of public policies. The aim of this article is to present, through literature review, the KPIs that are applied domestically and show how they will contribute to the dynamic growth of the Greek economy. The results have turned out to be significantly important and could contribute to the further integration of specialized KPIs in the country's development via the use and exploitation of the natural environment. The development of such secondary KPIs could prove to be a challenge for the environment and climate change disciplines. The topic is crucial and the context of Critical Success Factors (CSF) and KPIs can be used by public and private sector employees, the academic community, and every researcher/theorist working on the specific topic.

Gregory Abe-I-Kpeng   Elvis Adam Alhassan   and Christian John Etwire   

Insurance can be seen to be a mechanism of risk transfer as well as a platform for investment to conserve against losses, providing a peaceful mind. In the insurance market, we have non-life and life insurance firms usually referred to as insurers and the individuals who own the insurance policy are called policy holders. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to assess the technical, scale and overall efficiencies of some life insurance firms in Ghana from 2010 to 2013. Commission, management expenses and capital were taken as inputs by insurance firms to yield claims, investment income and net premiums as outputs. This study showed that life insurance firms in Ghana functioned averagely at a technical efficiency of 88%, an average scale efficiency of 93% and an average overall efficiency of 82%.This clearly revealed that scale efficiency was largely responsible for the efficiency of life insurers instead of technical efficiency (managerial skills). The effects of dimension and market share on life insurer efficiency were established using the Mann Whitney U test. The study showed that market share significantly results in high life insurer efficiency, which agrees with previous studies in the insurance industry [1, 2]. Large insurers did not automatically lead to greater efficiency than small insurers in terms of capital-this result differs from that of [2] where general insurance firms in Ghana that have larger dimension led to higher efficiencies.

Hasan Serkan ÖztaƟkın   and Serap Bedir Kara   

The economic growth-public expenditure relationship is one of the important subjects that both policymakers and scientists focus on during extraordinary conditions such as economic crises, natural disasters or epidemics. Despite the privatization practices and the efforts to adopt the minimal state approach proposed by neoliberalism, which have become widespread significantly since the 1970s, public expenditures increase the interest in the subject. The study analyses the validity of the Keynesian approach, which argues that public expenditures are a fiscal policy tool that supports economic growth, in G-20 countries, as opposed to Wagner's approach, which argues that economic growth is the reason for the increase in public expenditures. The analysis was carried out with the Pesaran CCEMG estimator, which considers cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity, using annual data from 1994-2017. According to the findings, it could be stated that Wagner's Law is not valid in G-20 countries because the slope coefficient does not fulfil the condition of being more significant than 1, whereas the Keynesian approach is valid. Moreover, a bidirectional causality was discovered between economic growth and public expenditures. Consequently, public expenditures can be used as an effective fiscal policy tool to eliminate economic instabilities under political, economic, or extraordinary conditions such as COVID-19.

Ahmet Niyazi Özker   

This study aimed to determine the impact scale of some significant macro average criteria to evaluate increasing public borrowings expenditures in OECD countries. Different fiscal and economic dynamics constitute a meaningful effect mechanism at the global level regarding the public borrowing that has grown within the scope of the OECD in recent years. Undoubtedly, the main dynamics of these effects are the structural changes in the capital increases of OECD countries and the differences in capital productivity limits, which have a significant global impact related to OECD's average public incomes. Therefore, it is necessary and important to assess this fact with mutual correlation effects within the scope of average public borrowings due to the required elemental analyses of the changed levels of public borrowings. In other words, the different development levels of OECD countries and the changes in the capital efficiency values put forth that this fact directly related to the concerned public borrowings levels and public borrowings requirement levels intended for economic development, including fiscal practicing effects in this process. Therefore, it appears that these concerned variables average of OECD countries on the evaluation of the limits for the increase of public borrowings put forth a meaningful impact related to the ratio of investments levels and the effect of the tax burden. In brief, the proportion of investment and tax burden to GDP creates a meaningful convergent scale effect as it becomes more prominent with its impact on public borrowing. This phenomenon, which directly affects capital efficiency, reveals a significant positive impact on public borrowing.

Oscar Orellana   and RaĂșl Fuentes   

In this study, we propose a mathematical theory for building neoclassical production functions with homogeneous inputs in both aggregate and per capita terms. This theory is based on two concepts: Euler's equation and Cauchy's condition for first-order partial differential equations. The analysis is restricted to functions that exhibit constant returns to scale (CRS). For the function to meet the law of diminishing marginal returns, we present the necessary and sufficient conditions to be satisfied by the curve that defines Cauchy's condition. In this context, we also discuss the Inada conditions. We first present functions that depend on two inputs and then extend and discuss the results for functions that depend on several inputs. The main result of our research is the provision of a clean and clear theory for constructing neo-classical production functions. We believe that this result may contribute to closing the huge methodological gaps that separate schools of economic thought that defend or reject the use of production functions in economics.

Efendi   

The purposes of this research are: (1) to find types of costing of universities which apply financial management of public service agencies in vocational education that apply boarding school system, (2) to arrange the suitable process of business for improving its graduates' competence doing more practice, (3) to know cost driver to be controlled for improving the effectiveness and efficiency. The result of this research shows that: (1) development of costing model at Poltekpel Surabaya and ATKP Surabaya through cost reduction program on cost drivers can increase competitiveness and independence in exploring sources and composition of costs, (2) planning and budget of Poltekpel Surabaya and ATKP Surabaya not yet maximal in using performance-based budgeting system, (3) need to simplify the business process at Poltekpel Surabaya and ATKP Surabaya, to compete in providing services to the community, (4) the financial management system Poltekpel Surabaya and ATKP Surabaya is good, transparent and accountable, by the provisions of the legislation, (5) the need to explore sources of financing derived from the use of assets and grants, (6) with the development of the model can increase the effectiveness and efficiency at Poltekpel Surabaya and ATKP Surabaya.

Mahmoud M. Sabra   

International aid to Palestinians is one of the highest in the world. Meanwhile, the need for such aid is on the increase. Under the strict occupation policies, whether political, economic or military, the majority of international aid is absorbed by the Israeli economy render the Palestinian economy completely dependent. Four simultaneous equations were estimated using the "Three Stage Least Squares" to detect the impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on growth, domestic savings, imports from the greater world and Israel. Available yearly time series data for Palestine from 2000 to 2019 used within the model were estimated. We estimate the international aid propensity to imports from the greater world and Israel, besides the impact on growth and domestic savings. We found that ODA is associated negatively with growth, crowds out domestic savings and increases imports from Israel more than from the greater world. ODA marginal propensity to import from Israel is twice and half higher than the marginal propensity to total imports, which indicates the influence of economic accords and occupation procedures. In addition, Israel absorbs directly one-fourth of each dollar donated to Palestinian economy, and higher absorption is potential in the long run. Correlation has been measured between ODA and Palestinian trade deficit with Israel, and we found that more than 87% of aid ends up in the Israeli economy. A series of recommendations were provided including ending of the unilateral trade union imposed by Israel.

Eddie G Walker II   and Mikayla D. Jones   

Research has provided evidence for a relationship among donor perceptions of social responsibility, trust, commitment, and intentions to donate. One research area lacking is how donors and non-donors to an institution differ in those factors. Communication between an institution and stakeholders helps build understanding and support. One approach to communication strategies includes the varying involvement of the stakeholders. This study endeavors to accomplish two goals: 1) to fit the data from a purposive sample to a validated model; and 2) to examine differences between donors and non-donors on the factors within that model. Results indicated that the data from this case study fit the theoretical model. Also, while donors and non-donors defined the factors in the model in similar ways, there were differences between donors and non-donors related to the intensity of the relationships between factors. Donors demonstrated a stronger relationship between trust/commitment and commitment/intent than non-donors did. Non-donors demonstrated a stronger relationship between trust/intent than donors did. One implication of this study is that universities and athletic departments can use information from the results to aid them in communicating with donors and alumni during fundraising campaigns. Specifically, if you can communicate with stakeholders in a way that increases trust and commitment to the institution then they would likely strengthen the donation intentions of current donors and encourage non-donors to donate in the future. Future research can build upon this study by determining the effects that a stakeholder involvement communication strategy would have on non-donor donation intentions.

Habiba Abou-hafs   and Fadila Boutora   

Entrepreneurial intent is a determining factor in entrepreneurship. It precedes the behavioral act of developing one's own business. Developing entrepreneurial intent requires gathering a number of necessary but not sufficient conditions. The present study will try to identify, based on a quantitative study conducted among 120 students involved in entrepreneurial competition projects organized in the city of Agadir (Morocco), the determinants of entrepreneurial intent. The arithmetic mean of 15 variables identified by literature review and interviews was calculated. The (t) test, principal component and regression analysis were used to classify, categorize and measure the links between the variables. The results indicate that the top five entrepreneurial intent determinants are Self-confidence, Self-Efficacy, Motivation, Technical and Technological Skills, Goal of fulfillment. The most important category of determinants is related to the attitudes and behaviors of students compared with the category of technical and professional factors and also the category of factors related to the family and social environment. These results can contribute to the entrepreneurship development in the city of Agadir (Morocco) by helping students to create their own business and therefore minimize unemployment.

Jon P. Nelson   

This paper extends an earlier study to compare two methods for meta-analysis of economic data: fixed-effect models and random-effects models. The models differ fundamentally in the ability to generalize beyond the sample in question. Both models are applied to estimates of pass-through rates for excise taxes on alcohol beverages. Using best-set data from 30 primary studies, weighted means are first reported and compared against a fully-passed tax or rate of unity. Dispersion and heterogeneity statistics are used to assess the performance of each model. Second, means and dispersion statistics are reported by subgroups for country source, beverage (beer, wine-spirits), and published status. Third, tests are conducted for publication selection bias using funnel plots and regression asymmetry tests. Fourth, three procedures are undertaken to reduce selection bias: trim-and-fill; cumulative meta-analysis; and meta-regressions. Three conclusions are reached in the paper. First, average pass-through rates are approximately unity regardless of beverage. Primary researchers should compare estimated rates against this value. Second, a random-effects model is more appropriate for these data, reflecting highly diverse estimates of pass-through rates. Third, greater attention needs to be given to the choice of model for meta-regressions in economics and related disciplines.

Rongyu Wang   

In this paper, we discuss some properties of optimal consideration set in binary state continuous-action rational inattention decision problems. First, we show that it is the form of the utility function that determines the form of posterior distribution, i.e. whether it is a binary distribution or a triple or quadruple distribution, etc. Besides, we will also show that the posterior distribution may not be resulted after information acquisition in some circumstances. Second, we show that the optimal consideration set is essentially the optimal action strategies. Therefore, without further conditions, the rational inattention decision model is unidentifiable. Third, in order to identify the rational inattention decision model, we introduce another condition to the model. The discrete actions after information acquisition that satisfy the endogenously-determined probability (optimal action strategies) should satisfy the properties of probabilities, and therefore the discrete actions should also follow an exogenous probability distribution. This idea is tested by an example with quadratic utility function. Through this example, we find that under this condition, the optimal consideration set can be identified. The elements in the optimal consideration set, or equivalently the discrete signals after information acquisition, exhibit a curve or curves.

Veronica B. Edeminam   

This study examines the impact of public debt on economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data from 1990 to 2019 collected from Central of Nigeria statistical bulletin. The variables are Real GDP, public debt, Inflation, debt to GDP ratio, debt servicing to GDP ratio, and exchange rate. Empirical analysis was conducted using Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test to check for stationarity. Johansen Cointegration test was used to determine long run relationship and Vector Error Correction Model to check for short run and long run impact of public debt on economic growth. Empirical results showed that the impact of public debt on economic growth was negative and significant in the long run. The impact of public debt on economic growth was negative but insignificant in the short run. In addition, the impact of ratio of debt servicing to GDP was significant and negative in the short and long run. There was no causality between public debt and economic growth. The study recommends that public authorities in Nigeria should reduce reliance on public debt and instead move towards increasing revenues through diversification of the export base of the economy and expanding the tax net. The study also recommends strengthening public institutions so that revenues collected, in the form of debt or other means can be adequately utilized on investments that are efficient.

Zeineb Ouni   Prosper Bernard   and Michel Plaisent   

The main purpose of this paper is to bring a better understanding of the phenomenon of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) by dealing with their definitional issues. Our objective is to understand why it would be difficult to have a standard and common definition of SWFs and how this definition concern could present a problem, especially for academic research. We analyzed the history of SWFs, their creation objectives, their sources of funding, the performance of their investments and their governance structure and compared them with other types of funds. We find that the lack of a common definition stems mainly from their: i) hybrid nature: SWFs are created and controlled by governments, but their investment strategies are similar to private funds; ii) high heterogeneity: SWFs have different structures, sources of funding and other creation objectives; iii) lack of transparency. Despite the establishment of Generally Accepted Principles and Practices for SWFs know as Santiago Principles, SWFs remain opaque structure and iv) similarities with other sovereign and private investors, especially in their investment strategies. These definitional problems could explain the lack of consensus on empirical studies about SWFs and the issues about the regulation of their activities. Otherwise, this study targets to contribute to the global debate on the regulation of their transactions, essentially by clarifying their subtle differences with other investment vehicles.

Prakash S. Kamble   

It is of topmost importance to undertake an economic valuation of the ecosystem services such as a river, which is aquatic and natural ecosystem, because of their very important role in the development and welfare of the society. It is against this overall backdrop, the present research study attempts to carry out an economic valuation of the services of the Panchganga river as an aquatic eco system. The empirical analysis of the economic valuation of the services in monetary terms being provided by the Panchganga river ecosystem estimates its total economic value. No doubt, it is worth of Rs. 5459.41 lakh per annum is really important and valuable, which indicates its role in the socio economic development of the area under our study. It is an indicator of the number and variety of services being provided by the Panchganga useful for agriculture, allied activities, industry and business development along with water for domestic use of the area and its people. The analysis of the determinants of the economic value of the Panchganga river reveals that the non-economic than the economic factors are very much dominant and effective in generating the total economic value.

Catherine Tabequero   

This study examines the nature of the discourse in advertising. The focus is on Blizzard Entertainment's Marketing Communications, which is directed towards the promotion of their products and service to the general public. The study aims at uncovering the basic elements of the most pervasive, influential and inescapable discourse of Blizzard Entertainment advertisements. Norman Fairclough's 3-D model of visual design was used to analyze the data. It focuses on the interaction of language, image and format and analyzes advertising persuasive strategies. Also, this study gives analyses of certain ads, utilizing various methods of interpretations and ends with a discussion on advertising discourse. In this connection, the analyses are provided with a perspective on demonstrating the advertisements develop importance through collaboration with different kinds of discourse, and how it is indistinguishable from social and cultural discourse. Thus, it discusses Blizzard Entertainment's advertisements influence and on how these advertisements have an impact on our society and cultural values. The results of this descriptive study serve as a support and of great help to the future researches related to social media and advertising.

Yan Zhang   

In this paper, I analyze China's economic growth and financial development after 1978's reform and opening-up, and verify whether convergence hypothesis and financial deepening hypothesis exist by using the provincial data from 1978 to 2014. The main contribution is that I examine regional disparities in China's economic growth and financial development by period, consider the effects of Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour Talks in 1992 and China's accession to the WTO in 2001 on regional economic growth and financial development. The empirical analyses clarify that the convergence hypothesis is valid for the whole sample period of 1978–2014 and the sub-period 2002–2014. Analyses of economic convergence reveal that the poorer provinces have tended to show higher rates of economic growth than the richer provinces during the period 1978–2014, particularly after China's accession to the WTO in 2001. On the other hand, the financial deepening hypothesis only appears to be valid to the whole period of 1978–2014, which means that the provinces with larger financial sectors have tended to show higher rates of economic growth than the provinces with smaller financial sectors over the long term, but this was not valid for any of the sub-periods considered (1978–1991, 1992–2001, and 2002–2014) due to reforms of SOEs, diversification of corporate financing methods, and changes in China's economic and financial situation, which prevented bank loans from making a positive impact on economic growth during any one of the sub-periods.

Moumita Karmoker   Md. Uzzal Mia   Rumana Biswas   Md. Julhaz Hossain   Mst. Anjuman Ara   and Md. Abdul Alim   

The transition from education to work is a crucial challenge for several young people in many countries. University graduates and other recently graduated people mainly face this challenge that leads to extreme unemployment. This indicates that a growing number of graduates fail to find their expected jobs around the globe. This study attempts to investigate the entrepreneurial intention of university graduates in the context of Bangladesh. The conceptual framework of this study was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and surveyed 235 university graduates. The collected data were analyzed by using Partial Least Squares–based Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this study clearly demonstrate that career adaptability, risk-taking propensity, and institutional learning play a significantly positive role in developing the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of university graduates. The overall entrepreneurial self-efficacy of the graduates strongly influences their entrepreneurial intention. The study presents notable theoretical and practical implications that can be useful for policy-makers, higher educational institutions, and the Bangladeshi government as a course of action. Finally, conclusions, limitations, and future research directions are outlined.

Suna Korkmaz   and Muzhgan Abdullazade   

Unemployment and inflation are major problems in macroeconomics. While solving the unemployment problem is a priority for some governments, for others it is bringing inflation under control. Unemployment and inflation surface are two undesirable problems for economies. Governments of countries implement monetary and fiscal policies suited to their aims to solve these problems. The Group 6 (G6) states are countries that have influence in steering the policies of international institutions. In this regard, this study investigated whether there is a relationship between the inflation rate and unemployment in nine randomly selected G6 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and the United Kingdom), using data from the period 2009–2017 and applying a panel causality test. According to the Granger causality test, there is a unidirectional causality from inflation rate to unemployment rate. According to the results of the research, bringing inflation under control in these countries is becoming a prior goal. As a result of the policies to bring the inflation under control, the demand for goods and services in the economy decreases. As the aggregate demand for goods and services in the economy decreases, the demand for the workforce decreases as well. In macroeconomic policies there is a relationship between inflation and unemployment. While unemployment increases inflation decreases and while unemployment decreases inflation increases. Our research results also support this. When inflation is intended to be brought under control, it causes unemployment in the economy.

Peter Mikek   

Latin America has experienced a trend of substantial reduction in inequality over last few decades. We investigate the effects of rapid development of financial sector on inequality in the region. In particular, we estimate a panel with country fixed effects based on a newly compiled dataset for time period of 1990 – 2017. First, the main finding is that financial deepening has exacerbated income inequality on the continent during studied period indicating skewed distribution of benefits of this development across population. The reasons vary from relatively limited education (including low literacy rates), low collateral, demographic and geographic characteristics, and lack of tacit knowledge pertaining to access to financial services. Second, educational attainment seems to be a major contributor to lowering Gini coefficients. The countries in the region on average added about 3 years to education during this period and estimates suggest reduction of Gini coefficients of about 0.7 percentage points per additional year of schooling. Third, as expected, aggregate income level and its growth seem to significantly contribute to reduction of inequality in Latin America. In contrast, poverty rates are associated with worsening of income gap. Fourth, we found no evidence of a traditional Kuznetz curve for Latin America in this dataset. Finally, while exports seem to be neutral, FDI through raising high skill premia and taxes through low efficiency of public services aggravate inequality.

Lai Ferry Sugianto   and Chai Liang Huang   

This research tries to determine the weather factors affect mood and human behavior. Some previous researches find that weather can influence human behavior and mood, like concentration, optimism, self-confidence, aggression, and performance. Many weather indicators can affect human behavior and mood, but only few of them have been investigated. In this paper, we use temperature, precipitation, hours of sunshine, and humidity. Mood and behavior make people make decisions based on such indicators, including the trading decision in the stock market. Therefore, mood and behavior turn the investors to become more irrational. In this research, geographical locations are also being included because the difference in location can make a difference in the climate. By using indices return from 44 countries, we get that higher temperature creates more aggression and makes investors more aggressive and risk-taking, leading to the higher returns, hours of sunshine also make investors more optimistic and less risk-averse which leads to higher returns. Higher humidity also leads to a higher concentration. We also find that in Europe and Asia, the effect of weather variables is much stronger than in other continents. Additional results show that stock markets in Europe and Asia are easily affected by weather factors, and the high elevation also has a more significant effect.

Fayez M. Elessawy   

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi and other Arabian Gulf cities have developed rapidly in the second half of 20th century, due to the increase of oil and gas revenues. The total population of the city has grown by 1000% over the last 42 years; according to the first census in 1975, the total population was 120,000, which increased in 2018 to more than 1.25 million, with annual growth rate more than 5.7%. This increase makes Abu Dhabi's population be one of the fastest-growing urban centres in the world. The current population increase, resulted from remarkable declining of birth rates and increasing flow of immigrants, rises from only 87 thousand in 1975 to half-million in 2005. The immigrant flow has doubled to more than one million in 2018. The non-national proportion increased continuously from 72 % in 1975 to nearly 90 % of the total population of the city in 2018. Most of them are Asians. These figures reflect the enormity of the growing role of non-national workers in the population growth of the city over the last four decades. Besides, the increased number of foreigners is creating many positive and negative impacts on Emirati society. This study investigates some effects on the demographic characteristics of Emirati society. particularly, on creating an imbalance of age and sex ratios and unique composition of labour force. The researcher applied the topical approach including analytical and cartographic techniques to reach the study aims.

Mutua Daniel Katumo   and James Maingi   

Youth employment opportunities have been the priority by the Kenyan Government over the past years, and various policies have been implemented to assure the employment opportunities growth. Economic growth is reckoned to be essential since a positive growth rate will encourage inward investment and improve revenues, which can be spent on long-term public sector works. However, youth unemployment is a consistent problematic element in Kenya, affecting the economy to a large extent. The general objective of this study is to examine the relationship between youth unemployment and economic growth in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study are to investigate the causal relationship between youth unemployment and economic growth in Kenya and to analyze the effect of economic growth on youth unemployment in Kenya. The theories studied include the theory of surplus-value, Solow-swan model, Okun's law, and Keynesian theory, which explain the aspects of unemployment and economic growth. Secondary data was collected and used to illustrate the relationship between the variables, while the methodology used was the Granger causality test and OLS. A unidirectional causal relationship existed linking the two variables, where the lags of economic growth granger cause youth unemployment, and the coefficient between the two variables was positive. Hence Okun's law coefficient didn't apply when it comes to youth unemployment as opposed to the overall unemployment. However, the coefficient was statistically significant.

James Wokadala   Adrian Ssesanga   and Herbert Akampwera   

The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which the Sustainable Livelihood Pilot (SLP) project was effective in promoting welfare of the target poor households and particularly to ascertain the extent to which the intervention has improved demand for social services at household level. The assessment was premised on the livelihoods approach that serves as an instrument for investigating the poor peoples' livelihoods. The analysis was based on consumption expenditure model built; the beneficiary incidence analysis to measure the benefits derived from public spending to the households in social services of education, health and water. The analysis established there were significant (at 1%) changes in household incomes in the SLP project hosting districts in Uganda. Further, there were significant increases in the mean spending in total, and by sector for education, health and water, and more so percent changes on education services are higher than water and health. It was noted that the SLP intervention significantly impacted on household budgets in that individuals that accessed the grant significantly improved their budgets on education (by 42.3%), health (by 26.4%) and water (by 48.2%) respectively as compared to the base period. The project targeted mainly women to respond to global strategies of improving demand financing through women empowerment.

Johnson Kampamba   Simon Kachepa   Milidzani Majingo   and Abednico Wadingalo   

Many leading organisations worldwide, have adopted their workplaces as a means to meet a range of financial drivers thereby, secure competitive advantage, through sustainability in built environment. The lack of exploitation of this concept by the commercial property market of Botswana led to the research question for this study. Could it be because the conventional leasing yield the maximum benefits or that what literature and other international policy makers are promoting is something sensational rather than statement of common truth? The purpose of this study was to provide an answer to whether traditional leases are common in Botswana property market as compared to green leases which can be adopted as an alternative sustainable management practice. In realizing the objectives, the study investigated and compared the performance of properties both under green leasing and conventional or traditional leasing by measuring the performance indicators. These performance indicators were operational cost, vacancy rates and utility cost per metre. By utilizing the green design evaluation model, sustainable measures or fixtures were used as input variable in this model whilst profit maximization or returns on investment in commercial properties were treated as variables dependent on operational expenses, vacancy rates and generally costs were the output of this model. From three office nodes of Gaborone purposely selected by the researchers, data was collected through the use of a questionnaire and was analysed using descriptive statistics and overall mean scores were utilized to present the findings. The analysis also indicated that the differences between traditional and green leases in Botswana currently are minimal and therefore, current leases are still relevant to the commercial property market. The implications of the results are that though green leases are sustainable, traditional leases are still relevant and mostly utilised in Botswana’s leasing market. The study recommends policy change if green leases are to become more prominence in the rental property market.

Üzeyir Aydin   Ramazan Ekinci   and Osman TĂŒzĂŒn   

In cases where debt dollarization of firms is more than asset dollarization, sudden and high depreciation of the national currency causes firms to lose net wealth and may adversely affect their investments and profitability. Real exchange rate depreciation, on one hand, increases the incomes of manufacturing industry firms by providing international competitive advantage and it can prevent the competitive advantage by creating negative balance sheet effect due to high debt dollarization on the other. In this context, the aim of this study is to discuss the determinants of the debt-dollarization and the balance sheet situation of the manufacturing industry, which is facing political instability and exchange rate volatility. Dynamic panel data method was used for manufacturing industry sub-sector data for the 2008-2015 period. Overall, our empirical results reveal that the exchange rate shocks have positive impact on both debt dollarization and profitability. That means there is an exchange rate dependency in manufacturing industry. In addition, results show that there is no significant effect of political uncertainty on debt dollarization and the profitability of firm.

ThĂąn Thanh SÆĄn   BĂči Thị Thu Loan   Äá»— HáșŁi HÆ°ng   and Tráș§n Thị Hoa   

The literature on entrepreneurship suggests that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) improves business performance, while the empirical results are mixed. Therefore, this study focuses on determining the impact of this relationship on the sample of small and medium enterprises in the context of emerging economies and transformation based on the results of a survey of 113 enterprises in Hanoi, Vietnam. Using multivariate regression analysis after testing the reliability of the scale, the research results provide evidence that enterprises in the practicing higher EO obtains better business results than those implementing low EO strategies. This result is validated even in business environments considered benign, in which the influence of the environment regulates the relationship between EO and operational efficiency. However, this initial research on entrepreneurial tendencies only confirms that only two of the three aspects of EO have a positive effect on operational efficiency, including proactiveness and risk-taking initiatives. Nevertheless, these results also suggest that, in the context of transitioning economies, where most of the businesses are active in the field of trade in services, innovation orientation is not a factor that has a direct impact on improving business performance. This result does not negate the role of innovation, but implies the direction of future research as mentioned in the paper.

Ping HUA   

The Chinese real manufacturing value added increased at a higher growth rate (17% per year on average) during the strong depreciation period of the renminbi from 1984 to 1993 than that (10%) during the period of the strong appreciation from 1994 to 2016. On contrary, its productivity growth accelerated at an annual average rate of 9.7% during the real appreciation period relative to 3.6% during the real depreciation period. This paper originally argues that real appreciation of exchange rate may improve manufacturing productivity (rarely studied), mitigating its traditional negative effects; its total effect is thus uncertain; only an empirical investigation can reveal it. We propose a manufacturing value added function augmented of real exchange rate able to estimate these two kinds of effects. To this objective, we calculate three renminbi real exchange rates for the Chinese manufacturing at macro, product and sector levels. The obtained results confirm that the renminbi real appreciation exerted traditional negative effects on the size of tradable sector and employment, but positive effects on capital intensity, efficiency improvement of workers and staffs and competitiveness via Schumpeterian "creative destruction," innovation and high technology industries. The positive effects on manufacturing value added are however still too small to offset the negative ones. These results suggest that China should gradually revalue the renminbi in function of manufacturing productivity improvement to avoid the serious deceleration of manufacturing industry when its negative impacts on the size of tradable sector, resource allocation to non-tradable sector and employment are superior to positive effects of productivity improvement.

Rongyu Wang   

In this paper, we study a 2 × 2 Bayesian entry game with correlated private information. The distribution of private information is modelled by a symmetric joint normal distribution. Therefore, the correlation coefficient of the private information distribution reflects the degree of dependence of players' private information. Under such specification, players' private information can be correlated flexibly, which is not confined to the typical additive specification of private payoff shocks or private information by Carlson and van Damme (1993), where the private information is correlated due to the common payoff shock. In our game, if the private information is correlated, we find that given the variances of the private information, there exists a restriction on the degree of correlation of players' private information that allows the game can be solved by cutoff strategies. Specifically, given the variances of the private information, if players' private information in strategic substitutes (strategic complements) Bayesian games are positively (negatively) correlated, the range of correlation coefficient that allows the game can be solved by cutoff strategies is restricted so that if the correlation is out of the range, the game cannot be solved by cutoff strategies. Alternatively, given positive (negative) correlation of private information, the value of variances that allows a strategic substitutes (strategic complements) Bayesian games can be solved by cutoff strategies are restricted within certain range. If the value of variances fall out of the range, the Bayesian game cannot be solved by cutoff strategies. However, given negative (positive) correlation of players' private information in strategic substitutes (strategic complements) Bayesian games, in which the Bayesian games can always be solved by cutoff strategies, we prove that as the variances converge to zero, all pure strategy Bayesian Nash equilibria of the perturbed games converge to the respective Nash equilibria of the corresponding strategic substitutes (strategic complements) complete information games. Based on the result, we conclude that the purification rationale proposed by Harsanyi (1973) can be extended to games with dependent perturbation errors that follow a symmetric joint normal distribution if the correlation coefficient is positive for the strategic complements games or negative for the strategic substitutes games.

Sam Toglaw   

This study sheds the light on the application of social marketing principles in promoting universal values. It explores the relationship between the promotion of values to workers and the workplace performance. KAYRA was chosen as a case study. It is an international fashion retail company whose core values are tightly aligned with its business strategy. A one-month social marketing campaign was conducted in three branches in the Middle East: Kuwait, Qatar and UAE. It targeted the workers in eight boutiques and focused on the promotion of work-related values such as punctuality, honesty, altruism, cooperation, accountability, diligence and teamwork. Two performance indicators were chosen: number of customers served and sales volume (expressed in the number of units sold in each boutique). Data were compared and analyzed over three months, one month before the campaign and one month during the campaign and one month after the campaign. The results indicated a positive correlation between the promotion of values to sales staff and overall performance at the boutiques. Data analysis revealed an average increase of 20 % in the number of customers served by sales staff who were exposed to the promotion campaign. In addition, the average number of units sold in the participating boutiques increased 5.6%. Although this is a small increase in comparison to the former performance indicator, the study opens up horizons for social marketing of "values" to trigger positive behavior and enhance employees overall performance. The study recommends incorporating planned social marketing campaigns for performance management and human resources development.

Nika Salvetti   and Andre Nijhof   

This study focuses on understanding the inner psychological (intrinsic) motivations that influence local business leaders in adopting CSR behaviours. The inner motivations are hereby considered as the mind-sets of individuals, the human capacity to interpret reality. According to the constructive developmental theories, individuals experience several stages of consciousness development, as a consequence of their deeper understanding of reality, wisdom and ego awareness. More specifically, building upon the Action Logics framework of Rooke and Torbert (2005), it can be considered what type of action logics relate to advanced forms of CSR behaviours. One of the main contributions of this study to the leadership and CSR literature is to describe each action logics as specific intrinsic motivation and clarify empirically the relationship between action logics of local business leaders and different stages of CSR behaviours, in a specific local context. An inductive research strategy is applied. Nine local business leaders participated in this research and triangulation was applied based on in-depth interviews, observations and company reports to determine CSR behaviours and how they are related to action logics. Template analysis was used for coding the findings. The study resulted in four distinctive patterns about the relationships between action logics and CSR behaviours. The study indicates that: (1) Higher action logics are needed to be engaged in more advanced stages of CSR practices; (2) It is at the achiever action logic level when leaders start moving towards advanced stages of CSR behaviours; (3) Lower action logics cannot induce advanced stages of CSR behaviours; (4) Business leaders with higher action logics can still apply practices of the full range of CSR stages. Based on these findings this paper provides recommendations for future research and managerial practice.

Cheng-Jong Lee   Chieh-Heng Ko   Yan-Chen Huang   Yao-Hsu Tsai   and Seng Keng   

This study uses the structural equation model as the analysis tool, and aims to explore the effects of tourism experience on job involvement and well-being. The subjects are full-time workers who have travelled in the last 12 months. This investigation is based on purposive sampling and e-questionnaires, uses analytical tools SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 19.0, and 360 valid questionnaires are retrieved. According to the research findings: (1) tourism experience positively influences job involvement; (2) tourism experience does not positively influence well-being; and (3) job involvement positively influences well-being. Based on the above, this study suggests that managers plan appropriate trips according to employees' demands. Experiential activities should be appealing and trigger internal affective connections through external experience, in order to reinforce job involvement and well-being in life. The research results also reveal that, of the five experiences, i.e., sensual experience, emotional experience, thinking experience, action experience, and related experience, the regression coefficient of emotional experience is the highest, which shows why story marketing has taken an important position among marketing strategies. The different types of tourism experience include recreational sightseeing, cultural sightseeing, entertaining sightseeing, and sports sightseeing where recreational sightseeing accounts for 58.1%. Under the existing system, there may have been items that did not apply to the respondents, which would result in deviations or errors in the questionnaires; in the case of any special or major changes in the external environment

Besa Shahini   Majlinda Keta   and Babu George   

The Public Private Partnership (PPP) is one of the developmental models prevalent in most developing economies to promote the quality of life of people and to boost the overall socio-economic development of the country. One of the widely used indicators of the preparedness of Albania to integrate with the European Union (EU) is the similarities of the country's developmental models with that of the EU, PPP being one of them. The main objective of the paper is to measure the perception of the Albanian young educated generation on PPP. This is done through a descriptive, inferential, and critical analysis of primary data, gathered through a survey administered among the students (bachelor and master's degree) of the University of Tirana. It is concluded that an updated high school curriculum in all faculties with knowledge on new policy tools, particularly the PPP, will be useful in increasing student awareness of and support for it. Participatory governance with active feedback and control mechanisms would increase public satisfaction and reduce public complains.

Tada Prabhakar Reddy   

Government of India emphasized inclusive growth and the strategy was achieving a particular type of growth process which will meet the objectives of inclusiveness and sustainability. The strategy was based on sound macroeconomic policies which establish the macroeconomic preconditions for rapid growth and support key drivers of growth. It includes sector specific policies and the institutional environment in which it occurs, achieves the objective of inclusiveness. While focusing on inclusive development one may ignore the inequalities which will have significant implications for growth and macroeconomic stability. It can concentrate political and decision making power with few, lead to suboptimal use of human resources, cause investment reducing political and economic instability. Some degree of inequality may not be a problem in so far as providing the incentives for people to excel, compete, save and invest to move ahead in the life. But, high and sustained levels of inequality especially "inequality of opportunity" can entail large social costs. Against the background, objective of the paper is to examine the drivers of inequality and suggest some policy prescriptions for addressing the issue. Therefore, we have reviewed literature, collected data from secondary sources and analyzed for arriving at conclusions. Despite the efforts of Government, there are challenges in achieving inclusive development while the initiatives are like symptomatic treatment to a chronic disease. Hence the following are suggested; Tax-GDP ratio has to be improved by broadening the tax base, raising corporate taxes and withdrawing sops and benefits to the Corporates. Social sector expenditure on health and education should go up. Labour laws need to be flexible so as to help the workforce as the rigid labour laws are acting as stumbling blocks for labour welfare in various sectors. Finally, implementation of gender budgeting should be enforced as a mandate for the governments.

William Abungu Onyango   and Clement O. Olando   

Occurrences of banking financial crises as well as commercial bank failures in Kenya are usually associated with elevations in accumulation of non-performing loans. This study therefore analyzed the influence of bank specific factors on the level of non-performing loans among the commercial banks in Kenya. This study employed descriptive research design using the forty-three (43) currently licensed commercial banks as its target population. Using census, the study collected secondary data from the previous year's financial statement and other financial reports for period covering 2012 to 2016. Quantitative analysis was used to produce descriptive statistics and inferential analysis carried out to predict a study model for estimating Non-Performing Loans in terms of banks related factors. The study revealed that the average level of NPLs among Kenyan commercial banks is higher than the threshold of 5% signaling a serious NPLs problem amongst commercial banks in the country. The study concludes that at 5% level of significance; interest rate spread has positive significant influence on NPLs; operating efficiency is directly proportional to non-performing loans and it has a moderate positive significant influence on the non-performing loans among commercial banks in Kenya; liquidity ratio has a negatively low significant relationship with non-performing loans.; and return on assets has a negative significant influence on NPLs among commercial banks in Kenya. ROA has a negative impact.

Jian Zhang   

Rural finance is the blood of rural economy. However, the rural financial problem has become a bottleneck restricting the development of rural economy, and the key to solve this problem is to develop the rural inclusive financial system. Taking Jilin Province as an example, through qualitative analysis and investigation analysis, this paper makes a comprehensive and systematic study on the construction strategies of inclusive financial system in rural areas of China. Different from the existing research, this paper includes two dimensions and two perspectives. Two dimensions include inclusive financial vertical system and inclusive financial horizontal system. Two perspectives include entity inclusive finance and digital inclusive finance. Specifically, this paper first discusses the general construction principles of the vertical and horizontal systems of inclusive finance in rural areas, and then puts forward and discusses the specific construction strategies of the inclusive financial vertical and inclusive financial horizontal systems in rural areas from the perspectives of entity inclusive finance and digital inclusive finance. The construction strategies of inclusive financial system proposed in this paper will provide an important reference for the development of inclusive finance in rural areas of Jilin Province, as well as for the development of inclusive finance in China or other rural areas in the world.

Dal Didia   and Phillip Ayokunle   

The unprecedented accumulation of public debt is a source of anxiety for many Nigerians. Rather than serve as a catalyst for economic development, the debt is now a drag on economic development as Nigeria is struggling to service the interest on these loans, let alone the principal. Furthermore, the pressure to service these loans leads to a myriad of myopic policies that are totally detrimental to the interests of sustainable development. This study therefore examines the impact of public and publicly guaranteed debt on the economic growth of Nigeria. The study disaggregates total public and publicly guaranteed debt into external debt and domestic debt, and examines whether the two kinds of debt have differential impact on economic growth in Nigeria. Utilizing data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the World Bank, our empirical analysis using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and covering 1980 – 2016, revealed that domestic debt has a statistically significant positive relationship with economic growth in the long run while external debt exhibiting a negative relationship with economic growth was not statistically significant. The lesson here is that domestic debt appears to be more beneficial in terms of economic growth in Nigeria than external debt as interest paid on domestic loans remains in the country and could be put into further productive economic use. As a policy recommendation from this study, the Federal Government of Nigeria may want to start paying more attention to the mix of domestic debt and external debt in Nigeria's loan portfolio.

Annika Westrenius   and Lisa Barnes   

In an increasingly competitive environment, engaging with stakeholders is no longer an option but a necessity to ensure short-term and long-term success. This is particularly true in small business, yet little is known about how small business managers make those decisions, often under uncertainty and time pressure. Small businesses operate in networks of interdependent entities (ecosystems) where individuals are known to each other. This supports building of relationships, trust and reputation and removes the separation between 'business' and 'ethics' by promoting a long-term focus. Yet, limited resources and conflicting demands result in a need to prioritise some stakeholder demands. As suggested by Stakeholder Salience, decision makers may prioritise stakeholder claims based on perceived levels of power, legitimacy and urgency. The key decision makers of nine Australian small businesses were asked about their relationships with important stakeholders, how decisions regarding the priority of various stakeholders and their expectations were made and what factors may affect such decisions. Relationships with stakeholders were identified as dynamic and strategic resources, interviewees invested considerable time and effort to build and maintain positive relationships. Consistent with Stakeholder Salience model, decisions were affected by perceptions of stakeholders' level of power, legitimacy and urgency. This research also found that intuitive perceptions about the stakeholder affected the decision-making process, and identified the following additional factors: commitment, dependence and potential exit costs as well as the decision maker's perception of alignment with own values, thereby introducing a moral and ethical consideration that would sometimes take priority over other considerations.

Karima Fredj   Alain Jean-Marie   Guiomar Martin-Herran   and Mabel Tidball   

This paper characterizes and compares the optimal and the strategic behaviour of two countries or firms that minimize costs facing emission standards. Emission standards can be reached through emission reduction, banking or borrowing, and emission trading in a given and fixed planning horizon. Our model extends the existing theoretical models in this area of research in two directions mainly. First, we revisit the model proposed by Rubin (1996) to introduce and study the impacts of transaction costs in treadable emission markets. Second, we extend Stavins' (1995) work from a static to a dynamic setting. We analyze the case with and without transaction costs and the case with and without discount rate. We characterize solutions and equilibria in each case and, depending on the initial allocation, characterize the buyer and seller in the emission trading market. Our main findings extend Rubin's paper proving that agents’ equilibrium is not efficient when transaction cost are positive and expand Stavins' results to a dynamic framework.

Rongyu Wang   

We analyze the ordering decisions of a manager who acquires demand information to make inventory decisions. Human beings' cognitive ability in information acquisition is imperfect by nature. We adopt the rational inattention theory to model the information acquisition activity. By reformulating the rational inattention decision problem, we find that rational inattention theory resembles the free energy principle (Friston 2009, 2010) that is used to model brain activities. Therefore, rational inattention theory gets a neurocognitive foundation. We obtain closed-form solutions of the optimal action strategies, which is a discrete distribution although the states are continuous. The process of resulting the optimal action strategies shows that the essence of the process, as a neurocognitive activity, is to think until nothing to think. The optimal action strategies themselves show that an effective thinking is hard to obtain unless think one more step. We also study the impact on decisions once the primitive information is contaminated. If the primitive information is contaminated by, for example, data sampling errors, the acquired information will be eclipsed by the contamination and exhibit certain features that mistaken the ordering decisions by acquiring information if the primitive information were clean. The specific forms of the well-known one-to-one correspondence between action and signal are also restricted by the contamination. We propose an empirical approach to identify the optimal ordering quantities, and the approach works only if the information contamination is separated from the estimation of the unconditional optimal ordering strategies.

El BekrI Hafsa   

The paper is devoted to explore the impact of Moroccan banks on the increase of FDI in West African Countries. We estimate the determinants of foreign direct investment flows using the gravity equation, taking into account the importance of both the traditional gravity variables (size, distance) and the financial flows (loans granted by Moroccan banks in African countries). The purpose of this paper is to verify whether Multinational banks can constitute a gravitational force to attract the industrial firms towards host countries in South-South relations. The data used cover the period 2010-2015 and focuses on 5 African countries Benin, Burkina Faso, CĂŽte d'Ivoire, Mali and Senegal. The gravity model is estimated in individual fixed-effect panel data by the ordinary least squares method. The results highlight that the internationalization of Moroccan Banks increased the volume of non-financial FDI from the same home-market (Morocco) in Western African Countries.

Ulises BarragĂĄn Vinueza   Riveliño RamĂłn C   JosĂ© Luis Altuna   and Favian Bayas-MorejĂłn   

This work proposes a claim that institutes a project of entrepreneurship in accordance with the legal situation and economic policies of the popular and solidarity economy for cheese production and under sanitary standards, by establishing a microenterprise where all the inhabitants of the San Pablo area of Athens, considering the productive potential of the area. For which, a questionnaire of 60 people from the area was used. After the analysis, 75% of respondents say they know the ancestral practices of cheese production. Also, 65% say they do not know about Micro Enterprise responsible for associating farmers. Likewise, 70% consider that they are made from cheeses in the ancestral form without observing sanitary norms. In addition, 58% determine that there are no legal authorizations for the production of ancestral cheese. Finally, 70% of the respondents agree that a cheese-producing microenterprise will be built in San Pablo de Atenas. In conclusion, it is feasible to open a company that produces artisanal cheeses.

Emin BaƟar Baylan   and Yasemin Claire Erensal   

Strategy prioritizing in strategic plans requires evaluating large amount of information and data. Technically, this process is carried out by a heterogeneous planning team within an organization who are generally working in different departments and management levels. This situation creates a significant problem in group decision making and in its process since each and every group members may think their departments' benefits when making a decision rather than overall organization's goals and targets. To overcome this situation, this study looks for an alternative way for the group decision making which can enable groups to follow an objective path to overcome subjective views and decisions. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to develop a group decision making model based on the strategic planning template. Strategic planning template chosen for this study belongs one of the Turkish Government Agency operating in mining industry. Developed model was build based on the ANP-VIKOR hybrid method. Findings showed that the new developed model facilitates shorter decision making time, enables to get more benefit out of the group and allows analyzing large amount of rationality for the government agency.

David Novak   

Goal: Global sustainability is becoming an increasingly important topic, which is impressively demonstrated by numerous conferences of the UN and its sister organizations with worldwide participation. The purpose of this paper is to critically review the use of geothermal energy through the use of heat pumps. Opportunities and starting points are discussed briefly. Design / Methodology / Approach: This paper does not only deal with geothermal energy, but also shows the potential uses and effects of using heat pumps. Not only the basic assumptions and the goals are documented, but these are, as far as possible, checked for their realism or feasibility. Carry out a method comparison of the published literature with technical, economic and ecological approaches. Findings: The findings are presented in a concise summary and provide opportunities for further analysis, discussion or results. The use of heat pumps is to reduce CO₂ emissions in heat production, to measure the impact on nature using indicators and values. Geothermal energy can make a significant contribution to environmental protection through the use of heat pumps. Their lack of market penetration in Germany is apparently not due to too low benefits, but rather to lack of awareness (lack of marketing) and also lack of German government support, e.g. about tax incentives. Research / Practical Implications: Results and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified. Use of geothermal energy and its effects can be assessed in the short, medium and long term. All people worldwide could use geothermal energy if they had a working electrical connection. Future research into renewable energy sources should always include geothermal energy, although currently it does not have enough multipliers and interest groups to support it. From the perspective of permanent availability (24/7), it is unbeatable. Originality / Value: This paper deals with sustainability and the related consequences in the field of regenerative energy production through the use of geothermal heat, as well as the implementation by means of heat pumps. In addition to purely scientific literature, facts and figures are used by the German Federal Environment Agency and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, which ensure the highest degree of neutrality.

N. Tungalag   B. Unenbat   L. Oyuntsetseg   and R. Enkhbat   

The Leontief Input-Output model is a valuable tool for economics. Many economic research works are devoted to analysis of Input-Output table [1]-[5]. In this paper, we consider a separation of Copper production subsector from Mining of metal ores sector which is one of the 55 economic sectors of Input-Output Table of Mongolia. We examine impact of this subsector on other economic sectors using Input-Output table for 2016 and Physical Measurement Method of Cost Accounting [6]. We compute input coefficients of new extended matrix as well as inverse coefficients.

Rukaiyat Adebusola Yusuf   

Dividend policy decisions in the emerging markets have continued to receive attention lately in academic research due to the differences observed between developed and emerging markets and sparse empirical evidence in this area. This research is directed towards the emerging markets in Africa. It investigates dividend decisions in 299 companies listed in Nigeria on Nigerian stock exchange market. This paper compares dividend decisions in the pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods. Six possible determinants of dividend policy were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analysis for a period of 13 years (2002 to 2014). The companies are segregated into active and dead groups for the purpose of the analysis. This paper contributes to the current body of knowledge by giving more insights to dividend policy in the largest economy in Africa taking account of the financial crisis of 2008. Liquidity and growth opportunities are common predictors in the three periods. Results are in support of agency, pecking order and signalling theories. The predictors in the regression model explain 42% variability in dividend policy before the crisis in Nigeria but about 20% during and afterwards.

Xia Anquan   and James Maingi   

Project performance entails the achievement of enhanced results from the organization, teams and individuals within agreed upon goals, objectives and standards. There is increased number of projects that have failed despite advance increase in adoption of best practice. The study sought to establish determinants of the performance of Chinese funded projects in Kenya, a case of "One Belt One Road" initiative projects. It concentrated on stakeholder involvement, infrastructure, change in legislation and loans. It focused on Standard Gauge Railway Project funded by the Chinese government as part of "One Belt One Road" initiative projects. The analysis of data was carried out by use of descriptive statistics and a multiple regression analysis. It established that the selected determinants to a significant extent influenced the performance of Chinese funded projects in Kenya. It concluded that the projects embraced stakeholder involvement to a significant extent, to a great extent project policy framework on technology, has influenced project performance, and the projects relied heavily on loans from the Chinese government. The study recommends that the project management should improve stakeholder involvement, consultation and also incorporate their feedback in the project implementation cycle to foster project performance.

Ahmet Salih iKiZ   

The phase of globalization has helped many developing economies in framing the path towards achieving a higher level of development and economic growth. One of the major instruments used in framing this path of economic growth is foreign direct investment. The economy of Turkey had also witnessed several economic crises and hence the liberalization reforms were introduced in early 2000, which have provided the Turkish economy a strong framework to expand in terms of foreign direct investment. In this context, the present study examines the impact of internationalization and foreign direct investment of Turkish companies. The researcher has collected the data for inward and outward FDI flows during the period 1990-2015. The researcher analyzed the trend of the FDI flows and explored the different reasons behind the rise in the amount of outward FDI. Further, the study explores the convergence of EU integration and how the internalization of Turkish companies changed the investment patterns among the multi-national enterprises in Turkey.

Soon-Chee, Leong   and Maria Abdul Rahman   

This study investigates the influences of product quality and relational elements, namely trust, cooperation, and communication, on customer loyalty, and mediating effects of commitment in Malaysian electrical and electronics manufacturing industry. It utilizes quantitative methodology, where survey questionnaires are sent to Malaysian electrical and electronics manufacturing firms selected from two directories. A total of 267 returned and useable survey questionnaires were used for data analysis consisting of descriptive analysis, PLS-SEM, and mediation effects. Results of PLS-SEM analysis found that product quality and cooperation have significant influences on customer loyalty. In contrast, trust and communication do not have significant influence on customer loyalty. Mediation effect analysis findings established that commitment significantly mediates four relationships between product quality and customer loyalty, trust and customer loyalty, cooperation and customer loyalty, and communication and customer loyalty. Two relationships between product quality and customer loyalty, and cooperation and customer loyalty are partially mediated by commitment. The other two relationships between trust and customer loyalty, and communication and customer loyalty are fully mediated by commitment. The findings have managerial implications for Malaysian electrical and electronics manufacturing industry, where customer loyalty can be developed with influences of product quality and relational elements, in which not all of them develop customer loyalty in similar way; only cooperation has direct influence on customer loyalty. Nevertheless, with the presence of mediating effects of commitment, all three relational elements can develop customer loyalty indirectly.

Đani Bunja   Ć ime Vučetić   and Domagoj Cingula   

In the world of globalization, a modern tourist, as a traveller with all the information available, dictates and develops the growth and development of tourism supply. Given the lifestyle and growth of the tourist segment whose motive of arrival is gastronomy, the ever increasing role of attracting tourists to the destination has its gastronomic supply. Croatia as a rich country with indigenous food should definitely use it as an advantage to segment and attract new tourists looking for quality food and authentic tourism experience. The main aim of this paper is to show specific factors that have or will have a certain contribution to the development of gastronomic tourism in the Republic of Croatia. Another purpose of the paper is to present a list of current trends that contribute to the development of gastro-tourism in the world.

Sunggwang Jung   Jae Hyung Cho   and IL-Woon Kim   

This study designed a job matching system based on the National Competence Standard (NCS). In other words, we proposed an algorithm that can optimize the matching in employment in the n*m situation. We set performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions as the attributes of the NCS-based job matching system. Moreover, we tried to examine the relationship between NCS-based job matching service attributes, using intention and word-of-mouth (WOM). In addition, this study analyzed how the relationship between NCS-based job matching system service attributes and NCS-based job matching system using intention changes according to the type of service user (corporations, job seekers). The major results of this study are as follows. First, NCS-based job matching system attributes have a significant effect on using intention. Second, it was found that the intention to use the NCS-based job matching system had a positive effect on WOM. Third, NCS-based job matching system attributes on using intention differed depending on the type of service user (corporations, job seekers).

Than Thanh Son   and Nguyen Huu Cung   

Individual income tax revenue accounts for a high proportion of Vietnam's total tax revenues. The purpose of the article is to study the factors affecting individual income tax revenue in Vietnam. The findings show that there are three factors to be the strongest impact on the individual income tax revenue including GDP at current prices, individual income tax burden and inflation. Based on the empirical results, the article proposes some policy implications that can increase the individual income tax revenue without exceeding the people's endurance.

Mehmet Cemil Simsek   

The automotive sector accounts for a significant part of the global cross border trade. Therefore, it is to reflect the current economic structure around the world. This study reveals economic characteristics of this significant sector, while considering how cross border trade, production and market of this sector have experienced shifts across regions over the last decade. This study proves that Asia-Pacific region has displayed remarkable growth in terms of automotive imports and exports, and motor vehicle assembly and market over the last decade constituting a larger share of the global automotive sector. On the other hand, European region still leads the global automotive imports and exports.

Rachita Rana   

Women workers in Informal sector contribute significantly towards the transmission of physical, financial, economic, social and cultural factors intergeneration. The attempts to give insight into how the factors such as economic condition, living conditions, basic amenities, reason for work, status in family financial conditions, social and working conditions are transmitted and how significant is the contribution of attributes when they worked as a child, and as an adult. The working women in Informal sectors have neither change nor significant improvement in the factors under consideration despite working as child, adult and as they grew old. The objective of the paper is to find out the intergeneration transmission of factors depending on the stage of generation among the working women in Informal sectors. The research methodology adopted is descriptive and explanatory in approach. Primary data has been collected through structured interview schedule. The sample size is 485 female workers working in Informal sector. The research paper has implications for managers and researchers.

Robin S. McCutcheon   and Lori, McCoy, D. O.   

Starting in 1942, the United States federal government introduced five major healthcare policies with the intention of reducing the cost of healthcare while insuring millions of people without health insurance. These actions have steered the country towards a monopolistically competitive posture in the medical industry, and compelled consumers to purchase services from few companies at progressively higher prices. The laws of supply and demand cannot be changed, altered, or forced into contortions outside of their nature. Rather than work against market forces, the answer to monopolistic competition is to decentralize the market. Increasing competition for the consumer-patient using common sense, transparent pricing and visible menu lists in physicians' offices will lead to lower market prices for goods and services.

PhD. Candidate, Driton Fetahu   

The process of the sanation of enterprises producing public goods represents a very complex, risky and expensive (politically, economically and business) venture. The long-lasting policy of treating the sector for production of public goods as an activity has its basic task to provide sheaply of gratis, the supplying of population and economy with public goods and services as well as exclusive political criteria in the choice of their management along with the non-selective subventions of various political, macroeconomic and business failures, developed an incremental conduct in practically each enterprise for the production of public goods regarding the changes in social, economic and technological surrounding. The start position in the present work is that it is necessary to raise the work efficiency of the enterprises for the production of public goods – by implementing the relevant techniques of crisis management with inner (internal) restructuring on the basis of individual programs made by respecting the methods and concepts of the following techniques: strategic planning and managing, team work, reengineering and benchmarking on one side and the specificities of restructuring these enterprises in societies and economies in transition and being reflected in undeveloped market infrastructure and absence of adequate regulatory public mechanisms for the substitution of the market mechanisms. This fact gives the certain degree of subjectivity to the whole process of the sanation of the enterprises producing public goods. According to this, the authors selected an approach where the basic task of the crisis management in this sanation of enterprises for the production of public goods in the adaptation of so-called soft elements (software) as (1) Changes in the structure of might between inner and outer factors with emphasis on making a precise, public and transparent framework for the public regulation of the conduct of enterprises running their business in the regime of natural or administrative monopoly, (2) Improvements in regulatory circles and rules of game for performing key business processes in the production and distribution of public goods, (3) Adaptation of general frameworks defining the role and economic position of employees and (4) Development of the culture of organization (of the production of public goods) ensuring the quality of contents of characteristic rituals of the employees' behaviour in the function of more efficient satisfaction of the needs of customers or users of public goods and services.

Aleksandr Gostilovich   

Business digital transformation has been recently spreading through the world. In order to achieve a sustainable development, global society should implement the tools of digital transformation to optimize sharing assets. This phenomenon explains the growth of sharing economy. At the same time, the sharing economy is quite popular in the ĐĄ2ĐĄ segment, but any thorough research is almost negated in the B2B segment. In this article, we will evaluate the potential of sharing economy in the context of modern sharing assets. On the grounds of qualitative and quantitative estimation of the statistical data the two new indices are introduced, which describe sharing assets potential in Russia. The results describe in this article can become the foundation for further and/or similar research conducted in other countries.

Leila Khaouani   

Communication is considered as an inevitable consequence of any development policy, whether economic or social, and among the various types of communication, telecommunication representing one of the irreplaceable infrastructure for any society. The demand on these services is increasing, from a simple telephone line to the establishment an information transmission network that dominates the different substrates of conversion, cable, fiber optic, satellite, etc. The telecommunications sector at Algeria has been monopolized by the state and has suffered greatly in response to the growing demand for telephone lines. But things have changed thanks to the new law of the sector, which opened the doors to private investors after thirty eight years; the State has licensed the private sector, and led to increased supply in this area. This article aims to study the causal relationship between GDP and telecommunications across the Algerian fixed and mobile telephones from 1963 to 2015. The empirical analysis moves by steps to test chronological series characteristics by using the Phillips-perron (PP) tests, the Johansen cointegration test, and the Vector Error Correction Model short-term (VECM), ending with the Granger causality test. The results showed that the coefficient is statistically significant for the VECM test, and the Granger causality test that has showed a unidirectional causal relationship between variables.

Ahmet Niyazi Özker   

The financial integration concept is a very important main key, as an integration phenomenon, that haven taken place in EU, and effect on the member countries' financial reform process for a long time. In this study, we aim to put forth the financial relations between financial alterations and recent developments, which include along the capital movements especially together with the last full member countries. Therefore, we have interrogated two cross-examine related to financial integration fact. That is first of their financial market standards affecting financial harmonization adjustment process. Secondly, the financial risk-sharing and prudential policies' effect that take place in applications related to integration process. In addition to, the price-based policies have been emphasized along the occurred global risks which make sense cross-country dispersion of bond yields among banks in the EU. However, since the process of financial integration represents a process that aims to harmonize national debt limits between member states, it also presents a process where the money market transactions are also questioned among banks on a global level. In this respect, the global alignment of financial markets emerges as the objectives of joint financial change as well as the alignment of macro financial indicators for EU countries, and it appears that this fact makes corporate integrations inevitable among member countries.

Robin S. McCutcheon   

The noble task of teaching requires a free spirit of inquiry, exemplary open-mindedness, and conditions for the practice of responsibly relaying information to the student. (Justice Frankfurter, 1952) For the last century, academics have supported the idea of a ‘free spirit of inquiry' and have dubbed it academic freedom. In the current divisive climate between progressive and capitalist ideologies, having and keeping your academic freedom requires you to understand what academic freedom is, where it came from, and why it is important to defend it. Our students often don't hear the message of capitalism because the numerical majority of professors, across all disciplines, are progressive. In order for students to make rational decision about capitalism, they have to be taught about it by professors who are capitalists. More open dialogue, not less, between professors holding different ideologies, in front of an audience of students, is necessary.

Dang Van My   

The study aims to identify the factors affecting the service quality of retail supermarket. Through approaching other studies, the study evaluated the service quality in general and the service quality of retail supermarket in particular. Qualitative method is used for exploring the research model and variables. The survey was conducted to collect the customer's opinion from Coopmart supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam. This study revealed that five factors have impacted on the service quality in supermarket retailing – a modern retail business which provides both goods and services. The study proposed some policies for supermarket business managers and some suggestions for further studies.

Kinza Yousfani   Hassan Ali Solangi   and Ali Gul Lakhiar   

The banking sector of Pakistan is growing with every passing year and the quality plays a major role in the developed banking sector. To retain loyal customers quality service is vital. Though, quality and customer service are major driving forces in the business community. Moreover, the product's quality is its capability which satisfies customers' expectations and needs. SERVQUAL scale questionnaire is used as research instrument which was developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) which quantify the expected quality of banking services of selected samples of banks including domestic and foreign banks in Pakistan. The basic aim of this paper is to investigate the service quality and its relationship among domestic and foreign banks operating in Pakistan. A total of 300 respondents (account holders) were surveyed out of which, 50 account holders for each of the 6 banks including domestic and foreign Banks were surveyed. The sample selected is nonrandom convenient sampling method. This study is descriptive as well as comparative. The results, therefore, suggest that Bank Al-Falah has favorable gap scores in terms of Tangibility, Reliability, and Responsibility. Whereas Soneri Bank earned average Gap Scores in Assurance and Empathy. Also, national bank performed as less service quality measure and holding gap scores greater than all the other banks. Hence, therefore, this research indicates that all independent variables tangibility, empathy, reliability, assurance, responsibility, and empathy have significant relationship dependent variables consumer perceive quality. This study offers practical help to researchers and practitioners in providing a direction for service quality improvement by indicating the common theme that develops the service quality model.

Punartha Perera   

Urban art (UA) is a contemporary art type, which was developed in the past four to five decades. Gradually with time, various UA types have been increasingly visible in many cities. While UA growth in certain cities has been faster, the progression of this art type in most cities has faced oppositions from various groups and thereby been slower. This research studies the current context of progression of UA scene in Madrid, considering Madrid as the case study. The research further explores the capability that UA could demonstrate as a tourism development tool in Madrid. Based on the capacity existent for UA being used as a tourism tool, the research suggests ways on how UA can be of best use for the society as a tourism tool. The research also aims to find out what categories of participants in the society should be benefited from UA scene being used for the tourism development in Madrid. The research is carried out using a qualitative research methodology and through an exploratory approach. The research is completed with the use of more primary source data together with additional secondary sources of data. Observations, short questionnaires and interviews are main primary source data gathering instruments while document analysis is the main instrument in processing secondary source data. The results show that Madrid is in a city full of UA types all around the city and has the definite capability to be further developed as a tourism tool. The urban artists are involving in creating their own UA pieces both legally as well as illegally while facing obstacles from the authorities, even though impediments have reduced from 2015 due to the new local government. However, the research concludes that Madrid's UA can be further developed through the continued support from policy makers and by giving the direct benefits of the development to local artists and the local UA stakeholders. The steps taken for the advancement of UA in Madrid will have an explicit effect also on its growth as a tourism development tool.

Noha S. Omar   and Ahmed Ismal   

This paper, to the best of my knowledge, is the first to estimate the association between Nighttime Lights (NTL) and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the national level, using sub-national GDP data for the 27 Egyptian governorates over FY08-FY13. The study finds that NTL has a positive and statistically significant correlation with GDP at the sub-national and national levels. Hence, NTL can measure and predict GDP in Egypt, at the national and sub-national levels. These findings affirm most previous research that NTL could be a good proxy for GDP when official data are unavailable or time infrequent in developing countries.

Alexander Kluth   and Yung-Shen Yen   

This study aims to identify the potential factors for improvement and to generate optimization measures for the Omni-channel strategy. We used the fashion label 'Marc O'Polo', a premium brand in the world, as a study case. This study found that the Omni-channel strategy of Marc O'Polo is compared with the competition with other fashion retailers well-developed, but there are some approaches which miss its target. Thus, we may suggest three points of the Omni-channel strategy for Marc O'Polo, which include that, firstly, triggered or location-based communication by using mobile apps as information and communication tools; Secondly, consistent and centralized social media presentation; Thirdly, personalized online marketing based on customer-generated data.

Fabian Zbinden   and Galia Kondova   

This paper studies recent economic and political developments in Mexico and the potential role of blockchain technology in improving governance and fighting corruption in the country. Mexico badly needs innovative solutions to fight the persistent problems of corruption and inefficient governance. At the same time, blockchain, being a decentralized technology, promises to reduce administrative costs and ensure transparency in the public services. The paper takes stock of the current state of blockchain implementation in the economy and in the public administration of Mexico as well as studies the advantages and disadvantages related to the further outspread of the technology in the country. Moreover, the work aims at drawing policy recommendations as to the future role of blockchain in the public management and economic development in Mexico.

Shahzavar Karimzadi   

It is a self-evident fact that there cannot be a human society without culture. The necessity of culture to humans is imperative. Culture in its most basic sense fulfills and harnesses the obligations of communal cohabitation. Equally imperative is the fact that culture is not an ad hoc construction of any one individual. What is manifestly obvious is that culture is a reality. On this matter, we can draw a definite conclusion. Humans by their nature are social animals and therefore the survival of human beings, by necessity, will depend on living in groups. Leading a completely secluded life is not sustainable. From their very origin, people have lived in various forms of society. In turn, human society is a whole - composed of many interconnected parts. But what is the bond that joins the various parts into one united whole? In this paper, it will be argued that the biosphere of any society is culture. That is the all-inclusive common denominator and invisible glue that interlinks all the parts as the whole. From this perspective culture is dispensable and its function is more profound, organic and dynamic than perceived in economics. The paper examines how different schools of thought in economics view culture in light of the aforementioned standpoint.

Juhi Shah   

As we can see over the last few years, Asia has the fastest growing economies. There is a huge possibility of creation of a new international world system which is going to be led by either the BRICS countries, which has 4 Asian countries of the total 5 members. With the increased economic powers of the Asian countries, many economists worldwide have forecasted that the countries like China, India, Japan, Russia, UAE, South Korea and many others are going to surpass the American or the western system that is followed today. The world is on the verge of seeing a shift in the economic powers. The economies of the Asian countries are by their sheer size becoming economic giants. The countries have experienced a rapid growth in their economies since the 1960s. East Asian countries grew faster than the rest of the world for four key reasons: they have substantial potential for catching up; their geographical and structural characteristics by-and-large favourable; demographic changes following World War II; and their economic policies and strategies. Looking into all these perspectives, the paper will focus on, how the Asian countries are currently fast developing, their position at the global level and how they will determine the future course of world economy Vis-Ă -vis the west, and power shift at the global level.

Chaib Baghdad   

Algeria is mostly known and defined as an economy based entirely on the hydrocarbon sector, essentially the oil. It based mostly on the revenues transferred by this sector when the world prices are judged favorable for the exports countries, as it is the case with this country, meaning that the question of funding any economic program or project is handing upon the revenues from the oil markets. In this sense, the food policy or security is following the move and the fluctuations of this market, since the country needs to find the right amount to be consecrated to this question, especially when it is a question to import the required volume in order to respond to the increasing demand from the domestic customers and local markets. For this, we will try, in this paper, to examine and study this subject of food security in this country, taking into account its economic specificities and characteristics, and also the nature of its consumers markets. Since the problem is not only to analyze this confrontation, but to find out the policy or strategy to be adopted and set up in this new context of decreasing the financial revenues from the petrol market. Since June 2014, it has been announced that such revenues have decreased for about 60% from this period, with all the impacts, consequences and effects on the question of financing projects, including thus matter of food security and also food policy. The question of food policy is linked with agricultural sector and the majority of population living in bad economic and social conditions, meaning that the State is strongly recommended to establish a strong strategy regarding this matter.

MĂĄria IllĂ©s   

This paper shows that the various rating calculation methods of business efficiency calculations are built according to a unified logic system. It provides an overview of the rich methodological background and presents a transparent system picture. The analysis shows that the general return requirement is the starting point for business efficiency calculation methods, pointing out that only those methods of calculation are suitable for measuring business efficiency which are logically consistent with the general return requirement. It shows also the essentials of the mixed profit categories and presents and interprets the method elements of business efficiency calculations, which can be used to construct various calculation formulas for different business matters. The uniform logic system of method elements may form a guiding thread when selecting and evaluating the correctness of the method used. The paper draws attention to the fact that a number of efficiency-computing conceptions obviously fail to comply with the general return requirement and consequently in such cases may also be preferred less efficient or even inefficient variants.

Neven Ć erić   and Filipa MaruĆĄić   

Marketing tools in tourism are constantly changing. The competition in the global tourism market is exponentially growing. Common practice in the tourism sector is the promotion of destination offer to send target audience specific image in correlation with extra destination value. Customizing destination promotional mix to fit global touristic standards ensures efficient destination positioning but includes higher investment. Management of integral parts of the promotional mix is defined with undifferentiated supply and the general image of destination as well as completely opposite terms of the differentiated offer and the general image of the destination. Most of the tourism-related organizations adjust its promotional mix according to values and image they want to present to the target audience. In the same time, there aren't many tourism organizations, which adjust its promotional mix to different emissive markets. The main research question of this paper is "Does the strategic commitment of a receptive destination offer in terms of managing the marketing mix present strength or weakness?" The paper will present research results from the survey conducted on tourists from Swedish emissive market in order to define recommendable outlines for the successful promotion of tourism services on the selected emissive market. Given the fact the authors of this paper conducted two parallel primary types of research of attitudes among different samples of the same emissive market (one of them were Swedish tourists who didn't visit Croatia). Linking of these two aspects has been a research challenge to the expected contribution in the sphere of realizing advisable guidelines for proactive management of destination promotion focused on one emissive market.

Ge Zhiyuan   and Hou Jie   

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of developments and changes of China economy from the perspective of input-output networks between 1990 and 2013. Through choosing a network-based approach and combining this with input-output data we are able to analyze the changes and evolutions of centralities, which measured by strength centrality and clustering coefficient, and some extend measures based on centrality including import penetration, international outsourcing and distance to final demand. Our findings show that the basic impression about China input-output networks is that flows are concentrated on some minority points, and also concentrated on the diagonal line obviously, and the self-inputs by industries are normal and significant. Moreover, during recent years the trend of lower and wider peak of the density strength centrality curves illustrates the more balance of China economy than at the beginning of this century, and construction has always been the pillar industry. The changes of distribution of import penetration have been flatter and lower since 1990 and then narrower and higher about after 2001. This trend means that after 2001 most of China industries decrease the dependencies of import from outside. Some trade pattern in measures of distance to final demand and clustering coefficient are exhibited in this paper.

Cristina Cazorzi Martinez   

This paper analyses the diversity dimensions and strategy put in place by Italian Expatriates in the French market. The Company belongs to the "Third Italy" Industrial District and we observed the transformation of the local culture into the organizational structure. Corporate culture may be the reference framework of Italian Expatriates and shapes their attitude and approaches. The Cultural Framework Theory is mobilized creating universal references and explaining the collective perceptions of foreigner managers steering local teams. Expatriates are analysed as a social group with their own dynamic and learning systems. Few articles wonder about the Italian model of management with specific details of the expatriate's situation. The paper is a case study describing and explaining a first path to construct a general theory. We analyse, in a second step, the relationship with local culture, and its influence on the management style and the way it spreads in other country.

El Bekri Hafsa   

The strategic choice of Moroccan banks to conquer the African market has accelerated since the mid-2000s. According to the Banking Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Moroccan banks concentrate 29.6% of the market share in the WAEMU region in 2015, and more than 30% of the share of global net income in the region. The article is devoted to the research of the role of Moroccan banks in the economic development in African countries. Can Moroccan banks affect real economic activity and act as catalysts for financial and economic development in African countries? To answer this question, we examine the co-movements between loans granted by Moroccan banks in African countries and real activity in those countries. Therefore, we use the synchronization index proposed by Hading and Pagan (2002). The cycles were obtained with a Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter. The concordance index values, cross-correlation values were used to identify the characteristics of the relationships between the cyclical components. The study covers the period 2006-2015 and focuses on three Moroccan banking groups (Attijariwafabank, BMCE Bank of Africa and Banque Centrale Populaire BCP) set up in seven countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, CĂŽte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Niger. The empirical results revealed that the financial (credits granted by Moroccan banks) and business (real activity) cycles are highly synchronized in WAEMU. The study concluded that the bank credits have a positive impact on real activity in WAEMU countries within the period examined.

Costin Popescu   

Advertising looks into every field of the social practice for symbols that, associated to products, help it sell them better. It could not miss the religious symbols. This article examines changes in representations and meanings of angels, devils, Heaven, and Hell confirmed or brought about by advertisements. As the literature indicates, the amount of commercial messages using religious themesAdvertising looks into every field of the social practice for symbols that, associated to products, help it sell them better. It could not miss the religious symbols. This article examines changes in representations and meanings of angels, devils, Heaven, and Hell confirmed or brought about by advertisements. As the literature indicates, the amount of commercial messages using religious themes (especially the amount of advertisements using the four themes) is small. The corpus was created by browsing the 2005 and 2015 issues of four glossy magazines and by collecting advertisements from different media: news magazines, magazines for women, important producers' sites, advertising sites, out-of-home. The componential analysis and the visual semiotics offered the ways to examine the corpus; readings from scientific literature on the four religious themes and a questionnaire whose respondents were graduate students of the Consulting and Expertise in Advertising program, University of Bucharest, helped complete the research. The distinctive features of angels, devils, Heaven, and Hell, as they were presented by researchers of the Christian faith, are compared to features that graduate students, part of popular culture, and advertising ascribe them. Angels and devils have become symbols of high intensity experiences, meant to improve humans' existential condition. Every space where an individual invests subjective energy intended to raise him / her from monotonous life can become Heaven. Hell is matter for irony (we read Hell to understand Heaven) or instrument of blackmails (who does not use the products arrives there). Given the small number of advertisements in the corpus, this research can be qualified as an attempt to answer a difficult question: how to investigate more attentively a process, the use of religious themes in advertising, that everybody notice, but whose breadth and effects are not yet sufficiently determined. (especially the amount of advertisements using the four themes) is small. The corpus was created by browsing the 2005 and 2015 issues of four glossy magazines and by collecting advertisements from different media: news magazines, magazines for women, important producers’ sites, advertising sites, out-of-home. The componential analysis and the visual semiotics offered the ways to examine the corpus; readings from scientific literature on the four religious themes and a questionnaire whose respondents were graduate students of the Consulting and Expertise in Advertising program, University of Bucharest, helped complete the research. The distinctive features of angels, devils, Heaven, and Hell, as they were presented by researchers of the Christian faith, are compared to features that graduate students, part of popular culture, and advertising ascribe them. Angels and devils have become symbols of high intensity experiences, meant to improve humans’ existential condition. Every space where an individual invests subjective energy intended to raise him / her from monotonous life can become Heaven. Hell is matter for irony (we read Hell to understand Heaven) or instrument of blackmails (who does not use the products arrives there). Given the small number of advertisements in the corpus, this research can be qualified as an attempt to answer a difficult question: how to investigate more attentively a process, the use of religious themes in advertising, that everybody notice, but whose breadth and effects are not yet sufficiently determined.

Naveen Wickremeratne   and Priyanga Dunusinghe   

This study attempts to investigate the Youth Not in Education, Employment and Training (NEET) in Sri Lanka. The objectives of this study include identifying the share of youth NEET in Sri Lanka as a percentage of population with regards to national, sectoral, gender, education, ethnicity and marital status, and to identify the determinants of those who are NEET. This study is based on cross-sectional data obtained from Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey (SLFS) 2015. The methodology adopted for the study consists of two major components. First component attempts to generate youth NEET estimates for Sri Lanka using descriptive statistics tools. The second component of the methodology includes a logistic regression analysis to identify the determinants of youth NEET. The study found that Sri Lanka has a significantly high youth NEET rate of 25.8 percent in 2015, which is unsatisfactory to the Sri Lankan labour market. This raises the labour market vulnerability with regards to youth population of Sri Lanka. The research also found the significant NEET disparities among youths by sector, gender, age, education, ethnicity and marital status. Moreover, the logistic regression analysis identified age, gender, education, residential sector and marital status as the significant determinants of youth NEET in Sri Lanka.

Shobha Deepthi V   Sumith Reddi Baddam   and Vignesh Thangaraju   

Customer Success is gaining priority for Organizations in transforming to recurring revenue business model. For this we need to shift our paradigm from being a "reactive troubleshooting" to "proactively advising" our customers. As part of this transformation various capabilities are being built, to capture customer data, have smart agents that collect information from customer networks to predict a failure before it happens and to advise the customer of the resolution. Products can be both hardware and software. It is trickier to predict a failure or an issue beforehand in software when compared to hardware because in hardware there are predefined set of symptoms for a failure. In software, predicting an issue beforehand means knowing and understanding what code is going in with each commit, defect or an enhancement. In most cases, defects found during internal testing, which are often neglected, crop up as customer issues at a later point in time. In this paper, we propose a solution to predict the potential defects that the customer might find after the release of the product using LSTM and CNN. We also predict the time (weeks or months) within which the customer might face this issue. This knowledge helps the teams to prioritize the defects and proactively resolve them on time before going live with known backlog of issues. Thus improving the quality of product that we deliver. Post production this can help proactively advise customers on these known issues that he might face and recommend a software patch or upgrade path. This paper is aimed at reducing internal failures cost component of Cost of Quality leads to Customer Retention and Success.

Lyroni Athina   Anastasiou Athanasios   Liargovas Panagiotis   Dermatis Zacharias   and Komninos Dimitrios   

This paper explores the relation between R&D and economic growth using data from the EU-28 countries for the period 2001-2014. We consider panel data econometric techniques and control variables commonly used in the literature are analyzed together with a number of other variables to which existing studies often give little attention. Our results suggest that R&D expenditure and the patents (European Patent Office – EPO) have a positive and significant effect on economic growth for all countries.

Ahmet Niyazi Özker   

In this study, we aim to put forth the participatory budget's structural effects aimed at the future along a participatory spectrum especially for developing countries in OECD. The formation of the structural framework of a participatory budget take important place both in clarifying the internal dynamics of the participatory spectrum and in ensuring structural harmony between the OECD member countries. In this stage, it should be put forth both the redistributive effects of a participatory budget and consultative structural location in its forming process that are related to be improved citizen awareness of councilors in their wards via public contributing. In other hand, this approach contains also the process that is increased resident control over the allocation of some resources. Whichever case is in developed stages for a developing country that regardless of the location, the participatory budget is an audit budget and this public locational position is an indispensable practice of fiscal transparency. This structural importance of participating budget come out from this improved intergenerational institutionally structure to understanding for especially developing countries and OECD has determined some important fact in aimed terms as its member countries for these countries to developing process which are also meaningful in todays. In this context, the participatory budget fact has creative location as a corner stone for developing countries which contribute to improvement a fiscal stability in these countries as a meaningful phenomenon within OECD's general aims.

Dang Van My   and Nguyen Thi Thuy Hanh   

In order to assess the satisfaction of the citizen on the quality of public administrative services in the Central Highlands, research interviewed a randomized direct of 2000 citizens in 2017. Using SPSS to analyze EFA and regression, the results of the study have identified six groups of factors that affect the satisfaction of citizens is reliability; procedures; cost and time; employers, civil servants and officials; facilities and care, supporting. All factors have a positive impact on people's satisfaction, especially procedures; supporting; cost and time are the most significant factors. Therefore, research has recommended some solutions to improve people's satisfaction, such as completing the process; improve the quality of cadres, civil servants and officials; promote care and support the people.

Akinmulegun Sunday O.   

Investment as a catalyst for economic growth and development is an important prerequisite for an economy to attain and sustain industrialization. However, most developing countries lack the sufficient domestic capital to achieve the required level of investment necessary for growth. Thus, foreign capital is necessary to facilitate the investment-growth process. To attract adequate foreign capital needed for investment, capital market has been identified as one of the veritable means through which foreign investment flows into an economy. Consequently, this study examined the effect of capital market development on foreign portfolio investment in Nigeria over the period 1985 to 2016. The study employed secondary data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and publications of Nigeria Stock Exchange. In order to achieve the objective of the study, the researcher adopted Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) to analyze the short run and long run dynamism of the variables while also focusing on the direction of causality between capital market development and foreign portfolio investment in Nigeria, using granger causality test. The Granger causality test revealed that there is no causality between capital market development and foreign portfolio investment in Nigeria. Result from the vector error correction model indicated that Market Capitalization (MCAP) has negative significant effect on foreign portfolio investment in Nigeria while All Share Index (ASI) has positive relationship with foreign portfolio investment. Therefore, the study concluded that capital market development has significant effect on foreign portfolio investment in Nigeria within the period examined. Based on the findings, the study recommended that government and capital market regulatory authorities should develop and enforce policies that will further propel capital market development in such a way that it will sustain its positive effect in attracting foreign portfolio into the Nigerian economy as well as stimulate improved interest of foreign investors in subscribing to portfolio investment in Nigerian enterprises.

Robin S. McCutcheon   

The purpose of this paper is to review the origins of behavioral economics and its use in employee behavior management and human resource management theory to impact production and output growth in companies by influencing employee behavior. Early research economists, Oliver Williamson and William Ouchi, used classical labor theory and the theory of the firm to analyze employee behavior management within the firm and within industry structure to determine the most effective way of increasing production output and growth. Their early research prompted the area of behavioral economics. Subsequent researchers in academics outside economics, like sociology and business management, used behavioral economic theory as a springboard to delve into the inner workings of employee behavior management. A close review of this research reveals a dichotomy in employee behavior control. The majority of research has been done in circumstances with enhanced employee behavior control as the premier mode of production output and growth, while too little research has been done under systems employing a more hands-off approach of employee behavior management. The recommendation of this review is that more research in employee behavior management should be done in the latter circumstance.

Hsin-Hue Chang   and Min-Li Yao   

The aim of this study is to investigate the key factors that influence customers' selection of wealth management (WM) services in Taiwan. We used a face-to-face interview to execute a two-stage questionnaire survey and employed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to measure factors influencing customers' selection of WM services. The results of EFA suggest that factors consisting of brand image, perceived value, and financial consultants' service quality, might influence customers' selection of WM services. CFA results further provide evidence that those factors significantly account for customers' overall satisfaction. The moderating analysis result however reveals that married and single groups have different views on selecting a WM services. The single customers are more likely to rely on brand images in the choice of WM services, whereas the married customers are more likely to place the emphasis on consultants' service quality. This study provides a chance for WM service providers to understand the key factors that impact customer's selection decision, so providers can address those key factors in their marketing strategy. Therefore, they can compete in this intensive market in better shape. In sum, consultants' service quality is the basic requirement for customers while perceived value plays the important role for financial institutions to excel in the WM markets.

Insook Lee   

This paper resolves two lingering theoretical ambiguities on how income tax evasion is affected by income tax rates and by probability of detecting the tax evasion (tax enforcement rate). Improving upon the models of previous studies that showed the ambiguous effect of income tax rate and tax enforcement rate on tax evasion, the model of this paper allows taxpayers to decide both tax evasion and labor supply, responding to nonlinear income tax schedule and enforcement rate, while it also allows the government to decide both tax schedule and tax enforcement rate. With endogenous labor supply and tax evasion of taxpayers as well as endogenous decision of the government on tax rates and tax enforcement rate, the model of this paper more general than the models of previous studies. With this general model, we resolve the ambiguity as follows. First, we show that income tax evasion always responds positively to an increase in the income tax rate. Second, we also prove that income tax evasion is always negatively affected by an increase in the rate of tax enforcement, which invalidates the puzzling case that enhanced tax enforcement can increase income tax evasion.

Sana Moid   

The Indian economy is witnessing streamlined and focused efforts, of the kind off late for the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST). With the services sector accounting for 60% of the GDP, the impact of GST on the service sector is likely to run deep. GST is undisputedly the single largest indirect tax reform since independence. It has the ability to change India's indirect taxation landscape and resulting in a positive impact on the entire economy. The present study is an attempt to understand the impact of GST on Insurance Industry along with highlighting the basic concept of GST, models of GST and its pros and cons in Indian context. The study also highlights the challenges in implementing the system. The introduction of GST will have a definitive impact on services offered by the life insurance sector. Seeking to levy GST on life insurance services would be in contrast to several countries where life insurance is a social security benefit being provided. Given the strategic importance of life insurance sector and the vast untapped market, it is believed that Government will address the concerns of the industry including ensuring merit rate of GST on insurance sector.

Godfrey Chikowore   and Harold J. Annegarn   

Proportional territorial distribution of productive forces historically determined the emergence of socio-economic geography. Deepening regional integration under scrutiny of socio-economic geography culminated in a system of economic regions. These economic regions were further used as special instruments on functional optimisation and management of productive forces guided by specialisation of labor. The process was influenced by scientific and technological advancements, which led to change from a single-sided to an integral multi-factor approach. In these circumstances socio-economic cultural regions emerged as functionally specialised territorial units presenting optimum combinations of productive and non-productive industrial sectors and enterprises. Within this context, the study analyses the role of socio-economic geography in better informing regional integration with reference to South Africa and Zimbabwe. New conceptual terms, such as socio-economic cultural disparities and territorial socio-economic cultural inequalities are proposed. Informed by transformation development theory, the study employs comparative methods of quantitative and qualitative data analysis. It analyses five aspects: (i) application of socio-economic geography to questions of regional integration; (ii) territorial differentiation, factors, forces and relations; (iii) Benefits of economic cooperation and integration for South Africa and Zimbabwe with global economy; (iv) essence of North-South and South-South dialogue; and (v) prospects of the role of socio-economic geography. The conclusions emphasise the role of socio-economic geography, using the newly defined concepts, in articulating a comprehensive theoretical and practical understanding of the processes needed to enhance regional integration.

Sudip Chakraborty   

India's rising income inequality to large extent is caused by the enormous difference in learning outcomes after completion of education. Decomposition analysis of India's current state of inequality points out that rural income inequality causes this outcome. The interstate difference in mean income and the urban-rural gap of mean income within states are often held responsible for giving rise to India's current state of income inequality. Intra-state income inequality is no less responsible. Non-farm sector has been expanding rapidly and within that category service sector is expanding. Service sector works need skills in various trades. Thus, unskilled and semi-skilled workers are left out in this new pattern. Formal employment is also characterized by duel wage structure. Income disparity or earning differential has its roots embedded in education delivery system in particular and human capital formation in general. The state must create opportunities for growth for all through provisioning of universal quality education and healthcare.

Tatjana Golubkova   and Alla Iljina, Mg.oec   

The article deals with the socio-cultural factors of the macro-environment which can influence on the production and distribution of cultural products in Latvia. Among the main factors the level of education, social stratification, attitude in the society towards charity and culture as a whole are emphasized. Using the materials of the European studies and the results of the carried out survey of visitors of the state institutions of culture of Latvia, the authors carry out a comparative analysis of the influence of social and cultural factors on the European and Latvian market of the cultural products.

H. Acuna   D. Carrasco   M. Carrasco   and F. Caro   

This research studies the relation between unemployment and vacancies for Chile between 1994I-2012IV with a special focus on the stages of global crises. Looking at the data, we observed that consequently to the Asian financial crisis, Chile showed an outward shift from the Beveridge Curve which indicates an efficiency loss in the matching process between labor supply and demand. On the other hand, the curve moved inwards as a result of the sub-prime crisis, a proof that supports an improvement in the matching process. We examine a series of factors previously used in the literature with the aim to decompose the changes in the unemployment rate and distinguish the factors that explained the changes in the efficiency of the matching process during both crises. The results, point out that the composition of the labor force and the real wage level were the main variables that explained the efficiency changes.

Aida Guliyeva   and Ulviyya Rzayeva   

At present, the issues of expanding government intervention in the economy and advantages of state regulation are being discussed quite actively. At the same time, it is wrong to turn a blind eye to the problems caused by such interference. One of the “failures of the state” is connected with information asymmetry arising due to monopolization of information by employees of the state apparatus who use these advantages in their own interests. In any state system, there will always be the mechanisms of supporting the representatives’ exclusivity in relation to the rest of the population. The formation of an electronic government with the use of modern information and communication technologies allows significantly increase information transparency in the state structures. The article considers asymmetry of information held up by the power and conformism of the society maintaining the idea of privacy. In addition, the paper suggests a multi-level approach (macro-, meso- and microlevels) for managing competitive advantages, which allows balancing of economic interests in terms of reducing information asymmetry.

Sukamal Deb   

Entrepreneurs shape economic destiny of nations. Their innovative ideas are major source of competitiveness in an increasingly globalizing world economy. Without a strong entrepreneurial community the developing countries will not prosper despite their rich resource endowments. India is a young country with about 63 per cent population in the working age group. This demographic dividend needs to be en-cashed with priorities. Engagements of the youths in creative pursuits, embracing entrepreneurship will bring steadiness to the growth curve and socio-economic transformation. Regional disparities of this country are an issue of concern. In this context focus on the North East Region in general and the state of Arunachal Pradesh in particular are more relevant. The problem of this region can be tackled by harnessing entrepreneurship, by promoting Micro and Small Enterprises. This needs creation of an ecosystem grooming the youths with the relevant skills, inspiring motivation, igniting entrepreneurship and innovations. The present century has thrown up unfamiliar challenges. The pace of change has been fast and our youths have to synchronize them to face these challenges at fast track. An essential way to motivate youths is to celebrate their entrepreneurship, their innovations and their stories of success need to be told.

Aranka Baranyi   Csaba FaragĂł   Csilla Fekete   and Zsuzsanna Szeles   

The SME sector is really important for the Hungarian economy. In our analysis, we had a closer look at the publicly accessible version of Altman's Z-score bankruptcy forecast model for companies not quoted on the Stock Exchange together with the original and the modified, adjusted Springate bankruptcy prediction model. The adjusted Springate model regarded only 37% of the companies having gone bankrupt in real as insolvent, while the justified Altman Z-score model was able to identify only 46% of the stable ongoing firms. The variance analysis could not detect any correlations between the phenomenon of bankruptcy and financial types. By means of logistic regression, we managed to create a model that can forecast solvency for the examined enterprises with a probability of 78%. In the last part of our research, we were dealing with teaching artificial intelligence and creating decision trees based on neural network. Even by means of the first bankruptcy forecast model based on decision trees, a more efficient predicting system was gained than by using any other methods. We assume that only the decision tree made up by using artificial intelligence is efficient in forecasting bankruptcy of all the examined models.

Mohammad Saleem Al - Shura   Abdelrahim M. Zabadi   Mohamad Abughazaleh   and Marwa A. Alhadi   

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, easy, and on-demand network access to a shared aggregation of configurable computing sources. Adopting of cloud computing in the pharmaceutical manufacturing is influenced by a group of critical success factors. Therefore, this paper depends on the technological-organizational-environmental (TOE) framework to explore the factors that influence on cloud computing adoption by pharmaceutical industry firms in Jordan through proposing a model for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies. Complexity, compatibility, relative advantage, top management support, firm size, technical readiness, competitive pressure, and trading partner pressure, are the eight critical success factors that have been tested. A survey was utilized to collect data from 16 pharmaceutical manufacturing firms in the capital of Jordan- Amman. Relevant hypotheses were developed and examined by multiple regression analysis. The results of the data analysis generally support the suggested model. In summary, the results of this research have shown that all above-mentioned factors were found to have a significant influence on adoption of cloud computing for the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan. This finding of adoption in cloud computing in the pharmaceutical industry will help firms to take into consideration their information for technologies investments.

Valery I. Roldugin   and Ravshan Kayumov   

Nowadays it is recognized that entrepreneurship and innovation lie at the heart of economic growth. In the article the authors research an innovative approach to the analysis activity of the Uzbekistan enterprises with international companies. The purpose of this article consists in a research of theoretical problems which are connected with competitiveness of the international organizations. The formation and the development of funding infrastructure to support international companies in the early stages is a complex process that depends on a number of factors, requiring the special approach to the analysis of enterprise's financial performance. Additionally, it presumes high business activity to creating new businesses, some of which succeed and some fail trying to overcome the uncertainties of the enterprise risks and profitableness. In progress of the thesis, different scientific methods of research have been used, including: system analysis, formalization and modeling.

Haruna Abdullahi   Gylych Jelilov   and Selman Tetik   

The role of human capital formation in economic growth and development has been highly underestimated in Nigeria. The study at this moment attempts to create an insight into the importance of human capital formation using real GDP per capita, government expenditure on health, government expenditure on education and primary school enrolment in the case of Nigeria. It used time series data from 1980 to 2017 and employed OLS regression technique, Johanssen cointegration and Granger causality test. The results from the various methods utilized affirmed the importance of human capital formation towards actualizing economic growth and development in Nigeria. The ordinary least square regression result showed a positive relationship between Government capital expenditure on health, Education and primary school enrolment. The Johanssen cointegration result showed cointegrating vectors in both the trace and maximum Eigenvalue test. The results from the Granger causality test indicated a bi-directional between primary school enrolment and Real GDP, a Uni-directional relationship between real GDP and government capital expenditure on health and education. The study strongly recommends a more budgetary capital allocation to health and education. The study went further to suggest strategies that would ensure the increase in primary school enrolment.

A. Niyazi Özker   

In this study, we aim to put forth the effective levels of the consumption taxes both different application structures and disintegration effects as subjected different applications in OECD countries. As is known to all the consuming taxes seem difference in both situations as the taxes applications and structural financial formation according to the related countries, which mean also to the varieties of financial institutionally dynamics in term with regard to the developed levels of these countries based. In this context, the financial fractionally effects can be accepted as the important fact, especially in OECD countries, because the consumption taxes towards households' purchasing powers are affected by the rates of consuming taxes in the process of increasing indirectly. In addition, the differences in each other of consumption taxes in OECD contribute on GDP, especially based on the value added, are connected with the countries' different developed levels, and this fact ensure to deal over the financial confused towards economic integration unities. However, the structural difference of consumption taxes in practices that are especially in the international area put forth not positive financial effects sometimes due to cause the financial disintegrate in order to ensure the financial units. It appears that it should be formatted balances between the national tax practices and the global tax practices to positive distribution of the tax burden. In this context, the main problem with the consumption taxes approach is how to interpret the results obtained according to evaluating distributional impact of consumption taxes across households.

JosĂ© Francisco Reyes DurĂĄn   

The banking system that operates in the country will not have major changes, with the arrival of Trump to the presidency of the USA. Surely, it will continue to operate as it has until now, concentrating the financing to large companies and the government; providing credit on payroll and mortgage are the least risky and most profitable; managing derivative products (even in dollars given the strong expected volatility), and charging all kinds of commissions. It is even envisaged that its dominance could be expanded by deregulation of the rules adopted since the financial crises of 2007-2009. This paper analyzes three aspects: some minskian theoretical views on debt, economic openness and financial instability; some economic - financial links between Mexico and the United States, and the recent situation of banking at the international level and in Mexico. The method used is simple, based on a heterodox theoretical framework, a statistical analysis is carried out that allows identifying economic and financial variables that allow valuing the strong relations between both countries. With this diagnosis its possible glimpse some trends. It is concluded that it is difficult for Mexico to make significant changes in its economic and financial position, unless there is a change in the negotiation of NAFTA or in the economic policy of both countries.

Michael Joffe   

Natural sciences such as biology and geology are characterised by empirically-based causal theories, which were developed by iteration between evidence and causal ideas. Economics could benefit from applying a similar methodology, given that it seeks to explain a similarly complicated, heterogeneous and open-ended reality. Causal accounts that correspond with the real world would replace "as if" theories, and the practice of seeking to explain the deviation of observed phenomena from standard theory rather than the phenomena themselves. As in those natural sciences, theory would be based on capacities - taking account of the human characteristics of interaction, incentive-following and initiative - and on flows and stocks, especially buying power (income and wealth). More generally, causal theories in economics should focus on power, in the sense of the ability to bring something about. This especially applies to the firm's authority structure (legitimate power), which arises from its ability to pay its workers, but more fundamentally, to successful investment initiative. Finally, human interaction needs to be incorporated, in the form of system causation. The "price mechanism" is one example, and there are other important examples of systems that display feedback, e.g. bubbles, as well as complexity.

Olayinka Idowu Kareem   

The poverty impact of trade policy has been ambiguous because of their differential effects on economic agents due to the transmission mechanism through which they operate. In this context, this paper uses Nigeria’s micro- and macro-economic data to investigate the poverty effects of Common External Tariff (CET) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The poverty effects were evaluated from the perspective of households as producers and consumers. The empirical strategy proceeds with two steps: first, by determining the extent of the tariff pass-through to domestic prices; and lastly, evaluating the impact of the price change on household welfare. The findings indicate that domestic prices declined due to the higher tariff pass-through. This decline was higher in states closer to ports and borders, which face lower trade costs. The ECOWAS CET had net positive effects on the welfare of households, largely due to the gains from the expenditure basket. The expenditure gains from the adoption of the trade policy outweigh losses incurred in their purchasing power through lower income. Therefore, this study provides evidence that the price transmission mechanism, household characteristics and geographical location are important determinants in assessing trade policy effects in Nigeria.

Josephine Ofosu-Mensah Ababio   Emmanuel Sarpong Kumankoma   and Kofi A. Osei   

This study has investigated empirically the effect of financing cost on private investment in Ghana, over the period 1970 to 2010. To this end, the variables employed were classified as cost factors (interest rate, exchange rate, inflation rate) and non-cost factors (public investment, output, credit availability, external debt) of private investment. The Johansen co-integration technique was used to estimate the long-run private investment function for Ghana. Also, the Error Correction Model was used to determine the short-run dynamics. The study finds that all the cost factors had negative and statistically significant impact on private investment in Ghana, in the long-run. On the other hand, in the long-run, the non-cost factors impacted positively on private investment in Ghana, but external debt had an adverse effect. It also, finds that all the variables used, co-integrated with private investment in the long-run. This study provides original evidence that high cost of financing is associated with low private sector participation in investment activities in Ghana. Accordingly, the study recommends among others that long term policies should be directed towards cost control and macroeconomic stabilization in order to boost private investment activities or programs in developing nations particularly, Ghana.

Khor Kok Keat   and Abdullah Lin   

Knowledge management plays a vital role in sustaining organizational performance of private academic institutions over time. Nonetheless the linkage between knowledge management, managing talent practices and organizational performance is not adequately addressed. This study therefore is aimed to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and organizational performance of Malaysian private colleges and whether managing talent practices, namely managing talent development and talent retention mediate the relationship between knowledge management and organizational performance of Malaysian private colleges. PLS-SEM technique is deployed to test the hypothesized relationships in the model. Data to all variables of interest studied is collected through a survey using structured questionnaires. A total of 785 sets of questionnaires was distributed to academic and non-academic staff above the executive level from 157 selected private colleges in Malaysia, out of which 243 (31%) of them were valid and useable to this study. Empirical findings in this study highlight that knowledge management has a significant positive relationship with organizational performance of private colleges. Managing talent development rather than talent retention is found to have a significant direct positive influence on organizational performance of private colleges. In addition, knowledge management is predicted to have a significance positive influence on talent development and talent retention respectively. The mediation effects of talent development is statistically significant and in this regard, talent development is shown to have partially mediated the relationship between knowledge management and organizational performance of Malaysian private colleges. Both limitations and managerial implications are also highlighted in this paper.

Ibarra-Armenta Cristina Isabel   

The increasing mobility of capital raises competition between territories in order to attract it within their jurisdiction. Since 1994, the decentralisation process in Mexico has been accelerated by providing municipalities with greater funds. In parallel, Mexican municipalities have participated more actively on policymaking. Both facts should have allowed municipalities to enhance competitive advantages and increase their attractiveness. In spite of the increasing resources and local participation in policymaking, their effects on investment growth have not been tested yet. In addition, even when municipal governments cannot offer significant pecuniary incentives to firms, they use other means to boost investment. The effects of such regional policies to attract firms have not been tested either. This work is aimed to find out the extent to which the funds exerted at the local level have induced private investment growth. In addition, the effects of regional competition are tested. A panel data analysis is carried out using data for 63 Metropolitan Areas/cities for the period 1993-2008. The estimations are divided into domestic and foreign firms, and total and manufacturing firms, in turn. The results suggest that, two major spending items, namely Economic fostering and subsidies, and Public infrastructure investment, have a substantial effect on private capital. Moreover, the effects are larger over foreign firms, especially in manufacturing. In addition, competition strategies matter for private investment growth.

Lili Wang   and Yi Wen   

With rapid industrial upgrading along the global value chain of manufactured goods, China has transformed, within one generation, from an impoverished agrarian society to a middle-income nation as well as the largest manufacturing powerhouse in the world. This article identifies the pattern of China's industrial upgrading and compares it with those of other successfully industrialized economies and the failed ones. We find that (i) China (since 1978) followed essentially the same path of industrial upgrading as that of Japan and the "Asian Tigers". These economies succeeded in catching up with the developed western world by going through three developmental stages sequentially; namely, a proto-industrialization in the rural areas, a first industrial revolution featuring mass production of labor-intensive light consumer goods, and then a second industrial revolution featuring mass production of the means of mass production (i.e., capital-intensive heavy industrial goods such as steel, machine tools, electronics, automobiles, communication and transport infrastructures). (ii) In contrast, economies stuck in the low-income trap or middle-income trap did not follow the above sequential stages of industrialization. For example, many Eastern European and Latin American countries after WWII jumped to the stage of heavy industrialization without fully developing their labor-intensive light industries, and thus stagnated in the middle-income trap. Also, there is a clear lack of proto-industrialization in the rural areas for many African economies that have remained in the low-income trap. We believe that laissez-faire and "free market" alone is unable to trigger industrial upgrading. Instead, correct government-led bottom-up industrial policies are the key to escaping the low- and middle-income traps.

SĂĄndor Bozsik   

The economic crisis broke out in the most developed part of the world in 2008 affected seriously to the Central-Eastern-European bank systems. It wasn't a wonder, because these economies were closely linked to the developed countries. Firstly the Central-Eastern-European banks were mostly owned by large Western-European banks, and the management of these subsidiaries became tougher due to the asset management problems of their mother banks (Tressel, 2010). The current paper examines the deleveraging of bank systems of this area during the crisis and thereafter. A special northern-southern division can be observed among the Central-Eastern-European bank systems, where the border is unfortunately at the northern border of Hungary. During the crisis, the amount of private loan was mostly determined by the economic growth, the starting state of loan-deposit ratio, as well as the uncertainty of sovereign CDS spread. In the after-crisis period the change in private loan stock is especially the function of non-performing loan ratio and the change in loan-deposit ratio. Hungary is an 'off-line' country in case of all strong correlated variable pair, so the decrease of private loan may have country-specific reasons besides the general theoretical variables.

Jose Vargas-Hernandez   Gabriela Muratalla-Bautista   and Martha Lizbeth Bautista Ramirez   

This work aims to analyze the structure, characteristics and managerial performance in 32 federative entities of the Mexican Republic to determine its levels of competitiveness. It splits of a previous study realized inside which a model applies it to measure the managerial competitiveness. In the model, it takes the salary and the value as variables to measure the competitiveness. The results of the research confirm the hypothesis of which the competitiveness of the States can decide slant of the managerial structure, the productivity and therefore a higher wage advantage.

Cristina Teresa N. Lim   

With the ASEAN's current initiative towards regional market integration, the small-and-medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines - one of the major economic growth drivers in the country sees a potential opportunity for a considerable increased market access and a tremendous growth. For the country to become a major player in the ASEAN market and in the regional production networks, the smaller businesses must be ready to face the challenges and opportunities the economic integration brings. Thus, the paper aims to lay-out factors that are critical to the development of our local SMEs in terms of firm characteristics, investment climate, finance and current reforms which are essential to understanding the competitiveness and opportunities that the industries may seize. The regression analysis of the firms from the World Bank Enterprise Survey showed that access to credit, use of technology communication and years of experience of the managers have the greater likelihood of becoming a good market player in the ASEAN.

Nathaniel Newman   

Purpose - The telecommunication industry in Ghana has seen a lot of growth over the last decade and with up to six telecommunications companies operating in Ghana currently, there is very little to choose between any two brands. In an overly communicated sector such as the telecom sector, CSR as a positioning strategy seems to be a better way to differentiate one's offering from the rest. With customers more concerned about organisations social responsibility activities and with the telecommunications companies investing huge sums of money in to CSR activities it is imperative to find out if the telecom companies employ CSR (image and ethos) as a positioning strategy. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a sample of students from the University of Ghana who are customers of the telecommunication companies. The study adopted a non-probability quantitative survey using questionnaires. Findings - The key findings of the study were that, respondents were of the view that, the network providers were adopting image and ethos as a positioning strategy, only two strategies positioning competition and image and ethos strategy were adopted and the dominant positioning strategy was competition. Research limitations/implications - Future studies be carried out in other jurisdictions to affirm the validity of the results. Also a longitudinal study with respect to the positioning strategies of firms should be carried out to ascertain the changing trends that can impact and affect the positioning strategy of the firm. Originality/value - It is the first of its kind to be carried out in Ghana in the area of CSR as a positioning strategy and will be of interest to academics and practitioners in both CSR and positioning.

Keshab Bhattarai   and Abdelatif Taloba   

Growth and fluctuations in the Libyan GDP depend on oil prices and oil revenues. With data on oil revenues, GDP, capital and labour inputs spanning more than five decades we find that labour has been the most important source of growth of the per-capita income in Libya over this period. While the role of capital accumulation has been less important but positive, the contributions of TFP to growth are negative more often. Based on our analysis we conclude that the Mankiw, Romer and Weil model of economic growth [1] is not applicable to Libya, which is one of the oil-based economies in the Arab World.

Akinyosoye Michael Olufemi   Jiboye Temitope Favour   and Olabisi Adewale Olaosebikan   

Entrepreneurship education no doubt has been accepted as a vital tool in the education of persons with intellectual disabilities as it forms the major objective of their education. It is a system through which pupils with intellectual disabilities could be well rehabilitated appropriately in the area of academic, social ,vocation, personal and psychologically. This paper attempts to review the place of entrepreneurship education in the education of persons with intellectual disabilities and also examine to what extent the policy provision for entrepreneurship education has been achieved in the schools for persons with intellectual disabilities with suggestions and recommendations that will better enhance the full implementation of entrepreneurship education in these special schools for optimum success and self-sustenance.

James N. Maingi   

The rapid growth in government expenditure in Kenya has caused concern among policy makers on the implication of such growth. Over the three decades, government expenditure in the country grew at a faster rate than the growth rate of GDP. Given this fiscal scenario, an explanation of this requires studying the impact of government expenditure on economic growth. The specific objectives of the study were to: investigate the relationship between the components of government expenditure and economic growth; examine the effects of components of government expenditure on GDP growth rate; analyze the effects of government expenditure reforms on economic growth; and to draw policy implications from the findings. The data used were government expenditure components that included expenditure on government investment, physical infrastructure, education, health care, public debt servicing, economic affairs, general administration and services, defense, public order and national security, and government consumption. Sources of data were Kenya government documents and international financial statistics publications. The study applied Vector Auto Regression estimation technique using the annual time series data for the period 1963 to 2008 to evaluate the impact of government expenditure on economic growth. The Johansen cointegration tests revealed a long-run relationship between GDP growth rate and the selected components of government expenditure. Further, the Granger- Causality test indicated bi-directional causality between GDP growth rate and components of government expenditure. The results of impulse response functions and variance decomposition revealed that government expenditure on investment, physical infrastructure, education, health care, public debt servicing, economic affairs, general administration and services, defense, public order and national security and government consumption have effect on economic growth. Furthermore, the study established that expenditure reforms of budget rationalization, expenditure downsizing, privatization and governance affect economic growth. The study concludes that the composition of government expenditure and public expenditure reforms matter for economic growth.

Folashade Akinyemi   and Oluwabunmi Adejumo   

This paper is a comparative analysis of the peculiarities of entrepreneurial motives and challenges that exist in emerging economies. The paper also emphasizes the fact that knowing what entrepreneurs are up against would get them prepared and inexorably minimize the effects of the challenges. Research findings show that entrepreneurs set up business ventures basically for various reasons, and individuals become entrepreneurs primarily due to pull, than push factors. 1200 samples were purposively drawn from two African emerging economies. Pre-tested questionnaires were administered among entrepreneurs in the economic hub to both economies. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance. The research findings show that a greater proportion of the entrepreneurs in both economies were driven by passion and very few were poverty driven. The results also show that entrepreneurial challenges are typical of every emerging economy but vary in certain cases. Furthermore, the results show that there is a significant difference in the average income level and the number of years in business (F=7.60; p<0.05), whereas in South Africa, there is no significant difference in average income level and the number of years in business (F=1.41; p>0.05). The study concludes that the challenges such as epileptic power supply, lack of finance, and low patronage would continually hamper entrepreneurial activities and inexorably increase the failure rates of entrepreneurship in these economies if the challenges persist.

Muhamamad Bilal   and Muhammad Idrees   

A company importance can be changed by product-harm crisis (PHC). There are so many cases of PHC where weak response of the company's has resulted in negative effect on brand equity. Still less research studies were conducted on the effect of product-harm crises. The objective of this research is to investigate (a) the effect of PHC on customer's based brand equity (BE) (b) the moderating role of attitude towards brand (ATB) between PHC and BE. The population of this study consists of nine universities of Peshawar district offering business programs. Two universities were purposively selected. A sample of 200 undergraduate business students has been selected. After reading self-designed newspaper article by sampled undergraduate business students, questionnaires were filled on five and seven points' likert-scales. To investigate the effect of PHC on BE, simple linear regression was used. In order to measure the before and after effect of stone –walling response of a company on the relationship between PHC and BE, Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used. Also moderating effect of ATB was measured through SPSS. The overall results demonstrated that relationship between PHC and BE is statistically significant and negative. Additionally, the inclusion of ATB as a moderator has lessened the negative effects of PHC on BE. The effect of PHC on BE before stonewalling response was less negative as compared to after.

Boudjemaa Amroune   Michel Plaisent   Taieb Hafsi   Prosper Bernard   and Cataldo Zuccaro   

The SME sector is exposed to an arduous and fierce competition to the disadvantage of enterprises that are actually non-competitive. Therefore, the problems of SMEs in developing countries are rich and complex. Algeria isn't immune to these difficult conditions; the SME is exposed to an open and intense environment. Public authorities have developed and have been implementing upgrade programs to promote the SME sector. Thus, the study seeks to find the key success factors of upgrade programs, and explores the dimension of adaptation of SMEs in developing and emerging countries, Algeria is a practical case. The study is theoretical. It aims to determine a theoretical model on the success factors of upgrade programs. The research operates a diverse literature review in emerging and developing countries. To explain this research, we will use the theory of resources dependency. While exploring the literature on upgrade programs in emerging and developing countries; our research was able to theoretically identify different success factors of the upgrade programs. In addition, research has managed to develop a theoretical model on the success factors of the upgrade programs.

OcĂ©ane A. Y. A. Legba   Augustin K. N. Aoudji   Gautier S. B. Bohissou   and Jean C. Ganglo   

Price and production risks are among the critical challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural insurance is viewed as a good option to manage these risks, and is being promoted across Sub-Saharan African countries. Therefore, this study was conducted in Benin to evaluate how the agricultural insurance service meets the needs and expectations of smallholder farmers, in a context widespread production loss. A survey was carried out between June and July 2015 in Tori-Bossito district (southern Benin) where 120 farmers were selected based on stratified sampling. Structured interviews were conducted to collect data on farmers' socio demographic characteristics, their production system, their knowledge on the 'Assurance Mutuelle Agricole du BĂ©nin (AMAB)' - the agricultural insurance company - and the use of its services. 90.8% of farmers reported production losses every year. The level of losses reached half of the expected production for 75% of respondents. However, the agricultural insurance company (AMAB) was unknown to 43.3% of farmers; and only 1% of them subscribed to an insurance policy. The offer of agricultural insurance did not meet farmers' expectation. As lesson learnt from this study, AMAB needs to upgrade its communication strategy, and service package, to meet farmers' expectations. Decision makers should also work for a combination of agricultural insurance with other drivers of rural development, e.g., the access to credit, to production inputs, and to market.

Lynda Maddox   Anthony Patino   Lea Katsanis   and Dennis Pitta   

The worldwide obesity epidemic has prompted governments, NGO's, and companies to explore the use of advertising to promote healthy eating habits. The effect of product or issue involvement often moderates the effects of advertising on brand image. Advertising that involves a sensitive topic, namely a person's weight, runs the risk of a consumer backlash that may tarnish a brand's image. Previous research by the authors who investigated message structure in advertising to promote healthy eating found there was no significant difference between one-sided and two-sided messages on Attitude to the Ad (Aad) and Attitude to the Brand (Ab). The present study assesses the effect of pre-existing eating habits on attitudes toward healthy eating after exposure to advertising. The research offers evidence that advertising disclosure can promote healthier eating. However, the effects are not straightforward. When the information confirms previous perceptions, consumers will pay more attention to it. However, consumers who have a healthy life style may not be as positively affected by the information as those whose lifestyle is less healthy and have an interest in improving it.

Emmanuel Senyo Fianu   

This paper provides a review of the (risk) externality literature with the aim of identifying risk externalities arising from various interactions in the economics of environmental protection. In addition, various classification of externalities that exist have been explored. It highlights how such externalities might depend on the characteristics of economic interactions coupled with their impacts. The findings of this paper show that risk externalities result from risk mitigation and reduction activities, thereby, having varying degrees of impacts, and inducing inefficiency in economic systems. In addition, empirical investigations in the context of (risk) externalities have been provided.

Noriko Ashiya   

A modified Phillips curve is useful to explain the contradictory findings sometimes arising from conventional Phillips curve estimation. In this paper, we estimate the inflation-unemployment and real wage inflation-unemployment dynamics for both Japan and the United States using data between 1972:Q1 and 2014:Q4. We divide this into two roughly equally sized sub-periods, 1972:Q1-1991:Q4 and 1992:Q1-2014:Q4. The first sub-period tracks the Japanese economic boom prior to the bursting of the bubble economy; the second continues to reflect the long recessionary period in Japan that followed. The modified Phillips curve serving as the aggregate supply (AS) curve with a quantity equation with zero velocity as the aggregate demand (AD) curve in an AS-AD framework, reveals that much of the slowdown in Japanese inflation was due to the lack of the postwar acceleration of "productivity-based" real wage inflation, a feature unexplained within a traditional demand-oriented approach. Some of the efficacy of the productivity-based real wage acceleration that we identified is related to the use of this simpler formulation of the AD curve, which even though it has an inherent analytical bias in supporting the role of monetary policy, it is permissible when focus lies on the decisions of suppliers.

A. Niyazi Özker   

In this study, we aim to attempt to analysis the effects of financial risks on the shaping of macro-economic policies that directly touch with business cycles in OECD countries. As known, the public liabilities with financial budget deficit fact, as a concept of financial risk element, is an important phenomenon that affects all the whole other financial and economic balance dynamics in the developed economies as well as less developed countries. In this point, the financial risks leaned on the consolidated central government budget put forth to meaningful financial deficits interested in the global integrations and its measurement matter of deficits in the same process, which aim to directly analysis macroeconomic policies. First, the priority effect of financial risks based on the budget deficits is appeared on the harmonization of monetary with fiscal policies as macroeconomic politics, and this concept has been an important financial matter especially in developing countries toward to determine macro elements. Second, these effects should be questioned for ensuring stability of economic in the business cycles related to GDP together with the business cycles related to financial liabilities in OECD countries. In this context, the effects of financial risks should be considered in two structural balances terms related public budget as budget surplus and deficits aimed at macroeconomic policies dynamics that also means correlation among these concerned financial dynamics. Thirdly, it is related to the location in public decision making process of these effects. Actually, on the other hand this situation reflects the effects of financial liabilities as a foundation stone on public decision making process that should need monetary liabilities like contend with probably inflation ensured.

Peter Mikek   and Adam Carter   

Income distribution directly affects economic growth and the spending patterns in an economy. This paper employs an ordered probit panel to measure the effect of the Great Recession on income inequality in Latin American and Eastern EU members. The results suggest the crisis increased inequality in studied countries overall. However, those countries with low levels of inequality saw their Gini coefficients decrease further, while the crisis increased inequality in countries with already high inequality. Additionally, the results show that European Union membership on average contributed to lower likelihood of high Gini coefficients. Furthermore, marginal effects lend additional evidence of lower income gap for the Eastern EU members as they generally show negative marginal effects for countries with initially high inequality and positive for those with low Gini coefficients. Finally, we find no evidence that FDI and capital incentives have any direct impact on inequality, while GDP growth, poverty, and export incentives are associated with higher and tax revenues and export growth with lower income inequality.

Yao Tang   and Rebecca Scott   

Market-oriented economic reform brought great changes to the Chinese economy and society. The economic reforms accelerated after 1992, and a pattern of 'scientific development' and 'new normal' economics has developed since 2002. During this economic transitional process, issues of income distribution have kept attracting scholars' attention including: changes in earning distribution between genders; the effect of education, work experience, marriage and other factors on gender earnings and the differences among internal groups of women. This paper will use the data of the Chinese Household Income Projects in 2002 and 2013 to analyze earning disparity between genders and female inner groups. It finds that the 'glass ceiling effect' has intensified for women and the 'sticky floor effect' is still severe. Along with the earnings gap increasing between the genders, gender discrimination has also increased, and is particularly pronounced for women of higher earnings.

Wioleta Kucharska   

Tacit knowledge sharing is the real challenge for knowledge management today. Network economy has completely changed the role of knowledge workers who now become independent tacit knowledge producers. Bearing this fact in mind, the author studied how tacit knowledge sharing affects the process of building a personal brand and project performance. For this purpose, the authors conducted a study among Polish professionals with different roles and experience in managing projects in various industries. The data collected during the study has been analysed using the equal structural modelling method. The results indicate that tacit knowledge sharing is used when developing a personal brand of knowledge workers who take care about the personal reputation. The intermediary role of personal branding in the relationship of tacit knowledge sharing and project performance points to a new context of tacit knowledge sharing as a key factor of knowledge management in learning organisations, which can be used for designing incentive schemes. Tacit Knowledge Sharing is also presented as a very sensitive and specific variable interesting for further research.

Hakan Pabuçcu   

Poverty is general scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Poverty is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. Poverty level can be calculated for households as well as for countries. United Nations developed a methodology to calculate the advanced poverty index for countries. The main purpose of this study is primarily to determine the determinants of poverty by conducting a strong literature survey and examining the United Nations methodology. By using the determinants of poverty, it is planned to calculate the poverty index and classify the households with an approach based on fuzzy logic. The applied methodology contains the weighting of the determinants of poverty by using fuzzy logic membership functions and the calculation of the poverty index of households. The weighting process of the determinants has recognized by taking the opinions of the expert academicians in the field of poverty. It is also considered to categorize the households, according to the level of poverty. For this purpose, it is determined a sample consisting of 120 households in Bayburt province. As a result of the analysis, it is aimed to examine the effect of factors determined the poverty and also provide suggestions to the researchers and policy makers.

Jan Frederik Graff   

Correspondence Analysis (CA) is a statistical procedure which is frequently used in market research. However, the neglecting of the third axis in the graphical representation of CA point clouds entails the risk of the faulty clustering of points and the misinterpretation of data. To meet this problem this paper proposes ternary diagrams as an approach to achieving a valid representation and interpretation of three-dimensional point clouds when plotted two-dimensionally. As CA coordinates do not necessarily meet the mathematical prerequisites ternary diagrams require, a procedure will be presented which transforms coordinates in order to meet the prerequisites.

Subrahmanyam Ganti   and Debashis Acharya   

The gross domestic product (GDP) as a scale variable in the macro-money demand function is justified only on the simplifying but verifiable assumption that the individual-sector GDPs have the same marginal money demand propensities. This assumption is easily verifiable by replacing the aggregate GDP with the services sector and commodity sector GDPs as two scale variables. The money demand propensities differ between these two sectors. To empirically verify this, a variable elasticity of substitution model is posited with these two sector GDPs as scale variables. This novel model permits us to estimate the parameter of elasticity of substitution between the two-sector GDPs .We expect the elasticity estimate to be greater than unity first and decrease towards unity later in the post-liberalization period 1992-2012 and this ensures a unitary income elasticity of demand for money for the aggregate GDP. For the pre-liberalization period (1971 to 1991) we expect the substitutability between the two sectors to be either less than unity or even negative. The policy implication of disparate sector-GDP growth rates for money demand should not be ignored in an emerging economy of India, where the GDP structure evolves towards invariance as in a developing economy.

Adeel Hussain Aunjum   Ghulam Abbas   and Muhammad Sajid   

The intent of the present study is to find out impact of transformational leadership on employee motivation in banking sector of Pakistan. Data about relationship of transformational leadership with employee motivation in banking sector (Allied Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited and National Bank of Pakistan) was collected through a designed questioner "MLQ (Multi Factor Leadership Questionnaire)". Test size population was 290 components from populace. In actual, 350 polls were sent to populace (Major three banks) and 290 answers were great quality for study and after data screening 270 responses were accounted for of 90 responses of each bank. Regression analysis revealed that all dimensions of Transformational Leadership have positive impact on Employee Motivation which proves that Transformational Leadership has significant, positive and strong effect on employee motivation in the Banking sector of Pakistan. Study also reveal that there is positive and strong relationship of all dimension of transformational leadership such as Idealize Influence (II), Individual Consideration (IC), Intellectual Stimulation (IS) and Inspirational Motivation (IM) with employee motivation. At the end concluded that it is all in the hand of organization to keep the employees motivated to work because they can develop such policies that lead to motivation of employees.

Jefferson N. do Pradoy   FlĂĄvia Chein   and Juliano J. Assunção   

We analyzed the impact of the National Program for Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB) over some soybean variables such as productivity, price received and wages paid among soybean family farming units in Brazil (from 2003-2012). The empirical strategy includes first identified "poles" of biodiesel production, and then uses a difference in differences model to estimate effects over time between soybean producing municipalities considered as a PNPB biodiesel production pole (treatment) and other soybean producing municipalities (control) not producing biodiesel. The results indicate that PNPB does not appear to be closely related to soybean productivity changes. However, the PNPB appears to be positively associated with average incomes and wages, suggesting that the PNPB may have helped support rural economic development in municipalities with strong social seal participation.

Nguyen Ngoc Quang   Truong DinhChien   and Nguyen Hoai Long   

With the growth of international business and travel, Vietnamese consumers are increasingly confronted with foreign products and services especially children's foods. However, some negative attitudes towards foreign products can arise from several factors such as historic or ongoing political, military, economic, or diplomatic events. Thus, both consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity have become important constructs in marketing. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity affect Willingness to buy towards Chinese Children's foods and whether this impact is mediated by products judgments. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected from 846 personal interviews carried out in three Vietnamese cities (Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh). The findings of the research indicate that consumer ethnocentrism increases consumer animosity. The present study also denotes that both consumer ethnocentrism and animosity have a negative impact on Willingness to buy toward Chinese children's foods. Product judgments may not be an important mediating factor between consumers' animosity - Willingness to buy and between consumer ethnocentrism - Willingness to buy toward Chinese Children's foods.

Sinem Celik Girgin   Hong-Oanh Nguyen   and Thanasis Karlis   

A growing body of theoretical and empirical literature analyses the relationship between finance and economic growth. The relationship has been strongly supported by many empirical analyses. However, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the significantly improved econometric techniques made scholars to revisit this relationship. The main motivation of this paper is to empirically revisit the relationship between financial development and economic growth, especially one under the effect of the world's greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In this study, both fixed effect and dynamic panel data analysis are conducted by using 147 countries over the period of 2000-2013. The analysis results prove the destructive effect of the GFC on the relationship between financial development and economic growth. Also, the finding showed that the effect of traditional financial development proxies has reduced after the crisis.

Stefanie A. Stadler   

This paper takes a critical look at the type of approaches that prevail in the field of intercultural competence development and the uncritical perspectives with which these views are often circulated in academia and the wider community of international business and intercultural sojourns. It is all-too-common to find papers, models and frameworks that equate intercultural competence with culture specific competence. However, such approaches can never accurately portray a culture or prepare a person to deal with people in an appropriate, flexible and adaptable manner. This paper aims to assess and weigh the benefits and disadvantages of both culture-specific and culture-generic intercultural competence development, arguing that a combined approach constitutes the most desirable compromise between feasibility of training and effectiveness of training outcomes.

Minh Quang Dao   

This paper examines the impact of public policies and institutions on economic growth in developing countries. The current study is superior to that by Dao [16] in that we specify a neoclassical growth model which incorporates public policies and institutions and subsequently formulate an empirical model to be estimated. This approach not only provides a more solid theoretical framework but also yields better empirical results that are not biased due to model misspecification. Based on data from the World Bank for the 2000-2015 period and a sample of thirty-nine low-income and lower middle-income economies we find that the growth rate of GDP is dependent on a country's economic management of its debt policy, its structural policies regarding the financial sector and the business regulatory environment, and its policies for social inclusion and equity dealing with gender equality, with building human resources, and with social protection and labor, along with the growth rates of inputs such as land, physical capital, general government consumption, and net exports. We observe that the coefficient estimates of two explanatory variables, namely, the structural policies regarding the financial sector and the policies for social inclusion and equity dealing with gender equality, do not have their expected sign, possibly to the collinearity between the structural policies regarding the financial sector and the debt policy variable, the business regulatory environment variable, the building human resources variable, and the social protection and labor variable and that between the gender equality variable and the business regulatory environment variable, the building human resources variable, and the social protection and labor variable. We also note that the business regulatory variable is not significant using the t-test, but its exclusion from the model results in a decrease in its explanatory power as measured by the adjusted coefficient of determination. We suspect that this is also due to the collinearity between this variable and three policies for social inclusion and equity variables. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries focus on appropriate policies dealing with the economic management of debt policy, those of a structural nature regarding the financial sector and the business regulatory environment, and those for social inclusion and equity such as improving gender equality, building human resources and providing social protection and labor in order to foster economic growth. Public sector management and institutions, on the other hand, do not seem to influence a developing country's rate of economic growth.

Michael Joffe   

Buying power, the causal consequence of income and wealth, is ubiquitous in the real world, but not prominent in economic theory. Its importance can be seen e.g. in the relative power of rich and poor consumers, the effective demand that supports each industry, the power that firms have to build their premises and to exercise authority over their workers, the influence of shareholders over firms, and in international economic relationships. Adam Smith remarked that having money gives one the ability to "command" the labour of others, and Keynes based The General Theory on the concept of aggregate demand, but buying power is seldom recognised when analysing the detailed working of the economy - the main focus is on willingness, not ability, to pay. An important exception is Sen's work on famines and entitlements. The source of buying power for individuals is income/wealth, and also transfers and borrowing. For firms, buying power derives from profit, and also from a promising investment plan. Buying power is an essential concept not only for understanding how the economy works, but also because it is central to three important practical modern problems: inequality and its consequences, including displacement; debt and financial instability; and environmental degradation.

Berislav Ćœmuk   

The paper introduces an initial system of indicators for measuring statistical methods use efficiency in enterprises. The indicators are formed based on the questionnaire, which is used to inspect the attitude of employees towards statistical methods use in Croatian enterprises. With the purpose of understanding statistical methods use effectiveness better, indicators are classified into two groups: comparative and individual indicators. These indicators were used in the construction of the E-score indicator, which can be used to predict if an enterprise will achieve a positive net income due to an effective use of statistical methods or not. The system of indicators of statistical methods use efficiency developed within this research can be easily used by any enterprise. Using these indicators an enterprise can estimate its competitive position compared to other enterprises and it can predict if the difference will increase or decrease. Despite the existence of many business systems of indicators, the impact of statistical methods use used to be neglected. This paper corrects this and introduces statistical methods as a very important part of business decision making and continuous monitoring of business processes. However, this initial system of indicators has to be improved further to reach more precise conclusions.

Xuyang Ma   

The twist factor is the fourth latent yield factor following the level, slope, and curvature factors. In this paper, we obtain a four factor composed model with an additional "twist" factor based on the three factor composed Nelson-Siegel model. Specifically, we derive the kernel function for the twist factor and use it to fit the in-sample yields and to forecast future yields. We show that, the twist factor derived within the Nelson-Siegel framework has comparable variance with the curvature factor and helps reducing the fitting errors both in-sample and out-of-sample. Furthermore, we derive portfolios using future yields and yield factors forecasts. The twist factor performs the second best following the slope factor in terms of Sharpe Ratio of formed portfolios.

Samuel Fambon   

This paper analyzes the determinants of income and the urban-rural income gap to highlight the urban-rural inequality problem in Cameroon. It concurrently uses the OLS regression, the conditional quantile regression as well as the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition techniques to achieve this objective. The findings of OLS estimations show that human resources and social as well as physical capital play a major role in the improvement of welfare. Household size reduces the consumption expenditures both in rural and urban areas. The regions where the households reside also affect consumption expenditures. Household heads who work in the services sector and trade are better-off than those working in the other sectors of the economy. However, quantile regressions results show that households headed by the old people enjoy a higher level of welfare in the upper quintiles of the distribution of consumption. Household heads who work in the industrial sector have a negative relationship with consumption at the 10^th quintile of the distribution of household expenditures in the urban area. In the rural area, household heads working in the services sector have a positive relationship with consumption only at the 50^th and 90^th percentiles of the distribution of expenditures, whereas those belonging to the 10^th quintile have a negative relationship with consumption. In the rural area, the average time span spent to reach an asphalted road has a stronger positive impact on the consumption of households belonging to the 90^th percentile of the distribution of expenditures. Being a member of an association has a significant positive effect only on the consumption of households belonging to the 10^th quintile of the expenditures distribution. The study results derived with the help of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method show that 59 percent of the welfare gap between urban and rural areas may be explained by differences in the characteristics, and most particularly in physical assets and education. The remaining 41 percent of the welfare gap is explained by discrimination.

Eddy Winarso   and Imhmed Abdulgader Salim   

As companies in general, commercial banks in the operational as well have a goal to be able to get the maximum profit. Therefore, banks must maintain its financial ratios adjusted for the decision of Bank Indonesia as well as maintain its performance in order to remain trusted by customers in the economic activities. This study aims to analyze the effect of Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), Non-Performing Loan (NPL), Net Interest Margin (NIM) an Operating Expenses to Operating Income Ratio (OEOI) to the Return on Assets (ROA) of bank in Indonesia listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2007 - 2011. 25 banks are investigated and 17 of them are chosen as samples.The analysis technique of this study used in this study is multiple linear regressions to obtain a comprehensive picture of the relationship between variables that one with the other variables. In addition, the hypothesis test used was the t-test statistic for testing the partial regression coefficient and test F-statistic for testing significance together with the significance level of 5%. The results of this study indicate that NPL and OEOI significantly and negatively related to ROA banking sector, CAR, LDR, and the NIM has non-significant impact on ROA in banking sector. The results of this study is expected that the variable CAR, LDR, NPL, NIM, and OEOI can used as guidelines for the management of banks in managing a bank in order to become a healthy bank.

Wojciech BieƄkowski   and Wojciech Grabowski   

In this paper we analyze the growth and real convergence process of the Central and Eastern European countries which joined the European Union in May 2004, namely Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia (henceforth CEEC-8), vis-Ă -vis the European Union (EU) as a whole, individual EU members, and OECD countries (non-EU members). The analyses cover the period from 1995 to present. Results of testing beta-convergence indicate that in the period 2008-2014 the countries of the CEEC-8 group converged to Mediterranean countries but did not converge to rich countries of the European Union or non-EU OECD countries. We estimate parameters of the dynamic panel model to identify the causes of the convergence slowdown of CEECs. According to the results of the estimation, the low level of innovation in the countries under consideration was the main cause of both the slower TFP growth and the convergence slowdown.

Ritu Malhotra   and Sweta Choudhury   

This research examined the factors that influence consumers' purchase intention behind acquiring luxury fashion brand. The study adapted the priori established scale of brand luxury index [BLI] from the literature and tested whether these dimensions result in purchase evaluation for both male and female consumers on equal grounds. Very limited research has been conducted on the role of gender differences in consumer behaviour in spite of the fact that it is a vital topic. Data was collected from Indian consumers (n =109) and respondents were enquired about their favourite luxury brand in the category of watches, bags, perfumes, sunglasses, belts, tops, shirts, jeans, dresses, and footwear; while examining the dimensions such as perceived hedonism, self-image, quality, uniqueness, and conspicuousness. Hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVA. The findings from this exploratory research revealed that perceived self-image facet is significantly different for both male and female consumers, thus indicating the vital managerial inference towards the adaption of appropriate brand positioning and marketing communication strategy. The study on the application of brand luxury index for fashion product category keeping in consideration gender differences is a new idea. Moreover, Indian consumer using luxury products is sparsely addressed in the existing literature, thereby providing motivation for this study.

Georges D. Mbondo   

The objective of this article is to show that, since the potential for localized diffusion of knowledge is not the same in Social Interactions Vehicles (SIV), peer effects occurring there cannot play the same role on adoption and use decisions of Internet by households. To do this, we use data from a survey of 2266 individual households carried out in 2015 in the major cities of Cameroon, where we choose Cultural Associations and Tontines (Rotating Organization of savings and credit association, ROSCA) as SIV, to which we apply a probit regression with instrumental variables. Results show that, in Cultural Associations by socio-professional categories where there is a localized diffusion of knowledge, peer effects play a positive role on the likelihood of adoption and use of Internet in Cameroon; In Tontines by these same categories, this role is uncertain. These results contrast with the one commonly known, that ROSCA's frameworks play a positive role on the adoption and use of new technologies. So, it is important for public policies that could use SIV's frameworks for ICT equipment and training policies in general and Internet in particular, convinced by the fact that their appropriation is a source of endogenous growth.

Inna Stecenko   and Anvar Irchaev   

The goal of the present research is to study the influence of price increase on gold and on the level of household savings of Uzbekistan. The authors put forward the hypothesis - the higher the prices of gold, the more active the households of Uzbekistan invest in jewelry. Thus, the authors supplemented the theory of Gustav Kassel - the growth of the world prices of gold not only influence on the level of exchange rate level, but also on the level of household savings. The carried out analysis, using the econometric methods has shown that the households of RUz invest in jewelry, which are used as savings

Mohammad Abdul Hannan Pradhan   Sadika Akthar   Md. Gias Uddin Khan   and Mohammad Rafiqul Islam   

During the last few decades, the proportion of elderly people has increased rapidly in Bangladesh. With the increase of elderly people, it is required to increase in the provision of care for them, either informal or formal. Family was the prime informal care giver. However, the traditional concept of family and sources of home care systems have been changed. Besides, the formal care system is very limited and located in the urban areas. The study was an attempt to determine and analyze the vulnerability of the elderly to the home care received in both areas. The respondents aged 60 years and above were interviewed with structured questionnaire. Considering some common characteristics like age, number of children, previous job status, children's job status, living arrangement and others, marginal effect to receive care like financial, practical or personal is estimated using Probit model to address the more influencing factor to be vulnerable. The findings reveal that the elderly are more vulnerable in receiving personal care than practical and financial care in rural areas. The elderly in rural area are financially more vulnerable than urban area. In addition, the elderly in rural area are less vulnerable in receiving care from relatives, friends and neighbors than urban area. Findings suggest that policymakers urgently need to take into consideration to provide home care for the elderly.

Esha Ajmera   

This paper shows how fiscal imbalance and excessive external borrowing may lead to a financial crisis. The trigger of the crisis is substantial increase in risk premium as a result of persistent budget deficits. This results in hyper depreciation of exchange rate, which causes an adverse balance sheet effect on investment in the presence of external commercial borrowings. This leads to a contraction of output and the country enters into recession. Furthermore, policy prescriptions are provided to curtail the crisis. The situation in Argentina is analysed in the light of this model.

Lise Heroux   

The outdoor/sports outfitter industry comprises primarily of independent businesses engaged in selling a diverse array of sporting and athletic goods for fitness and exercise, golfing, camping, fishing, winter sports, shooting, racket sports, kayaking and other sports. The successful marketing strategy of outdoor/sports outfitters requires the identification of a target market and development of a marketing mix (product/service, place, price and promotion) that will best satisfy the needs of this target market. This research was conducted to investigate the marketing strategies implemented by outfitters to meet the needs of consumers. A census of the 20 outfitters in the contiguous regions of Quebec and New York/Vermont was visited by observers. Systematic observations were compiled for each establishment. More similarities than differences were found. Sports Outfitters in both regions have well-developed product/service strategies, and personal selling strategies, but weaker promotion strategies with respect to advertising. The Quebec sports outfitters have better location and establishment design strategies than Vermont/New York establishments, while the latter have better pricing strategies. American retailers can benefit from the benchmark provided by Canadian stores with respect to location, while Canadian stores can learn from the pricing strategies of American stores. Improvement in promotion initiatives is needed in both regions.

Marinela Filofteia Hostiuc   Gabriel Radu   Maria Solomon   and Victor Lorin Purcarea   

Health communication and the use of communication strategies aim to inform and to influence general population choices regarding healthcare and quality of life choices. Obesity and overweight status are major contributors to many preventable causes of death. Higher body weight is associated with more death rates. The number of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has risen over the past four decades. Health care programs, by recognizing opportunities to improve communication, assign resources and measure, expand and report health-literacy activities, can succeed in improving the general population health and quality of life.

Benjamin Ongwae Maturu   

Using Bayesian vector auto-regression methodology, we empirically analyze the dynamic responses of the exchange rate to sudden changes in net short term capital inflows, among other economic factors, in Kenya. Based on impulse response results, we find, rather surprisingly, that a sudden increase in net short term capital inflows immediately induces a depreciating effect which increases during the first two quarters upon which a correction ensues whereby the exchange rate appreciates for 4 quarters after which the effect dies off. We believe that the sudden net short term capital inflows are initially monetized thereby becoming a domestic nominal shock which causes a Dornbusch-like exchange rate overshooting. We also find that a sudden increase in interest rate differentials immediately causes an appreciating effect which dies off within a year. Furthermore, a sudden increase in interest rate differentials immediately attracts net short term capital inflows followed by persistent capital reversals within 2 quarters. The variance decomposition results show that, 71.4% of the one quarter-ahead and 54.2% of the four quarters-ahead exchange rate forecast errors are accounted for by the interest rate differentials. Net short term capital inflows' share in the one quarter ahead exchange rate forecast error is a mere 0.1%. At its best, it accounts for only 6.8% of the seven-to-eight quarters ahead exchange rate forecast errors. These results suggest that net short term capital inflows play a relatively limited role compared to interest rate differentials in determination of exchange rates dynamics in Kenya.

Henrietta Onwuegbuzie   

Current statistics show that 75-80% of most business start-ups tend to fail within the first three years. However, studies have shown that traditional methods of entrepreneurship, which are based on apprenticeship, record significantly higher success rates. This paper highlights the valuable traditional practice of apprenticeship, which effectively produced successful entrepreneurs, compared to today's high failure rate of start-ups. The paper allows a reflection on how to improve the success rates of business start-ups through the practice of apprenticeship along with classroom learning. Using the qualitative case study method, the paper provides researchers an opportunity to look into why hands-on learning tends to lead to more successful entrepreneurial outcomes, and to study what combination of theory and hands-on learning, via apprenticeship, will lead to a higher rate of successful entrepreneurial ventures. The paper thus has significant implications for both research and practice. The paper also allows practitioners obtain insights on best practices in transmitting entrepreneurial skills.

Kyu-Hee Joo   Hyoung Suk Shim   and Wonsik Sul   

We analyze determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in non-competitive industries. We develop a micro-level FDI determination model that allows for nonzero mark-up, and estimate it using the administrative FDI recipient records and annual financial statement data for Korean state owned enterprises (SOE). Using SOEs as our research objects can rule out the endogeneities of mark-up, firm ownership structure and the associated vertical or horizontal incentive FDI. This yields a consistent estimation of the effect of mark-up and other productivity-related factors on FDI. From the empirical analysis, we find that FDI is more likely to flow into firms with large-scale physical capital and output, and a positive mark-up, and the effect is the inverse of the number of workers in the firms, which implies that FDI might not cause productivity spillover effect in non-competitive industries.

Emine Beyza Satoglu   

This article aims to analyze the relationship between the foreign investment, both inward and outward, and the development levels of the emerging market economies: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (MINT). Dunning's IDP (Investment Development Path) theory has been used as the basis for empirical analysis covering the recent globalization era: 1990-2013. The fixed effects longitudinal data analysis for the four countries demonstrated that MINT economies are at the 2nd stage of IDP. At the same time, increasing level of inward FDI flows into these countries prove the potential of these economies to be represented as "second generation of fast growing developing countries" after the BRICS. Thus, this study aims to improve our understanding on the emerging economies by focusing on a new group (MINT) and it demonstrates the interaction of inward/outward FDI and the GDP growth in that group of countries.

Yoshie Nagashima   and Naoki Nagashima   

The main objective of this paper is to illustrate validity of Consumer Satisfaction (CS) and Loyalty research as an effective complement to conducting ethnographic research. More and more companies who enter foreign markets increasingly rely on ethnographic research. However, in conducting ethnographic research, field workers need to attach themselves to the local communities, and this type of research is highly elaborate and complex. This paper suggests that CS and Loyalty research is effective in understanding consumers' traits, and provides valid insight in a short period of time. In our study, we take up eat-out experiences at restaurants and coffee shop chains. Our findings on urban middle-class consumers in two Asian countries, India and Japan, indicate 1) "Expectancy-disconfirmation model" and "Loyalty ladder" do not apply to Indian consumers, while they apply well to the Japanese counterparts, 2) different attributes are important in terms of impact on CS between the two countries, and 3) an improved CS is more likely to lead to positive word of mouth than repeated usage of the service in India, and the reverse holds for Japan. The findings from this study indicate validity of the method and framework of research conducted.

Nishant Saxena   

Cross Selling has been used successfully by many organizations historically. The core idea behind cross selling is the consumer behavior of buying a product or service along with another product or service; which he or she may not have bought otherwise. Traditionally cross selling has been done using the gut feeling and common sense. With advent of statistic many organizations in retail industry started using analytical methods to identify cross sell opportunities. The key to their success was predominantly the robust historical sales database built over time and the option to choose from endless permutations and combinations of products which they could sell. But the enterprise or B2B businesses, especially in services industry, have not been so lucky; as the biggest challenge for them has been the lack of sufficient data and the high price of enterprise service offerings. We would like to share through this paper that how we succeeded in solving these problems and how one can apply market basket analysis on their sales pipeline data to not only improve revenue but to also cut down the operating cost. We strongly believe that this approach could be very useful for a lot of B2B organizations in the services industry with multiple offerings and limited budget to pursue all possible cross sell opportunities.

Selçuk Alp   and Elçin Aykaç Alp   

The main objective of the Central Bank is to maintain price stability. Policy objectives set out in this direction and policy instruments used for this purpose can be varied. Inflation expectations are considered to be one of the most important policy instruments used today. Especially in the implementation of the inflation targeting regime, emerges a phenomenon to be studied in as the monitoring of inflation expectations, management, ensuring compliance with set targets. In case of inflation targeting regime implementation; the management, monitoring and meeting targets emerges as a phenomenon to be studied. Since 2002 Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has been monitoring and publishing its expectations for inflation. Those inflation expectations are followed and published regularly. The publication and monitoring has been through the implementation expectations surveys of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. This paper examines the consistency of the inflation rates with the inflation expectations since 2003. Comparative analysis of the consistency has been analysed by the expectations data for the “current month”, “one month ahead", “two months ahead” and “twelve months ahead” and disclosed for the actual inflation rate and inflation expectations. Markov chains analysis was used to examine this adjustment. The resulting long-term equilibrium (steady state) levels were compared to the expected realization via probabilities.

Xinyi He   and Dangui Li   

The incidents of collective labor disputes resonantly occur under some conditions in manufacturing industry of Yangtze River Delta Region (2011-2015). Trigger factors include the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure, the high liquidity of light industry asset, the exploitation of private and foreign companies, the participation of a large number of labors and the depriving of economic interests of the workers. Study found that the labor conflicts occur more often in abnormal production changes of manufacturing than in normal one, more in light industry than heavy one, more in private enterprises than other ones, more in large-scale enterprises than small-scale ones and more for economic requests of participants than for noneconomic ones.

Hiroshi Fujiki   

We show that a central bank could improve the allocation of resources by delivering the defaulting party's collateral goods to those who consume the most quickly. We base our discussion on Mills and Reed [1]'s repo contract model, which shows that the consumption of the lender will be the same whether the borrower is a productive agent or an unproductive agent. We extend their model by considering shocks to the second period of lenders' lives, which force them to consume within an early stage of the second period of their lives. The shock could make the consumption of lenders vary depending on the timing of transactions in the goods market. We show that a central bank could make the consumption of lenders constant regardless of the timing of transactions in the goods market, and could achieve better resource allocation by using various nontraditional monetary policy tools.

Diana Chernetska   

Companies are more and more turning to proactive customer integration and look for efficient ways of customer knowledge management. In case of online interaction, companies generate Big Data which holds the potential for the companies in terms of customer knowledge input. The potential of such data can be unfolded using advanced (predictive) analytics technologies. In order to ensure efficient customer integration in such settings, companies should be able to develop absorptive capacity. We assume that the nature of absorptive capacity in data-driven environments could be challenged, considering the intersection of business and technology perspectives. This study sets a foundation of understanding the peculiarities of absorptive capacity in data-driven environments by applying a qualitative case study approach. The study considers perspectives of both, service companies and analytics providers to avoid one-sided biases. The main result is an integration of empirical findings, their analysis against existing theoretical background and crystallization of a concept of 'two-sided absorptive capacity' which aims to explicate the role of analytics skills while building absorptive capacity in data-driven environments.

Nouman Afgan   Klaus Gugler   and Robert M. Kunst   

This paper analyzes the effects of corporate governance institutions on investment returns of Pakistani listed companies. A marginal q is used to estimate returns on investments from cash flows, debt, and equity. Return on total investment is 31% lower than the cost of capital, which suggests that largest shareholders or managers invest beyond the optimal investment level that maximizes the wealth of shareholders. Return on reinvested cash flow is 30% lower than the cost of capital. There is evidence of our hypothesis that largest shareholders or managers exercise discretion while reinvesting cash flows. Return on investment financed from debt is lower than the cost of capital as financial institutions are faced with asymmetric information while analyzing creditworthiness of investments. The analysis provides evidence of market discipline on investments financed from debt by companies whose ultimate shareholders are foreign entities. Corporate governance institutions are unable to control managers of foreign-owned companies from issuing equity to finance investments with returns lower than the costs of capital. Financial market development is retarded because outside shareholders are reluctant to invest in equities and financial institutions are wary of financing borrowers. The weak corporate governance system is unable to properly protect financial institutions from loan delinquencies.

Gunther Heiß   

This paper is focusing on SME internationalization and investigates the antecedents and the effects of organizational capabilities on strategy in the German MedTech industry. However, the impact of existing research in this field is relatively poor and is not yet applicable in other countries or industries. As a consequence, a systematic review of the literature has been conducted. The results have shown heterogeneous research results in the field of strategy and capabilities and the need for further research in this context. In a focus group discussion antecedents as well as the most important factors related to strategy were emphasized and further important aspects that focus on capabilities were revealed. Overall, the review indicates an initial conceptual model, in which significant findings could be identified. During the focus group discussion subject matter experts refined them in a country-, industry- or firm-specific way. The results will serve as a strategic input for SME's in the German MedTech industry.

Zahra Hashemi Oskouei   and Rasoul Baradaran Hasan Zadeh   

This paper aims to predict the future profitability of a firm using the life cycle theory based on the cash flow statement. In this study, changes in return on net operating assets were considered as a dependent variable. The profitability factors were independent variables and the risk factors were used as a control variable in order to examine the prediction of the future profitability. The statistical samples were classified into the stages of introduction, growth, maturity, shake-out and decline by using cash flow patterns. The results of 1,123 (firms - years) over the time period of 2002 and 2011 showed that the return of the net operating assets, their variations and changes in the asset turnover at different stages of the life cycle have an impact on the future profitability of the firms.

Veronika Silinevicha   Hany Moussa   and Kristine Kalinina   

The Egyptian economy is one of the most diversified economies in the Middle East—tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors all contribute with semi-equal ratios to the gross national product. Due to recent structural reform, the Egyptian economy is achieving high growth rates—and an attractive investment climate has evolved thanks to positive developments in infrastructure, transportation, communication, energy, skilled labor, modern industrial cities, free zones, banking and stock markets.

Laura Zizka   

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives, actions, and communication are strategic aspects in establishing corporate reputation. Each year, numerous rankings are published which measure corporate reputation on a global scale. In this study, 20 global companies were assessed based on five of those rankings, 2016 Global RepTrak^® 100: The World's Most Reputable Companies; 2016 Global CSR RepTrak^® Leaders; Global 100 2016; Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2016; and Newsweek Green Ratings 2016 to establish which company has the best reputation for 2016, all criteria and rankings combined. Communication of CSR/sustainability actions was also assessed through the corporate websites. This paper confirms the need for coherent and consistent CSR/sustainability criteria and metrics to accurately establish which company is the most reputable.

Paddy Mugambe   

Technology advancement has always been part of organizational efficiency and organizations take investment in technology as part and parcel of their annual plans. The increase in mobile telephone penetration in the emerging economies has presented new frontiers for technology to enhance Micro Small and Medium Enterprises' (MSMES) operations. Combining technological advancement in mobile connectivity with the low coverage of financial institutions/ services, has given rise to the phenomenon of mobile money which has in a way affected the MSMEs both positively and negatively. This paper uses both Meta-analysis and primary data to test to try and determine the extent to which the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (Venkatesh et al. 2003) can be used to explain the adoption of Mobile money services by the customers of Micro, small and medium enterprises in Uganda.

Yeah, Kim Leng   

Given the imbalances in global demand and sluggish growth in the advanced economies, which had absorbed the bulk of world exports before the onset of the 2008/09 global financial crisis (GFC), the shift from export-led growth (ELG) strategies to domestic demand-driven growth (DDDG) strategies appears inevitable for export-oriented economies. In dissecting Malaysia's growth performance into various demand components and sources, it was found that DDDG in Malaysia had helped to offset the weak export demand it had faced over the last decade and, importantly, during the post-GFC years. Using input-output tables to assess the changes in output structure arising from substituting current export demand with domestic demand, the analysis showed that the country's high export orientation in a large number of industries precludes its ability to fully offset any sharp decline in exports. The implication is that DDDG can only effect a partial decoupling from external demand and that given the differences in the composition of export and domestic demand, there will be sectoral differences in the impact on industrial capacity, employment and income arising from the ELG-DDDG shift. In cross-country comparisons, Malaysia's 'apparent' under-consumption and low private investment levels, in concert with its narrowing but still positive savings-investment gap, lend further support to the feasibility and desirability of promoting DDDG to support economic growth. Importantly, DDDG is sustainable only if it maximizes economic efficiency and utilization of resources, skills, human capital, and physical and social infrastructures subject to structural, credit and other constraints. On the consumption side of DDDG, a higher level of spending by the middle and upper income groups will need to be elicited while the income of the low income groups will need to be boosted. Private investment, regardless of domestic or foreign sources or DDDG versus ELG orientation, will be one of the key drivers of DDDG, given the excess savings in the private sector as well as the capacity expansion and productivity growth associated with gross fixed capital formation. Some evidence of lower productivity growth in domestic-oriented industries compared to export-oriented ones reiterates the need for policy measures to boost productivity as part of the DDDG thrusts. Based on a suggested DDDG framework, whereby the fundamental sources of economic growth emanate from output and structural shifts to higher value activities, productivity increases and institutional quality improvements, the statistical needs are examined for each of the four suggested strategic DDDG thrusts. The paper reiterates that DDDG should not be viewed as a substitute for export-led growth (ELG) strategies. Rather, by harnessing the complementarities of the two paradigms, Malaysia can capture the growth opportunities arising from an upswing in external demand while mitigating the adverse effects on output and employment due to volatile export markets by strengthening the resilience of domestic demand.

Sayan Banerjee   

In the context of recent global financial crisis, the impact of exogenous shock to the financial sector on the real sector of the economy has come to the notice of the economists all over the world. The traditional dichotomy between financial and real sector is found to be inadequate for either managing or predicting the economy's overall behavior. In view of this recent development, this paper makes an attempt to construct a Financial Condition Index (FCI) in the context of Indian economy, to explore the possibility of how such an index would be an improvement over the traditional Monetary Condition Index (MCI), which has been the central bank's main instrument. The FCI is constructed by incorporating broad money supply along with real interest rate and official exchange rate. Following a weighted sum approach, the index is constructed by taking into consideration macroeconomic data over two decades of time period. The FCI, thus constructed, shows a significant co-relationship with the variability economy's inflation rate, revealing its usefulness as an indicator for early warning system for Indian economy.

Robin S. McCutcheon   

This research analyzes the use of comic book heroes to persuade students that being economically and politically free, are far superior to socialism's tenants of self-sacrifice for the good of the community that always end in tyranny.

Kun Tan   

This paper investigates how the choices of strategic directions by Chinese multinational enterprises have led them to adopt distinct strategies in internationalization. The study takes a multiple case study approach. It was found that the generic strategies of Chinese internationalization are local optimizer; low-cost supplier, advanced-market seeker, and global consolidator, each of which depends on a multinational enterprise's preference in combination with its strategic directions e.g. target countries, value chain movement, branding, and mode of entry. Finally the generic strategies as a common framework for studying the internationalization of emerging market multinationals are proposed.

Sana Imran   

This paper is aimed to highlight the significance of 'Brands' for strengthening the 'National Identity'. It is a modest attempt to analyze how nations accrue global recognition through a systematic proliferation of national brands. Meticulously prepared advertisements and a well thought out media campaign often shape branded products into successful marketing propositions. While the use of brands in influencing the overall national image has become a marketing imperative, products of multi-national origins still remain in great demand. A fine linkage can be traced between the country of origin of a particular brand, the national identity, contribution of brand towards enhancing the national image and consumer ethno-centrism. The conceptual, strategic and practically relevant aspects of this association along with the managerial implications will be discussed in this paper, in a purely academic and research based construct, with a view to validating the following postulates: 1) Brands impact upon the construction of national identity. 2) Brands' influence on national identity is equally applicable in the spheres of diplomacy, defense, economy, trade, fashion and industry. 3) Countries have gained more fame globally, due to their branded products in all walks of life.

Fumihiko Isada   Han-Ching Lin   and Yuriko Isada   

The objective of this research is to analyze quantitatively the evaluation and background factors for tourist sites in Japan by the younger age group of Taiwanese visitors to Japan, and to consider a future subject. The questionnaire was designed based on consumer-behavior theory, service marketing, etc. as a theory relevant to sightseeing. It turned out that the factors that constitute especially quality of service and experience value are closely related to a revisit intention etc. In addition, as compared with other countries, the factors by which tourist sites in Japan were evaluated highly, and not highly, became clear among those factors.

Valbona Çinaj   and Bashkim Ruseti   

The booming lending period and many lenders (16 banks and 21 non-bank financial Institutions in Albania) brought about unprecedented competition in credit markets within Albania. Economists usually view lending and competition favorably, but in Albania resulted in a number of unforeseen non-performing loans. Findings report increased problems of borrower over-indebtedness, reduced loan repayment incentives, and growing debts for lenders¹. The weakening performance of lenders is due in part to the absence of information sharing in these markets. Because growing numbers of lenders (banks and non-bank financial Institutions in Albania) increase the level of asymmetric information between lenders, credit information systems (often called credit reporting bureaus or credit bureaus) can play a crucial role towards improving credit market performance and, in turn, credit access for the poor. Increases in formal sector lending among the poor have created a need for credit information systems that provide potential lenders with borrower information. Improved screening affects from the system causes the level of non-performing loans to decline. In this paper we will present effects of a credit information system to be implemented in Albania. The weakening performance of lenders is due in part to the absence of information sharing in these markets. Because growing numbers of lenders (banks and non-bank financial Institutions in Albania) increase the level of asymmetric information between lenders, CISs can play a crucial role towards improving credit market performance and, in turn, credit access for the poor.

Xiangjun Kong   Yajuan Feng   Yuejuan Su   and Yinghong Kong   

ASEAN is one of the most significant business partners of China. This article analyzes the application of the international agreement on the protection of geographical indications from the perspective of protection and collaboration. It also states the constructive situation between the protection of geographical indications and the administrative system. It asserts that the collaboration under the geographical symbols area of China-ASEAN carries significant stagy meanings in politics, economy and diplomacy and a serious of constructions to establish this collaborative system. What's more, this paper advises the concluding these core contents illustrated as follows: China-ASEAN Expo as a platform for the results of the protection of geographical indications, holding, establishing topic platform of the geographical remarks and registered system of geographical symbols of China-EU.

Milena HelmovĂĄ   

In the current era of social processes all over the world, the demands on the culture of communication increases, but on the other hand we are more aware of differences in thinking and acting of individuals coming from different cultural backgrounds. These facts are reflected in the international business negotiations, which require some specific abilities and knowledge influencing the successful result of mutual communication from negotiators. In fact, it is impossible not to communicate. There is communication everywhere and all the time. Within the context of this topic, we put a question: How can we communicate properly and successfully with a foreign business partner? In that connection, the cultural background of our business partner is important. There arise frequent misunderstandings during business negotiations because of the partner's different cultural background, which is reflected in their thinking and acting. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance and direct connection of intercultural literacy as one of the conditions for successful communication in negotiation processes. The paper presents some theoretical starting points for the topic; it offers the views of the problem of interculturality by several theoreticians, and tries to reply the questions directly connected with intercultural business negotiations: what is the impact of my partners' culture on their behavior and thinking? Is intercultural communication only a product of communication in a foreign language, or is it something more than that? What does the intercultural competence of the negotiator mean, and how can it be acquired?

Asit Ranjan Mohanty   and Bibhuti Ranjan Mishra   

The study examines the nexus between tax revenue of the government and public expenditure in India using Johensen-Juselius cointegration Methodology during 1980-81 to 2013-14. It tests four hypotheses relating to the revenue-expenditure nexus, i.e. tax-spend hypothesis, spend-tax hypothesis, fiscal synchronization hypothesis and institutional separation hypothesis. The nexus is studied at centre, state and combined level. The study establishes one cointegrating relationship between public expenditure and tax revenue which suggests a long-run relationship between the two. The results of the Vector Error Correction Models evince that there is one-way causality running from tax revenue to expenditure both in short-run as well as in the long-run. This result justifies the operation of tax-spend hypothesis. The reverse-causality is not found in the analysis either for short or long-run.

Maria Markova   

The paper "Intellectual property rights and consumer behavior" is focused on IP rights for product innovations and business indicators of the company and their influence on the consumer behavior. The objective of this paper is to reveal the business offer as a complex of IP rights and as a factor of consumer behavior into 2 main aspects: 1. Product innovations with IP rights as a complex utility for consumer. 2. Business indicators with IP rights as an exclusive market proposition. This paper considers the matter of market characteristics of the business offer with implemented product innovations with IP rights for an invention, utility model and industrial design and the business indicators as trademarks, graphic designs, and domain names. The production and marketing of new products with obtained intellectual property rights the whole economic cycle goes through different phases: from a project of innovation to a market proposition with distinctive signs of IP protection. The implementation of IP into a business offer has the significant aim to achieve economic benefits from the implemented innovations and/or business indicators and to receive future revenues from the exclusive market proposition for the consumer. The final part of this paper is focused on the economic aspects of market characteristics of IP as a factor influencing the consumers and as a factor of the company competitiveness based on IP. To prove these conclusions in this paper are used examples of good practices of the successful companies, market studies and IP research.

Quey-Jen Yeh   

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is value oriented, based on the perspectives of stakeholders and issues considered essential. Using experimental design, this study designs scenarios in terms of consumer's prior purchase experience with products associated to CSRs. The purpose aims to demonstrate the marketing effect of CSR initiative whereby it stimulates buyers to purchase a high priced CSR-related product or stay with such a product when they are aware of the CSR behavior of the seller. Such effect is examined further for those of less or no prior experience in purchasing CSR-related goods. Our goal is to explore the response of general consumers on ethics relevant issues for better understanding of CSR in business.

Xiaoni Wen   Zhenqi Zhang   and Xiaojuan Wu   

The credit platform of P2P network is a new type of lending model which based on Internet technology. It is the inevitable product in the rapid development of science, technology and social economy. It makes the current credit model more diversity and comprehensive, which plays a pivotal role in China's economic development. This paper introduces the mode and characteristics of P2P network lending, as well as the main development of P2P network lending at home and abroad. In this paper, we take the largest P2P network lending website PPDai as an example, using binary logistic regression model to establish a network lending model, researching the factors that affect the success rate of the loan, and carry on the Monte Carlo simulation, to find that credit is an important factor to guarantee the success of P2P transactions. During the period of marketization, compared to traditional finance, P2P network lending model not only has mode innovation but also need to make full use of its advantages of big data, for effective credit and risk assessment. Making outstanding contributions in order to the credit system construction and lending services.

Temessek Behi Azza   and Ben Dahmane Mouelhi Norchene   

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the influence of two strategic service encounter dimensions on consumer beliefs and service loyalty. A conceptual model was generated with the aim of seeking to reveal the contribution of the physical environment and social interactions with front line employees on customer's evaluation of the service provider and loyalty. An empirical study is conducted based on a sample of 400 customers of fitness centers. Collected data was analyzed using a structural modeling that highlight the contribution of each predictors. The results revealed that physical and social cues differently influence customer trust and loyalty to the service provider. It seems that social interactions are more effective in building customer trust. Overall, the joint effect of servicescape and social relationships positively influence customer trust and lead to service loyalty. This paper provides empirical evidence on the contribution of two service encounter cues: servicescape and social interaction on customer trust and service loyalty. The research offers a conceptual framework that can be tested in a variety of services. Managerial recommendations focus on improving relational aptitudes of frontline employees, mainly in personal services such as fitness centers.

Mohd Helmi Ramlee   and Muhamad Shukri Abdul Rani   

Price stability is one of the primary goals of central banks. In assessing price stability, some central banks monitor core inflation rather than headline inflation, as it provides signal about persistent movements in inflation, which is important for the conduct of monetary policy. The objectives of this paper are threefold. First is to highlight the importance of core inflation to monetary policy. Second is to derive estimates of core inflation for Malaysia. Finally, it seeks to evaluate the performance of each measure of core inflation in forecasting headline inflation. We consider a number of measures for core inflation, and note their merits and demerits. Of significance is that each measurement performs differently when used to forecast headline inflation. This alludes to the possibility that some measures of core inflation could act as good predictors of future inflation, while others are best at describing current development.

Lu Chia-Wu   

This study explores the effect of credit risk on the lottery-type stocks with Taiwan's data during the sample period 2001 to 2010. The lottery-type stocks are identified as the criteria referring to Kumar [1], which have characters of lower stock price, higher idiosyncratic volatility, and higher idiosyncratic skewness. Refer to Merton [2] and Vassalou & Xing [3], a firm's credit risk is proxied by the DLI (default likelihood indicators). The main results show that the lottery-type stocks have higher default probabilities, smaller firm sizes and higher B/M (book to market) ratio comparing to the non-lottery type ones. By adding default likelihood indicator into the Carhart [4] model, the empirical results demonstrate that a firm's credit situation change has significant negative effect on return of equity; lottery-type stocks equity returns are less sensitive to default risk going higher. Furthermore, this research also shows there exists a structure change resulted from the financial tsunami, indicating the investors require more positive excess returns to compensate their risk for holding stocks after 2008 financial crisis.

Fayq Al Akayleh   

This paper examines the effects of foreign workers' outward remittances on the economic activity of a country that hosts foreign labor by developing a new econometric technique to measure the effect of workers' outward remittances on gross domestic product of the world's largest oil producer, namely Saudi Arabia. Results indicate that outward remittances have negative and significant effects on all types of aggregate demand. The total effect of outward remittances on GDP is, then, negative. The study findings prove that the net effect of non-Saudi workers on GDP is positive for the Saudi GDP.

Moses Yonggwan Park   

Drawing upon an analytical framework, interviews, and a questionnaire survey, this study explores the reasons for necessity to operate companies as collaborative communities for implementing emergent innovation and the ways in which associate-centered leadership facilitates emergent innovation and helps organizations respond to turbulent conditions. Associate-centered leadership is the method, process, or capacity of influencing associates to achieve the group mission and vision by providing a context in which all associates can demonstrate their abilities. Unlike the prevailing leader-centered power model, associate-centered leaders encourage associates to question premises grounded in old experiences, assumptions, and beliefs. Leaders in an associate-centered model create visions and wisdom, serve, facilitate, moderate, make peace, and express thanks.

Ferry Sugianto   and Liliana Inggrit Wijaya   

The objective of this study is to examine whether the underwriter's factors affect the initial return of the companies that were going to do Initial Public Offerings (IPO). This study uses the quantitative approach using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method to examine whether the underwriter's factors affect the initial return. The samples of this study are companies which are doing the IPO in Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period of 2004- 2011. This study finds that the underwriter's factors have significant effect for the companies which do IPO, such as prestige, number of syndicate, experience, and oversubscription. But other independent variables like reputation, total assets, age, and price revision have no significant impact to initial return. The paper provides useful information for issuers how to choose good underwriters to avoid underpricing which causes wealth transfer to investors, the underwriters with good prestige, big syndicates, a lot of experiences, and less of doing oversubscription are recommended.

Kalulu Ronald   Tushabe Emmy   and Nsabimana Emmanuel   

Volcanoes National Park contains the rich biodiversity that attracts many tourists. Despite being an attractive destination, Volcanoes National Park is facing different threats resulting from human activities including poaching, hunting, bamboo collection, and others although policies to conserve the VNP were set up. It was due to these challenges that the study was conducted to investigate the local community attitude and perception towards conservation policies around the Park. It was based on Nyange Sector in three cells selected as they were around the VNP. These cells included Kabeza, Muhabura, and Ninda. The objectives of the study were; i) to establish the whether the local residents understood well the park conservation policies, ii) to assess the role of local communities in park conservation, iii) to find out the factors deterring conservation policy implementation in VNP. Data were collected from cells contacting 45 respondents selected conveniently. The questionnaire and interview method were used to collect data. The study revealed that most local people understood well and were aware of the existing conservation policies and rules. The most common policies included; punishment to hunters, bush burners, and poachers; increasing the investment and financing (5% revenue sharing policy); developing infrastructure leading to the park; capacity building and human resources motivation; marketing and awareness reinforcement and finally supporting local community small businesses among others. The study found out that local people were somehow satisfied with some policies with exception of setting a wall of separation, and punishment of poachers. The study further revealed that local Residents play a big role in the conservation of VNP and that decision making process in matter of VNP conservation is important to the park managers where they interact and share views with local government in decisions making in terms of VNP conservation. Despite the policies already existing, the implementation of them encounters barriers including but not limited to; excessive forest resources dependency where people still have the mentality of hunting and poaching for meat and collect bamboo for basketry. These result in harming the park and the flora and fauna it shelters. Recommendations mainly focused on the increase of the awareness of conservation policies of Volcanoes National Park as well as putting more conservation policies with the involvement of community leaders and residents.

Lilla Hortovanyi   

Trade through tougher competition expels less efficient forms from the market. As Rita G. McGrath [1] put it forward, in today's business environment the competitive advantage often evaporates in less than a year. While this seems to be devastating, in fact this is an opportunity for new comers. Twenty-five leading companies across various sectors were analyzed in-depth, drawing on more than 100 interviews with managers and knowledge workers. The study found that dynamic comparative advantage is the ultimate source of sustainable competitive advantage and investment into both high productivity and high absorptive capacity is required.

IllĂ©s MĂĄria   

The practical usability of research results is a special advisory function of business economics. Of great importance is in teaching the science-based business knowledge as well. The paper presents the main problems related to practical usability of business economics summarizing more than four decades of research results of the author on this aspect. The examined disciplinary problems are the questions of terminology, some mechanical takeovers from microeconomic topics, some financial decision-making recommendations based on so methodology which does not fit for actual practice, and finally scientifically unresolved issues originating within business economics. Among the latter are: some unclear relations of profitability indicators, product ranking by contribution margin ratios, problematic return requirement sharing for products by cost or price proportions, cost-related cross-sectional analysis and some methodological problems of project evaluation. Clarifying these questions is fundamental for professional education. This is also important for business economists and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, since their opportunities for in-depth methodological research are very limited.

Thang N. Nguyen   

The purpose of this initial work is to explore insights from science into business and economics for a road map to a prevention theory on corporate fiasco, market turmoil and economic crisis. First, we use as scope the natural continuum, which encompasses particles, protoplasm, cell, organism (e.g. human), community (institution), ecosystem (market), biosphere (economy) and transcendental systems. This scope would guarantee a solution to any problem within it. Second, the primary focus is on the human component since human is the most intelligent of all organisms. Human has the highest ability to think and make decisions driving institution, market and economy (psychology). Third, as part of the natural continuum, the four components in italic would obey the laws of nature, as do the other components. These laws range from Newton gravitational laws to Einstein's relativity. While institution, market and economics can be considered as physical mass, human decisions can be viewed as force moving them from one situation to the next. Decisions can also energize them (physics). Fourth, insights from one known component into another can be drawn by analogy such as a disease in humans is analogous to a fiasco in institutions in terms of hidden signs and symptoms (biology). Fifth, one component is the extension of the lower component, e.g. market is an extension of institution, allowing homeomorphism to be identified (topology). Finally, decisions can be emotion-driven. Thus, insights from neurological and psychological processes in human brain and mind into business decisions can help understand them (neuroeconomics).

Stefanos Fotopoulos   Fotios Siokis   and Harry Papapanagos   

The paper deals with the factors that led to the great penetration of Greek banking sector in South Eastern Europe during 2000-2007. We investigate the validity of the follow the customer hypothesis. Based on the eclectic theory, after controlling for ownership advantages, we found that host country conditions, opportunities in the host financial markets and risk conditions are proved to be significant determinants. Our findings indicate that although follow the customer hypothesis does exist, the utilization of location advantages can better explain Greek banks' expansion.

Riadh Brini   Hatem Jemmali   and Arafet Ferroukh   

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of public debt on economic growth in Tunisia over a period spanning around two decades (1990-2013). Using the Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), the paper traces a long run equilibrium between public debt and economic growth. Besides, we used the Granger causality test to examine the direction of causality among various variables. The results show that public debt and total debt service have a negative and significant effect on economic growth in the long run. In the short and long run there is a unidirectional Granger causality between public debt and economic growth. We also find that there is a bidirectional Granger causality between total debt service and economic growth in the long run. While, there is no evidence of short run causality.

Mg. Oec. Konstantins Savenkovs   

The modern development of the country is impossible without widespread implementation of innovations, so it is time to take a fresh look at the development of the economy as a whole, because we are talking about the system transition, or rather about changing the system paradigm. Such a change involves the formation of a new model of the national innovation system, namely the creation of advanced technology using human capital and science, their commercialization through the introduction in the production of dynamic regional companies and industries in a symbiotic relationship with the state. The new paradigm of economic development implies the need to build a national innovation system, which, in turn, provides an overall cost savings, changes in the structure and growth of the economic system as a whole (or parts thereof), in the medium and long term perspective. In this case, the requirement of time - a new network model of innovation that created different communities parties entering into a relationship of collaboration and forming a specific ecosystem (collaborative innovation networks). Increased plasticity of national innovation systems is intended to give them the ability to self-development on the basis of continuous updates, to make economic growth innovation-oriented, and the country more competitive.

Charles Okeyo Owuor   

Although the insurance industry in Kenya has been growing in investment, there have been fundamental challenges in the number of new clients being recruited thus low penetration levels have been reported. The fast market growth notwithstanding, penetration rates remain low, at just 3% of GDP in 2013, 2014 and 2015 is still far below other developing economies. The high level of growth along low levels of penetration could lead the Kenyan insurance industry in crises in the near future. Therefore it is necessary to investigate into the trends in insurance uptake and the contributing factors. This study was designed to analyze perception and uptake of insurance products among medium-low income earners in Kenya on the basis that insurance penetration in Kenya is severely limited, which could have been as a result of the insured perception. The study was conducted using the explanatory research design. Primary data was collected using questionnaires administered to teachers using the drop and pick method. Quantitative data analysis was done using multiple response analysis techniques, mean, mode, standard deviation, percentages and frequencies. The study found out that perceptions on insurance played a key role in insurance uptake as the industry was marred by negative perceptions among potential customers hence low penetration. It is recommended that further research be conducted to evaluate customer experiences arising from insurance clients following the view held by majority insurance holders that they would not purchase insurance in the future.

Ilan Bijaoui   and David Regev   

Our research is focused on two main and related issues: evaluate whether the required entrepreneurial capabilities are present in the region, and how the open incubator model, a hybrid model between the Incubator and Industrial District models, must proceed in order to generate a "clusterization process." The three of the McClelland entrepreneurial levels are ready to invest in their own businesses and to cooperate with other businesses. The need for power level is even ready to seek external sources of financing. Connectors are strongly entrepreneurial, ready to take risks, and to follow new trends in business. Mavens are not ready to share their business knowhow with other businesses within the framework of a common organization. Salesmen belong to the family care entrepreneurial level and are ready to take risks in order to improve entrepreneurship in family businesses.

Kazumasa Kawasaki   

University-industry research collaborations (UIRCs) have been recognized as an important factor of the production of innovation. In practice, however, the cases of the practical applications of UIRCs are not so many and there are a lot of problems in the UIRCs. In this paper, first the UIRCs conducted in Niigata University that is located in one of the regional areas are analyzed based on joint research projects and are clarified by company locations in order to clarify the characteristics of UIRCs in regional area of Japan. Moreover, the five cases of practical applications are extracted from the joint research projects with companies inside the prefecture and the cases of the practical applications are classified. These cases are discussed from the viewpoint of technologies and markets. Consequently, the product group and business direction for the analysis of the market was confirmed and was codified.

Imre FertƑ   

The paper investigates the structural transformation of agriculture in Central and Eastern European countries using macro data in period between 1990 and 2011. The role of agriculture in total employment and GDP and the share of food expenditure have declined all analysed countries period in question. Our results indicate that despite of common trend the initial differences between countries have remained among countries. The findings of panel unit root tests do not confirm the convergence hypothesis in agricultural structural transformation of the region. The structural transformation does not follow common path in these countries. Our estimations also reinforces that the convergence analysis require careful application of various panel unit root tests.

Sormas Asterios   

Market turnover includes two interrelating procedures, playing a very important role in the industrial organization: firm entry and exit of the market. The question what favors and what prohibits a firm to enter the market place and the relationship between its entry and exit, are in the scope of industrial dynamics. An approach of firms' entries and exits in an industrial market, can be seen under the prism of the life cycle of a product. The innovations and the technical changes are very important factors, driving a firm to make the decision either to enter or exit the market .In this paper we will examine the theories involving the market entries and exits of the firms. Also, we will analyze the nature and the components of the entry and exit barriers. The market looks like a football pitch surrounded by complex and different size gates. Firms intending to enter or exit the market have to leap over these gates. In a way, the gates can act as a barrier, increasing or decreasing in height, not for the firms in on the pitch, but for those outside intending to enter. According to the theory, the factor influencing the entry is the market structure, while the exit is influenced by the industrial development. Firms' entries and exits are characterized by asymmetry and interrelation, creating in a way the revolving door phenomenon, where someone enters and somebody else exits, because every entry includes an exit in a future moment. The existence of barriers is leading firms to develop entry or exit strategies. There are models based on game theory, on the technological situation in the market and on the fact the firm has one or more plants.

Ljerka Sedlan KƑnig   Petra Mezulić Juric   and Tihana Koprivnjak   

Awareness of the importance of higher education (HE) in the transition to a knowledge-based society is growing in Croatia and universities are increasingly required to produce employable graduates who have attributes, capabilities, knowledge and skills to work successfully, and are able to respond to the changing and complex needs of the labor market. This paper seeks to investigate and compare the importance of skills and attributes which enhance graduate employability, as well as their reception through higher education, from the perspective of employers, university teachers and senior students. The research has shown that students, university teachers and employers have a significantly different view regarding knowledge, skills and attributes important for employment, and the contribution of university teaching to the development of these skills, knowledge and attributes. In April 2015 a total of 340 surveys were collected (230 from senior students, 30 teachers at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek, and 80 employers from the region filled in the questionnaire). In analyzing data descriptive statistics and hypotheses testing are given. Mann-Whitney test is used to test the difference between two distributions, and Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA between three distributions.

Federico Topolansky Barbe   Magdalena Gonzalez Triay   and Andrea Fujarczuc   

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current business strategy of the Niagara wine region and to explore the potential of the Niagara wine region to specialise in Riesling grape variety. Questionnaires were administered to a range of different types of experts with a specialty in wine. Quantitative data from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario supplemented the core interviews. The results of this study indicate that differentiation through specialisation is the best strategy to develop the Niagara wine region. However, the structure of the wine industry encourages wineries to produce a vast array of grape varieties to cater to the needs of the domestic market. This has resulted in a loss of identity for the region. Though because Niagara Riesling is differentiable, world class, the most consistently awarded grape and unreproducible elsewhere, it is the prime candidate to become the representative grape for the region. By developing the Niagara style of Riesling and focusing on exporting small amounts of the variety, the region would benefit by developing an identity and increasing consumer confidence and sales.

Svetlana Stradinya   and L. Beinerte   

The article presents the study of life span of small and medium business in Latvia. Investments that come from EU funds show little help for little and microbusinesses. Private business can't withstand the market forces, changing economic and political realities. To survive, he must embark on way of clustering, which is adaptable and resistant to change. The process of clustering is shown of small and medium-sized businesses, the existing problems and the need of support from the state.

KristĂ­na GardoƈovĂĄ   

There are many extensions of the Solow model. We took one of the most recent ones that deals with the environment - Romer's model with environmental aspects, in which he discusses the effects of land and natural resources' limitations on economic growth. Furthermore, we took the theoretical knowledge of Weil, who says that the drag caused by the limited amount of natural resources can be outweighed by the spur created by technological progress with the help of substitution of more expensive production factors with cheaper, less valuable, ones. In this paper we put these two thoughts together, creating a model based on Romer's analysis with inclusion of a new parameter - effective use of natural resources that grows at a rate of technological progress. We show that theoretical results of the Solow model still hold, however we provide a better explanation of the factors that limit or reinforce the economic growth.

Hale Akbulut   

Although there seems to be a positive relationship between urbanization levels and development levels in terms of provinces in Turkey, this relationship is not clear. This paper suggests that in the cities with high export volumes, the positive relationship between urbanization and economic development is clearer. The aim of this study may be summarized as an attempt to explain the development in provinces in Turkey in terms of exports and to suggest fiscal policies in order encourage development. For that purpose, the dominant export sectors in provinces are examined, and expectations about their future development are discussed. It is observed that the dominant export sectors are freer from their locations in more developed provinces. In order to promote production and exports in less advantaged regions, government may choose to increase public investment directly or private investment by using different fiscal instruments such as tax exceptions and tax allowances.

Bingying Wei   

This paper examines what factors determine Chinese graduate entrepreneurship in Australia, such as individual characteristics, entrepreneurial motivations, and environment and opportunities. The qualitative research approach was utilized to interview three Chinese entrepreneurs who started their businesses after graduation in Australia. The results indicate that personal characteristics, motivations and environmental opportunities contribute to Chinese graduate entrepreneurship in Australia. Work experience and social skills are essential individual characteristics in Chinese graduates' entrepreneurial activities. Motivations such as difficulties in finding employment and permanent residency significantly contribute to their entrepreneurship. Environments like family background and market demands give entrepreneurs opportunities to participate in entrepreneurial activities. The study recommends that individuals should develop their abilities in order to become entrepreneurs, the government should make positive policies to graduates' entrepreneurship, and the universities should encourage students by adopting more practical entrepreneurship programs.

Intan Maizura Abdul Rashid   Nor'aznin Abu Bakar   and Nor Azam Abdul Razak   

This research endeavours to set out to empirically examine the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Agriculture Sector based on selected high-income developing economies in OIC countries. The agriculture sectors react as important keys in the expansion of any economy growth to eliminate the poverty issues. Therefore, it reviews the experiences of agriculture investment in selected member countries with a view to identify potential roles for countries seeking FDI and their development partners in nurturing FDI intra OIC especially in the agriculture new investment. In this study, the FDI in Agriculture Sector react as dependent variable and the independent variable economic determinant, list of market size, inflation, poverty, exchange rate and infrastructure in selected OIC Countries (Malaysia, Oman and Brunei).

E. W. Chindia   

This article explores the influence of the external operating environment (EOE) on the accuracy of performance forecasting (APF) in large manufacturing firms (LMFs) in Kenya. The objective was to assess if any aspects of the EOE influenced measures of APF. APF, in manufacturing operations, is seldom derived accurately. However, since LMFs tend to hire skilled personnel, this survey presumes that these qualified forecasters ensure APF when preparing future budgets. EOE has been known to influence the behavior of operations resulting in either adverse or favorable organizational performance. The study identified EOE factors that impact organizational performance and tested these against measures of APF. Regression analysis was applied using data collected through a structured questionnaire administered among randomly selected LMFs. Results indicated that there was evidence that EOE had an influence on some measures of APF and the established forecasting techniques (FTs), objective, judgmental and combined forecasting.

Thitivadee Chaiyawat   and Pornpan Samranruen   

Delisting has raised an attention in recent years. This is because delisting may post a negatively direct or indirect impact on shareholders, managers, employees, firms, and other stakeholders. Therefore, the needs to understand the symptoms of financial distress in a company and to be able to predict the firm delisting are crucial. The study global objective is to provide a financial operation analysis of The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) delisting and listing firms and to uncover the essential variables and risks which may be helpful in monitoring their corporate governance and financial strength. This study uses logistic regression to predict the delisting and listing status. The data used in this study are drawn from the annual reports filed by SET listed firms in Thailand. The sample consists of SET-listed firms in Thailand operating from 2005 to 2011. Scope of data included in this study is listed firms from all industry groups and all sectors except financials industry group classification structured as banking, finance and securities, and insurance sectors. There are many ratios, representing risks, statistically have an effect on delisting. Risks which are likely to affect firm delisting are liquidity risk, operating efficiency risk, profitability risk, leverage risk, credit risk, and financial insolvency risk. The result shows that net working capital to total asset, debt to equity, and gross profit margin statistically significantly have an impact on a delisting of SET-listed firms. Important variables as mentioned above show that liquidity risk, leverage risk, and profitability risk have crucial impacts on firm delisting. The -2 Log likelihood is equal to 17.322, Cox and Snell R² is equal to 0.509, and Nagelkerke R² is equal to 0.896. Logistic regression model above is used to classify the delisting and listing during the year of 2005-2010. The result shows that logistic regression model is able to predict 99.1% correctly classifying listing or surviving firms and 90% correctly classifying delisting firms. In addition, early warning model of logistic regression is able to predict 100% correctly classifying listing or surviving firms and 83.3% correctly classifying delisting firms during their operation in the year of 2011.

Gkanas Nikitas   and Kyriazis Nicholas   

Looking back at the history of Switzerland, we can identify some structural changes in the economic, social and cultural environment, also in the spiritual perceptions and attitudes of citizens. These may constituted the basis for the creation of specific standards and played a crucial role in the political and economic course of the country. In this study we examine how institutions can explain the emergence and establishment of democracy in Switzerland. We investigate various aspects of human activity in Switzerland trend since the beginning of its emergence, in order to use the tool of macro-culture that includes shared values, norms and beliefs that characterize the members of a society. Important aspects in the country's history are opening trade passages, alliances, military tactics and religion. The standards and values spun from the above aspects were transferred gradually to the political field. Finally, it is highlighted that these values contributed decisively in forging a strong polity with robust elements of direct democracy.

Stoica Elena   

It is known that the numerical expansion of the population and the diversity within the European Union (EU) change the complexity of the standardisation process. A socio-demographic analysis revealed the items frequently mentioned among the most important sources of European and National identities that have to be considered when standardize services. Another issue of the study is the fact that both the standardization process and the balance between National and European identities are in fact dynamic, changing over time. Starting with this paper, we can later explain how the globalization of economies influences the notion of National identity.

Oxana Wieland   

Socially responsible Investing (Impact Investing, Sustainable, Ethical, Green investing) that offers pragmatic and social outcome deliveries have become rapidly adopted financial innovations in Scandinavian countries. Impact investing is considered to be one form of socially a responsible investment strategy in the global arena which considers both financial return and social impact (best intentions, outcomes). This research will evaluate Social Impact Investing (SII) practices with particular attention to the private equity companies NORFUND, which is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each of three independent case studies is examined in a comparative analysis based on the following criteria: 1) Economic conditions, 2) investment environment, 3) ease of doing business, 4) performance of the Norwegian Development Cooperation, 5) relevance, 6) constraints and 7) opportunities. Results of the analysis show that success or failure of a given venture is tightly coupled to the political environment and existing infrastructure, both financial and real (roads, power distribution etc
). Suggested improvements based on the analysis include a focus on improving several existing programs.

Atik Sheikh   Rahul Ravi   Darshan Joshi   and Medha Joshi   

Currently, India is facing an energy crisis and lots of efforts are being put in order to reduce this widening gap between energy demand and supply. One of the most cost effective ways of reducing this gap is by implementing Energy Efficiency (EE) projects. These projects have a very high potential in India as it is estimated that it can generate energy savings worth $ 730 million per year. But, this is not being utilised properly due to various hurdles. One of the major obstacles is financing of these EE projects. Most financial institutions are not familiar with the aspects of EE projects. Also, weak credit strength of Energy Service Company (ESCOs) and perceived lack of collateral or guarantees also hinder the implementation of such projects. Added to this, financial institutions lack the appraisal capacities required for these projects. In this paper, appraising of EE projects is discussed and the benefits of financing EE projects are highlighted. Also, the paper discusses certain schemes and policies that could be implemented in order to make these projects more attractive to the Financial Institutions. Five Basic methods of appraisal i.e. promoter appraisal, technical appraisal, financial appraisal, environmental appraisal and legal appraisal are necessary when it comes to EE projects. In addition, different perspectives of different stakeholders like Promoters, Lenders, Government, ESCOs, etc. are observed and understood in this paper. Also, the paper shall discuss in the detail about new financing mechanisms i.e. PRGF (Partial Risk Guarantee Fund) and VCF (Venture Capitalist Fund) and also along with ESCOs ability to benefit from these financing mechanisms.

G. Naresh   S. Thiyagarajan   and S. Mahalakshmi   

The collapse of Lehman Brothers that led to global financial crisis had not left the Indian market too. During crisis many investors who determine their strategies in the underlying market based on the traditional indices and future prices movements were clueless about the plunge in the markets. The two benchmark stock indices, the Nifty and Sensex have ceased to reflect the 'true' performance of Indian stock markets today (Business Line, [2]). Thus investors tracking the market based on the popular indices alone as the market indicator will not suffice their hunger for building profitable trading strategies. Thus in the current scenario, to gauge any uncertainty in the market and to capture the underlining market movements in a systematic manner, the market volatility, liquidity, futures price should be closely monitored. Hence, this paper aimed at looking into the complex relationship between India VIX (Volatility Index), Index Futures, Open Interest (Liquidity) and NIFTY (Market) by applying Structural Equation Model (SEM) by which the impact of VIX, Nifty Futures and Open Interest on Nifty prices and their inter-relationships were studied to better understand the underlying market performance.

Karl Gustaf Svanström   

A company does not only consist of machines, plants and technology as resources. It also includes people with knowledge. This human capital added with ambitions and creativity to build strategies make the company survive in the international context. Even though internationalization has been much studied the main attention has lied in the focus of crossing a national border, which also is the traditional definition of internationalization. But the internationalization of businesses also includes how to make sense, building strategies to survive. The internationalization of businesses must therefore be looked upon as a longitudinal "never-ending" process. This paper presents a case study of the Swedish company CA Clase. It shows how creation, transfer and utilization of knowledge were necessary to over-win barriers and build strategies to make sense and survive in the international context. The knowledge process is looked upon as a strategic communication tool. The knowledge had been accumulated and embedded during many years. Through meetings, interviews, reading of protocols and written notes the knowledge could be reconstructed. The work-perspective was hermeneutical and could at the same time be looked upon as a resource based view. That work was here called knowledge gardening, which was a way to collect and sort out implicit and explicit internal as well as external knowledge.

Olga Pavuk   

The new term "retirement economy", as no other one, characterises realities not only of the modern labour market, but also of the world economy. The adverse demographic situation in the Baltic States allows speaking about the inability of the present retirement system for future pensioners. Besides low birth rate it is necessary to mention substantial out-migration of able-bodied population to other countries with good working opportunities. The adverse demographic situation and labour migration are the basis of pessimism and non-confidence of the population, especially of the youth, in the state retirement system. People understand that if at the moment of their retirement in the country there is not enough labour force, and the number of young people has been reduced, it will not be possible to resolve the issue of decent pensions. The raising of retirement age will hardly help to make a difference. Aging of the population on the European continent in general and Latvia in particular leads to increase in demographic loading. The share of aged population in the national economy increases quicklier than the inflow of young and middle-aged population, i.e. persons who are at the age of labour activity. The immigration flow accruing from year to year also has a negative impact on a qualitative structure and number of labour forces. One of solutions could be a paradoxical decision to lower retirement age. In order to free up jobs for young people, particularly keenly felt the burden of unemployment and to motivate them to participate in social programs and pension funds.

Stefanie Alexa Stadler   

Conflict, is – arguably – one of the greatest inhibitors to successful interaction and desirable interactional outcomes. As international business people frequently work in new and/or unfamiliar cultural settings, they rely on social interactions that are almost invariably of an intercultural nature. As such, it is vital for them to learn to manage and navigate communication smoothly and successfully. However, intercultural communication is prone to misunderstandings and miscommunication based on different pragmatic norms and culture-specific communication practices. The consequences in such settings can be costly to the bottom line and irreparable to well-functioning business relationships. Recognizing and responding to potential interactional conflict in a timely and efficient manner is therefore paramount. In this paper, I focus on conflict triggers and conflict markers that indicate irritation, dissent or disagreement before conflict actually arises. A discourse analysis approach of video-recorded business interactions forms the basis for this discussion, in which I will demonstrate cultural differences in the approach to marking and indicating the onset of potential conflict and intercultural competencies conducive of resolving conflict in its early developmental stages.

Pei-I Chou   and Chia-Hao Lee   

This study investigates the mediation effect of the pay-risk sensitivity of CEOs on the relation between risky investment and bank performance over the sample period of 2000 to 2007. The empirical results of the study show that CEOs of BHCs engage in more private MBSs will increase their pay-risk sensitivity incentives, and then induces the relation between risky investment and bank performance to become negative. These results imply that the pay-risk sensitivity incentives indirectly induce manager to increase his own benefits at the expense of shareholders. Furthermore, we classify CEOs of BHCs as three levels of overconfidence, and find that the pay-risk sensitivity incentive has a mediation effect on the relation between private MBSs and firm performance in excessively overconfident CEOs group, implying that the levels of CEOs confidence should be considered while compensation committee designs a flawless contract for encouraging managers put shareholders' best interests in front of theirs.

Chang-zheng Zhang   Qian Guo   and Xin Mu   

In recently years, female executives all over the world have attracted the widespread concern of many scholars, and the relationship between female executives' participation in top executive teams and firm performance is found to be considerably complicated. This paper tries to clarify this relationship by adopting a multi-approach perspective. It finds that resource dependency theory, catfish effect theory and stakeholder theory regard female executives as the facilitators of improving firm performance; feminism theory and vase theory indicate that female executives would contribute less than their male peers; upper echelon theory demonstrates a contingent effect instead of a fixed effect as considering female executives' effect on firm performance; assimilation theory argues that effect of female executives on firm performance has no difference with that of male executives; principal-agent theory, social capital theory and human capital theory all simultaneously hold contradictory views of positive effect and negative effect of female executives on firm performance; and social cognition theory argues that female executives' effect on firm performance is positive or null.

Edric Harry   

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture is an International Organization that provides technical support for the development of agriculture and rural life in thirty- four countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, there were mixed results in the Institute's programmes, designed to improve the lives and livelihoods of farmers and members of community groups living in rural areas. The degree of success enjoyed in delivering those programmes, and ease with which they were implemented depended, to a large extent, on the nature of problems besetting those communities, and facilitative environment provided at the institutional level. IICA also had favorable experiences in providing support to rural community groups which had requested support for further exploiting opportunities with potential for improving their income earning capacity. The paper, therefore, seeks to identify the nature of the challenges experienced by the IICA Office in providing support to community groups in Trinidad and Tobago and selected countries of the region, and to highlight interventions undertaken for assisting those communities. The paper further outlines conditions, both at the community and institutional levels, which can facilitate the technical cooperation process.

Melik KamÄ±ĆŸlı   Serap KamÄ±ĆŸlı   and GĂŒven Sevil   

The crises that occurred in the last century showed that crises can change financial and economic relationships between the regions and countries. But, especially 1998 Asian Crisis put a spotlight on volatility spillovers and contagion effects. After the crisis there has been made studies that analyze contagion effects and changing spillovers between the markets due to the crisis. The volatility spillovers provide information to investors to be used in investment decisions. Especially risk averse investors use this information in diversification and portfolio allocation decisions. But some investors want to invest in specific sectors. So, it will be useful to analyze the relations between sectors. In this context, the purpose of this study is to analyze the volatility spillovers between industrial, services and financial sectors of Turkish stock market Borsa Istanbul, on the basis of 2008 Global Crisis and Greece Debt Crisis. For this purpose we use Hafner and Herwartz causality in variance test (2006). The findings reveal that there are reciprocal volatility spillovers between industrial and financial sectors and unidirectional spillover from services to industrial sector before the 2008 Global Crisis. But there is no spillover between the index returns after the Global Crisis indicating that crises change the volatility linkages between sector index returns. It is also determined there are volatility spillovers from industrial sector to services and financial sectors and from services to financial sector.

Rungtiwa Wongprasha   and Vichit U-on   

The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 is a major milestone in the regional economic integration agenda in ASEAN, offering opportunities in the form of a huge market of US$2.6 trillion and over 622 million people. A vital role of private universities is expected to grow increasingly. Private universities must self-improve for the establishment of the AEC, to keep up with up to date and changing environment. Nowadays, a pattern of Thai private universities has been gradually changed. All stakeholders involved with the private universities may rely on the governmental sector. They should determine policy that supports enhancement towards international educational baseline. Therefore, standardized system of Thai education must be established and compliance. Currently, Private universities compete with each other to succeed drawing a number of incoming students. It is obvious that private universities then rely on stakeholder brand equity in order to differentiate among private universities that lead to brand creation. Building awareness of private universities and association with any stakeholders is crucial for public and private educations as a whole. The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify influencing factors affecting stakeholder-based brand equity for Thai private universities, and 2) review stakeholder-based brand equity affecting marketing performance. Research methodology includes with population and sampling determination which are 10 private universities, along with students, alumni, parents, and graduates of 800 subjects. This research study used multi stage sampling for collecting data from October to December 2015. The response rate was 100 % of 800 questionnaires. For the data analysis, it appeared that the study used structural equation modeling in which the analysis was found that customer relationship management, marketing mix 7'ps, perceived service quality positively affecting stakeholder-based brand equity. It was also reviewed that stakeholder-based brand equity positively affecting marketing performance. Besides that, marketing performance was slightly affected by customer relationship management, marketing mix 7'ps, and perceived service quality that were relevant to determined hypotheses.

Michael O. Mojekeh   

Any decision on sustainable economic development, must address three fundamental questions, which among others include what has been happening to poverty; unemployment and inequality or economic injustice. If all these three variables have declined from high levels, then there has been a period of development in the affected country. A descriptive approach was adopted from secondary source of data. Today we are witnessing a growing precarious economic situation of glaring distortion, disequilibrium and disharmony globally. Neo-liberal capitalism promotes individualism, greed, self-interest, primitive accumulation and economism - (which regard human societies primarily, as economic systems in which financial considerations alone, govern choices and decisions). Other fundamental values, such as faith spirituality, justice, love, compassion, sympathy, empathy and co-operation, are unwittingly neglected. This paper examined and highlighted the impact of socio-economic dimensions of capitalism on sustainable development and proffers avenues for realistic and sustainable socio-economic stability and peace. Cognizance of the above facts, the recommendations among others, are that the economies and societies around the world, should be encouraged to promote and connect economic efficiency with economic ethics and justice. This entails that the curricula of Business Schools, Universities and other Higher Institutions, must contain both the doctrines of capitalist ideology and true human values of morality and spirituality, for the world to enjoy global peace, security and sustainable development. Also, to build an "Economy of Communion" for the "Common Good of all", which signifies not just a clarion call for less inequality but also, for more fairness and economic justice for the ultimate good of all. If the "Economy of Communion" is established and adopted, one would be inclined to believe, that it will go a long way in eradicating "Corporate Greed" and exploitation, which will culminate into discouraging the likes of Occupy the Wall Street Movement" that keeps reverberating all over the world.

Clifford Wymbs   

The analysis found that to share in the gains of a globalizing economy, smaller multinational enterprises find surrogates outside their firm, third party enablers, to help bridge informational structural holes and build multi-nodal social networks that link cross-cultural alliances partners. Using a qualitative case study, propositions for future testing were developed that highlight similarities and differences between large and small firms, the role third parties play with small firms, and how these third-party behaviors co-evolve with the alliance partners. Conceptual and practical issues related to the changing role of third parties are identified and discussed.

Hsuan-Chu Lin   and Yi-Yun Chou   

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of industry commonality on post-merger performance and further examine whether the acquiring firms have the abnormal returns after mergers and acquisitions which is evidenced by many prior studies. Through the US sample of 3016 observations consisting of 1732 related and 1284 unrelated acquisitions from 1995 to 2009, we find that the abnormal returns of acquisitions during three years are all negative, but the post-performances of related acquisitions is significantly better than those of unrelated acquisitions. Moreover, while insignificant in the first year, the related acquisitions have significantly positive impact on market performances in the second and third years.

Yuri Yevdokimov   

Climate change impacts such as an increase in mean temperature, change in precipitation patterns and sea level rise are affecting regional road transportation network in Atlantic Canada. Those impacts cause direct and indirect economic consequences for the network and regional economy. In our study, we constructed a dynamic computable general equilibrium model (CGEM) to trace these consequences over time. Basic principles of the designed CGEM are discussed and the model's architecture is presented. The model's elements are estimated, and the obtained CGEM is tested with exogenously imposed shocks. The dynamics of regional temperature, precipitation and sea level are analyzed on the basis of comprehensive time series analysis. This dynamics will later be imposed on the designed CGEM as external productivity shocks. Some preliminary cumulative economic consequences are evaluated in monetary terms to obtain benchmarks for the mitigation measures associated with future development of the regional road transportation network.

Yaw M. Mensah   and Yanxia Qi   

Evidence provided by the GLOBE study (House et al [1]) has shown that different cultures have definite preferences for different leadership styles. This study examines whether the cultural preference for specific leadership styles has implications for the development of transparency in government budgetary reporting. Our results show that the Performance-Oriented and the Autonomous leadership styles are positively associated with greater transparency while the Team-Oriented and Humane leadership styles have a negative relationship. When Lewin's classical leadership styles are introduced, we found that both the Democratic and Autocratic leadership styles were positively associated with budget transparency. In contrast, the Delegative leadership style is found to be negatively associated with budget transparency. One major implication of this study is that the movement towards greater transparency in government budgeting would be facilitated by changes in cultural preferences for certain leadership styles.

Maksim Rapoport   

This article emphasizes the relevance of use of marketing communications for recognition of the enterprise, operating in the field of informal education, the definition of informal education in Latvia is given, the leading enterprises in the market of informal education are distinguished and characterized, these driving schools are AUTOPRIEKS/CREDO, Fortƫna, "Real Proff" The results of marketing researches are represented that have established the leadership among driving schools and an assessment of effectiveness of use of marketing communications has given. The represented analysis has defined marketing communications mix, consisting of 6 promotion tools and has found that it is typical, namely, for the field of informal education in Latvia.

Joan-Francesc Fondevila-GascĂłn   Gaspar Berbel   MĂČnica Muñoz-GonzĂĄlez   Pedro Mir-Bernal   Elena PuiggrĂČs   Javier Sierra-SĂĄnchez   Marta Tena-LeĂłn   Eva Santana-LĂłpez   Josep Rom-RodrĂ­guez   and Enric Ordeix-Rigo   

Smartphones and social media influence the decision to buy tourism goods, especially in the case of business. Specifically, we show that smartphone bookings made by business tourists coming to Barcelona are increasingly popular. Methodologically, we devised a quantitative questionnaire. Data collection was carried out for 4 months in 2015 with n=1512. We conducted a sieve with inclusion and exclusion criteria and which discarded all participants who did not travel for business. The final sample was 494 participants. We conclude that social media (Booking, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare) are used by youngers because people have known they belong to social network. Users consider the information provided by the companies in social media reliable. The most used means for contacting the accommodation are phone and email. The more useful apps are the hotels apps.

Avichai Shuv-Ami   

This paper presents a multidimensional scale for measuring brand commitment to football teams. Compared to previous research that used unidimensional measures, this multidimensional scale offers a better means of understanding fan behavior through the four constructs composing it – loyalty, involvement, satisfaction and performance. The scale was tested using three separate empirical survey studies and was found to be highly valid and reliable. These tests employed exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and nomological network analysis. Football fan brand commitment was found to be highly correlated to attitudes toward the sport team, recommendation, purchase intentions, price premium and how fans identified with their football team.

Elena Zaitseva   

Clustering in many countries contributes to the economic development of the states. But the clustering process, as well as its policy has its disadvantages which form the level of economic success of the state. Small EU countries, such as Latvia are particularly subjected to the negative subsequences of carried out economic reforms that makes more thoroughly to study the negative factors of clustering process.

Gylych Jelilov   Olanrewaju Joseph Obasa   and Abdurahman Isik   

The study set three major objectives which include determine the relationship between economic growth, inflation and unemployment, analyses the effects of inflation in ten (10) selected members of ECOWAS and assess the effects of unemployment in the selected members states. Secondary data obtained from the Member's State National Statistics offices was used for the paper. The study used a model in which inflation and unemployment were the dependent variable and independent variables. The analytical technique used includes Ordinary least square (OLS) technique, F-test. The paper showed that monetary and fiscal policy were effective in the control of the inflation and unemployment since the coefficient of determination (R² =0.50 or 50% was significant. This was re-confirmed by the F-test value (4.91). The paper recommends a policy redirection to improve output in the ten (10) selected member's states; this will occur by making efforts to increase productivity, which will lead to reduction in unemployment and inflation. To curb the surging rate of unemployment, efforts must be put in place to achieve a labour intensive method of production instead of concentrating on the capital intensive method which will take away jobs that individuals can do. Furthermore, there must be concrete efforts to ensure that the porous borders in the ten (10) selected members states are well managed to increase volume of economic activities among the members' States, which is very pivotal for the reduction of unemployment and inflation; thereby improving the level of local production.

Ghassan Ossman   

The study determines the influence of indicators of economic growth in the United Arab Emirates to assess the sustainability of the country's economic performance. It focuses on three economic indicators; rates of unemployment, inflation, and population growth and their influence on the UAE economic performance sustainability, and determines how strongly these three variables can predict such sustainability. The study identifies both a significant difference in the level of UAE economic performance in the past ten years and the long-run, as well as the independence of economic indicators from sustainability of economic performance of the nation. Findings of the study show that decline in inflation rates of the national economy fosters financial stability and inflation rates remained low within acceptable levels in the previous years and will continue to maintain stability in the next future period, five to ten years. The country is projected to witness population growth as the nation becomes a preferred destination for living, promising job opportunities, and local and foreign investments. UAE economy is experiencing growth in economic performance and expected to maintain stability in the coming years with the government efforts to achieve long-term development objectives for year 2021. Stability remains the hallmark of the nation economic activity with a continuous focus on infrastructure projects as growth of various industries, improvements in real estate industry, tourism, and rising growth in economic performance will allow UAE to achieve sustainability in economic performance. Correlation analysis reveals that the variable of unemployment rates has no significant influence on economic performance sustainability which implies that, for the last ten years, the country experienced economic growth and was not influenced by variations in unemployment levels. Similarly, the variable of inflation rates shows no significant influence on economic performance at both 5% and 10% significance level which implies that, for the last ten years, the country experienced economic growth and was not influenced by variations in inflation rates in the country. T-test shows significant relationship between population growth rates and economic performance sustainability at 5% level of significance, a change in the level of population growth will lead to changes in the level of economic performance sustainability. The correlation coefficient of -0.631 reveals high negative correlation between population growth and economic performance sustainability which indicates that increases in population growth over the last ten years in the country, has led to decreases in economic performance sustainability. The T-test analysis for significant difference of UAE economic performance in the last ten years and over the long-run result in acceptance of the null hypothesis indicates that the two periods are just the same. The rising trend of UAE economic performance in the past ten years will continue over the long-run. Economic indicators variables; unemployment, inflation, and population growth rates are positively related and strong predictors of economic performance sustainability. Chi-Square Test of Independence results in acceptance of null hypothesis. Economic indicators and sustainability of economic performance are not independent of each other which implies that changes in the rates of economic indicators variables of unemployment, inflation, and population growth will cause a change in the sustainability of economic performance. Recommendations of the study include the conduct of further studies focusing on variables not included in the study that are likely to influence the level of economic performance, monitor the level of population growth which is significantly correlated with economic performance, develop other economic models that will determine an increase in a nation's economic performance and achieve sustainability in the long-run, and the formulation of economic policies and strategies to overcome significant long-term challenges on oil dependence, growing expatriate workforce, and inflationary pressures.

Hongzhang Chen   and Yawei Qi   

Low logistics service quality is a key factor restricting the development of e-commerce. In order to improve customer satisfaction, this paper establishes an index system to evaluate customer satisfaction with the third party logistics service quality, and design the questionnaire according to the evaluation index. With the original data, we construct four quadrants with the dimensions of satisfaction and importance to analyze the reliability and validity of third-party logistics service. The results show that logistics service speed is the most important determinant of customer satisfaction and that the importance of risk perception is the lowest. Moreover, the accuracy of a service rate is satisfied at the highest level and the integrity of goods is satisfied at the lowest degree. This paper contributes by designing the specific measures and uncovering the determinants to improve the satisfaction of logistics service for online shopping.

Mirko Tripunoski   Aleksandar Nikolovski   and Antoaneta Vassileva   

Economic development is the most important for foreign consumers to adjust their trade tasks and demand in global business. Each stage of the economic development of a country has a powerful impact on prospects of foreign investment activities, commodity demand, the permanent system of distribution and logistics and a comprehensive marketing process while increasing consumption. Basically, economic development represents a double challenge. Firstly, there is a need to investigate general aspects to gain an image of the economic climate. Secondly, each state of economic growth must be investigated with the focus being on market opportunities, current economic level and growing economic potential. The state of economic development at a particular moment determines the kind and level of market potential. Economic dynamics and economic competence make it possible for commerce to prepare and respond appropriately to economic movements and market development. Economic growth is perceived and explored by the authors in terms of increased national production resulting in increased GDP per capita in domestic production but with a wide distribution of increased income, where there are conditions and aspirations towards gross economic growth, increased consumer demand and requirements which are likely to get higher with every decade as opposed to the process stretching over centuries in the past.

William Bleuel   

This study presents the results of 10 years of telephone surveys of customers of high technology equipment (2005 through 2014) supported locally in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany Italy and Spain. The study has three objectives. The first objective is to determine whether there has been a trend in customer satisfaction in the 10 year period. The second objective was to determine whether the key drivers (areas most important to the customers) were consistent over time. The third objective was to determine if the drivers were the same in all countries studied. In general, the study showed that there is no significant trend in customer satisfaction over the 10 year study and that the key drivers were not consistent over time and that customers in all countries had different support priorities.

Chatura Rodrigo   

Sri Lanka is a middle income country with a gross domestic production of about $ 50 billion. The human development index places Sri Lanka at the 97^th position. Gender Inequality Index (GII) rank Sri Lanka at 74. The Gini index has reduced from 46 in 1995 to 40.3 in 2007; however, the economic inequalities are severe among rural areas. There is a significant discrepancy between the gender in terms of economic opportunities and economic status. The majority of Sri Lanka's workforce resides in rural areas and is engaged in agricultural activities. A significant share of the agricultural production is still used for self-sufficiency. Economic performance and poverty are not evenly spread across the nine provinces in Sri Lanka and serious regional disparities exist. Despite the many interventions by donor community and the government, there is a growing debate on the effectiveness of these aids on reducing the poverty of the rural Sri Lanka and ensuring sustainable, inclusive and equitable growth. This study looked at Uva and North Central provinces where the poverty rates are extremely high while donor interventions on economic development are high as well. Level of success derived from donor funded economic development projects vary based on the duration of the project where some instances such as adaptation to new and environmentally friendly agriculture farming methods are only being introduced through long term projects yet failing to motivate the youth. There are disparities among the women headed households in receiving the livelihood supports both short and long term. While male headed households are more successful in utilizing economic development initiatives to ensure their livelihoods, female headed households have failed to do so.

BĂ©lyĂĄcz IvĂĄn   and Nagy BĂĄlint Zsolt   

In financial markets, the term 'random walk' is frequently used in relation to price movement over a period of time. This highly expressive term simply means that prices do not follow a predictable trend, and so previous movements are unsuitable as a basis for speculation regarding future price changes. There exists, however, another model which is based on the ergodic theorem, and this says that past and present probability distribution define the probability distribution which will dictate future market prices. Clearly, the 'random walk' hypothesis and the ergodic theorem are polar opposites, and, whilst the concept of uncertainty is closely linked to the former, the latter suggests that forecasting is, in fact, possible. This paper examines how the theory of efficient markets and the efficiency of the market itself provide the means to resolve this contradiction. We provide empirical proof concerning the 'random walk' theory, for both the recession and post-recession periods in the case of the stock index of the Hungarian stock market.

Raissa Kaziyeva   

The purpose of the article is to identify the so-called "invisible factors" hindering the development of franchising in Kazakhstan. The author's studies since the early 2000s, business training, seminars, consulting services for existing and potential entrepreneurs indicate that neither the laws nor the special government programs to support small and medium-sized businesses in the country, have become the decisive force so far, which would give the necessary dynamics to the process. The main attention is paid to the identification of differences between the expectations of both Kazakh franchisees and franchisors, as well as how differently both sides are currently viewing accountability to each other, what they are willing to offer each other, how they see their rights and obligations. Current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of franchising, unfortunately, does not eliminate the discrepancies in views and visions of the parties in franchise relationship. This article attempts to give practical implications for franchising development in Kazakhstan that will raise the effectiveness and enhance the credibility of franchising business through preliminary screening of subjective assumptions regarding franchising advantages and benefits, using a cross-comparative analysis, as well as provide recommendation to add addenda and clarifications to the agreement as necessary.

Roberta L. Riga   

The study focused on the perception of the Filipino Customs Brokers on the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) of the Philippines. Specifically, it established the profile of the customs brokers in terms of years in practice of the profession, number of clients, estimated annual net income and estimated revenue remitted to the Bureau of Customs (BOC). It then determined the level of knowledge of the customs brokers with regards to definition of declarant, responsibilities of declarant, role of third party and exclusion of 'customs broker' under CMTA. It also determined the perception of the customs brokers on the effects of the proposed CMTA to the customs broker profession. Further, it looked into the significant difference on the level of perception of customs brokers on the CMTA when grouped according to their profile variables. The descriptive research design was used in this study utilizing a self-constructed questionnaire as data gathering instrument. Using Slovin's formula, data were gathered from 153 accredited customs brokers transacting at major ports in the Philippines for at least five years. Respondents were selected through convenience sampling. Statistical tools used were percentage, weighted mean and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Most of the respondents were in practice of the customs broker profession for 5 to 10 years, serve 10 to 20 clients, have an estimated annual income of more than one million to five million pesos and have an estimated revenue remittance to the BOC of more than one million to one billion pesos. Findings showed that the customs brokers have high level of knowledge with regards to the definition of declarant, responsibilities of declarant and the role of 'third party' under the proposed CMTA. However, they have low level of knowledge on the exclusion of 'customs broker' on the proposed law. The respondents strongly perceive that the effects of the proposed law to the customs broker profession would be unemployment among employees of existing customs brokerage firms, anxiety among students currently enrolled in the BS Customs Administration (BSCA) program, anxiety among colleges/universities offering the BSCA program, inconsistency with present legislation on customs broker profession, irrelevance of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) license as customs broker, misunderstanding as to the customs brokers' roles and functions in trade facilitation with the role of third parties, irrelevance of the accredited professional organization of customs brokers and irrelevance of the Professional Regulatory Board for Customs Brokers (PRBCB). Findings revealed that there are no significant differences on the respondents' level of perception on the effects of the proposed CMTA to the customs broker profession when respondents are grouped into their years of practice in the profession, number of clients, estimated annual net income and estimated revenue remittance to the BOC.

Aylin Soydan   

The extent of current account deficits in the Turkish economy has reached alarming levels in the past few years. Beside other arguments, one line of debate has recently been put forward by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey; it is stated that credit expansion in the economy has been one of the leading reasons behind the large current account deficits. When the annual credit growth reached the level over 30 per cent in 2010, concerns regarding financial and macroeconomic stability were pronounced, and some policy measures were taken by the central bank in order to bring credit growth down to more ‘sustainable' levels, as stated. This study aims to empirically analyse the relationship between current account balances and domestic credit dynamics in the case of Turkey. To this end, the paper employs the ARDL bounds testing methodology and investigates causality implications between domestic credit and external balance variables. The empirical findings of the study suggest Granger causality running from domestic credit growth to external balances.

Iordanis Eleftheriadis   and Vasilios Vyttas   

The recent financial crises in America and Europe have shown emphatically that the findings of the relevant risk management literature concluding that lurking risks can be converted into opportunities have unfortunately not informed policy. The assumption of the risk as a burden, often leads economies to crises that undermine the development and prosperity of states and citizens. In this context, this article aims at highlighting risk characteristics and presentation of basic management principles which should govern the operation of public service organizations. Based on literature review of the economic facts of the 2008-2015 period in Greece, the fact that emerges is that effective risk management is a necessary condition for the survival of public organizations in today's global environment.

Budi Suharjo   Muchlis Ahmady   and Mohammad Reza Ahmady   

The increased public awareness of health in recent decades was expected to have positive impact on the increase in demand for organic food products. It is because these products are produced using natural farming system, which produces healthier and safer foods for consumption. But over time, the number of consumers of organic products in Indonesia tends to stagnate. This means that the initial assumption stating that there would be growing demand for organic products was not fully proven. Many researchers have revealed these conditions, where price is one of the crucial factors that inhibit the acquisition. This research aims to uncover other factors that influence consumers’ attitudes towards organic food products, as well as to discover the price level at which people are starting to willingly buy the products. This research was conducted in several shopping malls located in Jakarta and Bogor (West Java) from February 2012 - March 2012, covering 200 respondents who were surveyed by accidental sampling technique. The low growth of consumers for organic food products in Indonesia is caused partly by the still minimal information about the benefits of organic food products. Most people have the perception that the benefits of organic products are not different from non-organic food products and organic products are not durable. Physically, it is difficult to distinguish between organic products and non-organic products. Those who had consumed them stated that the benefits of organic products could not be perceived directly. People who are interested to consume them regularly experience difficulties in getting the products because the products are only sold in certain places, and they are not even always available at any given time. In addition, high prices become obstacles for those who are willing to consume regularly. In addition, high prices become obstacles for those who are willing to consume regularly. The price difference of up to 5% compared to conventional products is the price level considered reasonable by all consumers. While the difference up to 10%, then 80% of consumers are still willing to buy. But if the price is more expensive by 20%, only 50% of consumers who can afford to buy.

Michele Pigliucci   

Despite low attention level in Western media, Ukrainian crisis is not just a local issue, and it is going to jeopardize European integration process due to geopolitical key position of Ukraine in natural gas delivery system. In facts, besides military race, carrying real dangers, a parallel gas war is staging in Ukraine, where U.S.A. – new hydrocarbon exporter thanks to 'shale revolution' – is trying to break the Russian monopoly on Europe, by opening new energetic supply routes, in order to prevent Russia to use this strategic tool to control Europe countries. However, the low price of oil barrel is going to jeopardize U.S.A. plans. In the meantime, Ukraine is close to default due to debt crisis. The decrease of domestic production of energy – caused by political and geopolitical reason related to civil war and annexation of Crimea to Russia – worsens the crisis and prevent Ukraine to free from energetic dependence from Russia, a Moscow's tool to influence internal situation. Russia is trying to overcome Ukrainian bottleneck by opening new routes for Europe, in order to keep monopoly in energetic European marketplace avoiding access of U.S.A. shale gas. In this scenario, the main problem for Europe is the lack of a common strategy: divided in Russian-friendly countries, anti-Russian and 'lone wolves', European countries pursue their own energetic policies, weakening European Union and threating to bring Europe to a new division in spheres of influence.

Zhenyu Zhang   

This paper discusses the potential of emission abatement in Shanghai in order to achieve low-carbon agriculture in suburbs. The total agricultural carbon emissions (hereinafter to be referred as agro-emission), net agro-emissions, taking into consideration of agricultural activity's contribution to absorb emission, and per capita agro-emission in 2013 are calculated to demonstrate the distribution of emissions cross nine suburbs in Shanghai. The calculation results suggest that suburbs of Pudong, Chongming and Fengxian are the focus for reducing the total agro-emission and net agro-emission, while Fengxian, Jinshan and Songjiang are the top three suburbs need to cut back per capita agro-emission. The structure and characteristics of agricultural production for 1993-2013 in Shanghai are discussed to explain the increase in agricultural carbon emission and possible ways for abatement. The decomposition of emission source and structure also implies that improving energy efficiency and reducing the amount of energy consumption will be the direction for further emission abatement in Shanghai agricultural development. The decoupling elasticity is computed for 1994-2013 using 1992 as base year, and agricultural economic development is found to be weakly decoupled with agro-emission growth in Shanghai. Further, an Environmental Kuznet type curve is estimated to examine the shape of relationship between agro-emission growth and agricultural development using software Stata13.0 The data information on agricultural activities in all suburbs of for 1993-2013 have been used for running the regression, and estimation suggests that agro-emission does have inverse-U shape relationship with agricultural development in Shanghai.

Chiou-Rung Chen   Chai-Liang Huang   and Feng-Hueih Huarng   

This study investigates the impacts of funds utilization efficiency and growth opportunities on the finance-growth nexus for 49 countries from 1960 to 2004. Results show that the funds utilization efficiency, both of assets and liability allocation efficiency, and growth opportunities are the predominant factors in the finance-growth nexus. Financial intermediaries who utilize funds efficiently and possess fine growth opportunities are capable of accelerating real economic growth. In contrast, financial intermediaries who utilize funds inefficiently and lack fine growth opportunities hinder economic growth. The result implies governments should formulate policies to improve funds utilization efficiency and growth opportunities rather than to just monotonically promote financial development or income levels. Furthermore, the predominance of funds utilization efficiency and growth opportunities in finance-growth nexus is more potent in developing countries than in developed countries. Finally, the results are robust to discontinuity caused by operation of European Monetary Unification (EMU), and to models subsuming stock market measures.

Serap Bedir   

There has been a growing interest in examining the relationship between income and health expenditures. Although there are differences in the economic structure and health expenditures of the countries in the panel, there is a tendency for an increase in both per capita gross domestic product and health expenditures for all. Therefore, a modified version of the Granger (1969) causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995), and Dolado and LĂŒtkepohl (1996) was used in emerging markets in Europe and Middle East African and Asian countries over the period from 1995 to 2013. According to the analysis of the results, a two way causality is found for the Czech Republic and Russian Federation. The evidence from the Egypt, Hungary, Korean Republic, South Africa, and the Philippines supports the health view over the income view, while the evidence from Greece, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, and the Korean Republic supports the income view over the health view. The empirical results have indicated that income is an important factor in explaining the difference in healthcare expenditures among countries. Therefore, it appears that increases in income level stimulate healthcare expenditures for some of the emerging market economies.

Panditha M. N. Bandara   

This study examines the Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures (CSRD) among the companies listed on Port Moresby Stock Exchange (POMSoX), in Papua New Guinea (PNG) analysing annual reports published during the three year period of 2011 - 2013. The study revealed that 60% of the total CRS items expected to disclose by PNG companies have not been disclosed. Further analysis shows that out of the disclosures only 30% are detailed and comprehensive with verifiable and quantifiable evidences whereas other disclosures are loose statements. It was also found that most of the companies place higher emphasis on corporate governance disclosures than other components of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Further, it was found that disclosures in respect of consumer responsibility are poor in all the companies irrespective of the industry type. The findings of the study suggest that company size, profitability, industry type and listing nature influence the level of CSRD in PNG companies. The findings also suggest room for improvement of CRS practices and CRSD in PNG companies if they are encouraged with proper guidance.

Giacomo Cavuta   and Dante Di Matteo   

In a context just like the today's one it is necessary to give answers to some questions about the future scenarios that lie ahead in the light of the upcoming changes in the territorial structure of the European Union. The east enlargement is the last step of a harmonization process which started several years ago and which will also allow the Balkan countries to join the Community, if the minimum requirements and necessary conditions for membership are respected. At this point, the discussion items are numerous and include all the fundamental sectors of national economies: trade, agriculture, industry, tourism, labor market, social cohesion, environment, research and development, finance; for each of the above mentioned segments there are complexities, advantages and disadvantages that the incoming countries will have to face in order to gain admission into the EU. The aim of the paper is to identify those aspects such that each of the seven countries has or not convenience to take part of the European Community. Through the construction of a standard model that involves the most significant variables, it will be possible to identify what are the Eastern countries that possess the right and favorable conditions for membership.

Helena StrĂĄĆŸovskĂĄ   

After the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989, the economy was faced with a problem of building money- goods relationship in a new way. An important part of the abandonment of a socialist way of economy had become the transition of an ownership in the hands of private sector individuals. Also significant was the return of a property to the former owners of so called ‘restitution.‘ The economic theory monitored and supported this process in particular with the development of a control theory. In addition to the theory, respectively the acceptance of new economic categories, it was necessary to address the organizational aspects of the business sector. Thus in 1993 the Slovak theory began to deal with small and medium- sized enterprises. In 2004, Slovakia entered the European Union, and in 2009 it entered the Eurozone as well. These historical changes had a significant impact on both the theory and economic reality. The Slovak economy and economic theory and the special theory of small and medium-sized businesses took the content of economic categories from developed economies, particularly the USA and the European Union. Research activities in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises began in 1993 and intensified after 2004. In the text of our article, we think about these processes and evaluate the activities and results of small and medium- sized enterprises, seeing those levels of growth.

Marcello Bernardo   and Francesco De Pascale   

Europe is facing a severe crisis: old certainties are crumbling and traditional ways of working are showing signs of profound weakness. The first challenge, perhaps the most important, is to manage an advanced economy to generate not only economic value, but also social justice and environmental quality. The second major issue is to promote the adoption by civil society and institutions of an "ethos" within which citizens could plan, produce and co-create their cities, cultivating a new and more rich democratic awareness. Thirdly, it is about creating a climate of openness that enhances creative problem solving and provide a platform to think, plan and act together, with courage. Matera has what it takes to meet these challenges. Matera's story is told from its streets, its buildings, its monuments. They tell a story of ingenuity and resilience, disgrace and redemption, tinged by a deep sense of shame. The characters in this story are "Sassi", which for over thirty years were left to decay, was a synonym of "national shame" and was the emblem of a southern backwater, in conflict with modernity. The awareness of its inhabitants of their age-old tradition, based on the ability to inhabit inhospitable places, to create a harmonious relationship with territory, has prompted many young people to return to inhabit the "Sassi" and to make them become "World Heritage Site" in 1993. Twenty years later, grandchildren of those brave young people have proposed to community a new victorious challenge: help to make Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture.

Artur Ivlevs   

This article represents three points of view on the innovation development: the comparison of National Innovations Systems in Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and the Measure the effectiveness of investments in the innovation sector. The third view is the confirmation of the thesis that the investment in the innovation sector changes the employment structures.

Wai Yee Lin   Masahiro Yamao   and Michiko Amano   

This study is to examine how a country with a significant amount of import food like Japan achieves food safety. Desktop analysis, correlation analysis and in depth-interview at field surveys were employed. It is found that food legislation and regulatory framework of Japanese import food monitoring system supported and guided the responsibilities of food authority, private inspection and testing agencies and importers. A strong negative correlation is found between consultation at quarantine stations and violations of import food with r value = -0.77.Even though the number of delegated laboratories in 62 foreign countries was 42 times higher than that of the domestic laboratories, they shared only 10% of total testing. Japanese Import food monitoring in export countries revealed less advantage in scope, if compared with the EU's system. Japan chooses not to rely on monitoring of export country solely rather than giving consultation to exporters and importers. The national standard formulation method is based on risk analysis in accordance with internationally accepted norms. It can conclude that Japan's import food monitoring system is streamlined in accordance with global trend. The food authority of Japan takes continuous restructuring with sound national quality infrastructure aimed at protection of consumers against adulterated import food.

Arafatur Rahaman   and Sumit Chakraborty   

This empirical research is to analyze the causal relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and gross domestic product (GDP) mainly focused on Bangladesh. The main objective of the paper is to investigate existence and nature of the effect of FDI on GDP in Bangladesh from the perspective of developing country. The researcher applies cointegration test that confirmed the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship and Granger causality test assured the presence of uni-directional causality which runs from foreign direct investment to GDP. Findings of the study concluded that comparing to neighbour Asian countries FDI inflow is very low and Bangladesh should develop infrastructure, skill labor, shortage of power and electricity generation, investment friendly macroeconomic framework & also political stability to attract foreign investors significantly.

Magdalena Kinga Stawicka   

Consequences of the global economic crisis have affected every field of the world economy and the general phenomenon is a complex sequence of interrelated incidents, which has its reasons and effects as well. The recession, which started in 2007, has affected both, an amount and a form of capital flows. Aim of this paper is analysis of impact of the recent economic crisis on a stream of the foreign direct investments, with special attention paid to the Central & Eastern Europe countries.

Faheem Ur Rehman   and Dilawar Khan   

This study seeks to identify the factors affecting food price inflation in Pakistan during 1990–2013. The study applied various econometric tests i.e. Augmented Dickey Fuller, Vector Error Correction model and Johansen co-integration test. The econometric results show that indirect taxes and food exports have positive and significant impact on food price inflation while government subsidy and GDP are negatively correlated with food price inflation in Pakistan. The Johansen co-integration test also shows long-run relation of indirect taxes, food export and subsidy with food price inflation. It is recommended that government should give attention to the agricultural sector and also reduce the taxes on food items.

Shu Ke Dong   Yin Xiao Xue   Dai MingXi   and Zhang Bin   

It is well known that the equity structure of listed companies have effects on the company performances to some extent. However, the fund company is one special kind of financial enterprise and the relationship between its unique equity structure and fund performance still remains in suspense. On the basis of theoretical conjectures and results of predecessors, the development history of equity structure of Chinese fund company is analyzed and the fund evaluation methods are discussed in this paper which is based on the risk adjustment of excess return. Through sieving and accounting data, we conducted an empirical study about the effects of equity structure and regional feature on fund performance. The conclusions can be drew as that the fund company with foreign capital shows no signs of highlights and we found that concentrated shareholding and national resources are beneficial to improving fund performance level. In addition, the operating time and the fund company's location, investment fund's average tenure also have influences on fund performance.

Drazena Gaspar   Ivica Coric   and Mirela Mabic   

The aim of this paper is a presentation of data mining model that could be used for the measurement of current and forecasting of the future customer profitability. The purpose of this model is to forecast activities of individual customers in the future, and to value that company could expect in doing business with them. Modern customer profitability analysis shows that product cost is just one part of the relation enterprise-customer. A general framework for defining customer profitability, besides pure financial items, has to include a lot of non-linear and non-financial elements. Data mining methods do not use conventional learning methods that suffer from imperfections such as inability to explicitly transfer the knowledge from experts to machines or nonexistence of experts' will for knowledge transfer. Data mining can identify and adopt patterns and rules that exist in historical data stored in databases and/or data warehouses. It can work equally well with nonlinear and nonfinancial elements of environment which have influence on profitability results. Neural networks approved their capability for approximate description of any continuous function. Together with robust methods of genetic algorithms used in the learning process of networks, they make a good choice in the process of selecting methods for forecasting customer profitability. The proposed model for the forecasting of the customer profitability uses two data mining methods: neural networks and genetic algorithm. The paper presents results of empirical research related to forecasting of customer determination to specific segment made in a company which produces and distributes products like dry fruits, nuts, seeds and cereals for the market of South-East Europe.

Prodromos Prodromidis   

The paper analyzes the quarterly Greek Labor Force Survey estimates from early 2008 to early and mid- 2013 via linear econometric regressions with robust standard errors. By isolating the seasonal effects it: (a) examines sectoral employment, unemployment and non-participation trend and cyclical aspects across demographic groups at the sub-regional level, as well as regional workforce aspects at the sub-sectoral level, and (b) identifies sub-sectors, places, and segments of the population which diverge from the rest by exhibiting statistically significant reversals in the recessionary pattern. The findings provide (i) interesting insights into the diverse reactions that take place in the Greek workforce amid the recession, as well as (ii) avenues for further research to advance understanding of the underlying causes of these responses and the operation of country's constituent economies.

Angella Faith Lapukeni   

The unbanked are not financially inactive and neither do they consume all of their income. One of the reasons financial inclusion has become a policy priority is because of the negative macro-economic y consequences of the informal sector, which includes an informal financial system and informal trade. Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) is prevalent in Africa and particularly in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region. This has negative impact on trade and other macro statistics for member economies and the region as a whole. Financial inclusion is a possible channel towards formalisation of these firms. The paper further discusses the role of developments in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in reaching out to the financially excluded. Trend analysis shows a strong correlation between developments in ICT and Intra-Regional Trade in COMESA. The paper is a preliminary, non-technical discussion.

Alexander V. Ryzhenkov   

This paper considers the Fanti and Manfredi Goodwinian two-dimensional model that stabilizes growth cycle by profit-sharing, although a long-term employment rate declines, whereas the stationary relative wage is not affected. For checking robustness of profit-sharing, flexible production capacity utilization is included. The Phillips – Wolfstetter – Flaschel "capricious" investment function destroys stability of a non-trivial stationary state. Adding "neoclassically" balanced government taxes and expenditures results in attaining stable stationary state in a three-dimensional model. Yet stationary labor share and stationary employment ratio becomes lower than in the initial model. This paper revises the preceding equations. The first non-linear three-dimensional model implements proportional and derivative control over growth rate of profit. This rate depends on a gap between the indicated and current employment ratios and on growth rate of this ratio. The second four-dimensional model redefines this combined control applying excess income levy that equals subsidy. The previous models enable extreme condition tests for these Goodwinian and non-Goodwinian models. Parametric policy optimization shortens a transient to a deliberately high target employment ratio without lowering stationary relative wage against the Goodwinian models. The proposed policies enhance stability and efficiency of capital accumulation; they also provide stronger gains for workers' well-being.

H.-J. Wagner   and A.J. Daou Pulido   

Over the past decade, the energy landscape in Europe started to change. The main drivers were a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions, substitution of fossil for renewable energies and efficiency increase in electricity generation. In this regard, many investments were made in renewable energy generation plants, especially for wind, photovoltaic and biomass applications. This paper highlights the European and especially German electricity market with a focus on the implementation of renewable energies.

Farzad Taheripour   and Wallace E. Tyner   

US supplies of oil and gas from shale resources have increased significantly recently and are expected to continue to grow in the future. Using these resources generates significant economic benefits for the US economy. Interestingly, prior to 2007, except for those in the industry, shale resources were not at all part of the picture. Thus, it is reasonable to consider the economic benefits of shale as a sort of dividend. This paper first quantifies the shale dividend for the US economy and then asks how much of the dividend would we have to give up to achieve significant GHG reductions defined in the President Obama's Clean Energy Standard (CES) and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) policies. We modify and use a well-known computational general equilibrium model to accomplish these tasks. Our results confirm that the shale technology is a game changer for the US economy yielding annual benefits between 2008 and 2035 averaging $302 billion per year relative to 2007. We also estimated the costs for the US economy of implementing the CES and CAFE jointly. These two policies jointly reduce the shale dividend from $302 billion per year to $148 billion per year on average. In other words, the shale economic gains can be used to pays the cost of emissions reduction.

Fengjun Duan   Takahisa Yokoyama   and Tetsuo Yuhara   

This paper examines the possibility of establishing a trilateral cooperation scheme between U.S., Japan and China, based on a global energy vision against climate change. Through global energy model projection and data analysis, a mutually dependent and mutually complementary relationship has been confirmed between the three countries. Trilateral cooperation will not only contribute to overcoming the current environment danger but also contribute to energy security and maintaining industrial competitiveness and make international contributions. Cooperation schemes should be established that go beyond the limits of existing bilateral cooperation with regard to strategy, implementation and deployment. Based on intergovernmental agreements, infrastructure for the full process flow of technology development, demonstration, industrialization and deployment should be built as the base for cooperation.

Jean Robert Kala Kamdjoug   and Maxime Ngate Motcheka   

This article focuses on key determinants of delays in the realization of an information system (IS) project. In particular, the impact of the non-adoption of project management methodology by project managers and the lack of software to manage collaboration on delays in project implementation is assessed. Using a mixed-method approach, the study found that these two determinants have a positive relationship with delays in IS project implementation. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Huseyin Dastan   Hasan Gunes   and Gurkan Calmasur   

In the sequel of technological breakthroughs as advanced in recent years, the notion of mileage have started to eradicate on Earth. Created knowledge and innovations disseminate along distinct people or institutions promptly. Fast paced technological advancements of communication and attaining have brought countries closer so as to transform the world to a, so to say, "global village". In this new world's order, where economical and social circumscriptions fade out gradually, the economy shall be undertaken as an entirety as circumscriptions are being glossed over. Knowledge and innovations of a company which the same are created by disseminate promptly in the new world's order which is being unfold, and introduce positive influences to the other companies and industries. The influences, here concerned are, observed on the closely positioned companies and industries along with the ones so remotely positioned to each other. In this study, the presence of a limited number of studies on externalities taking place in the Turkish manufacturing industry, the importance of externalities, will be a related topic aimed to generate resources for research. In line with this idea and with consider to NACE Rev.2 classification, knowledge externalities that arise in Turkish manufacturing industry are analyzed for the entirety of the industry and for each sub-sector distinctively within the 2003-2013 years of period. With regard to the test results of GMM estimator, where the tests were conducted separately for each of the sub-sectors of manufacturing industry; MAR, Jacobs, Porter, and III variable might have both positive and negative influences. MAR knowledge externalities (resulting from specialization) were probed to be meaningful in 9 sectors; whereas Jacobs's (resulting from diversity) in 7 sectors, and Porter's (resulting from competition) in 6 sub-sectors of the manufacturing industry. Also, III variable (resulting from innovation) was proved to be meaningful for the 9 sub-sectors of the manufacturing industry.

Francisco Gonzalez Bree   

Companies have been deploying for the last 45 years Technology Based Self-Service systems (TBSS) such as ATMs as a means of replacing human centered interaction with technology in the process of service creation with their customers. Since the year 2010 companies have begun introducing more sophisticated information and communication technologies like Virtual Assistants (VAs) that allow people to interact verbally with cars, navigation devices, smart phones, PCs, tablets etc. (e.g. SIRI, Sher.pa). The companies working in the VA industry are starting to develop these systems for the wearable devices industry. Soon we will be able to interact with a VA in the form of Google Glass or Apple iWatches. Furthermore these companies are starting to test new service delivery alternatives. TBSS research is not able to keep pace with technological developments, therefore the generalisability of extant knowledge to these new technologies remains un-answered. Responding to the above observations, the aim of this study is explorative as it seeks to formulate problems, clarify concepts in order to create hypotheses and a conceptual model in a forthcoming paper. This study involved a thorough review of extant literature, exploratory face-to-face and telephone interviews with experts from different disciplines. Insights obtained from the study suggest the following points: (1) in the future there will be space in the marketplace for the three types of service deliveries identified in the literature: (a) humans, (b) TBSS and (c) intelligent machines such as VAs. (2) Despite the introduction of these new intelligent systems, customers will continue performing the service or parts of the service by themselves with the use of TBSS systems. (3) Users will not be able to absorb all the technological developments at the same speed as the innovations are coming out into the marketplace. (4) Finally intelligent machines such as VAs will foster new innovative service delivery alternatives in which the firm will act together with external parties through informal arrangements or formal alliances with a collaborative mindset. These insights make the following important contributions to the subject matter.

Malik R. Elhaj   and Mohammed Z. Barakeh   

The problem addressed in the proposed study was that the impact of E-commerce on traditional travel agencies has not been thoroughly examined, indicating that the disintermediation will continue to limit the success of these agencies. The current study consisted of an examination the impact of E-commerce in the profitability and the sustainability of travel agencies in respect of size, to determine if these perceptions vary as a function of the size of the travel agency. In addition, quantitative survey data was used to achieve the purposes of this study. The participants in this study were U.S. citizen's traditional travel agent who experiences the E-commerce impact. The results indicated that travel agents from larger agencies tended to believe that the effect of E-commerce on travel agencies was smaller than did travel agents from smaller agencies. The second conclusion from this study was that the participants felt confident that the need travel agents would remain in the coming years. In addition, we presented the current strategies used by the travel agencies and our suggestions to remain competitive.

Asmerom Kidane   John Mduma   Alexis Naho   Ernest Tingum Ngeh   and Teh-wei Hu   

The study attempts to estimate the demand for cigarettes in Tanzania and presents simulation results on the effect of the cigarette excise tax on smoking participation, government revenue, and related topics. After briefly summarizing the magnitude and spread of cigarette consumption in the country, the paper reviews some empirical estimates from African and other countries. The 2008 Tanzanian household budget survey was used to estimate the demand for cigarettes in Tanzania. The descriptive statistics suggest that the smoking prevalence for Tanzania is 15.35 percent with low variability across expenditure (income) groups. Smoking intensity and per capita consumption were estimated at 7.08 cigarettes and 1.33 cigarettes, respectively, a relatively low value. A two-part demand equation model was used to estimate various elasticities. For the overall equation, the price elasticities of smoking participation, smoking intensity, and total elasticity were estimated at -0.879, -0.853, and -1.732, respectively. Compared to similar results in other developing countries, the estimates appear quite high. When estimated by expenditure (income) groups, the magnitude of the elasticity appears higher among high expenditure groups than among low expenditure groups. Two simulation exercises were undertaken. First, the effect of different excise rates on smoking participation rate, cigarette consumption, tax revenue, and related responses was estimated and highlighted. Second, the same exercise was undertaken to determine the effect of a given increase in the cigarette excise tax on various expenditure groups. The overall results suggest that an increase in the excise tax on cigarettes in Tanzania would reduce cigarette consumption and increase government tax revenue.

Edoardo Catelani   

Since the debt crises of some European countries in 2011, the European Central Bank and some credit and financial authorities have often spoken about a credit crunch in Europe. They have said that banks have curbed credit access to the economic system, creating persistent problems for the European economy. The aim of this paper is to analyze the problem of the credit crunch in Europe from 2007 to 2014, taking as our sample three European countries: Austria, Italy and Greece. These are countries with different economic structures, so they represent a significant sample for our purposes. Using statistical analysis, we will measure the entity of the credit crunch. We will find that the credit crunch is indeed present in Europe, but maybe is not as dramatic as has been described.

Winnie Nguni   

The study examines the influence of food safety, health and quality standards on smallholders upgrading in local linkages between agriculture and tourism sectors in developing countries. It draws evidence from horticultural-tourism value chain in Zanzibar as a case study. In-depth interviews with the tourist hotels' procurement managers/chefs, intermediaries, individual smallholders, key informant from farmer organization, focus group discussions, observation and documentary review were conducted. Collected data was qualitatively analyzed through pattern matching technique. The results show that smallholders are heavily challenged to comply with food standards given their small size and lack of resources and support among others. These limit their ability to upgrading farming activities and access tourist hotels’ market. As a result the local linkage between agriculture and tourism in Zanzibar is persistently weak. This suggests that rural policies need to be redesigned to enhance smallholders upgrade and comply with food safety, health and quality standards.

Jose Reyes-Duran   

The economic reproduction process based capital finance consolidates the role of transnational financial companies (TFC) and deepens the crisis of productive accumulation process. In this context, the subsidiaries in emerging countries are responsible for the financial situation of the parent, and the other way around. The proposals for resolving the crisis have not had a comprehensive approach except for stabilizing the financial system, and appear to be the international political will for economic deployment, with incalculable social costs.

Nerisa Paladan D. B. A.   

Business School around the world is challenge to promote entrepreneurship education that would develop the personal entrepreneurial competency of their business students. With the growing importance of globalization business students must be competitive by enhancing their personal entrepreneurial competencies. This research aimed to assess the level of personal entrepreneurial competencies of business students in an international university in West Africa; to determine which personal entrepreneurial competencies they excel and which needs improvement; and to recommend how to enhance their level of personal entrepreneurial competencies for them to be globally competitive. A descriptive type of research was adopted; seventy seven (77) business students in the upper level from sophomore to senior are the respondents of this study; they were surveyed and their level of personal entrepreneurial competencies were measured using Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PEC) Questionnaire with fifty five (55) questions through likert scale. Findings of the study revealed that business students have an overall fair level of personal entrepreneurial competency which is a good start towards readiness for globalization. They have moderate personal entrepreneurial competency in terms of risk taking, demand for quality and efficiency, and persistence. They need to enhance their commitment to work contract, goal setting and information seeking where business students obtained low scores. It is recommended to have a comprehensive review of their curriculum that will encourage entrepreneurship and uphold more action learning, internship, fieldwork, and establishing of mini-enterprise by students. Furthermore, they could benchmark to best practices of entrepreneurial activities of other universities across the globe.

Chih-Fang Chiu   

This study is designed to shed further light on the foreign direct investment (FDI) decision by the family business, and address the question: Under what situation family-owned firms make the entry mode with high risk commitment. The data source for this study was obtained from Taiwan Economic Journal Database. The database is a comprehensive source for Taiwanese firms' foreign direct investments in 13 countries (Japan, U.S., Indonesia, India, France, Finland, Thailand, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Vietnam, Germany and Korea). This study included 2451 FDI projects. This study demonstrates that the formal and informal institutions influence a family firm's entry mode decision. In the informal institutions, the family- owned firms choose the joint venture (JV) arrangement. In the formal institutions, the family- owned firms choose the wholly owned entry mode. The results display what situation family-owned firms choose the entry mode.

Tajul Islam   Mohd. Redwanul Karim   and Nurul Alam   

Research in the area of rising trend of credit card and heading towards debt has become a controversial issue since 2008 when the debt crisis began in European countries, especially with the collapsing of Iceland banking system. Since the Greek crisis arose, the relationship between credit card and consumer debt is being scrutinized among researchers and financial parties. As Credit card enables an individual to purchase certain products and services without having money in the account or paying immediately, it actually accelerate consumers to spend more and fall in deep debts. However, within credit limit set by the issuing company, and provide convenience and safety to the buying process it can also be considered as a good substitute for cash and cheque. Once a credit transaction is made, the customer is allowed either to make a full payment or to make a minimum payment within a specified period. The purpose of this study is to investigate the rising trend in the use of credit cards in Bangladesh and its implication on over-indebtedness and its difficulties in personal finance. To carry out this study a survey was conducted and 85 copies of a structured questionnaire were distributed among the credit card users of different banks in Bangladesh. This study found that majority of the participants (60%) face financial difficulties with credit card debt and to keep up repayments up-to-date and the accumulating debt is seriously affecting the budgeting and personal finance leading to erratic consumption and decreased saving and or no saving at all and thereby they were bound to modify their saving. On the other hand, the quality of services provided by the credit card issuers ranked by the users of credit cards as excellent by 2.4%, as good by 33%, average by 25%, poor by 15% and very poor by 25%. Various statistical tools and test, such as Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Z-test were conducted to test hypotheses and to analyze collected data. Various tables and graphs were also used for descriptive analysis.

Priyadarshi Dash   

Exchange rate reflects the fundamentals of an economy in terms of relative export price and indicators of external stability. Volatility in nominal exchange rate spills over to the real sectors of the economy affecting output, employment and price stability. From this point of view, an assessment of exchange rate volatility assumes importance in studies on monetary and macroeconomics. This paper contains econometric analyses of the movements in INR-USD bilateral exchange rate in the post-floating period covering period from 1993 to 2009. Results of the GARCH, VAR and cointegrating VECM models confirm the existence of substantial volatility in the nominal INR-USD exchange rate evolving unilaterally and jointly with INR exchange rates against other international currencies such as EUR, JPY and CNY. Prima facie, this amounts to justify the relevance of managed float regimes for India as an intermediate solution to curb excessive volatility in nominal exchange rate.

Miller Lloyd   and Hawkes Denise   

This paper uses a sample of 55 companies involved in UK public to private buyouts (P-T-P) and DEA to investigate efficiency in the UK manufacturing industry during the period 1997-2007. For the sample used and period investigated, no evidence is found that companies involved in public to private buyout ownership changes operate more efficiently than a control sample of PLCs not involved in buyouts. The results suggest that the policy rhetoric that buyouts promote efficiency in public companies in the UK is not supported.

Bellihi Hassan   and Bazi Mohamed   

The study of entrepreneurship as well as Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) interests more and more the practitioners, politicians and academics around the world seen their weight in the global economy. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises have no universal definition but are rather defined by their size based on their number of employees, Balance sheet total and Turnover whose boundaries differ from one country to another. Driven by entrepreneurship, SMEs represent a real lever for economic and social growth especially in emerging economies level. Now, it is generally accepted that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are endowed with a potential of innovation, job creation and income growth. Thus, in a global context, SMEs in developing countries try to survive and to expand their activities on other markets which is not an easy task. So, the difficulty of the context in which they operate makes it a model worth studying. Our paper aims to draw up the profile of SME entrepreneurs in the field of terroir products in Souss Massa Draa (Morocco) region in order to understand their main motivations and aspirations. So we shall clarify the main obstacles facing these entrepreneurs on one hand and the important role they play in Moroccan economy on the other hand. Our study suggests adopting a strategy based on network weaving to better promote terroir products and contribute to the sustainable development of the region. This strategy must be accompanied with the independence from financing to allow these SMEs to grow up and reach an international dimension. The contribution of this paper is therefore to suggest to researchers in entrepreneurship to focus on theories such as resource based view or stakeholder theory to better understand the issues related to small and medium terroir businesses

Reza Fadaei   

The high rate of unemployment in the United States is the outcome of a series of problems with the current administration. In times of high unemployment and anemic economy, having the right governmental policies in place is critical to the future economic success of the United States. It is hypothesized that the current governmental policies have slow down the economic recovery and halt national job creation. This paper examines the actual governmental policies from an economic perspective, examining specifically at their effect on the economy, unemployment, and job growth in United States. It will demonstrate how these governmental policies have killed job growth and slow the rate of economic recovery following the latest recession. Finally it will offer alternative policies that would actually strengthen the economy and promote economic growth.

Vitor Campos   Carlos Bueno   Jacques Brancher   Fabio Matsunaga   and Rafael Negrao   

The ability of managers to analyze large volumes of data is not enough to identify all relevant associations and necessary for the decision-making process. Make use of a classification model and clustering model can generate information that typically a manager could not create without the utilization of this technology. The aim of this work is to reach a classification model linking them to clusters, based on data from purchases made by customers through electronic media in an automated manner. Precisely this model presents a set of rules to assist in decision-making applicable to a sale of vehicles, parts and accessories. For the construction of this model, we applied a process of knowledge discovery in databases. In which classification techniques and clustering techniques was evaluated in an experiment regarding accuracy, interpretability and learned a model of the computing performance. Data mining has been used to find this classifier.

Jan Moller Jensen   

This study explores the relationship between socio-demographic variables and travel motivation and further investigates how travel motivations influence the travelers' choice of vacation. The data were obtained using an internet-based questionnaire administered to a random sample of 256 respondents. Using factor analyses, six motivational factors, thematically similar to other studies on travel motivation, were identified. In contrast to previous research on travel motivations among travelers from other countries, this study identified 'social relationship with family/friends' as the most important motivational factor for Danish travelers. The results show that travel motivations differ across various socio-demographic variables and that travel motivations are related to the travelers' choice of vacation. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of these findings and suggestions for future research.

Chen Lanjian   and Zhang Wei   

This paper aims to depict the economic expansion strategy [1] deployments for OBOR home and abroad as completely and digitally as possible in the following 3 aspects: inner/outer regions, financing sector and China HSR; further makes analyses and explanations on the above 3 strategic layouts, e.g., Xinjiang and Fujian main hubs, HSR relations between AIIB and OBOR, China HSR cooperation with the countries and regions along the ways of OBOR in where China views HSR as the key to acquiring and exploiting varied resources such as energy, mineral resources, high-tech, financing, infrastructure and agriculture, etc., HSR falls within one of the core benefits of China; visualizes a close loop framework of OBOR, overcapacity production industries, HSR line construction status quo as well as the near future development sketch map, etc. via figures and tables; and furnishes the OBOR economic expansion strategy with 5 valuable suggestions finally. The aim of OBOR is to transfer the domestic excess capacity, excess foreign exchange reserves and excess manpower with the following competitive advantages, e.g., capacity, cost, differentiation and resources acquirement/ exploration to the outside world.

Maria Teresa Freire Rubio   and Ana I. Rosado Cubero   

The purpose of this paper is to present the methodology and results of a study on the role played by higher education institutions — universities and business schools from different master's degree programs —, when responding to the demands of potential entrepreneurs who are seeking to get the tools and develop the skills necessary to eventually become successful. We have proposed the use of a methodology based on a survey of students currently enrolled in master's programs, to get to know their entrepreneurial drive, the tools they consider appropriate to achieve their degrees and what they think is the best way to start a new business. Also the ultimate goal of the study is based on the results: making a proposal of academic content, theoretical and / or practical as deemed necessary, to add to these programs in order to improve the training required by future entrepreneurs.

Needesh Ramphul   and Hemant Chittoo   

Management development is vital for ensuring the competitiveness of an organization. However, few studies have been carried out to understand the actual process of developing managers within the hotel sector in Mauritius. The purpose of this paper is to understand the way in which management development is being done within the Mauritian hotel sector. A grounded theory approach was used since little research has been carried out on this aspect in Mauritius. In this context, 27 designers (human resource and training managers) from Mauritian hotels were interviewed to get relevant information on the management development process. The research enables to come up with a new conceptual framework on the management development process based on the views of designers. The conceptual framework helps to understand the actual process of management development within the Mauritian context.

Tolga Torun   and Isa Ipcioglu   

This paper examines the relationship of burnout syndrome, demographics and impulsive buying behavior among public sector employees by measuring burnout syndrome and impulsive buying behavior via using the relations of components of burnout syndrome suggested by Maslack and Jackson and impulsive buying behavior suggested by Rook and Fisher. The present study utilized a correlational, quantitative design to investigate hypotheses burnout syndrome and impulsive buying behavior components and the relationship between the given components in a sample of public sector workers. The questionnaire was adopted (a 1 to 5 rating Likert scale), used and completed by 112 workers out of 130. The hypotheses were tested by regression analyze in order to analyze the predicted relationships between the given components and to check the significance of the routes of components suggested. The significant relationships between the components have noted. However, only one of the components of burnout syndrome has found significantly related with impulsive buying behavior.

Gulen Elmas Arslan   

In this study, we will put emphasis on the EURO crisis, the biggest risk in the deepening of the world economy crisis which has ruled the world since 2008, this implementation's coming to a deadline and its results. We will primarily focus on the some questions such as why the EURO as the only money system didn't work out and what kind of risks may occur as it continues. In other words, the main aim of this study is to examine the back plan of the EURO crisis in terms of the economy theory and the implementation results of the countries within the system. Therefore, it can be thought that some answers can be given to the questions such as, why has the EURO practice come to a deadlock, whether the problem can be overcome, what are the scenarios about the consequence of the EURO and how will the world economy be affected as the Eurozone dissolves.

Anjan Chakravarty   

The scope of rural marketing in India is undergoing an evolutionary change. When we look at the human dimensions of economic growth and development our attention is immediately drawn towards India's rural areas. Nearly three fourths of its people live there and about a third of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is rural in origin. In this scenario, the paper tries to assess the reasons thereof for this fruition in the scope of rural marketing, which is just not a theoretical presentation but also a practical prescription for conglomerates which would venture into this developing arena for a profitable return.

Dao Rina   

A series of dairy structural adjustment (DSA) policies was introduced by the Chinese central government to restructure dairy farms after the 2008 melamine contamination scandal in China. This paper seeks to explore the impact of Chinese DSA policies on farm level structure change. There were three parts of this policy: (1) milk collectors' control; (2) manufacturers' raw milk supply source regulation; and (3) assistance to expand large-scale farms. This policy reform is oriented towards large-scale dairy farms. The purpose of this policy is to restructure dairy farms by reducing small-scale farms while promoting the large-scale farms. The results show that the Chinese DSA policy greatly increased the herd and outputs of the large-scale farms but failed to reduce the market dominance of small-scale farms. Also, this policy was not able to boost the market share of medium-scale farms as well as the per cow productivity of those farms. This research reveals an opportunity to further understand both the impact of and rationale for the policy, and shows that a rethink of the dairy industry development in China is required.

Suborna Barua   and Anup Kumar Saha   

Cash flow prediction is involved in a number of economic decisions, particularly in investment. Previous researches conducted in the United States have provided inconsistency in the results of investigating accounting data, cash flow and accrual accounting data in predicting future cash flows. No published research has studied cash flow prediction in Bangladesh. The current study investigates the ability of accrual and cash flows accounting information to predict future cash flows of Bangladeshi listed companies. This study analyses Balance sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow statement. In addition, cash flow ratios and Income statement based ratios are calculated in order to get the same pattern of result and to make comparisons. Data used in this study are collected from the financial statements of non-manufacturing companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Bangladesh from 2001 to 2010. Cash flow data are selected directly from the cash flow statements. Empirical results show that cash flow and accrual component of earnings can be used to predict future cash flows of Bangladeshi listed companies and cash flows have better predictive power than traditional based ratios. However, the results indicate that cash flow ratios are sometimes providing the better and accurate picture of the companies. In addition, this study finds that our economic crises as well as abnormal condition of our stock market are caused due to the manipulation of accounting data for consecutive financial year.

Hana Stverkova   

In today's turbulent world, the most important element for each organization is the satisfied customer. This necessity underlines the need for developing measures that can estimate the current level of services provision, since measurement is the first step towards improvement. Measuring the existing level of services provided can help managers make better decisions for improving customer satisfaction. The purpose of the present study is to (a) measure the level of services provided by mobile operators' in the Czech Republic, (b) evaluate the satisfaction of the mobile operators customers and (c) the present study investigated the gap between customer expectations and customer perceptions with regard to the level of the services offered by the mobile operators in the Czech Republic. Field survey was conducted in October 2014, respondents were users of mobile operator. The paper presents a practical demonstration of the application of the SERVQUAL method for a mobile operator. This simple procedure can be applied to all areas of service provision. Results showed that customers have a negative perception about the services offered by mobile operators.

Soomro Raheem Bux   and Yuan Honglin   

This study aims at assessing the impact of psychological factors on entrepreneurial intentions. For this research, the surveying methodology was used. The sample in this research study contained of 394 students from two universities (Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics and Jiangxi Agriculture University). The participation of respondents in this study was on a voluntary basis. Cronbach's Alpha of the questionnaire was 0.87.The entrepreneurial intention was a dependent variable while innovativeness, locus of control, propensity to take the risk, need for achievement, self-confidence and tolerance to ambiguity were independent variables. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t test and multiple regressions were employed in order to analyze data through SPSS version 21. Except need for achievement, all other factors showed significant positive impact on entrepreneurial intentions of students. While no difference in entrepreneurial intentions was found between male and female students. And also no difference was found between business students and agriculture students about their intentions for becoming entrepreneurs.

Faisal Hanif   Sayyed Muhammad Mehdi Raza Naqvi   and Karar Hussain   

The aim of this study was to investigate what are the determinants of employee engagement in banking sector of Pakistan. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection of data from respondents working in banking sector on five-point Likert scale. The results of confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis indicate that the core self-evaluation and service environment of organization are positively and significantly related with employee engagement. As a result, this research attempts to fill the gap about the lack of academic literature on employee's engagement in Pakistani context. Findings of this research do have practical implications for banking sector, mainly for their human resources department as how they can increase the engagement of employees in banking sector. Low sample size is limitation in generalizing the results of this study. Sample size may be increased and this study should be tested in other regions as well.

Osinowo O. H   

This study broadly examined the effect of fiscal policy on sectoral output growth in Nigeria for the period of 1970-2013. The study employed an Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM). The results showed that total fiscal expenditure (TEXP) have positively contributed to all the sectors output with an exception of agriculture sector. The findings established that manufacturing sector has a positive relationship with all the determinant variables, while inflation rate has negatively impacted output growth of the various sectors with an exception of manufacturing sector. The study concluded that the existence of disparity in the sectoral response to fiscal policy variables underscored the difficulty of conducting uniform and economic wide fiscal policy in Nigeria. Therefore, the best policy approach is to adopt sector specific policy based on their relative strength and significance in each sector of the economy within the overall fiscal policy mechanism framework.

Shilpa Maheshwari   and Rajeev Bairathi   

Concerned by the slow growth in the agriculture and allied sectors, the National Development Council (NDC) resolved that a special additional central assistance scheme namely Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) be launched. The NDC resolved that agricultural development strategies must be reoriented to meet the needs of farmers and called upon the Central and State Governments to evolve a strategy to rejuvenate agriculture. The NDC reaffirmed its commitment to achieve 5.5 per cent annual growth in the agricultural sector during the 12^th plan. The present investigation was conducted in Banswara district of southern Rajasthan. Banswara and Ghatol tehsils were selected for the present study on the basis of maximum number of tribal population. The study reveals that the majority of tribal beneficiaries reported remarkable change with regard to social aspects like experience and confidence increased due to interaction with fellow member and training received. The change to a remarkable extent was found by majority of beneficiaries with regard to economic aspects such as overall family income increased, standard of feeding and clothing improved, material possessed including household increased.

Idris Isyaku Abdullahi   and Chindo Sulaiman   

This study aimed at examining the determinants of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance in Nigeria. An autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration was applied to sample from 1981 to 2010 to achieve the set objective. The results revealed that both in the short-and long-run, interest rate and net export have had a negative impact on SMEs performance. At the same time, other determinants such as government spending, political instability and level of education were found to have insignificant impact during the studied period. Therefore, maintenance of low interest rate will undoubtedly assist to boost the performance of SMEs in Nigeria. As such, monetary authorities need to play a very important role toward achieving the target.

Moreno Ferrarese   

The precise and reliable assignment of parameters of the economic scenery, aimed at planning of motorway traffic, can not be separated from the analysis of the parameters of motorway safety as conflicting elements in the decision-making capacity management in "crisis conditions" due to natural events or as a cause of the job scheduling road maintenance. The fundamental problem for the concessionaire of the motorways lies in the quest for the best balance between motorway safety for driver-players and the revenue from tolls paid by owners of the vehicles? In fact, in case of a crisis due to accidental events or scheduled ones as the fixed and mobile road yards, the revenue of the company is changing. This study achieves the implementation of a management model of business revenue under crisis conditions. Through repeated field surveys we have built and calibrated an economic model - IT based - that offers immediate answers for the motorways' management. So, we present a new method for the economic balance of the motorway infrastructure, in the very short term.

Aivars Gabriel Helde   

This study examines the nature of the social discourse of advertising used as a brand positioning discourse. The focus is on consumer advertising, which is directed towards the promotion of some product or service to the general public. The study, however, is not meant to exhaust all the aspects of this particular discourse, or present an answer to all the problems it poses. This paper aimed at analyzing some different commercial advertisements (product/non-product ads) to investigate the intentions and techniques of consumer product companies to reach more consumers and sell more products. Norman Fairclough's 3-D model and Kress and van Leeuwen's grammar of visual design were used to analyze the data for professionals, but we are pointed on using stereotypes. Traditionally, stereotypes are defined as patterns or schemes via which people organize their behaviors and activities. Psychologists have been extremely interested in the persuasion techniques used by advertisers. The implicate question that most of such studies have entertained is whether advertising has become a force molding cultural mores and individual behaviors, or whether it constitutes no more than a "mirror" of deeper cultural tendencies within urbanized contemporary society. The one thing which everyone agrees is that advertising has become one of the most recognizable and appealing forms of social communication to which everyone in society is exposed. However, it could be understood from the results that the producers, generally tend to use their power and ideology to change people's behaviour and thought. Sometime more efficiently is used " old" stereotypes and do not try to going to change people's behaviuor but do conversely use their power to preserve previous behaviour try to reinforces this behaviour, shown this like some traditional value what confirmed customers identity. When we consider gender stereotypes we look at notions about the supposedly traditional behaviours of men and women and the characteristics and standards of these behaviours, as grounded in our culture and society. This idea allows to producers make customer feel belonging to this society and psychologically be involved into story what is shown by advertisers. Culture covers human values, action patterns, ideas, and material and artificial surrounding which enable interaction among people. The content of culture determines the particular qualities of certain groups of people, and it also determines their consumer characteristics. That is why it is essential to understand the way in which culture reaches individuals. In today's information area, the media are the primary means for the transmission and reproduction of cultural information. They shape the image of culture in people's consciousness. In addition this study provides analyses of some ads, using different ways of interpretations. All materials are taken from Latvian media.

Sha Yanfei   

Corporate social responsibility is an important environment for enterprise to survive and develop. The research of the process and mechanism of strategic decision making is not sufficient. And the researchers ignore the mechanism of deep-seated factors such as values, responsibility concept. Heterogeneity of corporate responsibility of executive team refers to the difference of the orientation of corporate social responsibility among team members, and it's the deep structure which affect executives and members' attitudes and behavior, which determines the corporate social cognition and response tendencies. Based on the match of enterprise and social, this article expands the theoretical analysis from three dimensions, such as of self-value, enterprise-value and social-value. There is correlation among the responsibility view, procedural rationality and decision quality. The conclusions of this paper will help executives to improve the quality of strategic decision-making.

Mohammad Abdul Hannan Pradhan   and Sabiha Afrin   

A large scale social safety net (SSN) programs with grants cash or in-kind for targeted people such as children, elderly, and women have been implementing by the government and non-government organization in Bangladesh. Among the other group of people, women are considered more vulnerable due to social and economic point of views, particularly rural and elderly women. To protect them, government has taken some special SSN program like old age allowance, widow and destitute allowance, allowance for lactating poor mothers. Current demographic trend shows that number of women in different age group increases, especially elderly women. This article focuses on whether the currently operated programs by the government are sufficient in terms of benefit and number of qualified women in different age group for the benefit. In view of existing literature and documents, it is found that a small number of qualified women for the benefit are getting government provided benefits. Besides, amount of receiving benefit is also negligible taking into account the living expenses. For social and economic stability, government needs to extend the benefits amount and number of beneficiaries.

Mary Mattingly   and Ahmed S. Abou-Zaid   

Excess reserves, the indication of a bank's opportunity to invest, have historically been quite predictable and low for many years. From early sixties to August of 2008, the percentage of excess reserves in relation to required reserves has been between 1% to 9%. In September 2008, shortly prior to the tipping point of the 2008 financial crisis, the level of excess reserves began to rise dramatically and has stayed quite high even four years later. The watershed moment of Lehman Brothers and AIG failing precipitated a banking panic that involved drastic policy changes by the Fed and financial firms scrambling to find liquidity in anticipation of a credit crunch and drawdowns of credit lines. In less than six months, excess reserves ballooned to over $900 billion, which accounts to 2,063% of required reserves. Surprisingly, the large amount of excess reserves did not return to the previous levels. Instead, it has increased even more to nearly $2 trillion. This paper thus investigates the determinants for banks to hoard liquidity. The data reveals that high losses in loans and investments have caused banks to prognosticate higher levels of precautionary reserves. Furthermore, the very low federal funds rate and high unemployment rate have given banks limited opportunities to use the reserves in other alternative investment vehicles. Finally, the Federal Reserve's decision to pay interest on excess reserves provided incentives for banks and made holding reserves above the required amount no longer a cost for the bank.

P. K. Sarma   and S. K. Raha   

The study is an attempt to scrutinize the existing internal and external factors, alternative strategies and priorities of the strategies applied in enhancing beef cattle agribusiness at Pabna and Sirajganj districts in Bangladesh. The primary data of the study were collected by employing various methods including survey, FGD, KII and observation. The sample size was 180 which were selected through convenience sampling technique. The following analytical tools were employed (i)designing SWOT matrix using the EFE-IFE criterion (ii) evaluation the SWOT matrix using the SPACE matrix, and (iii) designing the quantitative strategic programming matrix (QSPM). By analyzing all the factors from SWOT matrix four strategies were designed to determine the beef cattle development enterprise. The best strategy was selected by using QSPM matrix. The results reveal that IFE is 2.610, EFE is 2.438 and the total weighted score of 5.833 which indicates the potential opportunity for beef cattle development by their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Based on the findings of the study a strategy is recommended for beef cattle development enterprise.

Tatiana Golubkova   and Alla Iljina   

The article considers the issues of definition of the cultural product as an element in the marketing mix. During the analysis of a number of definitions which give to the cultural product the modern researches, as well as its systemization, the authors suggest those basic categories of the classification of cultural product which according to their opinion have the most significant value in the terms of marketing.

Twumasi Ankrah S.   and Isaac Ankrah   

In this study, we explore both univariate and multivariate aspects of time series analysis. In the univariate aspect, we evaluated the predictive performance of three widely used univariate time series methods in forecasting the electricity consumption in Ghana during the 1980 – 2011 periods. The three univariate time series approaches are autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), autoregressive fractional integrated moving average (ARFIMA) and exponential smoothing. In each approach, we examined competing models and the “best” model according to the minimum information criterion and diagnostic checking was selected. The forecast accuracy measure (i.e.; mean absolute forecast error, MAFE) was computed for each “best” model in the three different approaches. The empirical results revealed that the MAFE for ARIMA, ARFIMA and exponential smoothing were 31.3%, 9.4% and 41.6% respectively. Thus, the comparative analysis of the forecast performance of these methods clearly concluded that the ARFIMA method gives better forecast in predicting electricity consumption in Ghana. And, in the multivariate aspect, we examined whether GDP, export, import and population influences electricity consumption. The results revealed a feedback causality between electricity consumption and economic growth. Again, we established that there exists an uni-directional influence of import, export, population towards electricity consumption. The “best” model of the univariate approach is ARFIMA (2,0.31,1) with MAFE of 9.4% while the “best” model for the multivariate approach is vector error correction model VECM (3) with MAFE of 1.5%. Thus, the multivariate approach has a better predictive performance in forecasting electricity consumption in Ghana. This shows how superior the multivariate approach against the univariate time series approach.

Ambali O. I.   Adewuyi S. A.   Babayanju S. O.   and Ibrahim S. B.   

Nigeria is listed among the 55 Low Income Food Deficit (LIFD) countries due to the high prevalence of undernourishment especially among agricultural households. Against the background that most indirect measures of food insecurity such as dietary intake, anthropometric measure, income and total expenditure fail to address the severity of food insecurity, this study applied the experienced-based method. This study assessed the potential impact of Expansion of Rice for Job Initiative Programme on household food security in Lagos State Nigeria using the USDA method and logit model. The study found relatively high incidence of food insecurity (52.5%) among the rice farm households. The logit results revealed that household food security has a 50/50 chance of improvement with additional level of education, increase in farm size and household income. Food insecurity however increases with additional family member. Inadequate rainfall, lack of technical knowledge and low extension services are the highly ranked constraints of rice production in the study area. Large family size reduces the consumption of nutritious food; low extension services reduce the adoption of new agricultural technologies and inadequate technical know-how causes inefficiency. These have effects on household income and increase the severity of food insecurity. Educating farm household head on family size control and adequate training on improved farm techniques are recommended. Household heads should be educated on the nutritional importance of food items. Irrigation facilities are important to enhance productivity. Diversification of household income will ensure regular income for the households. The impact of this empowerment initiative on household food security will be more if the rice farmers (beneficiaries) can be provided with improved production technologies and incentives.

Puji Handayati   

The economy growth in East Java this time reaches to 7.22 %, it is the role of the Cooperative and the Micro, small and Medium Business (UMKM). This study aims to produce the mapping grand design of cooperative roles in East Java to support Master Plan of the Acceleration and the Expansion of Indonesian Economy Development (MP3EI) .This study is an exploration research by using the economy and spatial analysis in order to map the cooperative roles in supporting MP3EI achievement especially in East Java. The data used in this research are spatial and non-spatial data. The research result shows that the cooperative number recorded in Malang Region completely spread out in 33 districts as many as 1,095 units, however, the active cooperatives are as many as 629 units. Almost 81% of those are service cooperatives exactly they are credit cooperatives (KSP), consumer cooperatives are as many as 3% (21 cooperatives), and 13. 5% are business cooperatives, and 2% are producer cooperatives. For Malang, from the field observation data result, which is done, we can get data that 700 cooperative data gotten from the Cooperative Service and UMKM, only 220 cooperatives are still active. From those of 220, all of them are credit cooperatives (service cooperatives); however, besides the cooperatives provide credit service, 42 cooperatives belong to consumer cooperatives. 2 cooperatives belong to producer cooperatives and 8 cooperative belong to business cooperatives (KSU). Suggestions for the research are: increasing the synergy among the related Services/Agencies (the Cooperative Service and UMKM, the industry service, the local government and the educational institution) to support the cooperative improvement in the regencies and in Malang, giving the early learning about the roles and functions of the cooperatives to support the national development and the usefulness for the people’s economy movement, supplying and updating the database of the cooperative existence in the Cooperative Service and mikro, small and medium business .

Irmayani   Syarifuddin Yusuf   and Muhammad Arsyad   

This paper examines the production of seaweed Eucheuma cottonii sp as a major fishery commodity which produces carrageenan in supporting poverty eradication. The specific objectives are to determine factors of production in increasing seaweed production and to analyze income generated seaweed farmers in a harvest season. The research employed Multiple Linear Regression Analysis and Income Analysis. The results show that factors affecting the production of seaweed Eucheuma cottoni are long stretch (X₁), seed (X₂), labor (X₃), farmers experience (X₄), and the distance tie (X₅). Enterprises of seaweed Eucheuma cottonii sp is a business that is able to increase the farmers income. The research suggests that to increase production of seaweed can be done by improving seed quality, labor, long stretch, connective distance and improvement of marketing management.

Peter Onyango Onyoyo   

Governance Ethics and business: Kenya at a Cross Road in the 21^st Century is an intellectual investigation into what has not worked well so far despite all attributed good reasons. The author has touched on spheres of public behavioural conduct in business affairs to reveal the rot in the entire system. The exploration is backed by tangible cases of how ethical standards are influencing the national economy. The essay acknowledges and compliments reform process and affirmative action especially the legal transformation. But also he admits that change of law and adjustments within the institutions have not transformed governance, public accountability, and work ethics. Reading from the essay one shall get to understand that ethical problems are not a question of having good laws in place but also change of attitude, and winning hearts and minds of leaders.

Muhammad Tahir   Humayun Khan   Muhammad Israr   and Abdul Qahar   

This study examines the export led growth (ELG) hypothesis for Sri Lanka on the basis of annual data for the period 1981 to 2012, drawn from the World Bank (WDI) data bank. The period is selected on the grounds that during the period the Sri Lankan economy has been liberalized and in a liberalized economy it is expected that the trade sector plays a key role in national income determination. The hypothesis is tested with simple GDP and GDP net of exports as proposed by Sharma and Panagiotidis (2005). Johansen cointegration (1988) test is used to check the long run association which rejected the hypothesis of any long run association between export and GDP and GDP net of exports. Same results are also revealed by Granger causality (1969) and existence of short run relationship between exports and GDP and GDP net of exports is also rejected by VAR. However, Granger cause between imports and investment is noticed which run from imports to investment and from investment to imports respectively at 5% and 10% level of significance. Unidirectional causality is also recorded, at 05% level of significance, between investment and unemployment which run from investment to unemployment. However, no empirical evidence in support of ELG hypothesis for Sri Lanka is found.

Evi Gravitiani   and Rosalina Enny Widi Kristanti   

The economic growth in the urban areas is characterized by the growth of the industrial sector and traffic density. The increase in the amount of motorized vehicles caused an increase in emission in the air. Emission is mobile sources of pollution, which interfere with the air quality in the urban areas. These effects human health negatively. This research was estimating the willingness to pay (WTP) with the contingent valuation method. This research aims to determine the public awareness to keep their environment clean. It is indicated by people's WTP on policy implication that offered once every year. The strategy offered to diminish mobile sources of pollution are (1) improvement in transportation infrastructure, (2) reforestation, (3) replacement of old motorized vehicles, and (4) the use of alternative roads on traffic peak hours. The strategies to diminish the mobile sources of pollution were ranked by an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) according to people's preference in the implementation. The strategies have implications in four consecutive years. The research result showed that the level of WTP of the society was still low, as only 38% of the people are willing to pay a maximum of 40,000 rupiah every year to reduce mobile pollution sources. The determinant factors of the WTP are estimated by the ordered probit method. The estimated results showed that the income of the respondents compared to health costs, caused by damaged lungs, eyes, and nose, has an influence on the WTP. While the age, education, and distance to the polluted area of the respondents are not significantly influencing the WTP.

Kwadwo Agyei Nyantakyi   B. L. Peiris   and L. H. P. Gunaratne   

With the globalization of the economy and the financial markets today, price movement of one market can spread easily and instantly to another market. Because of these financial markets are more or less dependent on each other, there is a need to study their interrelationships to understand the dynamic structure of the financial economy. In this paper, we use Vector Auto Regression (VAR) Analysis to study the interdependency of the price of tea, rubber and coconut production in Sri Lanka. We also measured the strength of the linear interrelationship between the assets using the cross-correlation matrix (CCM) and also fit a VAR-model using selection criteria based on the AIC, SIC and HQIC. We examined the individual behaviour of the separate prices of each asset and then analysed the combined effects of the prices. Out of all computing models, we observed that tea price was ARIMA (0,1,0), rubber price was ARIMA (3, 1, 1) and coconut price is ARIMA (0, 1, 3). Thus they were all integrated of order I(1). We investigate if there is a cointegration between the assets to see if there was a long-run equilibrium, and there was at most one cointgretion equation. Hence we used the Vector Error Correction model (VECM), for the estimation. We observed that coefficients between any of the variables were not equal to zero. The coefficient estimates between tea and rubber were not the same as between rubber and tea at all lags, between tea and coconut, as well as between rubber and coconut. Which indicate that there may be feedback relationship between all the three series. Further, impulse response analyses were used to observe the impacts. There was a fairly strong correlation between them, hence it could be concluded that, there is a linear dependency of all the variables.

Nidhi Chowdhry   

The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the emerging markets which currently has a significant growth potential. Pharmaceutical companies are changing their marketing strategies according to the new competitive business environment. This case study focuses on the recently launched Over The Counter (OTC) division of a Pharmaceutical company. The case highlights various market conditions prevailing at present with respect to pharmaceutical OTC market segments in Analgesics, Sun Care and Digestive remedies. It provides brand wise share analysis and competitors' market share analysis of all three segments to help reach solution for the business problem of choice highlighted in the case.

Gina Noviana Yuniar   

MSME is a sector that plays an important role in economic development in Indonesia, seen from the significant contribution in employment. Accounted GDP, foreign exchange and giving donations. In carrying out its role, the MSMEs sector did not grow and develop without having a problem despite the development contribution is quite large. The problem that often occurs in the MSMEs sector are relatively complex, ranging from human resources issues, access to capital, business culture and management capability as well as fund management business that is mixed with household finances. This is what needs to be addressed by the related parties on an ongoing basis. It needs a real movement and implementable, one strategic effort to do is through the optimization of the role of Islamic Microfinance Institutions (LKMS) is Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT). Given the banking institutions have not been able to touch the bottom of society (poor, poor and other dhu'afa). Their access to banking is very small, almost nothing at all. They also do not have collateral and are not good at making proposals. But with the BMT, they tried to improve the well-being of its clients with financing and assistance to customers.

Evgeny V. Popov   and Anna Y. Veretennikova   

In this study the authors reviewed the definition and the structure of the transaction sector as well as methods used for measuring its size. In the paper the authors presented the analysis, comparison, and systematisation of existing approaches to the estimation of the transaction sector and offer a method for measuring the transaction sector in the region. This method was based on the North's and Wallis's approach however adjusted to the peculiarities of statistical data in the area. The transaction sector was considered to include: (1) transaction activities and (2) activities aimed at the optimization of transaction costs of economic agents. The size of the pure transaction sector (financial activities) was taken as provided by the Federal State Statistics Service. To quantify the share of transaction activities in the mixed section the authors used the technique suggested by North and Wallis for the estimation of the transaction sector within firms. The share of transaction activities in the mixed section was taken as equivalent to the share of wages paid for transaction activities in the total wages paid in each section. The findings of this study clearly showed the growth of the share of the transaction sector in the Middle Urals (Russia) in 2005-2009 from 26.8% to 29.8%. Analysing the reasons underlying these changes, the authors have attempted to determine the factors having affected the transaction sector dynamics.

TamĂĄs BakĂł   

The primary aim of this paper was to shed light on the impact of subjective alternative wage, wage changes and wage discrimination on job search behavior of employees. The research was based on primary data; the survey was conducted among Hungarian internet user employees. Our results suggest that regardless of their job search behavior employees are aware of alternative wages, which have the greatest impact on intentions to quit and active search. With respect to wage cut and wage increase we have found that they are both significant; the former has strong positive effect on intentions to quit and active search, while the latter reduces the probability of on-the-job search. To our best knowledge, this study was the first to reveal direct impact of wage discrimination on job search behavior of employees according to which there is a weak, but positive effect on intentions to quit and active search. Last but not least, the results of our study confirm the role of non-financial incentives in job search, where superior-subordinate relationships have a special importance.

Sridevi Yerrabati   and Denise Hawkes   

With economists and policy makers recognising the role of governance for growth, recent research focus is on governance and its impact on growth. However, with ever growing number of studies using different methodologies, data sources and country groupings, a high amount of heterogeneity is created among reported results. This has left both policy makers and researchers having different views on the importance of governance for growth. This paper has meta-synthesised the empirical evidence on governance and growth in South and East Asia Pacific countries based on 29 studies with 554 estimates from 1980 – 2012. The empirical results show that while corruption is significantly and negatively correlated with growth, government effectiveness and regulation are positively and significantly correlated. Political stability and law have no important effect on economic growth. We conclude that empirical research literature on governance and growth has failed to provide evidence of a true effect of voice and accountability on growth. Finally, overall governance is important for growth. Our results have important policy implications.

Ali Mosallanejad   Ali Akbar Drowgar   and Mohamad Nikniya   

Unilateral and illegal sanctions have ever been one of the domination system tools to press the Islamic republic of Iran. Today, Iran economics is experienced the special and unique economics event that has never been in the world until now. Therefore, ideology and innovation has been necessary to resolve the economic challenge from the experts when the special and no pattern condition have been created. According to this event, supreme leader proposed the resistive economy and referred in economic changing direction as important method. Resistive economy means to diagnose the pressure areas and subsequently attempts to control the nullify the impacts and prosperity these pressures. The purpose of the resistive economy is reconstruction and rehabilitation of national economy and to adopt the strategies to utilize of local science and technology in Iran can be apply this theory. Thus, the role of national information network will be determined more than before. Hence, in this article we discuss on national information network Connection & resistive economy & how can we reduce poverty by using IT.

Chen Lanjian   and Hu Lanxi   

This is an article involved in risks, right and interest of 642.2 million (China National statistics 2013) Chinese farmers in land transfer process, it describes the use of the way of economic development and reform of rural land under a typical government -driven economic system. Chinese rural land transfer is another one of major changes in rural land system, there exist a number of drawbacks such as a binary power Chinese land system, market access inequality, malpractice premium distortions and unfair distribution of value-added benefits, etc. To get rid of these demerits, the purpose of this article is to explore and lay a foundation before China imminent introduction of the rural land-based unified registration system. Based on changes, and also the status of farm land use right transfer system analysis, a field investigation is conducted and some correlated factors affecting China's land transfer are found by empirical analysis, and also recommendations made to promote the reform and transfer of farm land use rights.

Mohammad Reza Lotfalipour   and Bahare Bazargan   

The real effective exchange rate is one of the essential indicators of economy's international competitiveness, and therefore, has a strong impact on a country's foreign trade development. It is commonly believed that the movements of the real effective exchange rate have a permanent effect on exports and imports. This study addresses the question of whether exchange rate volatility has any significant and direct impact on trade balance. Hence, the purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of real effective exchange rate volatility on the balance of trade of Iran during the year 1993 to 2011. By using Unit Root Tests, GARCH (1, 1) approach and balance PANEL data model, results demonstrate that the real effective exchange rate has no significant effect on the trade balance. So, it is important to stress that real effective exchange rate volatility cannot be used solely in managing the trade balance of Iran with main trading partners. We find that trade balance is affected by import, rather than export. Thus, in order to boost the trade balance the government should implement the policy that focuses on the production of imported substituting goods.

Ng Chi Man   and Tsang Wan Ling   

This paper aims to study the relationships between working hours and productivity in food services and information communication industries in Hong Kong. Though the discussion on productivities determinants and the analysis of opinions provided by management and the non-management staff members in these two industries, the study concludes with a recommendation on a productivity enhancement scheme. In total, 312 employees responded to the questionnaire, the demographic characteristics of two industries' employees were very similar, but the working information was different due to different workplace requirements. Statistical results revealed that the correlation between duration of working hours and productivity are not statistically significant in these two industries. However, the ideas from the management and the non-management level were different on the correlation between critical factors in these two industries. Moreover, statistical results also indicates that the correlation between working environment and personal health with stress and job satisfaction is positive and statistically significant in the food services industry, while the correlation between the job content and information technology skills is also positive and statistically significant in information communication industry. Management should focus on these critical factors for the improvement and enhancement the productivity of employees, thereby benefitting the organization.

Geoffrey K. F. Tso   and Jin Li   

Chinese consumer confidence index is the first combined confidence index for four related economies (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) calculated through the same survey and construction methods. It enables both vertical and lateral comparisons among these economies. This paper illustrates the index construction methodology and tests how the index values vary for different consumer types, e.g. gender, income, age and education. The abilities of the indexes to compare economic development, reflect consumer expectations and satisfaction attitudes and forecast the state of the economy are also tested with the first-hand data for more than twenty quarters, collected through longitudinal surveys. The ability to predict expectations for lagged satisfaction is confirmed through regression analysis, which makes the index values reliable. The index's ability to forecast macroeconomic development is verified by Granger causality tests between the index values and the corresponding macroeconomic indicators. The index can assist governments in locating, summarizing and analyzing existing economic problems and help industries and consumers make more informed economic decisions. It can also be used as a leading indicator for some aspects of economic developments.

Muhammad Asif Shamim   and Iqbal Ahmed Panhwar   

This study examines economic benefits of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles in Pakistan where social cost is explained by CO₂ emission from transport (million metric tons), using time series data from 2000 to 2010 of Pakistan. The result shows that there exists a significant relationship of both economic & financial cost with CO₂ emission levels. Individual effects of variables/predictors included in the model are illustrated. All three variables are found to be statistically significantly at 0.1. Increasing number of converted CNG vehicles are negatively related to overall CO₂ emission through transport. It means CNG vehicles are reducing the social cost in Pakistan resulting in an overall economic benefit to society in terms of reduced CO₂ emissions. The results proved that, with an increase in 1000 CNG vehicles on the road, CO₂ emissions declined by .008 m metric tons. It is recommended that govt. of Pakistan should take some positive steps in order to improve economic and financial cost of CNG in Pakistan because in comparison with social cost of CNG in Pakistan, it can be deduced that financial/economic cost that has both positive and negative relationship. The results also show that CNG is contributing less in the overall pollution level in Pakistan as compared to other burning fuels.

Tong Fu   Kennedy K. Abrokwa   and Keshab R. Bhattarai   

In 2007, the security transaction tax was adjusted suddenly in the stock market by the Chinese government. The impacts of these adjustments are found here by analysing the real data of daily prices and trading volumes before and after these adjustments. Results of a vector error correction model confirm that, the long and short run relationships between price and trading volume were distorted fundamentally. A seasonal ARIMA model on stock price and trading volume was employed to predict prices or volumes with and without STT adjustments to quantify the impacts of the adjustment on prices and trading volumes. The results show that, the adjustment reduces the stock price by 890.46 points and trading volume by 972 million of hundred units. Two GARCH (1,1) models used to assess the volatility changes of trading volumes indicate to the significance of price effects in reduction of volatility in the Chinese stock market.

JosĂ© VillacĂ­s GonzĂĄlez   

Before publication of Keynes’ General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in 1936, Germán Bernácer had discovered both third-degree net availables and second-class working capital two decades earlier in 1916, neither of which has yet been incorporated in today’s economics. This work undertakes the task, which results in a significant change to the fundamental equation: savings equals investment. To facilitate analysis we separate the process into three phases: the first introduces new availables or net availables of the third degree. The second adds second-degree working capital and the new money required to fund it. In the third we reach the final equation, the result of the two previous phases.

Sam Eldakak   

The modern companies normally face the issue how they can manage successfully a disaster as a consequence of faulty product, environmental & financial problem or due to personal scandals. It should be noted that the consequences of any disaster afflicting the businesses are significantly expensive and it takes lot of time to re-establish the reputation of the company. It is prime role of the leadership of the organization to judiciously deal with the situation and to act in the positive manner. Leaders’ tasks are to take up the stock of the existing situation and to take the necessary steps for the restoration of the position, image and reputation of the company. Moreover, leadership in managing crises in the organizations can reduce the harm caused by the catastrophic event. On the other hand, the lack of successful leadership deteriorates the impact. The Leaders in the companies should have necessary skills and competencies with the aim of successfully managing the crises. This paper deals with the essential leadership skills and competencies during the crises besetting the companies and how a good leader should act and take necessary steps to restore the companies’ images and standing.

Muhammad Bilawal   Muhammad Ibrahim   Amjad Abbas   Muhammad Shuaib   Mansoor Ahmed   Iltaf Hussain   and Tehreem Fatima   

Exchange rates have main role that affect the macroeconomics performance of any leading country. The objective of this research was to investigate whether uncertainty or fluctuations in exchange rate affects the macroeconomic in Pakistan. This Study was based on secondary and time series data. For this purpose 32 years old data of Exchange rate and FDI for the period of 1982 to 2013 was used and was collected from the website of State Bank of Pakistan. The tests of Correlation and regression analysis were applied through SPSS software to check the relationship between Exchange rate and FDI. The correlation results showed that there is positive significant relationship between Exchange rate and Foreign Direct Investment while in regression analysis the value of R-square = 0.679 which shows that the independent variable Exchange has 67% impact on dependent variable Foreign Direct Investment and research model is accurate. This research will help the mangers, related organization and future researchers to make or revise the further economic decisions.

Salman Habib   Saira Aslam   Amjad Hussain   Sana Yasmeen   and Muhammad Ibrahim   

The purpose of the present research was to explore the impact of organizational culture on the job satisfaction, employees’ commitment and the retention of the employees in the organization. The research was based on primary data, and this research was conducted on the employee’sworking in different organizations within territory of Multan region, Punjab, Pakistan. Data was collected through questionnaire consisting of 24 questions; the sample consisted of 235 employees of different Organizations (MCB Layyah, U micro Finance Bank Layyah, Layyah Sugar Mill, Thermal Power Plant MuzaffarGarh, and NRSP DG Khan). The Correlation analysis test was applied through SPSS to find out the results of research.Results indicated that nature of organization significantly effects on Job Satisfaction and turnover intentions. So the findings of research proved that organizational culture is important element which highly influences the employee commitment, job satisfaction and retention.

Romora Edward Sitorus   

This study reviews and compares the performance of alternative short rate models for one-month UK interbank rate from 1 January 1975 to 1 January 2010 using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). Controlling for structural break in the data set, this study finds mixed conclusion about the best single factor short rate model. The result also shows that the more restricted model is not preferable to the less restricted one. Moreover, the volatility factor plays more important role than the drift factor in explaining the dynamics of UK short rates.

PĂ©rez Benedito   and Miguel Angel   

The methodology of radar chart arises as an alternative answer to traditional measures on management of companies' activities. How to answer to market disruptions? It is a question solved by this methodology, which allows us to measure the management of each area represented on a radar chart by applying principles of plane geometry. In this methodology, a decision on a management area affects to the result of other areas because it has a multidirectional effect. Its application is carried out on a Spanish company.

Paulino Silva   and Rui Silva   

This paper is about business transfer in family businesses companies. The problem of succession in family businesses in Portugal gets special interest given the high number of these companies. The field study uses interviews from five cases studies which were in a succession process. To help in the succession process is important to take into account the succession plan role and all problems that can happen during the process. The succession plan is the most important instrument in the succession process. It should be done on time to prepare conveniently whom is the successor, when and how the succession takes place. Even though, our evidence suggests that succession can be successful, even without a formal succession plan.

E. Bakanova   

The article describes the main stages of corporate social responsibility in the RF. The specific features of the Russian model of CSR are characterized. The author gives his view on trends of modern development of CSR practices of Russian companies.

Muhammad Ibrahim   Muhammad Khalil Shahid   and Sayed Fayaz Ahmed   

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of factors like consumer perception, advanced telecomm services, ease of use, low cost and quality towards use of telecom services in Pakistan, with the specific objectives of to develop the technology acceptance model and investigate the role of these factors for adoption of telecom services in Pakistan. The study was based on primary data which was collected from 172 respondents by means of a questionnaire. Random Sampling Technique was applied and Statistical tool SPSS was used to check the correlation analysis in order to reveal the results of the research. Correlation analysis shows the significant, positive, negative, strong and weak relationship among the variables with the significant value ranges from 0.01 to 0.05. In this research there is positive and significant relationship among all the variables. The findings and recommendation of this research will help the managers to develop a deeper insight of research factors into product development and restructure their strategies to capture maximum potential customers.

Akanni,K.A.   and Benson,O.B.   

Many poultry farms are established within 1 km distance of the residential households in Ogun state of Nigeria. These farms, despite their immense socio-economic benefits in terms of production of eggs, meat and employment generations often constitute some environmental risks to both human and animal lives through water/soil and air pollution. These waste products are produced in form of hatchery wastes, birds’ excrement, litters and on-farm mortalities, among others. This study therefore examined the types and quantities of poultry wastes that are generated by the farms and the management strategies being used by the farms .It also assessed the implications of the wastes being generated on the environment. The determinants of the level of impact of poultry wastes on human health were also examined. The sample for the study comprised 240 poultry farmers and 250 individuals (victims) of environmental pollution who were randomly selected from across the five poultry zones in the 20 local government areas of Ogun State of Nigeria. Results showed that about 55% of the respondent poultry farms indicated that they generated below 200kg of faecal materials per month while the average monthly generated faecal wastes stood at 400kg.Similarly, the poultry farms lost about 4 crates of stale/broken eggs per month while the majority (84.58 %) of the farms lost 5 crates and below. About 65 % of the farms sold, flushed away, or burnt their poultry wastes while others either buried the wastes or used a combination of two or more disposal methods. About 63 % of the residents of the affected households either resolved to permanently shut their doors and windows (particularly those that are in adjacent position to the directions of the poultry farms) or make verbal complaints to the headship of the farms to register their protest against the foul odours. Similarly, about 19 % of the residents made formal reports by documenting their complaints and forwarding same to government quarters for a redress while about 18% of them simply chose to engage the management of the farms in open confrontations in protest of the environmental pollution. On the whole, the number of poultry birds being kept, farming experience of the managers of the farm, system of farming operations, quantities of the generated faecal materials and the number of dead chicks/chickens were all significant determinants at 1% level. Similarly, the distance between the poultry farms and the residential households, frequency of visits by sanitation officials, frequency of clearance of poultry wastes by the farm attendants and the number of cracked/stale eggs were significant determinants (at 5%) of the level of impact of the wastes on human health. To mitigate the health risk that poultry wastes caused to the environment and the health of the residents of the households in the localities, there is the need for the management of poultry farms to recognize and respect 1 km resident-poultry unit distance, maintain proper and timely hygiene and observe high level of discipline in the way and manners they dispose the wastes.

Nandini Sharma   and Jyoti Gogia   

In the contemporary times, it is not just development, but Sustainable Development that tops the vision chart of almost every business enterprise. In this age of advancement, entrepreneurs are succeeding in being entrepreneurially oriented as they get trained in first-rate institutions, but they still have less acquaintance with the concept of Sustainability, which leads to its low adaptability. This is the reason that it is still considered as a vision than a goal. The elements of Sustainability are tremendously required to be integrated with the dimensions of the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct. The study scrutinizes the association between Sustainability elements and Entrepreneurial dimensions. A framework has been devised to efficiently instill the elements of Sustainability into the entrepreneurial base so that the progress of the business enterprises can live long.

Andrew I. Nwanne   

Multinational corporations (MNCs) manage production or deliver services in many countries. These corporations are required to comply with applicable U.S. laws and those of their host countries; however, the business environments differ from country to country as well as standards, practices, laws, ethics, culture and system of government. As a result, U.S. multinationals face various dilemmas and challenges in the global business environment as they strive to increase productivity, revenues, and profitability and at the same time comply with the existing laws against bribery and corruption in both home and host countries. This study reviewed the existing literature and examined the findings of the U.S. Department of Justice on select U.S. MNCs in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Bribery as instrument of business practice has adverse impact on the multinational corporation, the host country, and the home country. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been instrumental in controlling the U.S. businesses in bribery conducts abroad. The stiff sanctions against the violators have been effective in compliance assurance. It is recommended that countries with low corruption perception index enact or enforce their existing laws against bribery and corruption and MNCs utilize the assurance framework to avoid corrupt practices.

Massimo Giannini   and Luca Vitali   

Accession to the euro area is a long term process that is still under way for most transition economies, and different paths to macroeconomic stabilization were adopted by local authorities. This study is based on data for three groups of countries: EEC Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine), BC Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), CEC Core European countries (France, Germany, Italy). We acknowledge that, well beyond plain "economic convergence", the integration process is affected by peculiar political pressures; nonetheless our aim is to determine whether a group of countries is better suited to enter the euro area (more "EMU-ready"), or if transition economies does not share a common growth pattern with core European countries. Although labour productivity points to a substantial convergence of transition economies, kernel estimation methods shows a twin peak (bimodal) distribution, providing evidence against the convergence hypothesis. We use non-parametric, linear programming technique DEA to compare efficiency of decision-making units (DMUs). Since evidence is quite puzzling, decomposition of Malmquist productivity index is needed. Lastly, a tentative explanation of productivity growth through governance indicators is proposed.

Nsisong A. Udoh   Eme U. Joseph   and Ijeoma J. Amajuoyi   

This paper provides a brief account of contemporary issues in overschooling. The main emphasis is on theoretical and measurement approaches to graduate overschooling. The paper draws on four models (the neoclassical account, Spence’s Job-Screening Model, Thurow’s Job-Competition Model, and Beck’s Human Capital Theory) to explain the measures of overschooling, job-skill match and wage equilibrium on both the short run and the long run. The paper further assesses, based on literature from industrial psychology, how overschooling with attendant job dissatisfaction can result in adverse workplace behaviour with attendant counter-productivity. The paper then presents a prevue of the overschooling situation in Nigeria before it concludes with extensive recommendations for public and private policy makers, educators, economists, and education investors.

Sukharev O. S.   and Kurmanov N.V.   

The article presents the author's model of marketing analysis of social network, which was tested on the firm Internet-community. Key indicators of commercial Internet-community efficiency are developed. They are: the coefficient of commercial activity, the interaction coefficient of the Internet-community participants and target group coverage.

Xiangsheng Dou  and Jing Wang  

The paper intends to explore the cause and mechanism of subprime mortgage credit crisis occurrence in the United States and thereby the financial crisis resulted. The research indicates that, the outbreak of subprime crisis in the United States in 2007 is the result of multiple factors. Among them, the unreasonable securitization of assets, the excessive creation and over-financing of financial assets and the over-expansion of subprime mortgage credits, and the unceasing inflation and final burst of asset bubbles, are root causes. In addition, the relaxation of government regulation as well as the neglect of efficient guidance and control on real estate markets since 2002 has created a favorable external condition for the sustainable expansion of subprime mortgage credits and the rise of housing prices.

Denise Zak   and Michael Getzner   

The availability of an adequate infrastructure (i.e. transport, communication facilities, power supplies, logistics) to provide certain essential services is indispensable for economic development. The organization and provision of services of an airport have a wide range of effects on the economy of the region and for the whole country. The public and private sectors, especially companies and households in general take the proximity of an airport into consideration when making decisions with regard to the location of a business or to investments in private property, such as a residence. In this paper, a review is made of a number of studies that have been carried out already to identify and to assess the different economic effects related to air transportation facilities in a regional economic context. A comparison is made of the empirical results, assumptions and methods which are used to make these assessments in the studies that have been recently published. In this paper, it is revealed that, of the determinants that were found, the great volume of traffic at airports is one which does indeed have a very marked effect on a region. However, in these studies, there is much diversity in the design of the study, the methods used and, consequently, the assumptions, and location, which makes a comparative analysis very difficult. Especially the methods that were used to assess the effects are critically reviewed, and the problems arising owing to methodologically inherent overestimations are discussed.

Kung Wong Lau   Pui Yuen Lee   and Hiu Fai Lau   

Virtual reality creates a sense of immersion. When interaction any business wants to develop an interactive system in an immersive virtual reality, the difficulties are not about how to design a highly interactive interface, but the design of interactive experiences for the consumers. Therefore, the power of interactivity is all about creating experiences in a virtual world. This concept is particularly important in the area of virtual design in ebusiness. The future ebusiness has to enhance consumers’ shopping experiences through the interactive design, and trigger their purchase intentions through the design of the interactive experiences. This paper aims to discuss the power of interactivity in virtual shopping domains. Emphasis is placed on (1) the power of interactivity in virtual reality; (2) the shopping experience 2.0: Interactivity, telepresence and vividness; (3) creating consumers’ sense of immersion through interactivity and simulation. A pilot research project explored the design of interactivity for upgrading consumers’ shopping experiences. Our team develops an augmented reality shop, which is designed with the elements of virtual shopping experience. Based on this designed shop, we invited 61 participants for in-depth interview, after experiencing the augmented reality shop. The result of interview generates six major findings. It highlights the future development of shopping experience 2.0. The research indicates the importance of the human element in the design of interaction. There is a need for future business to studying the human experience closely when developing virtual shopping in virtual worlds for future.

F.Özge BaruönĂŒ Latif   

Internet Technologies have increased the effectiveness of the businesses in several ways. One example of these is E-procurement, which fulfills one of the most crucial functions of businesses, ‘purchasing’, on the internet by means of bringing the buyers and suppliers together on a network, have been used widely in the world in the last decade. In this chapter the concept of ‘e-procurement’, history of e-procurement, its operations, its advantages and disadvantages are discussed and the firm “E-Tedarik” which is an example of e-procurement systems in Turkey is examined as a case study.

Oladipupo Muhrtala Tijani   and Mathias Gboyega Ogundeji   

The use of computerized accounting system has reached remarkable heights in recent years. However this pattern in developing economies does not seem to have attained similar strength. The era of technological sophistication has enabled the use of specialized transactions processing systems. Consequently this study chose to investigate the effects of enterprise resource planning systems on accounting information processing with particular reference to Nigerian. This paper builds upon the “technologies acceptance model” on factors influencing individual’s choice of technology when faced with particular tasks. Using a survey approach and applying both descriptive and inferential statistics the study found significant use of enterprise resource planning systems on accounting information processing in Nigeria. This research sets a baseline for academia in bridging the theory and practise gap to continue to support scholars in learning computerized accounting information processing for practise relevance. In addition the use of computerized systems must remain within the ambience of generally accepted accounting principles and procedures to ensure the art continues to present true and fair view of underlying transactions for users of financial reports. This paper is unique in that there are no studies evidencing the use of enterprise resource planning systems in Nigeria. Hence, it is a fundamental point of reference for future research in this area.

Keshab Bhattarai   and Nanyue Chen   

Huge gaps exist and are widening between the rural and urban income and consumption across 32 provinces of China despite very impressive rates of growth of GDP in the last three decades. By pursuing rapid urbanisation and export oriented strategies Chinese policy makers seem to have switched away from the equality oriented linear model of optimal consumption to urban biased inequality tolerating non-linear model of consumption since 1978. Inequality problem will worsen further unless export oriented growth strategies are accompanied by domestic consumption based growth policies.

Pawel ƚlaski   

This article proposes an innovative approach to the inventory control process. It presents the possibility of using non-linear programming to optimize the group procurement of goods. Attention was paid to the creation of economies of scale and the occurrence of trade-off relations related to security customer needs while minimizing the fixed and variable costs of logistics. Methodology and tools for practical use, which can be part of the combined strategies of agile and lean supply chain are presented.

Evgeny Popov   

The paper represents the fundamental principles and ideas of the transaction theory of economic institutions, which supposes quantification of the quality of institutions through evaluation of economic transactions. The major works of the founders as well as the practical pathways of implementing the theory are discussed. The paper consolidates the author’s main contributions to the study of companies’ transactions based on their market potential, the technique of institutional atlas design, institutional effects of the staff opportunism decrease, assessment of the transaction costs of hybrid organizations, and the formal representation of the company’s external transaction function.

Ashish Bharadwaj   

Around the turn of this century there were concerns about the possible adverse effects of globalization which led to a polarized debate on the plight of the world’s poorest. This paper attempts to answer the question of whether or not the billions of people who still live on less than $1 a day are sharing in the benefits of greater integration among economies. The first part of the paper summarizes the channels and transmission mechanisms, such as greater openness to trade and foreign investment, through which the process of globalization could affect poverty in the developing world. Using a panel data of 35 developing countries from 1990 to 2004 an empirical examination is carried out of the impact of real and financial integration on the head count ratio and poverty gap. Results suggest that, on an aggregate level, capital flows via FDI have had an adverse effect and real trade-induced income growth had a favorable effect on the incidence of poverty. On the other hand, a policy of excessive openness to external trade without complementary support mechanisms was found to be negatively related to the depth of poverty in developing countries.

Daina Vasilevska   and Tatyana Golubkova   

Market conditions, as well as the qualitative changes of field of activity of modern specialist – graduate requires from the higher education institution a significant increase of the quality of its education, bringing to the foreground such characteristics of graduates as "competiveness". What should be the institutional specialist training in order to provide them an opportunity to implement their personal and professional potential, simultaneously satisfying the needs of society? The answer to this question involves two main points: 1) Requirements determination to the future specialist on the part of his/her personality, state and society; 2) The choice of the educational technologies that meet these requirements; The higher education system is being developed now in the context of market reforms therefore it becomes possible and necessary to apply to its functioning some of the economic categories, such as "market", "goods", "demand", "supply", "competition", "competiveness", "marketing". In the article the authors examined the correlation of these concepts in relation to the main result of the activity of universities – graduate, the future specialists and also tried to find the answer to the question whether it is needed today to our labor market young specialists.

Zoyros Chrisovalantis   and Spinthiropoulos Konstantinos   

We are living in Digital World and the Digital Revolution brings New Technologies at a very rabid pace. These amazing paces increased rapidly the speed of transmission of information via the internet. The Banking sector could not stay away from these technological changes. All over the world banking transaction were realized by the use of new technologies. The new technologies penetrations into the banking sector and the Internet banking use have continually marked an upward movement. Targeting to adopt and use the Internet Banking of Piraeus Bank, the customers demands should be met through the services. This paper focuses on the factors of service quality of Piraeus Bank and their impact on customer’s satisfaction. The customer satisfaction is proportionally related to the Internet Banking services quality. In the framework of this research, based on the questionnaires, the economic analysis and the econometric approach, it is obviously substantiated that the factors, Trust and Perceived usefulness, are main to the high quality services provision and the customers are satisfied as far as these factors reach the high quality and meet their expectations.

Moises Neil V. Seriño   

This study investigates the major factors affecting the increase in household carbon emission in the Philippines using the well known analytical tool – Kaya identity. The changes in Kaya factors of household emission were analyzed using the logarithmic mean Divisia index. Results show that a positive relationship between emission and income is evident when disaggregating household carbon emission across income quintiles. The increase in carbon emission at the poorest quintile is largely driven by the increase in income while at the richest quintile it is explained more by the increase in energy expenditure relative to income. Overall, the increase in household carbon emission across income quintiles is offset by the decrease in “carbon intensity” of household consumption. If policy makers are keen in stabilizing household carbon emission, they should device policies that aim to improve household energy efficiency.

Taiwo Soetan   

This paper presents the findings of a study that investigated the impact of Microfinance Institutions in Bangladesh on the core poor i.e. those living on less than $1USD/day and the correlation between the presence of these institutions and poverty in the five Divisions that were examined in the country. Bangladesh is one of the most populous countries in the world with a high level of poverty. This study looked into the operations of these Microfinance Institutions between 1995 and 2005 to establish the correlation between their presence and the poverty level in the locations where they have a strong presence and a weak presence. The study looked into the efforts of Microfinance institutions in poverty alleviation to see if they focused solely on the poor or also catered to the challenges of the core (extremely) poor people that had no valuable possessions or collaterals to obtain loans from them in addition to examining the support of the top three Microfinance Institutions for the vulnerable especially poor women in terms of empowerment in the period under review. This paper concludes with implications of the presence of microfinance institutions for poverty reduction in a geographical location and recommendations for further research.

Chen Shaoyou   and Zhan Yan   

Being in the key period of the accelerating urbanization process at present, it is natural and inevitable phenomenon that new large China population go into the city or become New Citizen, either actively or passively. This paper points that the New Citizen integrating into the city is affected and constrained by two factors--- Urban-developing-Ability and Urban-living-Ability. The benign interaction and improving together of the two factors promote the New Citizen well integrate into the city and then enjoys and constructs the urban civilization. Lacking one of each will hinder the migration of New Citizens and impede China's urbanization process smoothly. Therefore, this paper puts forward three trouting selection, through the perspective of the New Citizens, to contribute the Chinese urbanization process smoothly.

Oladipupo Muhrtala TIJANI   and Mathias GboyegaOgundeji   

The idea of electronic Standard Business Reporting (SBR) has achieved remarkable heights in developed economies over the last decade. With the development of XBRL in 1998 by Charlie Hoffman and subsequent introduction of the first SBR projects in the Netherlands and Australia less than ten years after, an important question therefore arises: what level of similar advancement has been achieved in emerging economies and what are the possible implications for the future of financial reporting in these countries. To analyze this topic, Nigeria has been chosen as a reference point. To enhance objectivity, an empirical approach was engaged through a structured survey directed at professional accountants in the Big Four accounting firms with offshore offices located in the country. This information was sought in order to assess the future of electronic Business Reporting in Nigeria in line with the global trend of harmonizing the accounting profession. Results show that respondents share the view that XBRL implementation would improve the Nation’s Corporate Governance process. Although there exist over 50 XBRL projects in 15 Economies in Europe and over 10,000 voluntary filers in Northern America, respondents are of the view that substantial adoption of XBRL in Nigeria is likely to be influenced by mandatory requirement. This outcome suggest that there should be reform patterns of behaviour of market agents and regulatory agencies to encourage the adoption of XBRL Taxonomy interactive data, so as to provide the channel for the most adequate mechanism of electronic Business Reporting that would assist the Nation’s capital market reach its desired global marketplace for developmental purposes.

Maria PompĂČ   

The article presents the interventions put into effect by the ECB to eliminate the banking system’s instability and implement a process to strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union

Yu-Cheng Lai   

The increased labor supply of migrant workers can make up labor shortage of host countries. Based on basic theoretic study, this paper tries to build a model to investigate the effect of rising number of unskilled migrant workers on different skilled workers. It indicates that both wages and employment for unskilled and skilled native workers will increase because the labor demand of native workers, if the effect of higher production (scale effect) larger than the effect of substitution between migrant and native workers. On the other hand, the migrant workers will have different effect on skilled and unskilled native workers.

Rizwan Qaiser Danish   Sidra Ramzan   and Farid Ahmad   

Purpose: This study investigates the effect of perceived organizational support and work environment on organizational commitment, as well as, analyzes the mediating role of self-monitoring in this relationship in the service sector of Lahore, Pakistan. Methodology: Self-administered survey was conducted for the collection of responses from employees working in service sector. Total 680 questionnaires were distributed among employees from which 355 questionnaires were completely filled that were used for further analysis. Findings: Results of this study revealed that work environment has significant and positive association with organizational commitment whereas insignificant association is found between perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. Results further exposed that self-monitoring plays mediating role in the association between perceived organizational support and work environment with organizational commitment. Value/Originality: This study divulges that work environment and perceived organizational support help enhance the organizational commitment and self-monitoring mediates this association. This attempt contributes in academic literature and helps to fill the gap in current literature. Practical implications/Limitation: Results of this study do have practical implications for service sector. It helps to convince managers in service sector that facilitative work environment enhances the organizational commitment in employees. This research further suggests that one of the personality variables, namely, self-monitoring plays mediating role in the relationship between perceived organizational support and work environment with organizational commitment. Low sample size, region and time constraint are the limitations of this study.

Md. Mizanur Rahman   Dr. Leslie Sue Liberman   Dr. Vincentas Rolandas Giedraitis   and Mrs. Tahmina Akhter   

New Public Management (NPM) system has been the dominant paradigm in public administration theory and practice since the last 30 years determining its affinity with markets and private sector management. Like USA, UK, Korea etc. Bangladesh also adopted vivid reform discourses to transform the paradigm of public administration from Weber’s traditional bureaucratic system to the New Public Management (NPM) system. Reform efforts at different times towards underpinning the public sector on the principles of downsizing and entrepreneurship, decentralization, performance management, planning and control cycle could seldom bring successes. Due to many reasons, the NPM system was not introduced in all phases of civil administration except the initiative of privatization of some state-owned enterprises; and thereafter, adopting the policy of public-private partnership. This paper focuses on the failures, and explicit and implicit barriers to the introduction of the NPM system in Bangladesh that was aimed at revitalizing the traditional public administration system. The writer extracted relevant literature and bibliographic databases following exclusion criteria of systematic review method and independently reviewed them to rearticulate the failures behind the paradigm shift in Bangladesh.

LukĂĄĆĄ AchimskĂœ   Milena SvitekovĂĄ   and Ondrej MaslĂĄk   

The aim of the article was to analyze the sectors and competition in the energy sector. The article includes brief definitions of the basic terms related to the analysis of the competition, identification of the rival company and identification of competitive strategy. The subject of the study is the degree of client satisfaction with the services provided by different energy suppliers in Slovakia. At the beginning of the survey a problem was defined for solving of which it was necessary to find out which of the network companies has the best and the worst score in providing services to their clients. Therefore client satisfaction with the services of chosen network companies was measured. A view of customer satisfaction is measured in terms of the provision of the services related to the supply of the electricity. These attributes can be characterized as a speed rating than an equipment at the first contact with the customer, the stability of the electricity supply, a STAFF expertise and the like. The analysis points at the differences in client satisfaction with supply of electricity, billing services; and quality and reliability of the distribution of individual suppliers. The article also contains a study focusing on chosen companies operating in the energy sector in the Slovak Republic. The results of the study are represented graphically.

A. F. M. Mainul Ahsan   Dr. Mohammad Osman Gani   and Md. Bokhtiar Hasan   

Information affects stock prices, even if it is not truthful. The news piped through the business press may contain deliberately planted misinformation. This study examines the effect of erroneous news and analysis by a leading daily newspaper on the performance of stock returns in the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Bangladesh. The reaction to the false news involves an unsustained jump in stock prices under misguided optimism. We also investigate the scope of legal remedies against false news and stock price manipulation. The responsibility and accountability of the media involved in spreading misinformation is also an issue.

Richard P. Rozek, Ph.D.   

There are differences between small and large molecule pharmaceutical technologies from a scientific perspective. However, there do not appear to be measurable differences with respect to the economic characteristics of small and large molecule pharmaceutical projects. The economic characteristics underlying developing, manufacturing, and marketing products based on small and large molecule technologies appear to be similar. The growing importance of large molecule technologies in addressing unmet medical needs will create a need for additional research on identifying material economic differences that may require changes in public policies.

Pavel Mozgunov   and Karina Kuznecova   

The purpose of this new study was to make a full and detailed profile of the typical Russian coupon site user. Moreover, the main factors that can influence decision of purchasing of coupon were determined and some of them were studied more detailed. The study involved 665 Internet users aged from 17 years living at the time of the interview in Moscow. The findings of the study may be useful to firms that are planning to use the coupon services. The study concludes that a typical Russian coupon user can be described as follows: a female aged 20 to 41 years, with higher education, most likely unmarried, working, with an average income ranging from 12,500 to 60,000 rubles The relation between the mean time to the venue of leisure and consumer income as well as time-income elasticity are among the most important findings for firms. It has been proved that the connection between these indicators is statistically significant, which means that income can strongly influence an individual's decision to purchase a particular coupon, depending on the average time the individual in question is willing to spend on getting to the venue of entertainment.

Chernova T.V.   and Oleynikova I.N.   

The strategic goal of national competitiveness requires efficient organization of a single economic space within the existing administrative-territorial entities. The regional investment activity of production and population living standards is estimated by the analytical group of statistical indicators. The analysis is confirmed by the direct link between investment activity and regional differentiation living standards indicators. The gross fixed capital formation perform status is determinant level of differentiation socio-economic regions, and the most important indicator is balanced financial result, which determines the formation of resources for efficiency integral investment. The regional investment policy is largely prioritized due to the source structure optimization.

Elvir ÄŒizmić and Kenan Crnkić 

The main goal of this paper is to present the Double Closing Quality Loop Model and assuring of learning tools and data that could be used to obtain continuity in quality development of higher education institutions in sense of learning outcome achieving and assurance of learning considering all main stakeholder requirements. Model is created to assure internal and external monitoring of improvements of core higher education institution processes. This integral procedure is aimed to obtain sufficient and solid decision making platform for higher education institution management and inform other stakeholders to ensure continuous modifications and improvements of academic programs quality and assurance of learning process.

Chonghyun Christie Byun 

Using household panel data from the PSID, a semiparametric panel data model is estimated and examined for the presence of habit formation. Previous studies in this area were based on linear models, and the semiparametric model is an improvement over the latter in that it does not specify a particular functional form on the data generating process. Estimates of the model show evidence of habit formation for a substantial percentage of the observations. An examination of households by their demographic characteristics as well as by job status yields additional information and supporting evidence on the existence of habit formation.

Andrei A. Kapaev 

The general and special repo rates are related with the prices of the European call- and American put-options. The evaluation takes into account specific business models of the parties in the repo agreement and the law restrictions. Using the repo-option relation, an alternative to the Black-Scholes method of option pricing is presented. The empirical data on the general and special repo rates are explained.

Aneta Kosztowniak 

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse significance of the production factors on economic growth in Poland in the years 1995-2012, with particular attention given to the influence of foreign direct investments (FDI). The analysis was carried out with the use of the Cobb-Douglas production function. This paper describes two models. The first, basic model of the economic growth for Poland consists of four variables and the second - augmented model - consists of six independent variables. The research conducted in Poland reveals that in the period 1995-2012 a linear correlation existed between the FDI inflow and growth (Pearson’s coefficient R = 0.8317), however, according to a model estimated with the use of the CLS method, FDI was not a significant factor determining GDP growth. The really significant factors were gross domestic expenditure on fixed capital and expenditure on R&D. The augmented version of the Cobb-Douglas function model for the years 1995-2012 estimated by means of the CLS method demonstrates that the only significant factor was government spending at 5% significance level. The remaining variables were insignificant.

V.A. Marenko 

This article describes construction of fuzzy models "Costs" and "Profit" for operational decisions in the economic system management by introducing linguistic variables and application of expert rules.

Carmen Dima and Devi  Jankowicz 

The purpose of this study is to understand the intent to implement environmental practices as part of operational processes within the Ontario (Canada) wine industry, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Personal Construct Theory (PCT) as the frameworks of analysis. A constructivist approach using multiple case study design was used to explore the determinants of intention with a particular emphasis on identifying the reasoning and sense-making of organizations that took an entrepreneurial stance towards environmental practices. Key personnel from twenty wineries were interviewed and a repertory grid employed as the data collection technique. A content analysis indicated that constructs related to profitability and affordability override more esoteric concepts such as stewardship of the land. The study proposes an updated model for intention applicable to implementation environmental practices. Further research is suggested to facilitate understanding the impact of knowledge and customer perceptions in the actual implementation of environmental practices.

Arshia Mehmood 

This study analyzes the understanding and awareness of the owners of Small Clothing Boutiques’ about Intangible Assets (IAs). As these small retail boutiques and outlets come in the category of small businesses, so the study first covers the information about small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Also the importance of Intellectual Capital (IC) is enhanced and the study gives possible strategic recommendations to the owners and managers that can be applied to their businesses. The research methodology has been done from taking the sample from Peshawar area. The study discovers the percentage of the small business owners, who are familiar with IA in a business and gives an idea about their perception of Intellectual Property (IP) rights in a fashion business such as copy rights, patents, trademarks; and the important asset in their opinion related to the brand image.

Mohamed Suleiman Mukras Odondo Juma Alphonce and Gideon Momanyi 

Despite the potential of sweet potato in helping to meet Kenya’s food needs and poverty reduction through income generation, detailed information on sweet potato demand relations is unavailable to enable the traders plan their production and marketing activities. Thus, the study examined determinants of demand for sweet potatoes in Kenya with specific reference to Rachuonyo south district and its key market outlets. Out of 166 commercial farmers, fifty five wholesalers and an infinite number of retailers, one hundred and sixteen commercial farmers were selected using simple random sampling technique while 384 retailers were purposively selected. The 55 wholesalers were also included in the sample. Primary data were collected using questionnaires while secondary data were from respondents’ records. ANOVA indicated that demand for sweet potatoes varied significantly across the markets (F = 133.261, p = 0.000), due to differences in magnitude of effects of the independent factors on demand. The study results suggest the need for market segmentation by retailers and directing part of retail purchases to the markets dominated by low income groups, attitude change through awareness creation, financial empowerment of the sellers and selling varieties of sweet potatoes particularly those that are highly preferred by the final consumers.

Alexander Osharin 

The paper investigates distributional effects and market structure in a one-sector model of monopolistic competition with heterogeneous consumers. By using the CES utility function depending on consumer’s personal income the paper shows how the equilibrium prices, firm size and number of firms depend upon income distribution and intensity of competition. The proposed model extends the traditional Dixit-Stiglitz approach and has a wider range of applications.

Jyoti Gogia 

An Economic System is the set of principles by which economic problems are addressed. The solutions to these economic problems depend upon the decision-making quality of its participants (human society). Thus, the state of any economic system depends on the possible alternatives available, and the distinctiveness of its participants’ consciousness. The paper portrays that the present global economic system is diverging from its aspiration, and essentially it requires shifting from materially conscious system to ethically conscious system and finally to spiritually conscious system, which shall commit to meet the real needs of life and establish a Better World Order. The paper stresses upon the significance of practicing Ethics and Spirituality with Economic principles by and for the human society which is the major constituent of the economic system.

Minh Quang Dao 

This paper examines the determinants of poverty in agrarian developing economies. Based on data from the World Bank and a sample of thirty agrarian developing economies we find that the fraction of the population below the national poverty line is linearly dependent on urbanization as measured by the fraction of the total population living in urban areas, the maternal mortality ratio, the level of development as measured by purchasing power parity per capita gross national income, and the fraction of births attended by skilled health staff. We observe that the coefficient estimate of one explanatory variable, namely, the fraction of births attended by skilled health staff does not have its expected sign, possibly to the collinearity between this variable and the maternal mortality ratio as well as with the level of purchasing power parity per capita GNI. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in agrarian developing countries focus on appropriate policies in order to reduce poverty.

Akanni K.A and Osinowo O.H. 

This study examined the effect of fiscal instability on economic growth in Nigeria for the period of 1970-2010.The cyclical effect of fiscal spending components were measured using the Hodrick Prescot (HP)-filtered fiscal spending components and output with the correlation technique. Results indicated that between 1970 and 1985, both the real gross domestic product and real total fiscal spending were highly volatile. However, total fiscal spending appears to be countercyclical between 1970 to 1986. But from 1987 to 2010, the variation in total fiscal spending was relatively stationary while real output was still relatively unstable. Fiscal discipline is required to ensure a sustainably stable economic environment in Nigeria.

Obadeyi James Akingunola Richard and Afolabi Victor 

The paper assessed interest rate impact on economic growth in Nigeria, considering the stakeholders’ approach. The continuous increase in interest rate always results to a slow economic growth. It is believed that interest rate may not eventually lead to lull economy especially in industrialized economies because these economies do not totally rely on assembling and consumption of goods and services, but majorly on production and distribution of goods and services[1]. The study adopts simple ordinary least square method to identify existing relationship between variables. The regression results were significant and Error Correction Mechanism helped to correct the dynamism that might exist. The time series analysis was adopted for 40 years (1970- 2010), which shows evidence and supports that larger proportion of borrowing by Nigerian government, which are majorly financed by the apex bank has led to uncontrollable excess liquidity and inability of locally manufacturing firms, and small enterprises to raise loanable funds from banks. The paper therefore concluded that it will be difficult to generalize interest rate as equal either in developed or developing economies as result of the significant and un-comparable difference in social –economic belief, approaches and existing structures. It suggests that interest rate should play an un-comparable role in enhancing economic growth and sustainable activities in Nigeria.

Ali Asghar Anvary Rostamy Vahid Baghaei Farideh Bakhshi Takanlou and Amin Anvary Rostamy 

We live in the world of ambiguity and uncertainty. In such a fuzzy world, using tools that are close to natural language and have the ability to conclude like human mind, and even deal with more data and complex relations are important. This paper provides a fuzzy statistical expert system for cash flow management, one of the most important issues in business. It helps managers in managing their organizational cash resources. For this purpose, first input and output variables and their membership functions have been defined. Then, we formed rules using fuzzy inference system to infer ending cash balance from a set of combination of 25 separate rules. Finally, linguistic levels converted to certain numbers by centered method (defuzzification) to help managers to see the effects of changes in the levels of inputs on ending cash balances. defuzzification represents the relationship between the variables with numerical values. The required data for practical illustration of our mode is gathered from Cement Companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange, which their financial reports are prepared based on Iranian Accounting Standards. The authors believe that the proposed system helps managers to analyze the effects of changes in input variables on ending cash balances.

Wei Zhao and Frank La Pira 

This article gives an entrepreneurial perspective on the competitiveness of China’s industries in the economic globalization, especially since the 2008 financial crisis. It explains above all how China gained the traditional competitiveness (from comparative advantage to competitive advantage) through rapid technological learning of its entrepreneurial firms. Behind these firms, it was the Chinese State as an ensemble of economic actors who had strong incentives to grow the whole industrial production aggressively. During the global financial crisis and recession, China took the lead in the turnaround. Now, it is expected to take the lead in the next cycle of economic growth. However, the external foundation underpinning China's fast growth is in serious disarray. The shifting globalized economy is challenging the Chinese entrepreneurs and its growth model. The paper gives some clues on what China should do to be competitive in the future. The empirical part of the research is based on Chinese macroeconomic data and in-depth firm level interviews in China during a long period of time.

Beata Zagozdzon 

One of the models of financing public investments, especially transport infrastructure, is a public-private partnership (PPPs). The European Commission has been supporting this formula of implementing transport investments for more than ten years. The PPP formula is very important for the “new” EU countries from Central Europe, because it helps bridge the gap between the investment needs and the financial resources that are available in these countries. However, achieving success in the practical implementation of PPP requires the creation of appropriate conditions supporting this concept. The aim of this article is to identify determinants of implementation of PPP in the area of transport infrastructure and to present an analysis of the influence of these factors on the development of partnership in Poland. Research in the available literature has made it possible to identify three main groups of the determinants of PPP: the government's economic doctrine which includes the macroeconomic condition of the economy, the legal system, and the capacity of public institutions. The analysis confirmed that these determinants are important for the implementation of transport projects in Poland. The research also indicated that strong government support is particularly important for the development of the Polish PPP market. The government should initiate the formulation of appropriate legal regulations and create public institutions, whose purpose is to advise and support local public authorities in the practical implementation of PPP.

P. M. Beaumont A. J. Culham and A. N. Kercheval 

We examine market dynamics in a discrete time, Lucas-style asset-pricing model with heterogeneous, utility-optimizing agents. Finitely many agents trade a single asset paying a stochastic dividend. All agents know the probability distribution of the dividend but not the private information such as wealth and asset holdings of other agents. The market clearing price is determined endogenously in each period such that supply always equals demand. Our aim is to determine whether and how the pricing function evolves toward equilibrium. In the special case where all agents have logarithmic utility, but possibly different holdings and discount factors, we completely describe the market dynamics, including the evolution of the pricing and demand functions, and asset holdings of the agents. The market converges to a stable equilibrium state where only the most patient agents remain, and the equilibrium pricing function is the same as the one arising in the simple homogeneous setting.

Anton Miglo 

We consider a principal-agent relationship, where the agent is subject to a double moral hazard problem (the choice of production effort and earnings manipulation). Since the agent cannot completely capture the results of his effort, the production effort is socially inefficient. The opportunity to manipulate earnings protects the agent against the risk of a low payoff when the results of production are low. Ex-ante, this provides an incentive for the agent to improve effort. Optimal contract trades-off social loss from earnings manipulation and improved incentives for productive effort. In equilibrium some degree of earnings manipulation can be optimal.

Hiu-fai Lau Chi-wai Kan and Kung-wong Lau 

The tremendous development of technological wave, in particular to virtual technology, has brought shopping activities into a new era. Current research is keen to investigate the relationships between consumers and technology in diverse virtual environments. This article aims to discuss the future directions for shopping practices in virtual worlds. Based on the scope of utilizing virtual technology in shopping practices, our research team investigates how consumers use virtual technology in shopping activities from reviewing prior research of consumer behavior and technological development. Our team highlights the importance of interactivity between virtual technology and consumers. This paper triggers further investigations in the area of (1) the instrumental relationships between the technology and consumer, (2) the connectivity to consumers, and (3) the consumers' perception of shopping in virtual environments and the daily practices in bricks-and-mortar shopping. The research team urges the needs of investigating shopping experiences in virtual worlds for the mentioned areas.

Albert Ying-Je Huang 

This study proposes a logarithmic long-run cost function and its relevant short-run cost lines which can be used to teach second-year or upper-level undergraduates the topic of natural monopoly in microeconomics courses. The long-run and short-run relationships among total cost, average cost, and marginal cost can be both mathematically and graphically illustrated. The Mean Value Theorem can be used to verify the condition of positive fixed costs. This study may make a contribution to intermediate-level microeconomics education by demonstrating how to combine basic calculus with simple graphs to facilitate the teaching of cost properties of natural monopoly. Some undergraduates' views on this method were collected and analyzed. The findings from the data analysis show that the method was generally well received by most of respondents in this study.

Xeni Dassiou and Dionysius Glycopantis 

This paper models an original approach where the monopolist firm no longer uses pure bundling with weights 1:1. The decisions of the firm take place in a two-step optimisation process. In the first stage, using port- folio optimisation it decides whether to bundle and also sets the optimal weight for each good. In the second stage, it sets the profit maximising bundle price on the basis of the chosen weights. We compare the profit, consumer and welfare implications of our pure bundling model to the usual 1:1 pure bundling model, and comment on the competition policy making implications.

Georg Lackermair Daniel Kailer and Kenan Kanmaz 

Product reviews and ratings are popular tools to support buying decisions of consumers. These tools are also valuable for online retailers, who use rating systems in order to build trust and reputation in the online market. Many online shops offer quantitative ratings, textual reviews or a combination of both. This paper examines the acceptance and usage of ratings and reviews in the context of e-commerce transactions. A survey among 104 German online shoppers was conducted to examine how consumer reviews and rat- ings are used to support buying decisions. The survey shows that reviews and ratings are an important source of information for consumers. However, qualitative feedback from the survey indicates that the perceived helpfulness of rating systems varies. Especially the comparison of user reviews is a very time consuming process for the customer, because of the unstructured nature of textual user reviews. In this paper we summarize similar problems and show corresponding examples to them. This will give new insight for future research in the area of user ratings and reviews.