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The Rural Right in Interward Hungary. Agrarian Interest Representations and Movements 1920–1939
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Purpose – Based on the tenets of the stakeholder theory, the study investigates the influence of corporate governance best practices on 'hard' and 'soft' human resource management practices in public listedcompanies in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected from public listed companies in the consumer product sector via structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis is conducted using SPSS to test the hypotheses. Findings – The findings suggest that board of directors' independence significantly predicts training and development practices. It is also evidenced that audit committee's effectiveness is significantly related to team-based work. Research limitations/implications - The study is conducted in a single sector of the economy resulted to a small number of listed companies. Originality/value – The significant relationship between board of directors' independence and training and development; and audit committee effectiveness and team-based work indicate that training and development and team-based work are ingrained in the companies' HRM practices, more acceptable and the least complicated to implement. Indicating that public listed companies are answerable to various stakeholders, thus, making it difficult to introduce and implement certain HRM practices.
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Purpose – The intervalling effect bias of beta refers to the sensitivity of beta estimation with respect to the reference time interval on which returns are measured and its manifestation may indicate the degree of market inefficiencies. The purpose of this paper is to study the intervalling effect bias within an environment and during a sample period that embraces the evolution of a deep economic crisis and show in particular that its intensity is profoundly magnified. Design/methodology/approach – The Athens Stock Exchange is studied via the market model during the sample period 2007-2012 that embraces the Greek debt restructuring. Two portfolios are formed to distinguish between large and small market capitalizations, three reference intervals are considered for measurement of returns (daily, weekly, monthly) and the respective betas are calculated via OLS simple regression. The results are compared to similar studies. The results are further confirmed by using a second proxy for the market portfolio. Findings – The intensity of the intervalling effect bias was very pronounced during this sample period with regard to all aspects of the phenomenon that similar studies have reported and to which the results of this paper are compared. Originality/value – This is the first time that the intervalling effect is examined in conjunction to a deep economic crisis environment. The intensity of the intervalling effect reflects the depth of the inefficiencies of a market for some period. As a consequence, some function measuring this intensity may be devised to serve as a measure of market inefficiencies.
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Purpose – This paper investigates mandatory and voluntary disclosure practices of non-financial listed companies on the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The results help in determining the level of transparency of Serbian s listed companies and in formulating recommendations for improving the quality and relevance of disclosed information. Design/methodology/approach – We focus on modeling both mandatory and voluntary disclosure indices for financial and non-financial information in order to evaluate the level of disclosure of 63 Serbian companies for reporting period 2012. Findings – We found the low level of both mandatory and voluntary disclosures. Concerning mandatary disclosure, the information that is least frequently disclosed by the sample companies are those related to the material content of the financial statements (information on changes in accounting estimates and corrections of fundamental errors in the previous period, as well as related companies). Serbian companies usually disclose information that contributes to their greater visibility. Similar to the mandatory disclosure, usually published voluntary information are mostly "neutral" from the point of impact on the values reported in the financial statements, which do not contribute to a better understanding of the financial position, profitability and cash flows of the company. Research limitations/implications – There is a limitation concerning the sample size (which is generally intrinsic to Serbian capital market size) and the sample structure (research is limited to listed non-financial companies). The study covers the annual reports for 2012 which in Serbia coincides with a crisis period. The same research methodology could be applied on a larger and comprehensive database (non-listed companies) and include period after 2012, which will allow the analysis of evolution of disclosure practices by companies within new accounting framework. Originality/value – The authors give some recommendations for improving the relevance of financial and non-financial disclosures in order to increase the efficiency of capital markets.
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Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the interconnected relationships between government size, country size, openness and economic growth. In fact, more trade openness increases government size, which lays stabilizer role against external shocks and GDP volatility. More country size leads to lower government share to GDP from one side and less openness from other side, where as per capita expenditure on public goods is lower, and large markets enjoy more productivity and less incentives for large market to increase openness than the small markets. Finally, economic growth and government have a negative relationship if government size exceeds the optimal size. Design/methodology/approach - We employ three models, which two of them are using 2SLS technique and the third model is using GMM system analysis to examine these relationships in eight selected MENA countries. Our panel data is for the period from 1977-2013 sourced from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank. Findings - Results prove literature proposed hypotheses for the selected region and period, and show that government share to GDP exceeds the optimal size. Moreover, more growth can be realized through more integration in the world economy. Research limitations/implications – Data limitation led to the inclusion of only eight countries of MENA region. We recommend to convert government expenditure to investment and infrastructure instead of social transfer and current expenditure. Furthermore, more studies could be done about the government expenditure structure. In addition, we recommend to minimize government intervention to the market. Finally, growth of government does not improve investment environment or reduce transactions costs, and it crowds out private sector. Originality/value – This is the first work in MENA region, and using recent econometric techniques in subject according to our knowledge.
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Purpose - To investigate and determine the effects of unemployment and inflation on economic performance in Nigeria within the specified period as in the title and to establish the relationship between unemployment and inflation with Real Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique was adopted with various diagnostic test to determine how fit are the data for the analysis. Findings - The result of Diagnostic test indicates that data for the analysis are stationary at level and there are 2 cointegrating equation implying that there exist long-run relationship between RGDP, Unemployment and inflation. The results indicated that unemployment and inflation are positively related to economic growth. Research limitations/implications - The study uses only OLS and Diagnostic to carried out the analysis and it only cover the period from 1981 to 2014. Originality/value - The originality of this study lies on findings and interpretation of the result of regression analysis. The positive relationship between unemployment, inflation and RGDP indicates that Nigeria RGDP is driven by oil revenue that employs very limited highly skilled labour and the price of output of crude oil is determined externally which may not response as expected to growth of output in the country.
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Purpose - This paper attempts to analyse the empirical link between economic growth and the external shocks in a small open developing economy, Turkey, focusing on the nonlinearity between the dynamics for the 1992-2011 period. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines the effects of trade and financial openness and oil price, the most important trading partners' GDP growth as well as for external dynamics of economic growth. To this end, this paper employs a Structural VAR (SVAR) and a nonlinear Markov-Switching VAR model. We examine the nonlinearity to let the effects of the external dynamics vary with the level of economic growth. Findings - The results suggest the external dynamics considered in this paper - namely trade and financial openness, oil prices and growth rate of Germany - initially explain 29% of economic growth in Turkey, according to the linear estimation method. In the long run, this percentage climbs to 51%. The nonlinear analysis shows that the magnitude of the effect of the external dynamics in recession periods is almost twice as high as in expansion. Research limitations/Implications - This paper provides first attempt of the nonlinear analysis of the growth - external dynamics for Turkey, future research effort is required to substantiate our findings. Originality/value – The originality of this paper lies in the finding that the effects of external dynamics on economic growth differs according to the growth stage as the economy is in the expansion period or recession period.
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culture, bilateral, trade, competition, managementPurpose: Culture plays a role in international trade much as it does in any other human activity. Attitudes and ways of life do matter even when a lucrative business opportunity exists, especially across national borders. This paper examines which aspects of culture give countries competitive edge in terms of bilateral trade performances. Specifically, do relatively higher scores in certain cultural dimensions have a deterministic effect on bilateral trade performance (terms of trade or bilateral trade balance)? Methodology: We adopt empirical econometric estimation methods on trade data covering 59 countries and 29 years combined with the nine "Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE)" culture dimensions, Our estimations were based on Robust Regression Analysis and Ordinary Least Squares methods. Findings: We find that indeed, certain aspects of culture enhance bilateral trade performance/competitiveness. Performance Orientation, Future Orientation, Institutional Collectivism, Gender Egalitarianism, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance improve bilateral trade performance while Assertiveness, Humane Orientation and In-Group Collectivism impair it. Research limitations: Direct measures of international competitiveness are not readily available. So we had to adopt proxies for measuring international competitiveness. Implications: Many countries want to boost international competitiveness. However, in the current world order with multilateral trade agreements under the WTO and increased transferability of technology, governments are clipped in terms of available trade policy options. By understanding which aspects of culture promote bilateral competitiveness and performance, governments could take steps to maximize their competitiveness. For instance, when negotiating trade treaties, policy makers may benefit from the knowledge of culture's impact on competitive advantage when selecting partners. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to empirically examine how differences in national culture using the GLOBE dimensions affect bilateral and national competitiveness in international business.
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Purpose – This paper examines the evolution of costing process during the past thirty years. More specifically, the technological developments that have affected industrial firms are analysed, focusing on the type of production and the innovations that have been developed and affected costing related issues. Additionally, the creation of a new framework is examined, focusing on costing information that could be useful for making business decisions. Design/methodology/approach – A field survey was conducted on a sample of Greek manufacturing firms. A structured questionnaire was used as a research instrument for collecting primary data. It was constructed incorporating questions used by similar surveys reported in the relevant literature. Findings –The use of cost information for short-term decisions is prevailed over long-term (strategic planning decisions, evaluation of alternative options for the design or production of goods, product mix determination, introduction of new products), while the examination of the cost structure showed that the proportion of fixed cost covers almost 50 per cent of the total cost (fixed and variable) for most of half firms. Additionally, the proportion between direct and indirect production costs revealed that 76.8 per cent of the firms estimate that their direct costs would be up 80% of their total cost. Research limitations/implications – The omission of other important factors and the relation between specific factors such as firm’s size, industry sector and decision making process should be considered as well as the differentiation of the results according to the industry sector, or due to different costing purposes. Originality/value – This is one of the few studies exploring the costing practice implemented by Greek industrial firms. The analysis of the findings shows that despite the technological developments that affected the costing area and the criticisms concerning the limitations of the traditional costing approaches, they are still predominant.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Technical Efficiency through an Efficiency Study of Health Units of the Greek Ministry of Health, before and during the start of the Economic Crisis in Greece.Design/methodology/approach – The research has been designed to collect data regarding the Health Units of the Public Sector from the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) and to process that data with the use of the Data Envelopment Analysis software. The methodology of the research extends to the application of the Efficiency Study of Decision Making Units (DMUs), the study of variations of Technical Efficiency during a number of years and the extraction of conclusions regarding variations in Technical Efficiency at a time period before and during the start of the Crisis. Data from large Health Units was used in order to achieve comparison of the results.Findings – We calculate the DEA scores based on the most common DEA models (CCR, BCC and Super Efficiency) for the Health Units of the Greek Ministry of Health. We examine the variation in Technical Efficiency of the Health Units during the extent of the time period of the study. The Efficiency Study of the Health Units leads to useful conclusions regarding the variation in the observed Efficiency of the Units and the integration of the Efficiency variation studies, as part of the initial stage of an Integrated Crisis Management. The research ranks the efficient and non-efficient units and suggests ways of improvement. Research limitations/implications – This is a study about the Health Units of the Public Sector using size as a criterion. The investigation is limited to the Public Health Sector and its conclusions cannot be extended to the Private Health Sector. There are no geographical restrictions. Originality/value – This is an innovative research which allows for further case studies in the future and completion of Efficiency studies after the end of the Economic Crisis.
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Purpose – This paper addresses a criticism of coaching that is rather overlooked in the respective literature but highly discussed among clients. It is often claimed that coaching is nothing more than a chat among friends or colleagues and has, therefore, no added value for a potential customer. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the respective interdisciplinary literature to identify limitations and biases that are present in general discussions with friends or colleagues but professional coaches should be trained to overcome. Findings – Questions and discussion are indeed at the core of a coaching session, thus bearing much resemblance to a friendly chat. However, the resemblance is superficial. In this paper ten main differences between a coaching session and a discussion with a non-expert are found and analyzed. They are grouped into three categories: Biases, Heuristics and Personal Limitations. Research limitations/implications – Further research will be needed to test empirically the use of input from behavioural economics as a basis for coaching and also to enrich it with additional factors. Moreover, practitioners can use the proposed factors to increase their effectiveness as well as to create a unique selling proposition for their business. Originality/value – The paper discusses specific skills and capabilities that a professional coach must have and provides significant implications for both researchers and practitioners.
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Purpose – Endorsement strategies have a well-known potential of generating good results and there are various studies which refer to the endorsement sources as either a contextually effective or ineffective strategy.The present study is a new approach on this topic and it aims at identifying whether there are significant attitude changes towards the service category after the exposure to different types of service brand testimonials or not. The service category is represented by cosmetic treatments. The attitude structure in this study specifies three distinct components: the affective, the behavioural and the cognitive one. Design/methodology/approach –The study was conducted on a sample of 426 males and females from Romania. Each subject was exposed to testimonials coming from experts, celebrities and satisfied customers who were endorsing a branded cosmetic treatment. Measurements included endorsers’ perceived credibility and changes in affective, cognitive and behavioural attitudes towards the service category. Findings – Credibility derived from brand testimonials has an impact on the service category, as all three changes have been significant. The change in behavioural attitude was the most affected by perceived credibility, closely followed by the change in affective attitude and the change in cognitive attitude. Gender differences were also discussed. Research limitations/implications – The measurement of the endorsement's effect was performed only through the instrumentality of credibility. Another limitation is the survey context in which subjects got in contact with testimonials. Originality/value – This research is useful for both academics and practitioners, offering insights for those who are interested in attitude research and for those activating in the field of beauty service industry.
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Purpose -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. The aim of the present paper is also to highlight the dual nature of risk. Risk is frequently uni-dimensionally perceived by people. Usually, its usefulness in effecting change and making the most of the manifold opportunities of the contemporary volatile environment is ignored. Design/methodology/approach -There has been an extensive literature review on risk culture (organizations and personnel). Elements of the Greek Economy were used as well. Findings -The significance of developing a risk culture in organizations and governments. However, the unsuccessful attempt which was made by the Greek state so as to deal with the risks, shows that minimal preparation and progress has been achieved. 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. Research limitations/implications-In relation to risk-taking by employees as well as their financial and operational risks in Public Administration and Economics, is ascertained that there are few studies, as opposed to the interest in the importance of taking risks in the strategy, which has risen sharply in recent years. Originality/value- The provision of the theoretical framework for the development of a risk management culture in organizations since the States are under restructuring scheme.
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Purpose – Social capital and its core components of social trust and associational activity are widely acknowledged as a core feature of strong and active civil societies that promote effective democratic governance and economic prosperity. Within this context the present study sets out to explore two important research questions. The first one relates to the stock of social capital characterizing Greece and its change during a highly sensitive era, that of the outburst of the economic crisis. The second research question relates to analyzing the group of civil servants as carriers of higher or lower levels of social capital compared to the other citizens. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the available knowledge in the field social capital is measured via the measurement of six main constructs comprising the soft and hard attributes of the concept, namely social trust, social altruism, equality, tolerance, humanitarianism and civic participation. Data are drawn from the European Social Value round 4 (2008) and round 5 (2010) surveys for Greece. Findings – Overall, empirical analysis indicates that the country experiences a statistically significant decline in its social capital level while public servants hold higher levels of social capital albeit also declining as for the rest of the country's citizens. Research limitations/implications – Important policy implications arise as a result of these findings related to issues of democratic legitimation and social participation. Originality/value –the research questions analysed here are important as they can help us sketch the country’s profile with regard to the important concept of social capital that is highly associated with civil empowerment, democratization and increased civil participation levels.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of Innovative Activity on firm performance and growth. Active Research and Development is considered to be directly related with development, prosperity and growth, in micro and macro level and a key factor in hindering economic recession. Design/methodology/approach – We analyse economic data from listed firms of selected eurozone country-members in order to associate Research and Development with performance indicators in firm and country level. For that purpose, several firm data were collected from WorldScope data base and macroeconomic data from Worldbank database. The period examined is between 2002 and 2012, with a special focus on current financial crisis (after 2007). The empirical process includes, descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. Findings – Findings indicate the crucial effect of innovative process in economic performance and development in firm and country level. The latter highlights the urgent need for public support in order to spur innovative activity and high-tech exports, especially in countries that were heavily affected by recession. Research limitations/implications – Some research limitations are the large number of missing cases in WordScope database, as many firms after the beginning of current crisis exit stock market. Furthermore, the other part of the economy, the Small and Medium Enterprises does not exist in the analysis, as listed firms are mainly large and mature companies. Originality/value – The results tend to highlight the need for common policy measures in eurozone, in regard to such issues, instead of imposing horizontal budgetary constraints in specific countries (like Southern Europe), hindering the vicious recessionary circle.
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Purpose – This papers aims to analyze the dynamics of agglomeration processes in the North East region of Romania and to connect the results with the process of deepening of Romania’s European integration.Design/methodology/approach - The research method includes an analysis in dynamic of two economic sectors: agriculture and IT&C. Firstly, I analyzed the transformation of the GDP from 2000 to 2011 so as to gain insights from the evolution of the North East region during the EU accession and economic crisis. Secondly, I used the Location Quotient method in order to assess the agriculture and IT&C sectors in the North East in comparison with the other regions of Romania. Findings – The results show a strong specialization degree in agriculture, where the North East regions has the higher value of the Location Quotient in comparison with the other regions, and a weak specialization in IT&C, where the region ranked 5 from 7 in 2011. At the same time, regarding the IT&C we can see a positive tendency during the years, possibly explained by the presence of one of the most important university centers from the country and by the multinationals that have started to come after the EU accession. The over-representation of the agriculture in the regional economic structure is not specific for the North East region; other four Romanian regions had in 2011 a strong relative specialization in this field. Research limitations/implications – The analysis can be completed using more quantitative indicators like the export value of the sector as compared to total regional export value. The limitation is that in Romania there are no data on exports at the regional level. Originality/value – This analysis uses Location Quotient method in order to compare the levels of specialization across the Romanian regions.
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Robert V. Mekčejsni, Digitalna isključenost – Kako kapitalizam okreće internet protiv demokratije1, prevod s engleskog Domagoj Orlić, FMK, Multimedijalni institut, Beograd, 2015.
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Martin Löffelholz, David Weaver (eds.), Global journalism research: Theories, Methods, Findings, Future, Oxford: Blackwell, 2008.
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