Finite-sample distribution of the augmented Dickey–Fuller test with lag optimization

This article presents a response surface analysis for the distribution of the augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) test with optimized lag order in the autoregression using frequently applied data-dependent methods. Simulation results demonstrate that finite-sample distribution of the test depends critically on the lag-order determination rule. The univariate test and its panel counterparts exhibit size distortion when the lag order in the autoregression is optimized but inappropriate distribution is employed in test implementation. Response surface coefficients reported for the finite-sample distribution of the test with lag optimization are therefore useful tools for practitioners in applied research. The simulation evidence and practical use of the response surface coefficients are substantiated with empirical illustrations.     

Explore how Chinese consumers evaluate retail service quality and satisfaction

The present study explores how Chinese consumers evaluate retail service quality and satisfaction. A questionnaire including items from SERVQUAL and RSQS was developed and administrated to a random sample of 556 Chinese consumers based on a literature review of retail service quality. The results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that neither SERVQUAL nor RSQS was able to fit the collected data appropriately. Employing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, a four-factor higher-order retail service quality model, ReServQual, in which interaction and trustworthiness, store environment, understanding the consumers, and policy were key dimensions, was identified. The current study contributes to the literature on service business research by reexamining and extending the existing service quality models in the Chinese context. Global and regional retailers should realize that consumers’ perceptions are country specific.     

标准的瓶颈

IEEE审批标准的速度漫长得令人沮丧,以厂商为主的集团开始努力缩短 802．11 n标准的审批过程。多年来,高科技公司一直在抱怨IEEE (电气和电子工程师协会)通过一个标准的过程实在是漫长得令人沮丧。尽管这些公司明白,不同厂商产品间的互操作性最     

The mixture index of fit and minimax regression

A measure of the fit of a statistical model can be obtained by estimating the relative size of the largest fraction of the population where a distribution belonging to the model may be valid. This is the mixture index of fit that was suggested for models for contingency tables by Rudas, Clogg, Lindsay (1994) and it is extended here for models involving continuous observations. In particular, the approach is applied to regression models with normal and uniform error structures. Best fit, as measured by the mixture index of fit, is obtained with minimax estimation of the regression parameters. Therefore, whenever minimax estimation is used for these problems, the mixture index of fit provides a natural approach for measuring model fit and for variable selection. Received: September 1997     

Determinants of non-life insurance expenditure in developed and developing countries: an empirical investigation

The determinants of non-life insurance expenditure in a panel data set covering 36 developed countries and 31 developing countries for the period 2000–2011 are analysed. Results of our instrumental variable analysis indicate that economic freedom, income, bank development, urbanization, culture and law systems are the key drivers of the non-life insurance expenditure across countries. However, their impacts differ significantly between the groups of developed and developing countries, suggesting that the heterogeneity among countries in terms of the level of development plays an important role. The global financial crisis is also found to influence the direction of those effects, especially in developed countries. The article yields useful policy and economic implications for governments and multinational non-life insurance companies with regard to the development of the non-life insurance sector, an important engine for economic growth and prosperity.     

Estimating global frontier shifts and global Malmquist indices

The Malmquist index is a measure of productivity changes, of which an important component is the frontier shift or technological change. Often technological change can be viewed as a global phenomenon, and therefore individual or local measures of technological changes are aggregated into an overall measure, traditionally using geometric means. In this paper we propose a way of calculating global Malmquist indices and global frontier shift indices which provides a better estimation of the true frontier shift and furthermore is easy to calculate. Using simulation studies we show how this method outperforms the traditional aggregation approach, especially for sparsely populated production possibility sets and for frontiers that also change shape over time. Furthermore, our global indices can be used for unbalanced panels without disregarding any information. Finally, we show how the global indices are meaningful for calculating differences between frontiers from different groups rather than different time periods as illustrated in a small case study of bank branches in different countries.      

Idiosyncratic deals and good citizens in China: the role of traditionality for recipients and their coworkers

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between idiosyncratic deals and organizational citizen behavior (OCB). How traditional Chinese values moderate the relationship between idiosyncratic deals and OCB is examined from the perspectives of recipients and coworkers. Survey data were provided by 359 supervisor–subordinate dyads. Recipients of idiosyncratic deals are positively associated with their OCB-I, and the positive relationship between them is strongest for individuals with high perceived visibility and low traditionality. From the perspective of coworkers, the effect of coworker's beliefs in obtaining future idiosyncratic deals on OCB-I is strongest for individuals with high perceptions of others' idiosyncratic deals and low traditionality. This is the first study to provide evidence of the relationship between idiosyncratic deals and OCB from the perspective of recipients and coworkers. Additionally, the authors discuss the roles of perceived visibility and traditionality, thereby provide new insights into the outcomes of idiosyncratic deals based on cultural differences. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The role of farmer organizations in supplying supermarkets with quality food in Vietnam

The development of supermarkets in Vietnam, as in other emerging countries, is accompanied by increasing consumer concern for food quality. This paper investigates whether farmer organizations are able to help small-scale farmers obtain access to supermarkets as well as examines the role that supermarkets and public support play in the emergence and development of these organizations. The paper is based on case studies of a number of stakeholders marketing vegetables, flavored rice and litchi fruit in Vietnam. Eight farmer groups operating in the form of private commercial organizations act as regular supermarket suppliers for the selected products. Their ability to supply supermarkets is related to the combination of functions they make available to their members, especially with regard to promoting and controlling quality for which they receive public support. Their participation in flexible contracts with supermarkets, shops and schools is also a key issue. Supplying supermarkets via farmer associations increases farmers’ profits per kilo compared to traditional chains, but the quantities supplied to supermarkets remain limited. The paper argues that changes in farmer organizations are not primarily due to supplying supermarkets, but rather to public and international support for food quality improvement which has been of benefit to supermarkets.     

The simultaneity in human capital estimations： The case of China

Existing papers on human capital and growth in China has been using single equation estimations. This might cause a simultaneity bias if a two-way causality between the two variables exists. In this paper, the author performs vector autoregressive estimations using panel data on the number of graduates at each level of education as a proxy for human capital in China during 1991-2005. The results show that investment in human capital increases output per worker at all three levels of education. Regarding the effects of output per worker on the accumulation of human capital, the author finds mixed results with the primary-school graduates＇ benefits the most from increases in per capita output.     

On the Effectiveness of Incentive Pay: Exploring Complementarities and Substitution between Management Control System Elements in a Manufacturing Firm

Abstract

Extant research already emphasises that complementarities and substitution involving incentive pay and other elements of an organisation's management control system play an important role in terms of explaining the effectiveness of incentive systems. Despite this awareness calls continue for more research addressing the need to better understand how interdependencies arise among management control system elements and how they affect organisational effectiveness. Based on an in-depth case study on the implementation of a new incentive system in a manufacturing firm, we seek to provide more research and insight into how incentive pay features in complementary and substitutional relationships in an individual organisational setting. Greater insight can help illustrate how complementary and substitutional relationships unfold in even more complex ways than current research indicates, as well as how the effectiveness of the incentive system in the individual organisational setting is determined by these relationships.