Monetary policy in a channel system

Channel systems for conducting monetary policy are becoming increasingly popular. Despite its popularity, the consequences of implementing policy with a channel system are not well understood. We develop a general equilibrium framework of a channel system and study the optimal policy. A novel aspect of the channel system is that a central bank can “tighten” or “loosen” its policy without changing its policy rate. This policy instrument has so far been overlooked by a large body of the literature on the optimal design of interest-rate rules.     

Optimal pricing of payment services

Payments are increasingly being made with payment cards despite the fact that the cost of clearing a card payment usually exceeds the cost of transferring cash. We examine this puzzle through the lens of monetary theory. We consider the design of an optimal card-based payment system when cash is available as an alternative means of payment. We find that a feature akin to the controversial “no-surcharge rule” may be necessary to ensure the viability of the card payment system. This rule states that merchants cannot charge a customer who pays by card more than a customer who pays by cash.     

Teacher Training and Teacher Optimism about the American Economic System

The amount and type of economic-education training teachers receive have predictable effects on the teachers' optimism about the future of the American economic system.     

Corporatisation and Corporate Governance in China's Economic Transition

China has sought to improve enterprise performance not through privatisation as in other transition economies, but through corporatisation as means of improving corporate governance. Actual governance practices of corporatised Chinese firms are however seriously defective, characterized by excessive power of CEOs, insider control and collusion, lack of safeguards for minority shareholders and weak transparency. These shortcomings are attributable to factors such as cultural and political traditions, uncompetitiveness of markets, poor legal enforcement, weak debt and equity markets, but above all to continued state dominance in ownership and control of the corporate sector and listed companies. Corporatisation, nevertheless, has created a regime conducive to implementing measures for improving corporate governance.     

Strategic brand management for higher education institutions with graduate degree programs: empirical insights from the higher education marketing mix

ABSTRACT

Intense competition for student enrollment has created a strong need for higher education institutions, especially those that offer graduate degree programs, to differentiate themselves. This article introduces the concept of strategic brand management as an avenue for higher education differentiation and discusses how higher education institutions with graduate degree programs can strategically manage their brands (i.e. corporate and product) through the higher education marketing mix (i.e. prominence, prospectus, program, price, people, premium, and promotion). Using a closed-ended survey and partial least squares structural equation modeling of a sample of students enrolled in a graduate degree program (e.g. MBA), the study finds that the utilitarian elements (i.e. prominence, prospectus, program, and price) of the higher education marketing mix have a positive direct impact on the product brand (e.g. MBA brand) and an indirect impact on the corporate brand (e.g. university brand) of these types of higher education institutions. However, hedonic elements (i.e. people, premium, and promotion) of the higher education marketing mix do not produce any significant impact on either the corporate or product brands of these institutions. Implications from these findings to theory, practice, and future research avenues conclude.     

Money donations intentions among Muslim donors: an extended theory of planned behavior model

• The investigation into determinants of money donation intentions while employing an extended theory of planned behavior model is limited to developed country contexts. However, given the challenges facing charitable organizations and scant theoretical evidence from developing world, such an examination can contribute pragmatically. The current study establishes the impact of subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, past behavior, and attitude on respondents' money donation intentions to charities in Pakistan. The respondents (N = 223), a non‐student population living in the city of Gujranwala, completed a survey. The collected data are analyzed by means of a multivariate analysis, which was comprised of regression and correlation. The results reveal a strong support to the extended theory of planned behavior model in establishing the relationship between identified independent and dependent variables in a developing country context of Pakistan. The study contributes to the establishment of a few strategies, which are useful for managers working in charitable organizations to attract and retain donors to support several causes.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Top Executive Pay in the United Kingdom: A Corporate Governance Dilemma

This study represents a first attempt in the UK literature to split total pay into salary, annual bonus and share options for the purpose of empirically verifying how each is related to executive performance. As predicted from earlier studies on total pay, salaries were found primarily determined by firm size. Contarary to prior research, however, our findings suggest a pronounced link does exist between performance and pay over both the short- and long-term. This is manifested particularly by the magnitude of the coefficient estimates found between changes in shareholders return and changes in executive share options. This finding strongly suggests that the leverage executives achieve, on average, in their rewards as share prices increase may well be substantial; a finding that has not been captured in previous research on executive remuneration and which is of considerable relevance to the current corporate governance debates.