Exploring the cargo and eco‐efficiencies of international container shipping companies: A network‐based ranking approach

This study aims to evaluate the cargo and eco‐efficiencies of international container shipping companies (CSCs) for the period 2013–2017 for benchmarking purposes. An integration of two‐stage network directional distance function and network‐based approach in data envelopment analysis is utilized to distinguish the efficient operators. Results show that most CSCs are highly ranked in the cargo efficiency stage but lowly ranked in the eco‐efficiency stage and vice versa. This study emphasizes the strengths and weaknesses of each factor of every CSC. Results can help the inefficient CSCs find the areas for improvement by learning from their peers.     

Impacts of Monetary, Fiscal and Exchange Rate Policies on Output in China: A Var Approach

Applying the VAR model and using the interest rate as a monetary policy variable, we find that in the long run, output in China responds negatively to a shock to the interest rate, the real exchange rate, government debt, or the inflation rate, and it reacts positively to a shock to government deficits or lagged own output. When real M2 is chosen as a monetary policy variable, long-term output in China responds positively to a shock to real M2 or lagged own output, and it reacts negatively to a shock to the real exchange rate, government debt, or government deficits. Its response to a shock to the inflation rate is negative when government debt is used and is positive when government deficits are considered. In the short run, fiscal policy is more important than monetary policy in three out of four cases. In the long run, monetary policy is more influential than fiscal policy in three out of four cases. Therefore, the government may consider conducting monetary and fiscal policies differently in the short run and long run. The government needs to be cautious in pursuing deficit spending as its long-term impacts depend on the monetary variable employed. The policy of maintaining a relatively stable exchange rate is appropriate as the depreciation of the Yuan may hurt the economy in the short run.JEL Classifications: E5, F4, H6     

城市文艺复兴:新竹旧城的城市竞争策略

新竹是台湾最早开发的城市之一,拥有一百七十多年建城历史,具有独特的都市纹理.市中心拥有两大核心:其一是以清朝时期的城隍庙为中心,环绕着东门、西门、南门、北六四条街道;其二是以日据时期的东门圆环为中心,放射出九条老街,俗称‘九龙抢珠',此两大核心围塑出新竹旧城的繁荣地带,为新竹市民与游客最重要的活动空间.自1980年新竹科学园区设立后,高科技产业词发展,迄今十万名高科技从业人员与高消费族群,造成东南亚最大的购物中心、各大百货公司以及连锁卖场的兴起,使得新竹旧城所围塑的传统购物空间,以及传统产业与历史建筑,面临逐渐没落的危机.研究在整合传统街区的商业及历史资源,进行街道、建物、店面、商家及游客的调查与问卷,提出重建城市资源,包括密集的公共运输系统、传统建筑及人文景观、历史老店的专业服务品质、传统美食、公共空间、人情味、及文化气息与历史古迹等,具体拟定"新竹旧城City Mall"的城市竞争策略,并发展都市更新与都市景观的规划及设计构想,包括地区环境改造、城市中心管理(Town Center Management)、交通需求管理(Transport Demand Management)、以及观光旅运管理(Tourism Transport Management)等,以达成新竹城市文艺复兴的目标.     

How to Encourage Customers to Use Legal Software

This study attempts to identify customer retention strategies for legal software and discusses their effectiveness for three consumer groups (stayers, dissatisfied switchers, and satisfied switchers). Although previous studies propose several antipirating strategies, they do not discuss how to enhance customer intentions to use legal software, which is crucial for software companies. The authors provide four generic retention strategies developed from both antipiracy and customer loyalty literature. The results indicate lower-pricing, legal, communication, and product strategies all enhance customer purchase intentions toward legal software. The lower-pricing strategy is more useful for stayers and dissatisfied switchers, and the communication strategy is most useful for dissatisfied switchers. Both the legal and product strategies have similar impacts on purchase intentions across the three segments. From a firm perspective, a product strategy is most worthwhile and useful across all segments.     

A multilevel analysis of the service marketing triangle in theme parks

ABSTRACT

This study explores multilevel relationships between employees and visitors within 25 theme parks in Taiwan. The adapted constructs with corresponding items of interactive, internal, and external marketing were developed based on the service marketing triangle theory and previous literature. The results show that interactive marketing influences visitor satisfaction and behavioral intentions; internal marketing influences interactive marketing, and moderates the effect of interactive marketing on satisfaction; external marketing influences satisfaction; and satisfaction affects behavioral intentions. This study demonstrates that examining the influence of cross-level service marketing on internal and external customer satisfaction is crucial to the operational success of theme parks.     

Understanding the influences of story elements in service businesses

With the advances of the roles of business stories in marketing, two issues remain unclear: How do consumers evaluate story elements on services? Do usefulness and affect mediate the relationships between business story elements and brand attitude in services? Therefore, to answer these questions, this study conducted between-subjects experiments to investigate the roles of business story elements, usefulness, and affect in financial and restaurants services. The results indicate that the elements of authenticity, reversal, and humor are generally useful in engaging consumers’ usefulness and affect; besides, conciseness is useful in engaging consumers’ usefulness but is not for affect and brand attitude; finally, usefulness and affect are mediators of the relationship between business story elements and brand attitude. These findings provide a framework to design business story and investigate the mediation of usefulness and affect on the relationship between business story elements and brand attitude for services and practitioners.     

Mutual fund performance: The decision quality and capital magnet efficiencies

This study employs a two-stage network data envelopment analysis model to analyze the decision quality and capital magnet efficiencies of 155 mutual funds in Taiwan during the period 2007–2016. The empirical results show that fund managers improved their decision quality; however, their capital magnet efficiency declined. This study also found 10 mutual funds performing in decision quality and capital magnet efficiencies, from which practical suggestions are provided to investors. Finally, this study constructs a market competition matrix to help fund managers (and investors) improve their operating and portfolio performance, plus resource allocation.     

Management earnings forecasts and bank loan contracting

We find that firms tend to issue management earnings forecasts and convey good news before bank loan initiation. Issuing firms enjoy more favorable contracting terms and attract more lenders. Management forecasts issuance within a nine‐month period prior to the loan activating quarter can lower the subsequent loan spread by 14.06 basis points. Moreover, firms with larger management forecast errors are charged harsher contracting terms and attract fewer lenders. Our study suggests that firms strategically issue management earnings forecasts before entering into debt contracts and lenders incorporate the information contained in management earnings forecasts into bank loan contracting.     

IS FULL EFFICIENCY ACHIEVABLE? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN TAIWAN

This paper aims to propose a feasible framework for estimating the efficiency of input factors for banks and the adjustment of these factors necessary to achieve full efficiency in the short and long term. Based on a sample of 39 Taiwanese banks during 1999–2011, the framework recommends a scheme along with a set of adjustments empirically that allow the banks to not only achieve full efficiency but also save 10.3% of the total costs in the short term and 8.8% in the long term. This scheme amounts to short‐term and long‐term savings of NT$3.6 billion and NT$3.1 billion, respectively. (JEL C23, D24, G21)     

Is there the threshold effect of cigarette price on smoking prevalence? A cross-country panel data analysis

This article shows new cross-country evidences by empirically investigating the joint effects of cigarette price levels and joining the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) on smoking prevalence in 74 countries over the period of 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006. We assessed cigarette price elasticity for three national income levels using different databases on cigarette price from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), demographic and socioeconomic country characteristics from the World Bank and adjusted smoking prevalence rates published by various yearly WHO reports on the global tobacco epidemic from 2000 to 2010. A panel threshold regression was used to capture the nonlinear effects that cigarette prices on smoking prevalence at the three national income levels endogenously determined by estimation. Our findings supported the evidence that joining the WHO FCTC would have a positive effect on reducing cross-country smoking prevalence, especially among countries with low- and medium-income levels. Moreover, some simulated results show that a price hike of 10% would reduce smoking prevalence in countries with national income levels equal to or less than US$1900 and by 7.2% in countries with national income levels between US$1900 and US$2510 more than those with national income levels that are higher than US$2510.