A test of the underinvestment,myopia and commodity bias hypotheses for U.S. agricultural research

Analysts of agricultural research policy in the United States of America have claimed that the overall level of public investment in agricultural research is less than what would be socially optimal, that the present composition of public research investment is excessively myopic in that too little basic research is performed relative to the level of applied research, and that the allocation of research resources among commodities is inconsistent with economic efficiency. A non-linear optimal growth model of the U.S. economy was developed to analyse these propositions. Strong support was found for the claim that the overall level of investment has been inadequate. No support was found for the contention that basic research has been relatively underfunded compared to applied research. Weak support was found for the view that crop research has suffered from more acute underfunding than has livestock research.     

Accreditation of engineering programs: an evaluation of current practices in Malaysia

The curriculum for undergraduate engineering courses in Malaysia is becoming increasingly structured, following the global trend for quality assurance in engineering education, through accreditation schemes. Generally, the accreditation criteria call for the graduates from engineering programs to demonstrate a range of skills, from technical problem solving to soft skills and an aptitude for lifelong learning. In order to comply with these criteria, accreditation schemes are adopted as a quality assurance measure. This paper shall introduce the characteristics of the engineering accreditation scheme in Malaysia. The impact of the accreditation scheme on the quality of these engineering programs shall be evaluated. Data collection is in the form of benchmarking and questionnaires. The evaluation criteria shall be in terms of benefits to the institution, academic faculty, students, and the challenges encountered. A discussion on the evaluation shall include the supposed dichotomies which arise from this accreditation process, namely the compromise between research versus teaching; and the value of engineering knowledge whether as an academic pursuit or catering to industry’s needs. Ultimately, this paper shall address a fundamental question related to undergraduate teaching in engineering: whether accreditation is a necessary prerequisite in maintaining high standards in engineering programs in Malaysia.     

Certifying catfish in Vietnam and Bangladesh: Who will make the grade and will it matter?

Certification is an increasingly pervasive form of market governance through which retailers and NGOs are able to exert control over producers of primary products in order to secure their commercial and institutional interests. This paper assesses the likely outcomes of emerging certification standards intended to govern production of a new global commodity, Pangasius catfish. This evaluation focuses on Pangasius producers in Vietnam and Bangladesh, and one of the key areas which standards seek to regulate; the environment. We conclude that certification is likely to result in greater differentiation and polarisation between larger and smaller farm operators and will increasingly act to exclude of the latter from access to Western European and North American markets, and that any local environmental gains produced may be of relatively minor significance.     

Measurement and dimension of road fatality in Brunei

In this article, we have investigated the pattern of road fatality in Brunei. It is seen from this analysis that road fatality in Brunei was one of the highest in the world in the early 1990s, but has been significantly reduced over the years, and is now one of the lowest in the world. Preliminary investigation shows that young male drivers are responsible for most road fatalities in Brunei. We have also fitted a linear regression model and found that road fatality is significantly positively related to people aged 18-24 years and new registered vehicles, both of which are expected to grow with the growth of population and economic development. Hence, road fatality in Brunei is also expected to grow unless additional effective road safety countermeasures are introduced and implemented to reduce road toll. Negative coefficient is observed for trend variable, indicating the reduction of road fatality due to the combined effects of improvements of vehicle safety, road design, medical facilities and road safety awareness among road user groups. However, short-term road fatality analysis based on monthly data indicates that the coefficient of the trend variable is positive, implying that in recent months road fatalities are increasing in Brunei, which is supported by media reports. We have compared Brunei's road fatality data with Australia, Singapore and Malaysia and found that Brunei's road fatality rate is lower than Singapore and Malaysia, but higher than Australia. This indicates that there are still opportunities to reduce road fatalities in Brunei if additional effective road safety strategies are implemented like in Australia without interfering in the economic and social development of Brunei.     

A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises

This article reviews the scholarly research on the internationalization of Chinese enterprises (ICE) through bibliometric citation analysis. We do so through a data visualization technique and analysis of 206 articles which are authored by 382 scholars in 72 different journals published between 2003 and 2016. The results reveal four research streams in the context of ICE: (1) testing traditional FDI theory, (2) location choice, (3) entry mode choice, and (4) drivers and motivations of internationalization. While international business (IB) journals, such as the Journal of World Business, the Journal of International Business Studies, and International Business Review, have taken a lead role in pushing the ICE literature stream forward, geographically focused general management journals, such as the Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Management & Organization Review, have also made a singular contribution. The impact of perspective, in terms of author and institution affiliation, on the literature set is also examined. Finally, issues related to data, methodological rigor and theoretical underpinnings are highlighted. To advance the ICE literature, we proposed a holistic framework of drivers and motivations of Chinese outward FDI and present some promising future research areas.     

The Relationship between Australian Mutual Fund Fees and Risk‐Adjusted Performance in Differing Economic Conditions

We find that Australian mutual fund investors should avoid high fee funds as these funds generate relatively low after‐fee risk‐adjusted returns both unconditionally and in weak economic conditions. This result is different from some of the previous findings which showed that US mutual funds with relatively high expense ratios may generate relatively higher risk‐adjusted returns during recessions relative to non‐recessions, although their unconditional alphas may be negative. We find some support for the Glode hypothesis in surviving Australian wholesale funds. High‐fee surviving Australian wholesale funds perform relatively strongly in both weak economic conditions and unconditionally. High‐fee funds in other types of Australian mutual funds generally do not perform strongly either in weak economic conditions or unconditionally. Amongst low‐fee funds, we commonly find that those that perform well unconditionally and well in weak economic conditions do charge more than those that perform well unconditionally and poorly in weak economic conditions. Amongst low‐fee funds, it is often true that those that perform poorly unconditionally but well in weak economic conditions can charge more than those that perform poorly unconditionally and poorly in weak economic conditions.     

Corporate Disclosure in Relation to Combating Corporate Bribery: A Case Study of Two Chinese Telecommunications Companies

This paper investigates the association between global community concerns about bribery activities and anti‐bribery disclosure practices by two Chinese telecommunication companies operating internationally, namely China Mobile and ZTE. Based on content analysis of annual reports and global news media articles over a period of 16 years from 1995–2010, the findings suggest that the changes in the level of disclosures by the two major Chinese telecommunications companies were closely associated with the level of international concerns over bribery practices within the Chinese telecommunications industry. This finding indicates that the companies adopt anti‐bribery disclosure practices in order to minimise the gap of trust (social capital) between companies themselves and global stakeholders. In this paper we argue that, for domestic companies in China, culturally constructed social capital, such as guanxi, creates a level of trust between managers and their stakeholders, which obviates the need for managers to disclose anti‐bribery performance information. However, for companies operating internationally, as social capital is inadequate to bridge the gap of trust between managers and global stakeholders, managers use disclosures of anti‐bribery performance information as a way to minimise such a gap.     

The climate change‐related disclosures and accountability practices of NGOs: Evidence from Australia

This paper focusses on non‐governmental organisations’ (NGOs) broader social accountability, investigating their public disclosures on climate change commitment and performance. Using a synthesised disclosure index, we analyse the annual reports of 30 NGOs, all signatories to the Australian Council for International Development's Code of Conduct. Overall disclosure rates from 2008 to 2013 were higher for commitment than performance, but were very low overall. However, the number of NGOs disclosing information rose markedly over the period. Although it is not directly possible to attribute the change in disclosure levels to the implementation of the Code, the enactment of the new Code could be one of the motivating factors for NGOs’ disclosure practices and their demonstrations of greater social accountability.