Impact of Shari’ah on Consumers’ Behavior Toward Sales Promotion Tools: Focus on Egyptian Convenience Products

This study measures to what extent compliance with Shari’ah moderates the relationship between different sales promotion tools—namely, price discount, product demonstration and sampling, buy one get one free (bonus pack), sweepstakes/lucky draws, scratch and win offers, and free samples—and three consumer behavioral responses (product trial, stockpiling, and spending more) for buying convenience products from supermarkets in Egypt. A total of 381 selected Muslim consumers/shoppers were surveyed via face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Overall correlation analysis between the six proposed sales promotion tools and consumers’ response behavior in general demonstrated a significant relationship. However, some specific tools did not indicate a significant relationship with specific response behaviors. Furthermore, correlation analysis initially indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between all sales promotion tools and compliance with Shari’ah, with the exception of sweepstakes and scratch and win offers, which demonstrated a significant negative relationship. Furthermore, after running linear stepwise regression, the model was fit (62%), indicating the moderating role of compliance with Shari’ah in the relationship between specific sales promotion tools—namely, sweepstakes/games and scratch and win offers—and Muslim consumers’ behavioral responses. Generally speaking, marketers should consider Shari’ah and ethical principles in Islam before creatively crafting promotional tools to attract Muslim consumers, and new tools could be developed with an Islamic orientation to attract Muslim consumers.     

A Brief Survey of Modern Optimization for Statisticians

Modern computational statistics is turning more and more to high‐dimensional optimization to handle the deluge of big data. Once a model is formulated, its parameters can be estimated by optimization. Because model parsimony is important, models routinely include non‐differentiable penalty terms such as the lasso. This sober reality complicates minimization and maximization. Our broad survey stresses a few important principles in algorithm design. Rather than view these principles in isolation, it is more productive to mix and match them. A few well‐chosen examples illustrate this point. Algorithm derivation is also emphasized, and theory is downplayed, particularly the abstractions of the convex calculus. Thus, our survey should be useful and accessible to a broad audience.     

风险评估标准和儿童用品风险评估研究

本文对国内外的风险评估相关标准进行了研究，分析了标准术语、适用领域方面的差异，总结了产品质量安全风险评估的一般过程，并提出了儿童用品质量安全风险评估的构想。     

The influence of entrepreneur’s personal characteristics on MSEs growth through innovation

Research in the separate areas of innovation and growth has considerably intensified in recent years. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics that might explain the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through innovation. This study examines the key entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics affecting micro and small enterprises (MSEs) upgrading, defined here as substantial growth through innovation. Six major determining types of entrepreneurs’ characteristics were identified from the innovation and the growth literature: education, work experience, gender, motivations, nationality and age. The empirical results which are based on t-tests of the differences between upgraders and non-upgraders, the linear probability model and the logit model, all suggest that work experience and motivations are cornerstones in the likelihood that an MSE will upgrade. The policy implications of this study on promoting MSEs upgrading are also discussed.     

Managerial mindset as the mechanism of the country-of-origin effect: evidence from Chinese multinational enterprises’ approach to employer associations

The country-of-origin effect (COE) on employment practices in multinational enterprises (MNEs) has become an important area of international human resource management research. However, research on the mechanisms of the COE, a fundamental and critical aspect of the country-of-origin phenomenon, is scant. This study seeks to empirically explore the mechanisms through which country-of-origin influences Chinese MNEs’ approach to host-country employer associations. Analysis of qualitative data from 13 Chinese MNEs revealed that country of origin affected the approach of Chinese MNEs to host-country employer associations in the form of transfer of managerial norms. It also revealed that it was the mindset of those home-country nationals who were key decision-makers at subsidiaries that enabled the COE in Chinese MNEs. This paper highlights the importance for future studies of international strategic human resources management to pay attention to micro-foundations of cross-border practice transfer and to incorporate analyses of managerial cognition in the investigation of MNEs’ management practices.     

统筹城乡发展中农民权益保障问题思考——以成都改革为对象的分析

农民问题的核心是农民的权益保障问题。论文对成都统筹城乡改革中有关农民权益保障,包括经济权益、社会权益、政治权益的基本情况进行了调研分析,在经验归纳的基础上指出,在坚持中国共产党及其政府作为制度的整体设计者与公共资源的主体供给者前提下,从农民的权益诉求出发,落实并保障农民的权益。     

The implications of monetary expansion in China for the US dollar

We examine the influence of rapid growth in China's money supply on the US dollar within a framework of monetary models of exchange rates. We develop out-of-sample forecasts of the US dollar exchange rate using US and global data on price level, output, and interest rates, and money supply data for the US, China, and the rest of the world for the period 1996–2013. Monetary model forecasts significantly outperform a random walk forecast in terms of mean squared forecast error in the long run. A monetary error correction model with sticky prices performs best. Rolling sample analysis indicates changes over time in the influence of Chinese money supply in forecasting the US dollar. The expectation is that rapid money growth in China would increase the demand for dollars thus raising the value of the dollar, yet our forecasts are to the contrary for the mid 2000s. This is consistent with anticipation of renminbi appreciation under China’s managed exchange rate, which made holding renminbi more attractive. With the break from a dollar peg in 2005 and subsequent currency appreciation, the distortion was alleviated and the forecast direction for the dollar became as expected.     

Mr. Market's Mind: Finance's Hard Problem

The market as a mind is the implicit premise in any discussion on whether the market is rational or not. Still, its implications, in terms of ontology and epistemology, are hardly understood. In particular, this paper defines the market's version of the mind-body problem and labels it as finance's “hard” problem. Its denial by modern finance causes this dominant paradigm to fail in dealing with reality in general and to produce incomplete investment knowledge in particular. Finally, as part of facing up to this problem, this paper offers a glimpse at a practical approach which may enrich investment research.     

关注“90后”大学生思想特点创新高校思想政治教育方法

＂90后＂是当前大学生的主体,因成长环境的不同造成了其身上具有不同于70、80年代大学生的特性,这给高校思想政治教育带来了现实的挑战。思想政治教育者应根据＂90后＂的思想特点,创新思想政治教育方法,增强思想政治教育的针对性和实效性。