Transmission of monetary policy and exchange rate shocks under foreign currency lending

This paper analyses the differences in reaction of domestic and foreign currency lending to monetary and exchange rate shocks, using a panel VAR model estimated for the three biggest Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary). Our results point toward a drop in domestic currency loans and an increase of foreign currency credit in reaction to monetary policy tightening in Poland and Hungary, suggesting that the presence of foreign currency debt weakens the transmission of monetary policy. A currency depreciation shock leads to an initial decline in foreign currency lending, but also in loans denominated in domestic currency as central banks react to a weaker exchange rate by increasing the interest rates. However, after several quarters, credit in foreign currency accelerates, indicating that borrowers start using it to substitute for depressed domestic currency lending.     

Model uncertainty and efficiency measurement in stochastic frontier analysis with generalized errors

Journal of Productivity Analysis - Advanced efficiency measurement methods usually fall within Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), or their derivatives. Although...     

The great margin call: The role of leverage in the 1929 Wall Street crash

The reasons for the 1929 Wall Street crash and why it occurred at the particular time that it did are still debated among economic historians. We contribute to this debate by building on a new model, which provides a measure of the financial system's potential for financial crises. The evidence suggests that a tightening of margin requirements in the first nine months of 1929 combined with price declines in September and early October caused enough investors to become constrained that the market was tipped into instability, triggering the sudden crash of October and November.     

Human–machine trans roles conflict in the organization: How sensitive are customers to intelligent robots replacing the human workforce?

In organizations facing digital transformation, intelligent technologies are starting to replace the human workforce. At present, managers delegate tasks to an artificial agent and rarely consider the customer reception of such decisions. This arouses tensions between the main stakeholders of the organization. This paper shows that the rash adaptation of the digital workforce may be perceived as an irresponsible innovation that brings negative consequences for companies. If a task is regarded by customers as dedicated to humans, and managers delegate it to machines, a new type of conflict – human-machine trans roles conflict (HMTRC), appears. This paper intends to show that customers are sensitive to HMTRC. This research uses quantitative methods and consists of three stages. First, people were asked to indicate which tasks in an organization should be performed by (a) humans and (b) machines. According to these results, two leaflets for customers were designed (low vs. high HMTRC). In the second stage, standard procedures were used to construct a scale measuring customer reactions to HMTRC on three dimensions: cognitive, emotional and behavioural. Ultimately, the scale and two leaflets were used to check how customers react to different intensities of HMTRC. The research results show that customers are aware when HMTRC occurs and perceive it negatively (cognitive response). Moreover, it evokes negative emotions (emotional response) and prompts customers to take action against the company in which this conflict takes place (behavioural response). The practical contribution of this research is the three-dimensional scale. It may predict customers' reactions to task delegation with different intensities of HMTRC and help build a technologically sustainable organization.     

Systemic analysis of a manufacturing process based on a small scale bakery

The main aim of the article is to present two new innovative concepts of reliability of a functioning manufacturing system in the process of making bread in small-scale bakeries. Reliability is understood as one of the representations of an operator acting on specific streams in time t_o to t. One of these represents the global reliability of a system as a function of parallel action of all the streams of the system in time t_o to t and is denoted as P_g^(t). The second representation of reliability is a scalar value, P_ss It shows a new function of global reliability of a manufacturing process as a product of system stream reliability. In order to plot the flow of the manufacturing process’s global reliability function, we need to perform detailed calculations, computations, and analysis of the differences of individual values in real time, as well as plan an algorithm of the flow of system streams. This needs a lot of effort, translating however, to a detailed picture of the process. In the analysed example, measurements and research revealed an important increase of the value of reliability in a transition from a traditional to a robotised bakery. The article also presents a new concept of the reliability of a technological process, based on the analysis of relations of elements of the following streams: energy, matter, information, time, and finances. It shows the method of specifying streams and the method for defining the reliability of important and supportive relations. Important relations between stream elements are defined as having the reliability value of one in time. Supportive relations bear the reliability within a continuum between zero and one. Important relations are designated based on research, experience, and knowledge. Stream systemic reliability P_ss is a scalar value, i.e. a number from the continuum between zero and one. The P_ss value characterises failure-free operation of the whole system. Its average value in the normative time t_n expresses the efficiency of the manufacturing system. The value P_ss is a quotient of the number of important relation and the sum of important and supportive relations. The formula for P_ss shows the method of optimising the process through the increasing of the number of important relations between the input stream components. The concept has been applied to study the efficiency of operation of a small-scale bakery. Systemic analysis of a bakery allows for important increase in the reliability of baking bread if robotisation has been implemented. The concept of systemic-stream reliability P_ss may be applied to analyse the efficiency of any technological process and optimisation of any manufacturing process.

     

The effect of product category on customer motivation for customer engagement behaviour

Recently, research on customer engagement behaviour (CEB) has rapidly developed. However, comparative studies on the motivational drivers of CEB across different product contexts are lacking. This study aims to understand the nature of customer motivation (CM) and investigate how its elements and impact on CEB differ between product settings (tangible vs. intangible and high involvement vs. low involvement). Based on surveys of 2080 consumers, this study validates CM for CEB as a construct comprising hedonic, normative, and gain dimensions. The findings highlight significant differences in the importance of hedonic and normative dimensions as affected by the product category. The findings of this study can help marketing and brand managers understand how they can improve their engagement strategies by stimulating motivation-based CEB.     

Corporate social responsibility and market entry

Is the decision of firms to pursue social interest and promote social progress philanthropic or motivated by strategic reasons? Using a simple Spence–Dixit entry model game with homogeneous goods, this paper studies the possible anticompetitive effect of the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the form of “consumer friendliness” (i.e., firms’ attention to the welfare of consumers). It is shown that, when the market becomes contestable, the incumbent can select to adopt CSR to hamper to a greater extent the potential entrant, regardless of its choice to engage in CSR activities. In other words, CSR can become a strategic barrier to entry.     

The impact of bankruptcy regimes on entrepreneurship and innovation. Is there any relationship?

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - The literature review indicates that bankruptcy law may play an important role in and be one of the factors influencing the development of...     

Exploring online customer experience: A systematic literature review and research agenda

This review aims to examine the latest research on online customer experience (OCE), which can be defined as consumer's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to interactions between customer and company occurring through digital channels (e.g., websites, social media, mobile apps). To achieve this, we utilized a hybrid review approach that incorporates quantitative bibliometric analysis and qualitative systematic literature review techniques. We identified publication trends, prominent authors and outlets, and the evolution of research themes based on 141 articles published since the last systematic review 11 years ago. Our framework-based review identified frequently studied antecedents, dimensions, and outcomes of OCE, and identified new themes related to m-commerce and augmented/virtual reality. We also identified gaps in the current literature and proposed 14 areas of future research using the TCM framework.