Conceptualising consumers’ word-of-mouth behaviour intention: evidence from a university education services in Malaysia

The aim of this study is to propose a theoretical model to examine consumer word-of-mouth (WOM) behavioural intention in Malaysian education services. The results from a survey of 247 respondents indicate that servicescape, service recovery, service quality and satisfaction significantly affect consumers’ intention to engage in WOM behaviour. The results support majority of the hypothesized relationships, suggesting that servicescape and service recovery function as antecedents, directly affecting consumer perceptions of education service quality. The analytical results also demonstrate that perceived service quality positively affects satisfaction, which subsequently induces consumers’ behavioural intentions. Consistent with previous empirical studies, our findings suggest that satisfaction is a super-ordinate construct with a positive relation to behavioural intention, and significantly mediates the effect of service quality on the intention to engage in WOM behaviour. The insignificant direct effect from service quality to WOM further suggests the role of satisfaction as a complete mediator in the university education service setting. Implications for future research are discussed and limitations noted.     

The effects of cultural orientations on preferred compensation policies

This study aims at examining the relationship between cultural orientations and preferences for compensation policies. The study involves two concepts: culture and compensation. In the first part of this article, these concepts are framed; and in the second part, after direct measurement of both cultural traits and compensation preferences, their relationships are tested and discussed. Our findings suggest that while culture represents an important factor in human resource management, its effects on compensation preferences should be viewed as partial and moderate. Further analysis reveals that the effects of culture on preferred compensations may vary from one orientation to another. While some cultural orientations are more likely to affect pay policies, others seem to be of lesser importance. Similarly, it is found that compensation policies are not affected equally by cultural orientations. By analyzing the extent and direction of cultural effects, the study provides some insights into designing compensation policies and points out the managerial implications.     

新丝绸之路上的世界遗产旅游

慧超法师是海东半岛的一位伟大的旅行家,他是8世纪第一个沿着海上丝绸之路到达印度的第一个韩国人,也是第一个东亚人,他还通过巴基斯坦和阿富汗到达了中东的伊朗,也就是当时的波斯,后来他越过帕米尔高原回到韩国。他写出全球四大游记当中的《王吾天竺国传》。可以说慧超法师是走过整个丝绸之路的伟大的旅行家。他是丝绸之路上的大丈夫,他的大长征长达5万里!他在《王吾天竺国传》中向我们后代提供了很多有价值的东西。我个人非常钦佩慧超法师,所以我沿着他的路线访问过丝绸之路的整个目的地。     

Trade,migration costs and asymmetric migration patterns

Increase in trade has an asymmetric impact on emigration by skill types for a developing country. Cost of migration is a dynamic function of the type of emigration, and it determines a complementary relation between emigration of skilled workers and expansion of trade. Emigration of unskilled workers is a substitute, however, and these outcomes coexist with endogenously determined emigration rates that depend crucially on wage responses among the own skill types at the source. Additionally, asymmetric emigration patterns increase wage inequality.     

A Stackelberg game-based approach for interactions among Internet service providers and content providers

NETNOMICS: Economic Research and Electronic Networking - This paper studies non-neutral market share where Internet service providers (ISPs) charge content providers (CPs) for the content delivery....     

Reform,informal sector,and extortion

Informal economy involving unrecorded, unregistered, extra‐legal activities employs majority of the work force in the developing world. Such extra‐legal existence of informal production is facilitated through extortion by agents of political forces in power. Also, extortion activities themselves constitute an informal segment. Full‐scale general equilibrium consequences of such institutions are rarely discussed in the literature. We develop a well‐specified general equilibrium model to explore the possible consequences of reform. Economic reform may have an expansionary effect on the number of extortionists. Depending on capital mobility and factor intensity assumptions informal output and informal wage may increase.     

Conflicting perceptions on participation between citizens and members of local government

There is a growing consensus among citizens and members of local government that citizen participation is desirable for local government. However in practice, there are differing perceptions between them regarding the level and extent of citizen participation. As citizen participation is a multi faceted concept, its meaning is construed differently by both the members of local government and the citizen groups. This paper attempts to describe the conflicts that arise from participation. The paper is based on the study of the process of citizen participation in local government carried out in Torbat-Heydarieh city, Iran. A qualitative research method is seen as the most suitable approach of collecting and analyzing the data. The method employed for data collection in this research is in-depth interviews. In-depth interviews were conducted to gauge the existence of conflicts regarding participation. The findings reveal four areas that give rise to conflicts. This study also attempts to highlight two different views regarding citizen participation; the people-centered view and authority-centered view.     

Specific factors,unemployment and trade theory

Conclusions In this paper we have argued that the specific-factor model of trade is more suitable to the analysis of trade problems in the presence of unemployment than the traditional Heckscher-Ohlin, non-specific factor model used by Brecher and others. Among other things we have shown that protection granted to a land-using industry is unlikely to reduce unemployment, benefiting landlords at the expense of capitalists, while protection conferred to a non-land-using industry is likely to stimulate employment.

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Zusammenfassung Spezifische Faktoren, Arbeitslosigkeit und Theorie des internationalen Handels. - In diesem Aufsatz wird ein Zwei-Sektoren-Modell bei allgemeiner Arbeitslosigkeit konstruiert und in das Hauptgeb?ude der Au\enhandelstheorie integriert. Ein Vorzug des Modells ist, da\ es den Produktionsfaktor Boden nicht ignoriert, den die moderne Au\enhandelstheorie als praktisch nicht existent behandelt. Unter anderem zeigt das Modell, da\ eine Protektion von Industrien, die Land und Boden nutzen, der Protektion anderer Industrien unterlegen ist und da\ deshalb der Schutz bodennutzender Industrien vor ausl?ndischer Konkurrenz wahrscheinlich die Arbeitslosigkeit vergr?\ert.

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Résumé Facteurs spécifiques, ch?mage et théorie de commerce extérieur. - Dans cet article les auteurs construisent un modèle à deux secteurs en présence du ch?mage général et ils l’intègrent avec le cadre principal de la théorie du commerce international. Une qualité de ce modèle est qu’il n’ignore pas le facteur de production ?terre? qui est traité par la théorie moderne du commerce extérieur comme presque non-existant. Entre autres choses, le modèle démontre que la protection en faveur des industries qui utilisent le facteur terre est inférieure à la protection en faveur des autres industries, et c’est pourquoi la protection des industries qui utilisent le facteur terre probablement mène à un accroissement du ch?mage.

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Resumen Factores específicos, desempleo y teoría del comercio. - En este trabajo se construye un modelo bisectorial en presencia de desempleo generalizado compatible con el cuerpo central de la teoría del comercio internacional. Una virtud de este modelo es que no ignora el factor ?tierra?, que es tratado como si no existiera por la teoría moderna del comercio. Entre otras cosas, este modelo muestra que la protección dada a sectores industriales que insumen tierra es inferior a la dada a otras industrias y que por lo tanto la protección de industrias que insumen tierra trente a la competencia extranjera podrfa contribuír a aumentar el desempleo.