Relationship Quality as Predictor of B2B Customer Loyalty in the Pharmaceutical Sector: Evidence from Jordan

This article aims to investigate the impactful effect of relationship quality dimensions (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment) on aspects of loyalty represented by attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. A quantitative survey method was employed to achieve the objectives of the study. Furthermore, a convenience sampling technique was adopted to select a representative sample from physicians working in the public healthcare sector in Jordan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 408 questionnaires were used in the statistical analyses. The data were analyzed by applying structural equation modeling to test the study model, and hypotheses were constructed and tested quantitatively and discussed qualitatively. The results revealed that both aspects of customer loyalty (i.e., behavioral and attitudinal) were affected positively by the overall dimensions of relationship quality (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment), providing a recommendation for pharmaceutical companies in Jordan to focus on improving the relationship quality between their medical representatives and physicians due to the importance of such a factor in improving customer loyalty, which will reflect positively in managing their customers effectively and enhancing future business opportunities.     

New development: China renews reform of central–local fiscal relations and provides for basic national public services

China’s reform on central–local fiscal reform has slowed down in recent years. The appointment of a new finance minister experienced in local government affairs is expected to renew the reform affirmed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congress in late 2017. China has unprecedentedly identified a comprehensive list of 81 national basic public services as entitlements. Eighteen of them are subject to national and local standards, and co-financed by central and local governments. A new cost-sharing method for 10 of these services classifies sub-national jurisdictions into five tiers, in which the central government’s share declines from 80% to 10%. These measures, effective in 2019, aim at creating a ‘harmonious and moderately prosperous society’.     

Local tax interaction and endogenous spatial weights based on quality of life

This paper studied the role of municipal quality of life as a driver of strategic tax interactions among local governments. A number of studies point out the existence of strategic interactions using spatial econometric models in which the spatial weights are mostly based on non-economic criteria or basic economic variables such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP). We propose the more sophisticated well-being indicator of municipal quality of life as the driver for these interactions. To deal with the potential endogeneity, we rely on instrumental variable estimators. The empirical analysis focuses on the main local tax in Spain (property) and on municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, and it confirms the relevance of differentials in quality of life for the understanding of tax choices.     

Assessing cost‐effectiveness when environmental benefits are bundled: agricultural water management in Great Barrier Reef catchments

Using economic analysis to prioritise improvements in environmental conditions is particularly difficult when multiple benefits are involved. This includes ‘bundling’ issues in agricultural pollution management, where a change in management action or farming systems generates multiple improvements, such as reductions in more than one pollutant. In this study, we conceptualise and compare two different approaches to analysing cost‐effectiveness when varying bundles of benefits are generated for a single project investment. Each approach requires data to be transformed in some way to allow the analysis to proceed. The index approach requires the transformation on the benefits side so that the effects of multiple pollutant changes can be combined into a measure for each project which can then be compared to costs. By comparison, the disaggregation approach requires the transformation on the costs side where costs for each project have to be apportioned across the different pollutants involved. The paper provides novel insights with an application to agricultural water quality improvements into the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, demonstrating that while both approaches are effective in prioritising projects by cost‐effectiveness, the disaggregation approach provides more insightful results and values that may be relevant for use as upper value guidelines in future project selection.     

Vertical differentiation via multi-tier geographical indications and the consumer perception of quality: The case of Chianti wines

We derive and estimate a model of demand for Geographical Indications allowing for subjective and heterogeneous quality perceptions, and study vertical differentiation based on multi-tier quality labels within the context of the strategy adopted by the Chianti Consortium. Quality perceptions and wine choices are elicited in an online experiment where the number of quality tiers is augmented incrementally in a between-subject design. The empirical model includes subjective quality perceptions as an (endogenous) explanatory variable, and unexplained heterogeneity in WTP for quality as a random parameter. We find that quality perceptions are endogenous to the labeling regime, and adding a high-quality label (Chianti Classico Gran Selezione) decreases the perceived quality of all other Chianti wines, but not the competitor wines. However, the market shared lost to perception restructuring is small compared to the benefits of increased vertical differentiation.     

投资持股关系中的“共享审计师”效应研究

以2007—2015年我国资本市场上具有投资持股关系的上市公司为样本，通过研究持股方和被持股方聘请同一家会计师事务所对持股双方各自审计收费和审计质量的影响，探讨投资持股关系的“共享审计师”中，“信息共享”效应与“低价揽客”效应谁更明显。研究表明，当具有持股关系的两家公司共同聘请同一家会计师事务所后，“信息共享”效应更明显，表现为持股双方的财务报表审计质量和持股方的审计收费显著提升。进一步研究发现：持股双方在不同情况下会选择性价比最高，最有利于自身的方式来获取信息，以谋求“信息共享”效应最大化。     

Effects of individual resources and team-member exchange on service quality

While workplace resources are generally viewed as positively affecting performance, some studies indicate that not all resources increase performance. This study addresses the controversial disparate effects of workplace resources on performance by exploring functionally classified workplace resources in self-managing service teams and their relative impacts on team service quality. Considering membership dynamics and consequences between members, a field experiment was conducted in a cafeteria, with data collected through a working diary for workplace resources and a customer survey to evaluate service quality. Results suggest that efficacy-resources in self-managing teams should be controlled with caution as they may adversely affect team service quality. Supporting the person–situation interactionism perspective, workplace resources interact dynamically with individual employees and with situations. Esteem-resources were found to increase team service quality, while team-member exchange not only improved team service quality but also moderated the impact of esteem-resources on team service quality.     

自来水供应系统水质风险耦合致因分析

以城市自来水水质事故致因为研究视角,首先识别供水水质风险因素,并从单、双及多因素角度分析供水水质风险因素间的耦合关系,再借助N-K模型对2008—2017年全国所发生的362起城市重大供水水质风险耦合度进行度量。结果表明:城市自来水供应动态系统中,水质风险率随着参与耦合的风险因素的增多而增加;管理因素风险是水质风险的内因,风险管控是规避水质风险的关键;环境因素风险对水质事故的发生起推动作用。     

Material weakness disclosures and restatement announcements: The joint and order effects

We examine differences in stock price, option volatility, and litigation reactions to restatement announcements that are associated with a material weakness (MW) disclosure. Contrasted with restatements that are not associated with any MW disclosure, our analyses reveal that firms that announce both a restatement and an associated MW experience significantly more negative market returns, greater implied volatility, and higher likelihood of class action lawsuits. Separating the restatements into timely reporters, where the MW precedes the restatement, and non‐timely reporters, where the MW is concurrent with or follows the restatement, we find that timely reporters experience more negative returns at the time of the restatement, relative to non‐timely reporters, suggesting that investors perceive the early MW disclosure to signal more pervasive control‐related problems. Interestingly, we find that timely and non‐timely reporters are equally likely to be sued, consistent with the argument that wrongdoing (through either a timely or non‐timely MW disclosure) provides stronger grounds for establishing scienter. However, timely reporters appear to secure more favorable litigation outcomes: they face higher likelihood of lawsuit dismissals and pay much lower settlements, compared to non‐timely reporters. Overall, our evidence provides new insights into how market participants incorporate information about internal control weaknesses into their perceptions regarding the economic implications of financial restatements, and financial reporting quality.     

Effect of Participation of Foreign Migrant Workers in Labour Market on Native Workers: Evidence Based on Change Noticed in College Premium in Taiwan ROC

Using Manpower Utilization Survey data for 14 years from 1999 to 2012, we applied the DDDD (Differences–in–differences–in–differences–in–differences) estimation method to check if rising presence of foreign migrant workers in Taiwan’s domestic labour market had any impact on employment opportunities and wages earned by native Taiwanese workers over time. We used the data capturing the effect of college premium (viz., the additional cost to be borne for getting admission into college) paid by the natives on domestic wage rate during this period. College premium is an indicator of demand and supply for educated labour and we intend to see if the premium has grown with time when influx of foreign migrant workers has grown too. From the results, two interesting phenomena caught our attention. First, labour policy adopted by the Government in Taiwan has played an important role in increasing the influx of foreign workers into domestic labour market, which resulted in significant change in college premium paid by the natives. And, this effect lasted even when instances of strikes and reported cases of labour disputes were relatively higher. Second, the effect of the policy has been varying across genders as our data shows that policy on employment of foreign workers has affected job opportunities of native men workers more than it affected job opportunities of their female counterpart.