Regional public support to airlines and airports: An unsolved puzzle

This paper proposes a structural model to explain the motivation of regional public authorities to arrange marketing agreements for route and traffic development. Furthermore, using data from Spanish airports, we empirically test this model obtaining the demand function according to the preferences of public authorities. The results show that the public budget, airport’s attributes or intermodal competition affect to the demand for aircraft operations of regional public agencies. Finally, we propose an empirical method to determine the market power of airlines within these marketing agreements in a particular airport or route.     

Modelling growth and revenue for Swedish hotel establishments

This paper provides first estimates of the determinants of output growth of Swedish hotels based on establishment data. Growth of overnight stays is modelled as a function of initial size, age, type of accommodation, location and hotel prices measured as average revenues per guest nights. The empirical model accounts for potential endogeneity of hotel prices through the two-stage least absolute deviation model (2SLAD) and the instrumental variable quantile regression method. 2SLAD estimates show a positive and significant relationship between hotel prices and subsequent growth. The relationship is nonlinear with a decreasing impact as the price level increases. Growth of establishments is significantly higher for smaller and younger hotels. An important result is that city hotels, in comparison to tourist and other hotels – which are mainly located outside urban areas (in the mountains and at the sea) – exhibit significantly higher growth rates with a gap between 2.2 and 3.4 percentage points. Furthermore, the positive impact of hotel prices on growth is larger for high-growth establishments. Accommodation prices significantly decrease with the number of local competitors with a non-linear form and increase with size. City hotels and accommodation in the capital city have the highest revenues per guest night.     

The impacts of risk-taking behaviour and competition on technical efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese banking industry

This paper tests the impact of risk and competition on efficiency in the Chinese banking industry over the period 2003–2013. Comprehensive types of risk-taking behaviour are considered including credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, and insolvency risk. Competition is measured by the Lerner index. The results are cross-checked using an alternative econometric technique as well as an alternative competition indicator. The findings show that the technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks are significantly and negatively affected by liquidity risk. They further show that greater competition precedes declines in technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks. The results suggest that Chinese bank efficiency is significantly affected by bank diversification, banking sector development, stock market development, inflation and GDP growth rate. The findings also indicate that, compared to state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks have lower technical and pure technical efficiencies.     

职场友谊对研发团队创新绩效的影响机制研究——一个带中介的调节模型

本文通过问卷调查法获得372份有效问卷，运用带中介的调节模型探讨了职场友谊对研发团队创新绩效的影响机制。实证结果表明：（1）职场友谊对团队创新绩效是有正向的激励作用的，其中知识分享起中介作用；（2）职场友谊对团队创新绩效的作用同时受到员工知识分享意愿和知识分享能力的中介作用；（3）职位级别对职场友谊通过知识分享对团队创新绩效的影响起负向调节作用，即职位级别越高，友谊机会越小，通过员工友谊促进知识分享，进而提高团队创新绩效的效应越低。     

Assessing the competition in Angola’s banking industry

This article analyses the level of competition in Angola’s banking industry using the Panzar–Rosse model with data from 2005 to 2014. Competition is a vital aspect of the banking market and therefore it is central to policy-making. The results reveal that Angola banking competition is monopolist and therefore lower competition is found in Angola banks. Policy implication is derived.     

Competition and efficiency in the MENA banking region: a non-structural DEA approach

The goal of this article is to empirically assess the relationship between competition and efficiency in the banking sector of Middle East and North African (MENA) countries spanning the period 1997–2011. To measure the level of competition, the article estimates the non-structural indicator known as the H-statistic, while the level of bank efficiency is estimated through the nonparametric methodology of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (BDEA), respectively. The empirical results are robust under six econometric methodologies, providing sufficient evidence for the presence of a one-way (negative) Granger causality, running from efficiency to competition. The empirical findings lead to the rejection of the ‘Efficient Structure Hypothesis’, implying that increases in competition do not precede increases in cost efficiency.     

The evolution of competition in innovation resource: a theoretical study based on Lotka–Volterra model

This research uses the Lotka–Volterra model to analyse the competition of innovation resource between two enterprises and studies the dynamic effects of environmental changes through the change of model parameters. The research finds that there are three possible results of the competition in innovation resource. That comprises ‘crowding out effect’, ‘unstable equilibrium’ and ‘stable equilibrium’. The results of competitive evolution are determined by enterprises’ interaction parameters. However, the natural growth rates, the initial resource possessions of both enterprises and the amount of regional innovation resource have a significant impact on the evolution of competition.     

巴中市农田土壤重金属分布及生态风险评价

[目的]通过测定秦巴山区巴中市农田土壤中镉(Cd)、铅(Pb)、锌(Zn)3种重金属元素的含量及分布特征,为农田重金属防治科学决策的制定提供数据支撑。[方法]文章采用内梅罗指数和潜在生态风险指数来综合评价巴中市土壤重金属污染状况。[结果]巴中市农田土壤锌平均含量比四川省丘陵地区背景值高6.78%,而镉和铅含量均未超出其背景值,总体评价良好,但各检测点之间差异较大,镉含量最多超出背景值5.7倍。内梅罗指数评价结果显示,全市平均综合污染指数为1.10,接近清洁状态。潜在生态风险指数评价结果显示,其最小值为15.94,最大值为177.74,平均值为35.38。[结论]巴中市农田土壤重金属污染状况基本处于低度风险级别,但各地块污染程度不尽一致,应因地制宜,采取适当措施治理土壤污染。