Who do we blame for abusive supervision?

Research has looked extensively at one side of abusive supervision (that is employee perceptions) and subsequently linked this phenomenon to supervisors' actual behaviour. We address this research gap by investigating the other side—employee characteristics as a factor related to the perception of abusive supervision (AS). Data collected from 443 employees within the Pakistani telecommunications industry revealed that employees' intimidation behaviours was positively related to their perceptions of AS, mediated by emotional exhaustion. In addition, recognition (from top management) was found to moderate the indirect effects of intimidation on AS via emotional exhaustion. Our findings challenge the assumption that supervisors are to blame for exhibiting abusive behaviour and identify a new, underlying factor related to AS.     

Shrinkage estimation of the exponentiated Weibull regression model for time-to-event data

The exponentiated Weibull distribution is a convenient alternative to the generalized gamma distribution to model time-to-event data. It accommodates both monotone and nonmonotone hazard shapes, and flexible enough to describe data with wide ranging characteristics. It can also be used for regression analysis of time-to-event data. The maximum likelihood method is thus far the most widely used technique for inference, though there is a considerable body of research of improving the maximum likelihood estimators in terms of asymptotic efficiency. For example, there has recently been considerable attention on applying James–Stein shrinkage ideas to parameter estimation in regression models. We propose nonpenalty shrinkage estimation for the exponentiated Weibull regression model for time-to-event data. Comparative studies suggest that the shrinkage estimators outperform the maximum likelihood estimators in terms of statistical efficiency. Overall, the shrinkage method leads to more accurate statistical inference, a fundamental and desirable component of statistical theory.     

The Role of the Real Estate Sector in the Structural Dynamics of the Chinese Economy: An Input–Output Analysis

Market‐oriented housing reforms and the rapid urbanization process have led to spectacular growth in the Chinese real estate sector (RES). However, the changes in the role played by this sector in the structural dynamics of the Chinese economy have not been examined sufficiently. Accordingly, we analyze the intersectoral structural changes to the Chinese RES, its linkages with the rest of the economy, and its growth sources, using four Chinese input–output tables from 2002 to 2017. We depart from existing work on the RES by using the causative matrix approach and structural decomposition analysis, and obtain three main results. First, the RES, which received little non‐RES feedback during the 2002–2007 period, has subsequently received much more substantial feedback. Second, the impact of the RES on China's economic growth stems mainly from its forward linkages. Third, the growth in the RES has been driven mainly by domestic demand expansion. Our results highlight that the Chinese RES, which plays a key role in value chains, is highly dependent on its own final demand and a fall in its demand would impede economic development. An important implication of these results is that developing the national economy by stimulating the RES would not be as effective as developing the RES through stimulating the national economy.     

Economic viability of foreign investment in railways: a case study of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Abstract

Pakistan Railways has faced a severe financial crisis in recent years. Pakistan has recently become a partner with China in a mega-investment project under an agreement called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Among other things, CPEC also includes a range of investments in Pakistan Railways. This particular study focuses on the analysis of US$8.2 billion investment in the upgrade and expansion of the Karachi-Peshawar railways link, which is also known as the ML-1 (Main Line 1). The study found ML-1 as economically viable with a payback period of 10?years. Furthermore, ML-1 project investment is expected to result in uplifting Pakistan Railways, mainly through an increase in freight and passenger transportation. Some risk factors may hinder the expected economic return from the CPEC investment in Pakistan Railways. These factors include consistency in the government policies, the status of the Pakistani economy in upcoming years, and law and order situations in the country. The study has a utility for the governments of both countries and larger business communities have stakes in the trade between the two countries. It is equally beneficial for the international community, businesses (both in China and Pakistan) and locals of the region associated with the CPEC infrastructure.     

The economic cost of the Islamic State on the Syrian and Iraqi economies

In this paper, we evaluate the economic cost of the Islamic State on the Syrian and Iraqi economies from 2010 to 2016. To do so, we use the Post-Terrorism Final Economic Damage Simulator—PTFED-Simulator. The PTFED-Simulator assesses the economic damage of terrorism based on ten different indicators: (1) total regional terrorism tension (?T_t); (2) harmonized anti-terrorist strategy (AT₊); (3) war losses from terrorism (?πt); (4) total economic leakage from terrorism (?Ψt); (5) economic desgrowth from terrorism (?δ_t); (6) military dimension of terrorism (MD_t); (7) post-terrorism economic damage (?Π_t); (8) post terrorism economic damage evaluation; (9) post-terrorism reconstruction plan (PTR_t); and (10) terrorism effect on mega-disk networks mapping. Overall, we seek to evaluate the impact of terrorism on economic performance from a multi-dimensional perspective in both the short run and long run.     

Understanding the institutional challenges and impacts of higher education reforms in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the academic literature on policy-making at the global level by empirically showing the nature and institutional challenges of higher education reforms under NPM principles. The authors explain the key strategies adopted by Indonesia’s government and the problems it faced in reforming its higher education system. The overall result was negative. The Indonesian reforms will not bring about meaningful outcomes unless the existing institutions, and the environment in which they operate, are also reformed.     

Prospect of off-seasonal vegetable production in Bangladesh: a socioeconomic diagnosis

Quality & Quantity - The research work was conducted to estimate comparative profitability, seasonal price variations, and factors affecting the farmers’ decision in the adoption of...     

Creating advocates: understanding the roles of CSR and firm innovativeness

Although previous studies revealed the positive effect of CSR perceptions on customer behaviour, the relationship between CSR and perceived firm innovativeness (PFI) has been underexplored. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it attempts to propose and validate a model to comprehend the relationship between CSR and PFI. Second, it aims to investigate the mediating role of corporate image stemming from CSR and PFI in order to foster customer advocacy intentions. Data were collected from 360 customers of the retail banking industry in Pakistan, and the results indicate that customers’ CSR perceptions directly and positively influence PFI. Interestingly, corporate image fully mediates the relationship between PFI and advocacy intentions, whereas it plays a partial mediation role in the CSR-advocacy intentions relationship. The findings of this research expand the corpus regarding the roles of CSR and PFI in creating advocacy intentions among customers through the corporate image.

     

Additional evidence on inflation variability: The experience of asian countries

The relationship between inflation and its variability has been examined by using time series data for eight Asian Countries. It is found that this relationship also holds for countries which have enjoyed a period of long price stability. Furthermore, this relationship also holds for highly industrialized countries.