How did wars dampen trade in the MENA region?

The article investigates the impact of wars on trade in the Middle East and North African region. Using an augmented gravity model that controls for the endogeneity problem in our estimation, we introduce a war variable and distinguish between different types of conflicts. The results show that wars have a significantly negative impact on exports, imports and trade. Civil conflicts hinder exports, imports and trade significantly. The disaggregated version of the gravity model shows that non-state conflicts have a detrimental effect on bilateral trade flows in manufacturing, and that none of the conflicts do affect trade in services. We also find that, on average, a conflict is equivalent to a tariff of 5% of the value of trade.     

Understanding the Interplay Among Regulatory Self-Efficacy,Moral Disengagement,and Academic Cheating Behaviour During Vocational Education: A Three-Wave Study

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics.     

Trade openness and income inequality in China and the SAARC Region

The paper empirically examines the effects of trade liberalisation on income inequality in China and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries. Panel data analysis is conducted for the period of 1973 to 2012. The results show that liberal trade policies have increased income inequality in these countries. These results are robust to alternative liberalisation measures. The control variables used have differing effects on income distribution. Per capita income has an increasing effect on income inequality, while education, financial development, financial openness, democracy, and government size are shown to reduce income inequality. These outcomes can be expected to have important policy implications for the use of trade liberalisation in these countries.     

Insider trading in a two-tier real market structure model

This paper investigates the real and financial effects of insider trading in the spirit of Jain and Mirman (2000). Unlike the existing literature, the production of one real good is costly and depends mainly on the price of an intermediate good produced locally by a privately owned firm. The results show that the output level of the final good chosen by the insider as well as the price of the intermediate good set by the privately owned firm are both higher than it would be in the absence of insider trading. Furthermore, the parameters of both real markets affect the stock price. Next, a second insider, operating in the firm producing the final good, is added to the benchmark model. Competition among insiders decreases the production of the final good by the publicly owned firm and the price of the intermediate good with respect to the benchmark model. Moreover, it affects the insiders’ trades and increases the amount of information revealed in the stock price.     

Insider trading with product differentiation

This paper investigates the effect of product differentiation on the real and financial decisions of a publicly-owned firm, competing $\grave{a}$ la Cournot with another privately-owned firm. The results show that the degree of product differentiation affects the stock price coefficients (i.e. the market maker’s response to the real signal and to the total order flow signal) and the output of the publicly-owned firm. It also appears to have a detrimental effect on the manager’s profits and compensation scheme. The paper then proposes an extension of the benchmark model to incorporate Cournot and Stackelberg competition between two insiders in the financial market. The type of the financial competition adopted has also an effect on the results of the benchmark model that sometimes depend on the degree of product differentiation.     

Contextual embeddedness of careers: female “nonsurvivors” and their gendered relational context

Our aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the contextual embeddedness of women's careers. To do this, we leverage feminist relational theory (a) to understand the relational context of women's careers in Lebanon, with a particular focus on working‐self and career investments, and (b) to trace the gendered power dynamics of career investments in the relational context of work. Through examining the narratives of 24 Lebanese female “nonsurvivors” (i.e., used to work but are not currently engaged in paid work), our findings paint a complex and nuanced picture of different relational contexts. Represented on a continuum ranging from minimally conducive for women's careers to contexts that are incrementally more conducive, the differences between these contexts are unpacked through drawing attention to the gendered power dynamics shaping women's (dis)connection with their working self, the perceived (mis)alignment of others, and the career investments that they make. Our contribution lies in augmenting our understanding of the contextual embeddedness of women's careers by demonstrating the theoretical and practical utility of bringing a deeper feminist analysis to understand the relational context of work.     

Localizing women's experiences in academia: multilevel factors at play in the Arab Middle East and North Africa

This article explores the localized experiences of women at work in higher education in the under-researched context of the Arab Middle East and North Africa. Our main research questions are: What is the current status of academic women between and across the countries of this region? How can human resources play a developmental role for women at work in academic institutions, as well as for the region in general? We adopt a two-part research method in this study. First, through a critical review of the literature, we develop a regionally relevant macrolevel hypothetical model to localize a gender perspective on women at work. Second, we engage in a focused empirical examination of publicly available university data to document the: (1) representation of women across ranks; and (2) specific content of pertinent human resource policies. On the basis of these data, we propose a more complete multilevel hypothetical model upon which we put forward a critical discussion and directions for future research on gender, human resource management and regional development more broadly.     

Economic impact studies of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

The paper provides an ex-ante analysis of the financial burden and potential economic benefit of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Owing to the lack of uniform financial data, cost and benefits analysis is not possible, so we have adopted a multi-criteria analysis （MCA） as a part of an Olympic Games impact study, to asses the possible economic impact of hosting the Olympics in Beijing. There are many aspects of a country that may change as a result of hosting the Olympic Games. Studies on the impact of previous Olympic Games have indicated that inward investment has been attracted by preparations for the Olympics which has increased the host cities global profile and by the legacy of additional facilities afterward. Beijing is already an establish city and prime destination for inward investment in China and Asia. Hosting the Olympics in 2008 might be expected to give rise to tangible positive effects on the over all level of economic activities.