Can innovation shocks determine CO2 emissions (CO2e) in the OECD economies? A new perspective

ABSTRACT

This study has attempted to address prior knowledge gaps in the environmental economics literature by integrating the innovation shocks into the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) equation for twenty-six OECD economies using data from 1990 to 2014. Foreign direct investment (FDI), exports (EXP), renewable energy consumption (REC), and GDP per capita were included as control variables. The results from multiple empirical analyses indicated that positive shocks to innovation improve, but the negative shocks disrupt environmental quality. Data analyses also showed that a positive correlation exists between income per capita of OECD economies. From the negative coefficient of income per capita (squared) and the existence of a negative nexus between FDI and CO2e, both the EKC and the Pollution Halo Hypothesis (PHH) were confirmed in sampled economies, respectively. The paper offers empirical support for the favourable impacts of REC on the quality of the environment and calls for the adoption of innovation shocks as a policy instrument to formulate better environmental policies for a sustainable future.     

Examining the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality: The role of audit committees

This study examines the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality. Data comprise sustainability assurance statements published by the top 100 listed companies in Australia and New Zealand from 2017 to 2019. The findings indicate that Australian companies lead their New Zealand counterparts in sustainability assurance. Although sustainability reporting has risen, assurance rates remain significantly low. Accountants dominate the market, and companies prefer to use their own auditors for sustainability assurance work. Sustainability assurance quality is poor and does not vary significantly among Australian and New Zealand companies. Low-quality sustainability assurance plays a limited role in mitigating potential stakeholder–agency conflicts. The regression analysis indicates that audit committee characteristics such as members' independence, industry/market expertise, and attending meetings enhance sustainability assurance quality, whereas audit committee size has no affect. These findings suggest that audit committee characteristics such as independence, industry expertise, and regular meeting attendance have the potential to reduce stakeholder–agency conflicts by improving the quality of sustainability statement assurance. Our findings build on the sustainability assurance literature by exploring current trends in sustainability assurance practices in Australia and New Zealand where corporate governance codes have been recently revised. Further, these findings are timely given recent changes in standards (International Standard on Assurance Engagements [ISAE] 3000 and Global Reporting Initiative [GRI]). Our study contributes to the audit committee literature and sheds light on the role played by audit committee characteristics on sustainability assurance statement quality. The study findings potentially offer useful insights for practitioners, standard setters, and regulators.     

Automation,Financialization, and Institutional Change: Challenges for Progressive Policy

Abstract:

This article argues that the issue of “technological unemployment” resulting from automation is the result of ceremonial encapsulation within the process of progressive institutional adjustment. While institutions of production have adjusted to account for new technological developments, institutions of distribution have not. As discussed here, the main cause of this lack of adjustment is a financialized economy, in which shareholder returns motivate and dominate economic decision making and activity. As a result, gains and benefits from technological advances exacerbate existing income inequality and reduces the power of labor. I discuss this issue in detail before explaining how progressive policies that divorce private wage-labor from access to the system of social provisioning may serve to smooth this process of institutional adjustment caused by the introduction of automated processes.     

The Pivotal Role of User-Friendly Food Label and Personality Traits on Intention to Consume Packaged Food Products

The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of friendly food labels on packaged food consumption intention. A questionnaire method was adopted for data collection. The data were collected from 14 Pakistani universities. The systematic random sampling technique was used to draw the required sample size. The sample size was 365, where 730 questionnaires were distributed among students of 14 universities to achieve the required sample. Findings disclosed that a friendly food label has a positive and significant relation with packaged food consumption intention. But in the intervening effect of personality traits between exogenous and endogenous variables, only three personality traits have positive significant mediation—extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness—whereas no mediation was found with neuroticism and agreeableness. Studies have unveiled the fact that there is need to investigate the decisiveness of personality traits for the selection of healthy food (Friedman & Kern, 2014).     

Social Media and Purchasing Behavior: A Study of the Mediating Effect of Customer Relationships

Overwhelmed by the use of social media in augmenting human interactions, researchers have developed special interest in understanding the use of social media in developing strong and customized relationships with customers. In line with this, the current study aims to explore the impact of social media on purchasing behavior with mediating effect of customer relationship. The findings indicate that majority of the respondents use social media for purchasing purpose and there is a positive relation between social media and customer relationship, as well as social media and purchasing behavior, with customer relationships fully mediating and enhancing the relationship between social media and purchasing behavior. It has been also found that the majority of the respondents use social media for purchasing purposes. This study offers new insights into the conceptual development and understanding of social media in enhancing customer relationships and affecting purchasing behavior. The study acts as a strong support and aid towards developing and managing global customer relationships through the use of social media.     

Sustainable product attributes and firm performance: The moderating role of marketing resource intensity

This paper aims to study the performance implications of sustainable product attributes (SPA) of US manufacturing firms. Specifically, it analyzes the influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on firm profitability. The study further explores the moderating influence of marketing resource intensity on aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability relationships. The fixed-effect regression analysis of 433 US manufacturing firms' panel dataset reveals that aggregate and disaggregated SPA positively influence the firm profitability. The moderation analysis also confirms the positive influence of marketing resource intensity on aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability relationship. The current paper contributes to the triple-bottom-line and theory-of-the-firm literature streams by empirically studying the influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on firm profitability. Furthermore, this study uses the resource-based view to complement theory-of-the-firm model of SPA and empirically study the moderating role of marketing resource intensity between aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability. Finally, the findings inform the managers of the increased firm profitability by aggregate and disaggregated SPA, and the pivotal role of marketing resource intensity in strengthening the positive influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on US manufacturing firms' profitability.     

Nexus of tourism,terrorism, and economic growth in Thailand: new evidence from asymmetric ARDL cointegration approach

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the asymmetric (nonlinear) relationship between tourism, terrorism, and economic growth of Thailand. The study employed an annual data set that ranges from 1990 to 2017 by using a novel co-integrating technique known as asymmetric ARDL cointegration approach advanced by Shin, Yu, and Greenwood-Nimmo. The outcome of the present study revealed significant differences in the reaction of the economic growth because of negative and positive changes in tourism and terrorism. The obtained asymmetric results can be helpful for more proficient policymaking and forecasting regarding the economy of Thailand. Ignoring intrinsic asymmetries may misrepresent implication.     

Financialization in the American Pharmaceutical Industry: A Veblenian Approach

Thorstein Veblen’s theory of the business enterprise holds that business interests come to dominate industrial interests, with pecuniary returns being the dominant mindset under which economic activity is conducted. Under moneymanager capitalism, this is reflected in the increasing importance of profits from financial channels and the accumulation of intangible rent-generating assets to serve as the basis for capitalization — a process known as financialization. I examine this process of intangible asset accumulation within the context of the American pharmaceutical industry using Veblen’s theory of the business enterprise as a lens. I show that intangible assets have come to dominate productive capital on pharmaceutical enterprise balance sheets, suggesting that pharmaceutical profits are accumulated through rent-seeking channels rather than productive ones, in line with Veblen’s theory, and provide evidence of the financialization of this industry.     

测试H.264/AVC视频的鲁棒性传输的宏块分配映射

H.264/AVC视频压缩标准给易出错网络的视频鲁棒性传输过程中提供了一些误差恢复技术.灵活的宏块排序(FMO)是其中之一,它采用宏块分配映射(MBAmap)来分离框架中可能出现的误差.本文将提出一个新的测试MBAmap的方法.我们采用这种技术来测试MBAmaps从而支持在解码过程中的误差隐藏并且增强接收视频的主客观质量.     

测试H.264/AVC视频的鲁棒性传输的宏块分配映射(英文)

H.264/AVC视频压缩标准给易出错网络的视频鲁棒性传输过程中提供了一些误差恢复技术。灵活的宏块排序 (FMO)是其中之一,它采用宏块分配映射(MBAmap)来分离框架中可能出现的误差。本文将提出一个新的测试 MBAmap的方法。我们采用这种技术来测试MBAmaps从而支持在解码过程中的误差隐藏并且增强接收视频的主客观质量。