The State as Both Regulator and Player: The Politics of Transfer of Development Rights in China

The conventional argument that the introduction of transfer of development rights (TDR) shifts the power of land use regulation from the state to the market is increasingly under challenge. In China, the state's grip on land is reinforced through TDR, in which the state is both regulator and player. This state-dominated form of TDR affects China in three ways. First, competing aspirations of different scales of government complicate how TDR is implemented. Although the central state promotes TDR to maintain a national balance of arable land, some local states instrumentalize it to expand their landed basis of accumulation. Secondly, TDR tends to benefit the state but not its people. It may increase the fiscal income of the sending government and lessen the land shortage of the receiving government, but sometimes at the expense of the interests of land users without land ownership. Thirdly, given the state's deep involvement in TDR programs, the key for China's TDR to protect arable land lies not so much in clear property rights or a fully fledged market as in effective checks and balances regarding the state's powers over TDR. These three observations attest to the embeddedness of TDR in the local political economy.     

A Study of the Ethical Performance of Foreign-Investment Enterprises in the China Labor Market

This paper analyses the ethical performance of foreign-investment enterprises operating in China in comparison to that of the indigenous state-owned enterprises, collectives and private enterprises. It uses both the deontological approach and the utilitarian approach in conceptualization, and applies quantitative and econometric techniques to ethical evaluations of empirical evidences. It shows that according to various ethical performance indicators, foreign-investment enterprises have fared well in comparison with local firms. This paper also tries to unravel the effect of a difference in business culture and competitive market forces on ethical performance by comparing the behavior of foreign-investment enterprises with that of the indigenous state-owned enterprises and collectives on the one hand, and with that of the indigenous private enterprises on the other.     

The effects of merchandise coordination and juxtaposition on consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention in store-based retailing

Many retailers attempt to juxtapose and coordinate complementary products in their stores on the basis of key attributes because good coordination of complementary items can provide consumers with relevant information for their evaluation of individual products. In addition, the aesthetic appeal and the social impression that good coordination offers can be transferred to the products themselves. On the basis of these theories, the authors test the effects of merchandise coordination and juxtaposition (vs. separation) on consumer behavior using actual clothing items as stimuli in a laboratory setting. The authors find that coordination affects consumers’ evaluation of and purchase intention toward a target item only when the item is juxtaposed with a complementary item. This effect can be explained by the aesthetic response of consumers to and their social impression of a grouping of the items. Furthermore, in comparison with displaying the two items separately, juxtaposing them in a poorly coordinated manner appears to depress the target item's evaluation, though juxtaposing them in a well-coordinated manner does not seem to improve the evaluation.     

‘An Examination of the Ethical Commitment of Professional Accountants to Auditor Independence’

This research explores the relationship between work context and professional ethics. Specifically, we analyze through an online survey of professional accountants the degree to which changing work conditions have altered individual accountants’ commitment to the core professional value of auditor independence. We argue that certain changes in the condition of work have made some categories of accountants more susceptible to the logic of commercialism rather than the logic of professionalism. We find general support for this argument. We observe that accountants working outside of public accounting have a higher commitment to independence than do accountants working in the context of public accounting firms. We further observe that accountants in large international accounting firms (i.e. the “Big Four”) report lower commitment to auditor independence than do others in public accounting. And we observe that older accountants report stronger commitment to auditor independence. One finding, however, contradicts our general thesis. We find that commitment to one’s client does not necessarily result in a loss of commitment to the core professional value of independence. We conclude that changes in the context of work have contributed to the demise of ethics among professional accountants and suggest that further research be done to elaborate the relationship between client commitment and independence commitment.     

When it pays to have a friend on the inside: contingent effects of buyer advocacy on B2B suppliers

As organizational buying systems grow more complex and sophisticated, suppliers increasingly rely on buyer advocacy: an individual buyer’s efforts to influence his/her colleagues such that the supplier’s standing is improved. Drawing from cognitive response theory, the authors hypothesize an inverted U-shaped relationship between a buyer’s advocacy for a supplier and the customer’s purchases from that supplier. They theorize that this effect is moderated by the advocate’s industry experience and customer–supplier relationship characteristics. An analysis of multisource data from a B2B service provider (Study 1) supports the predicted inverted U-shaped relationship, while a unique dataset from a large industrial supplier (Study 2) provides broad support for the hypothesized moderators. Finally, a randomized experiment (Study 3) replicates key findings and corroborates the theorized cognitive response mechanisms. Findings contribute to the limited literature on buyer advocacy within the organizational buying domain and offer practical implications for suppliers and buyers.

     

Assessing Financial Performance of Malaysian Islamic and Conventional Commercial Banks Using Financial Ratios

A rapid growth of Islamic banking has led the Malaysian economy to gaining greater prosperity than before. Presently, there are more than 20 Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. Financial ratios calculated from the categories of liquidity, profitability, risk and solvency, and efficiency of banks can be used to gauge the overall financial performance of the banking industry. The objective is to assess the overall performance of Islamic banks as well as conventional banks in Malaysia using financial ratios. The findings indicated that conventional commercial banks in Malaysia do have better quality assets, are more liquid, and are more profitable than Islamic banks. Total expenses in conventional banks are much higher, which may affect profitability and the significant amount of non-performing loans （NPLs）, thus increasing solvency risk. The findings show positive insights of Islamic banks, whose confidence and trust are rising, over a short period with strong improvements in asset utilization, effective management, and expenditure control. This comparative study clearly identified that conventional banks are better financial performers compared to Islamic banks in Malaysia during the period of 2006-2010.     

Switching Costs in Two‐Sided Markets

In many markets, there are switching costs and network effects. Yet the literature generally deals with them separately. This paper bridges the gap by analyzing their interaction (or ‘indirect bargain’) in a dynamic two‐sided market. It shows that in the symmetric equilibrium, the classic result that the first‐period price is U‐shaped in switching costs does not emerge, but instead switching costs always intensify the first‐period price competition. Moreover, an increase in switching costs on one side decreases the first‐period price on the other side. Policies that ignore these effects may overestimate the extent to which switching costs can reduce welfare.