An Integrated Group Decision Making Support Model for Corporate Financing Decisions

The essential goal of corporate finance is to maximize corporate value while reducing a firm’s financial risks. Corporate financing decision is a kind of multi-criteria based group decision making that embodies major approaches to handle qualitative criteria and quantitative limitations. However, in literature related to financing decision making, very little research uses decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and analytic network process (ANP) methods to consider the impact and dependency of its factors, or uses Goal programming (GP) to find the satisfactory financing decision under the related financial constraints. This study proposes an integrated group decision making support (GDMS) model to assist corporate financing group decision makers (DMs) in obtaining a satisfactory group solution. ANP, DEMATEL and GP are combined in this GDMS model. By using this model, the group DMs can systemically structure a multi-criteria network framework and derive priority weights of those criteria, and then deal with the quantitative financial constraints for a satisfactory group solution. An illustrative case is demonstrated for the effectiveness and practicability of this GDMS model.     

A New Keynesian SVAR model of the Australian economy

We estimate an SVAR model for the Australian economy based on an open economy New Keynesian model that accounts for the forward-looking behaviour exhibited by economic agents. Deep structural parameters are identified by placing exclusion restrictions on the VAR residuals and the covariance matrix. Dynamic responses show no price and exchange rate puzzles and indicate that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) stabilises output fluctuations in the short run while maintaining a medium-run inflation target since 1984. Aggregate demand shocks are found to be driven by external demands. The RBA exercises caution in responding to aggregate supply shocks.     

The Evolution of Income-related Health Inequalities in Switzerland Over Time

This article presents new evidence on income-related healthinequality and its development over time in Switzerland. Weemploy the methods lined out in Van Doorslaer and Jones (2003,"Inequalities in self-reported health: validation of a new approachto measurement", Journal of Health Economics 22(1), 61–78)and Van Doorslaer and Koolman (2004, "Explaining the differencesin income-related health inequalities across European Countries",Health Economics 22(7), 609–628) measuring health usingan interval regression approach to compute concentration indicesand decomposing inequality into its determining factors. Nationallyrepresentative survey data for 1982, 1992, 1997, and 2002 areused to carry out the analysis. Looking at each of the fouryears separately the results indicates the usual positive relationshipbetween income and health, but the distribution is among theleast unequal in Europe. No clear trend emerges in the evolutionof the inequality indices over the two decades. A small butsignificant increase over the first 15 years is followed bystabilization if not a slight decrease in total income-relatedhealth inequality. The most important contributors to healthinequality are income, education and activity status, in particular,retirement. Regional differences including the widely varyinghealth care supply, in contrast, do not exert any systematicinfluence. (JEL codes: D32, I10, I12)     

Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of In-Work Benefits: A Simulation Study for Switzerland

Abstract. Income support for working low-income families (the 'working poor') is on top of the political agenda in Switzerland. The current social assistance system is considered inadequate to support working poor households. Several European countries have introduced in-work benefits in order to make work pay. Based on a structural labour supply model, this paper provides microsimulation results of the effects of introducing different schemes of in-work benefits. It turns out that adding a minimum hours requirement to the current social assistance system is the most cost-effective reform. One-third of expected costs can be attributed to behavioural changes in labour supply.     

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation using the value engineering methodology and Six Sigma tools

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a software solution that integrates the operational processes of the business functions of an enterprise. However, implementing ERP systems is a complex process. In addition to the technical issues, companies must address problems associated with business process re-engineering, time and budget control, and organisational change. Numerous industrial studies have shown that the failure rate of ERP implementation is high, even for well-designed systems. Thus, ERP projects typically require a clear methodology to support the project execution and effectiveness. In this study, we propose a theoretical model for ERP implementation. The value engineering (VE) method forms the basis of the proposed framework, which integrates Six Sigma tools. The proposed framework encompasses five phases: knowledge generation, analysis, creation, development and execution. In the VE method, potential ERP problems related to software, hardware, consultation and organisation are analysed in a group-decision manner and in relation to value, and Six Sigma tools are applied to avoid any project defects. We validate the feasibility of the proposed model by applying it to an international manufacturing enterprise in Taiwan. The results show improvements in customer response time and operational efficiency in terms of work-in-process and turnover of materials. Based on the evidence from the case study, the theoretical framework is discussed together with the study’s limitations and suggestions for future research.     

More than just a job: exploring the meanings of tourism work among Indigenous Sámi tourist entrepreneurs

In northern Sweden, the positive effects of tourism involvement by Sámi Indigenous people are mostly shown in terms of employment, yet at times have been shown to go beyond economic ones and include other equally important benefits. Only when all components are seen at the same time can we get a true understanding of tourism as a livelihood strategy. This paper uses a sustainable rural livelihoods approach to investigate the different roles and meanings of tourism among Sámi tourist entrepreneurs in northern Sweden. It does so using data from 13 semi-structured interviews with Sámi Indigenous tourist entrepreneurs. The results indicate that there are many goals and objectives tourism jobs serve among Sámi Indigenous people in the Swedish north. For example, the tourism business is at times seen as a more sustainable way of using reindeer. Tourism was also a way for Sámi to express themselves and keep certain traditions alive. Another leading conclusion relates to tourist entrepreneurs as cultural ambassadors for Sámi issues. By presenting factual information about Sámi people, challenging stereotypes and by making others aware of the many hardships reindeer herders face, Sámi tourist entrepreneurs attribute to their work meanings that are social, cultural and even political.     

Design of optimal step�Cstress accelerated life tests under progressive type I censoring with random removals

This paper considers the analysis of exponential distributed lifetime data observed under k-stage step?Cstress accelerated life test under progressive type I censoring with random removal (PCRR), where the number of units removed at each stress follows a binomial distribution. We compute the expected Fisher information matrix of the maximum likelihood estimator of the log mean life at design (use) stress. The problem of choosing the optimal time ?? _i , i = 1, . . . , k ? 1 under k-stage step?Cstress is addressed using variance (V)-optimality as well as determinant (D)-optimality criteria. An illustrative example is provided with discussion.     

A small New Keynesian state space model of the Australian economy

Using a small New Keynesian state space macroeconomic model, we apply maximum likelihood estimation and the Kalman filter to obtain joint estimates of the unobservable medium-run paths of potential output and its normal rate of growth, the NAIRU, the neutral real interest rate and the subjective discount factor for Australia from 1984Q1 to 2006Q4. Using the estimated model we obtain dynamic forecasts for output, unemployment, and inflation to compare with the actual data from 2007Q1 to 2008Q4. Combining the estimated model with a monetary policy rule, we examine impulse responses of inflation and the output and unemployment gaps to shocks associated with the global financial crisis of 2008.     

Innovation capacity comparison of China's information technology industrial clusters: The case of Shanghai, Kunshan, Shenzhen and Dongguan

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the effects of industrial cluster on innovation capacity, and second, to study the impact of external resources on firms' innovation capacity especially under Chinese regional economic policy. This is a critical subject that lacks sufficient analysis. Through years of investment and effort, several IT industrial clusters have developed in China with Shanghai, Kunshan, Shenzhen and Dongguan the better-known examples. These IT industrial clusters were chosen for an empirical study on the disparities in China's innovation capacity. All of the innovation capacity determinants at these four IT industrial clusters were different. It was confirmed that the regional dimension of Chinese economic policy affects firms' innovation capacity in the industrial cluster. The results also show whether the regional policy differences will moderate the cluster effect on innovation.     

Adapting to the new normal: A sustainable livelihood framework for the informal sectors during COVID-19

The extraordinary COVID-19 outbreak has heightened the existential dangers to the informal sector. This study explores the informal sector's tactics in Vietnam for mitigating the pandemic's effects and better adapting to the new normal. Using a sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) and multivariate model for ordered choices (MVOC) to conduct surveys on 513 subjects from the informal labor, our findings indicate that financial management is the most prevalent technique for mitigating the effects of COVID-19. Notably, the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on income and health is crucial to the adoption of mitigation efforts. The Vietnamese government, State Bank, and financial institutions should provide more help to the informal sector, particularly those operating in remote locations so that they can increase their resilience through mitigating measures. In parallel, the informal sector should participate in more deliberate forward mitigation planning in the anticipation of inevitable future shocks.