Calendar effect and the role of seasonality in consumer comment behavior: A longitudinal study in the restaurant industry

This study’s purpose was to assess the impact of temporal, seasonal and calendar effects, on guests’ comments in hospitality. The current study analyzed the differences in food and service quality using guests’ comments collected by a national restaurant firm over a period of one year. Comments were analyzed for season of the year, weekend versus weekday, busy versus slow days, and day of the week. Findings included statistically significant differences of (positive and negative) comments between day of week and busy/slow periods. Most notably, positive food quality comments were submitted more often during busy periods, indicating a possible need for training of employees who work during slow periods.     

REACHING THE RURAL POOR THROUGH AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES IN MONGOLIA

This paper focuses on the cooperative sector in central Mongolia. Its aim is to provide new insights into the role and importance of cooperatives among poor rural populations. We analyse cooperatives’ inclusiveness of smaller herders and farmers and cooperatives’ governance structures. The research is based on data collected in selected provinces of the central Töv region. The data were collected for three distinctive target groups – cooperative board members, cooperative members and non‐members. We found that the cooperative sector in Mongolia is strongly affected by the governmental policy regarding wool subsidies, which provides subsidies only to cooperative members and has consequently caused rapid growth in the number of new, free‐riding cooperative members and led to very low levels of members’ self‐identification with their cooperatives. This policy also affects the inner organizational structures of cooperatives. Further, we found indications that poorer farmers tend not to be members of cooperatives and that the overall benefits for non‐members and the general community arising from local cooperatives are rather low.     

The impact of government policies on destination competitiveness in developing economies

The role government plays in destination competitiveness is reflected in a country’s institutional environment. The main premise of this study is to provide a better understanding about the appropriate levels of government involvement in destination competitiveness. Seven countries of the Central American region were analysed over 18 years. The results indicate that not all government decisions impact destination competitiveness in the same way, as some may have more influence than others. For example, an increase in the level of corruption revealed a positive impact on destination competitiveness while lowering taxes did not encourage an increase in destination competitiveness. This study contributes to the academic literature not only from theory building but also practical implication on the role of government.     

Role of destination competitiveness and national corruption in hotel performance: A study of developing economies of Central America

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between destination competitiveness (DC), national corruption and hotel performance (HP). A panel data analysis was applied to the Central American region. The results reveal that corruption has an impact on DC and HP. Such findings are important for the region as many of the countries are battling high levels of corruption while developing tourism industry. In addition, DC was found to have a unidirectional impact on HP. These findings provide a number of theoretical and managerial implications, reinforcing the role of a “shadow” economy and the importance of tourism.     

DO INVESTORS CARE ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL COMPANY‐SPECIFIC TWEETS?

When the president of the United States tweets, do investors respond? We analyze the impact of tweets from President Donald J. Trump's official Twitter accounts from November 9, 2016 to December 31, 2017 that include names of publicly traded companies. We find that these tweets move company stock prices and increase trading volume, volatility, and institutional investor attention, with a stronger impact before the presidential inauguration. There is some evidence that the initial impact of the presidential tweets on stock prices is reversed in the next few trading days.     

The Role and Current Status of IFRS in the Completion of National Accounting Rules – Evidence from the Czech Republic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to characterize the extent to which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is used as a reference point for national accounting rules in the Czech Republic (CR) and what elements are incorporated in Czech Accounting Regulation, paying particular attention to the latest amendment to the Accounting Act (AA) based on the EU accounting Directive (2013/34/EU). Methods used include analysis of Ministry of Finance documents, interviews with the team members who participated in the new wording of the AA to adapt it to the EU Directive and comparison of current to existing IFRS reporting rules. The results confirm that IFRS implementation in the CR is determined by economic and institutional factors, a major part of which is played by foreign ownership of dominant Czech companies and their subordinate position as subsidiaries of foreign entities and the weak capital market. Implementation of elements of IFRS into Czech accounting standards is still only partial. This process takes place as an integral part of the process of reorientation of the entire economic system toward market principles, which includes the accounting system. Each change of the AA involves some elements of IFRS; however, between the two systems, there are still significant differences, the roots of which lie in a different (continental) model of accounting.