Benchmarking Corporate Social Responsibility within Spanish Companies

In this paper, the authors focus on the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) upon business profitability. In order to be capable of working with homogeneous data, the authors’ starting point is to use the criteria defined by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ work on the subject, and published by the Spanish journal Actualidad Económica. In this work, an index was created which assigns between one and five points to the companies depending on the importance given by them to CSR. The CSR measurement published by the Observatorio de la RSE will also be considered. In order to measure companies’ profitability, this paper will take into account their return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) of 2005 and 2006. The authors’ purpose is to demonstrate that the relationship between CSR and business profitability is neutral.

Scenario construction via Delphi and cross-impact analysis

Since its origins, decision makers have broadly used the Delphi method as a collaborative technique for generating important events and scenarios about what may happen in the future. This is a complex process because of the different interrelations and the potential synergetic effects among the relevant events related to a decision. This fact, along with the uncertainty about the occurrence or non-occurrence of the events, makes the scenario generation task a challenging issue in Delphi processes. In the 1960's, Cross-Impact Analysis (CIA) appeared as a methodological tool for dealing with this complexity. CIA can be used for creating a working model out from a set of significant events. CIA has been combined with other methodological approaches in order to increase its functionality and improve its final outcome. In this paper, the authors propose a new step-by-step model for scenario-analysis based on a merger of Turoff's alternative approach to CIA and the technique called Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). The authors' proposal adds tools for detecting critical events and for producing a graphical representation to the previous scenario-generation methods based on CIA. Moreover, it allows working with large sets of events without using large computational infrastructures. The authors present sufficient information and data so that anyone who wishes to may duplicate the implementation of the process. Additionally they make explicit a set of requirements for carrying out a Delphi process for a group to develop a set of significant events, collectively make the estimations of cross impacts, and to support a continuous planning process within an organization. They use two examples to discuss operational issues and practical implications of the model.     

An evaluation framework for technology transfer of new equipment in high technology industry

With the rapid advancement of technology, product life cycle is shortening continuously. In order to compete against other firms in fiercely competitive global markets, a firm has to keep developing new technology to differentiate itself from others. The acquisition of new core-technology equipment is especially important for manufacturing advanced products, and the technology know-how of the equipment must be transferred completely from equipment supplier to engineers and operators of the firm to effectively utilize the equipment. The objective of this paper is to explore the technology transfer of equipment and to establish a comprehensive framework for evaluating and selecting new equipment with critical technology transfer. Influence factors for technology transfer of new equipment are first collected by literature review and interviews with related experts in the thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) industry in Taiwan. Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) is applied next to select the most critical factors. Then, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is employed to determine the interrelationship among the critical factors. A fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) model is constructed to evaluate the technology transfer performance of equipment suppliers. The results of this study should provide a base for firms in evaluating the purchase of new equipment and a reference for equipment suppliers to strengthen their technology transfer process to their buyers.     

企业生态经济管理行为的影响因素分析

影响企业生态经济管理行为的因素是多层次、多侧面的,因素之间的关系也是错综复杂的。本文分析了企业生态经济管理行为的影响要素,并运用解释结构模型(ISM)对各要素之间的关系进行了探讨,从复杂的因素及因素链中寻找影响企业生态经济管理行为的根本原因,为政府和企业提供了宏观和微观上的决策依据。     

Financial development and financial openness nexus: the precondition of banking competition

We examine the dynamic relationship between financial development and financial openness using the pooled mean group estimator developed by Pesaran et al. (1999). Our results show that financial openness has a positive effect on financial development in the long run, but may have a negative effect in the short run. Using estimates of country-specific short-run coefficients, we also find that the adverse short-run effects of financial openness are associated with a lower degree of banking competition. The system GMM estimator also supports these findings, suggesting that the financial development and financial openness nexus is contingent on the degree of banking competition. A key policy implication is that a higher degree of banking competition is a precondition for financial openness to promote financial development.     

Can you do the wrong thing and still be right? Hypothesis testing in I(2) and near-I(2) cointegrated VARs

In this paper, we investigate the small-sample performance of LR tests on long-run coefficients in the I(2) model; we focus on a comparison between I(2) and near-I(2) data, i.e. I(1) data with a second root very close to unity, and report the results of some Monte Carlo experiments. With near-I(2) data, the finite-sample properties of the tests are (i) similar to those found with genuine I(2) data, (ii) systematically superior to those of the analogous tests constructed in the I(1) model, even if the latter is, in principle, correctly specified and the former is not. Therefore, there seems to be strong support to the idea that, in practice, modelling near-I(2) data using the I(2) model may be a good idea, despite the inherent misspecification.     

A Litterman BVAR approach for production forecasting of technology industries

Forecasting the production of technology industries is important to entrepreneurs and governments, but usually suffers from market fluctuation and explosion. This paper aims to propose a Litterman Bayesian vector autoregression (LBVAR) model for production prediction based on the interaction of industrial clusters. Related industries within industrial clusters are included into the LBVAR model to provide more accurate predictions. The LBVAR model possesses the superiority of Bayesian statistics in small sample forecasting and holds the dynamic property of the vector autoregression (VAR) model. Two technology industries in Taiwan, the photonics industry and semiconductor industry are used to examine the LBVAR model using a rolling forecasting procedure. As a result, the LBVAR model was found to be capable of providing outstanding predictions for these two technology industries in comparison to the autoregression (AR) model and VAR model.     

社会情感财富对家族企业创业导向的影响

在将家族企业社会情感财富划分为家族控制、家族代际传承意愿、家族认同和家族社会资本4个维度的基础上,研究不同维度社会情感财富间关系及其对家族企业创业导向的影响与作用机制。结果发现：①家族控制对家族代际传承意愿、家族认同和家族社会资本具有显著正向影响;②家族控制对家族企业创业导向具有显著正向影响,家族代际传承意愿、家族认同、家族社会资本在家族控制与家族企业创业导向间起完全中介作用。     

Has China’s fast industrial growth been efficient? An industry-level investigation with a newly constructed data set

We adopt contemporaneous, nonradial and variable returns to scale assumptions in a data envelopment analysis (DEA) exercise to address the inefficiency problem in Chinese industries in different policy regimes using a newly constructed data set for 24 Chinese manufacturing industries in 1952–2008. While confirming that the central planning period was indeed a ‘graveyard’ for productivity that entailed severe technical regress and efficiency losses, we do not find a steady improvement in efficiency during the reform period despite strong technical progress. We argue that the resurgent prominence of the government and the state sector since the late 1990s, especially following China’s World Trade Organization accession, has obstructed the efficiency improvement.     

农户自主发展能力的三商影响研究——以河南省吴沟村为例

通过对河南省吴沟村81家农户依照设定标准所选取的反映不同层次的20家农户的调查,对比分析了具有不同自主发展能力的农户的经济状况及其自身发展情况,探讨了农户自主发展能力和农户三商的度量,以及两者之间的关系.结果显示:在技术、制度、地域基质基本相同的条件下,影响农户发展主要取决于农户自身;农户的智商(IQ)、情商(EQ)、财商(FQ)对农户自主发展能力起着显著作用;但不同程度的农户自主发展能力,三商对其影响有明显差异,即主导商不同.调杳发现:农户都有提高自主发展能力的意识,且在追求农业以外的收入方而有着强烈愿望.在大致相同的环境条件下,提出了不断完善农户自身发展的相关措施,以利于农户自身合理规划,进而推动农村发展.     

Economic burden associated with inadequate antidepressant medication management among patients with depression and known cardiovascular diseases: insights from a United States–based retrospective claims database analysis

Abstract

Aims: The current study examined the association between insufficient major depressive disorder (MDD) care and healthcare resource use (HCRU) and costs among patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke.

Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted using the MarketScan Claims Database (2010–2015). The date of the first MI/stroke diagnosis was defined as the cardiovascular disease (CVD) index date and the first date of a subsequent MDD diagnosis was the index MDD date. Adequacy of MDD care was assessed during the 90 days following the index MDD date (profiling period) using 2 measures: dosage adequacy (average fluoxetine equivalent dose of ≥20?mg/day for nonelderly and ≥10?mg/day for elderly patients) and duration adequacy (measured as the proportion of days covered of 80% or higher for all MDD drugs). Study outcomes included all-cause and CVD-related HCRU and costs which were determined from the end of the profiling period until the end of study follow-up. Propensity-score adjusted generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to compare patients receiving adequate versus inadequate MDD care in terms of study outcomes.

Results: Of 1,568 CVD patients who were treated for MDD, 937 (59.8%) were categorized as receiving inadequate MDD care. Results from the GLMs suggested that patients receiving inadequate MDD care had 14% more all-cause hospitalizations, 4% more all-cause outpatient visits, 17% more CVD-related outpatient visits, 13% more CVD-related emergency room (ER) visits, higher per patient per year CVD-related hospitalization costs ($21,485 vs. $17,756), higher all-cause outpatient costs ($2,820 vs. $2,055), and higher CVD-related outpatient costs ($520 vs. $434) compared to patients receiving adequate MDD care.

Limitations: Clinical information such as depression severity and frailty, which are potential predictors of adverse CVD outcomes, could not be ascertained using administrative claims data.

Conclusions: Among post-MI and post-stroke patients, inadequate MDD care was associated with a significantly higher economic burden.     

韩国自由经济区发展演化过程及启示

自由经济区作为经济全球化和区域经济一体化的产物,近年来已变成加快各国尤其是发展中国家经济发展的增长极、城市化的驱动力以及制度创新的重要平台。东北亚地区是世界上仅次于北美、欧盟的第三大经济区,并已经成为全球重要的制造业中心。作为具备连接东北亚大陆和海洋区位优势的新兴工业化国家,韩国自由经济区不仅是本国实现经济发展目标,扩大贸易以及增加就业,优化产业结构的重要途径,还是参与经济全球化与区域经济一体化的重要手段。国内外学者的相关研究集中在韩国自由经济区的成本效益分析、理论基础以及对比分析等方面,有关其发展演化规律及动力机制仍然缺少系统性的归纳与研究。文章采用文献归纳、案例分析等方法,依据经济地理、贸易理论、系统发展演化理论总结归纳了韩国自由经济区由加工制造型向科技型、综合型和跨国区域经济一体化发展演化的规律及模式;在此基础上分析了推动韩国自由经济区发展演化的国际环境、国内政策、区内条件和区外条件等动力因素;最后分析探讨了韩国自由经济区演化规律及动力机制对我国建设自由贸易区的参考意义。     

Intellectual capital and firm performance: evidence from Indian banking sector

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the entire Indian banking industry was paralysed and their performance was shattered by the unfolding of enormous cases of Non-performing Assets (NPA). The study estimates the operating efficiency of 40 Indian banks for 5 years (2011–15) as a proxy of performance measure using the output-oriented DEA-BCC model. We find that nearly 62% of the state-owned banks and 47% of the private banks are inefficient indicating that the inefficient banks need to reduce their inputs or improve their output to become efficient. The study further investigates the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and bank performance using a truncated regression model. The regression results show that out of the three components of intellectual capital, only human capital efficiency is positively and significantly associated with operational efficiency while structural capital and finance capital have a negative impact on the efficiency of banks. The study concludes that to achieve competitive edge banks should invest in their human capital. The results are robust in the case of financial variables taken as a proxy for performance.     

Thermodynamics and process analysis for future economic scenarios

Economists are increasingly interested in forecasting future costs and benefits of policies for dealing with materials/energy fluxes, polluting emissions and environmental impacts on various scales, from sectoral to global. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are currently popular because they project demand and industrial structure into the future, along an equilibrium path. But they are applicable only to the extent that structural changes occur in or near equilibrium, independent of radical technological (or social) change. The alternative tool for analyzing economic implications of scenario assumptions is to use Leontief-type Input-Output (I-O) models. I-O models are unable to endogenize structural shifts (changing I-O coefficients). However, this can be a virtue when considering radical rather than incremental shifts. Postulated I-O tables can be used independently to check the internal consistency of scenarios. Or I-O models can be used to generate scenarios by linking them to econometric macro-drivers (which can, in principle, be CGE models). Explicit process analysis can be integrated, in principle, with I-O models. This hybrid scheme provides a natural means of satisfying physical constraints, especially the first and second laws of thermodynamics. This is important, to avoid constructing scenarios based on physically impossible processes. Process analysis is really the only available tool for constructing physically plausible alternative future I-O tables, and generating materials/energy and waste emissions coefficients. Explicit process analysis also helps avoid several problems characteristic of pure CGE or I-O models, viz. (1) aggregation errors (2) inability to handle arbitrary combinations of co-product and co-input relationships and (3) inability to reflect certain non-linearities such as internal feedback loops.     

论作业成本管理与企业资源计划的结合

本论文对ERP理论和作业成本管理理论的形成与原理进行了阐释,并介绍了这两种理论目前的研究水平和实践情况。在此基础上,着重分析了目前ERP实施过程中遇到的部分问题,提出了可以将作业成本管理理论引入ERP的管理理论体系,并分析了二者相结合的基础,在理论上指出这种结合不仅可以为作业成本管理理论的应用创造条件,更可以使ERP的理论和实践得到进一步发展。     

学科差异下的大学英语成绩-基于北京市七所高校本科生的分析

在对北京市海淀区七所\"211工程\"高校计算机及经管专业大四本科学生问卷调查的基础上,及在将新、旧四六级成绩统一转化为可比的旧四级成绩后,利用一般MLE回归模型纠正、解释了学科差异与大学英语成绩间的生态学谬误。学科差异对于个人的英语成绩并不存在直接影响。还利用国外教育界经常采用的分层线性模型重新估计了学科差异对于我国大学生英语成绩的影响。在理工科学生组中,解释变量对于因变量的影响更为强烈。