Bailing in the private sector

During the last decade, there has been a significant bias towards bond financing on emerging markets, with private investors relying on a bail-out of bonds by the international community. This bias has been a main cause of the recent excessive fragility of international capital markets. The following paper shows how collective action clauses in bonds contracts help to involve the private sector in risk-sharing. It argues that such clauses, as a market-based instrument, will raise the spreads for emerging market debt and so help to correct a market failure towards excessive bond finance. Recent pressure by the IMF to involve the private sector faces a conflict between the principle of honouring existing contracts and that of equal treatment of bondholders.     

Proliferation of private labels in the groceries sector: The impact on category performance

In consumer goods retailing, an increase in private labels on offer has been evident for several years now. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how retailer assortment-policy measures and pricing-policy measures to promote the sales of private labels will affect the level of category performance. The findings, based upon POS scanning data from the German groceries sector, are at first view surprising since extending the range of private labels and reducing that of national brands does not lead to greater category performance. The paper offers important retailing, managerial and welfare economics implications of the findings.     

Local government and private sector purchasing strategy: a comparative study

Building upon previous research (Murray, 1999. European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management 5 (1), 33–42) a tripartite postal survey to council leaders, chief executives and purchasing managers is used to establish the goals of local government, purchasing's potential strategic contribution and the strategies currently used. These findings are compared against the equivalent goals, purchasing objectives and strategies of the private sector.     

The private sector in the Soviet Union and China

The private sector in the fields of agriculture, wholesaling and retailing, craft trades and light industry, already well-developed in the People’s Republic of China and a number of Eastern European countries, is now to be given a more significant role in the Soviet Union. Moscow’s economic reformers believe this will contribute to an improved standard of living, as has been the case in China during the economic reform which has now been underway since 1978/79. It is therefore tempting to compare the concepts underlying the reforms and the course they have taken in the two socialist “super-powers”, the key question being whether the Russians will achieve similar successes with their reforms, once all the teething troubles are overcome, to those of the Chinese.     

The increasing role of the private sector in Asian industrial development

In recent years, there has been a powerful trend on the global scene and above all in the Asian region for the private sector in general and private industry in particular to assume a growing, and indeed leading, role in economic and industrial development. This article reviews some recent trends of private investment and privatization policies pursued in selected Asian countries and discusses the implications of private sector-led industrial development for the role of governments and international organizations.     

The role of the private and public sector in human capital formation

While there are strong equity and efficiency reasons for subsidizing education in developing countries, the prevailing dominance of governments in the financing and provision of educational services can be questioned. There is some evidence supporting the conclusion that a partial cost recovery through user fees may reduce the rationing of services which is still a pressing problem in many low-income countries, and that private providers tend to be more cost-efficient than their public counterparts.     

A comparison of business ethics commitment in private and public sector organizations in Sweden

This paper reports the results of a study of the top 500 private sector organizations and the top 100 public sector organizations in Sweden. It is a replication of the study by Svensson et al. (2004) . The aim of the study was to describe and compare the business ethics commitment of organizations across the two sectors. The empirical findings indicate that the processes involved in business ethics commitment have begun to be recognized and acted upon at an organizational level in Sweden. Some support is provided to show that codes of ethics are developing in some of Sweden's largest private and public sector organizations – although this is happening to a lesser extent in the public sector. It is noted that an effect of a code of ethics on the bottom line of the business was acknowledged by respondents in both private and public sector organizations. We believe that the supporting measures of business ethics commitment appear to be underutilized in both private and public sector organizations in Sweden (among those that possess codes of ethics), thus indicating that the commitment to business ethics in Swedish organizations has potential for future development.     

Guanxi,political connections and resource acquisition in Chinese publicly listed private sector firms

In this study, we examined the role of guanxi as entrepreneurs’ resource-obtaining mechanism in private sector firms, using a data-set of 184 publicly listed firms in China. We found that guanxi indeed played a positive role that helped private sector firms gain easier access to resources. We also found that guanxi exerted even a greater positive effect on private sector firms’ resource obtaining compared to entrepreneurs’ political participation, due to being the lifeblood of business conduct and social interaction in Chinese culture.     

Economic impact of foreign labour

Over 2.3 mn foreign workers are now employed in the Federal Republic of Germany. They account for 10 p.c. of the total labour force. How many foreigners will work in the Federal Republic in future is necessarily a matter for conjecture. Labour market experts forecast that — depending on the rate at which the productive potential is used — between 2 and 2.8 mn foreign nationals will be constantly employed until 1985.     

Economic reforms in the industrial sector of the People's Republic of China

At the end of the 1970s there occurred a re-orientation of development policy in the People's Republic of China. Changes were introduced in the sectoral development priorities, the guiding principles of the State's incomes and foreign trade policies and in the organization of agricultural production. Above all, initial steps were taken to realign the administrative control system in the industrial sector more towards a market-oriented economic system. This article examines the guiding ideas behind the reform of the industrial sector and the measures taken so far. Emphasis is placed on the introduction of taxation on enterprises' profits which was recently decided and had long been a subject of dispute.     

Hotel management contract: impact on performance in the Korean hotel sector

This study investigates the influence of hotel management contract on the performance of super-deluxe hotels in Korea and identifies how the 1996–1997 tourism recessions affected the relationship between management contract and the performance of the hotels. The Mann–Whitney U test, stepwise logistic regression, and multivariate analysis of variance statistical analyses indicate that management contract is positively related to the performance of the hotels, and the 1996–1997 tourism recessions caused the management contract–performance link to vary. From the industry application perspective, this study provides hotel owners with empirical information relating to: (1) a means to assess the performance of hotels under management contract and (2) a decision rule to apply an appropriately matched operating arrangement to an environmental state for maximum performance. The results obtained present an invaluable analysis tool for all owners involved in charting a hotel's future.     

The development of a consumer value proposition of private label brands and the application thereof in a South African retail context

Private Label Brands are of strategic importance to retailers worldwide. However, there is a dearth of knowledge, particularly in emerging markets, as to the manner in which consumers cognitively assess these brands. At the heart of the issue is a gap in knowledge as to how consumers formulate a value proposition in their minds and the effect of loyalty to existing brands. This paper assumes a positivist, hypothetico-deductive approach by attempting to address the question: What are the key drivers of perceived value of private label branded breakfast cereals, taking price, perceived risk and perceived quality into account? Moreover, the study considers how various attributes of brand image contribute to the perception of brands and the extent to which loyalty to established national brands inhibits purchasing intent of private label merchandise. A conceptual model was developed, and tested by means of Partial Least Squares path analysis, using a sample of 482 respondents. The outcome reflects that consumers take cognisance of value through price, risk and quality cues, but that loyalty to existing brands has a minimal effect in the final stage of the model. Moreover, both in- and out-of-store influences were found to play a significant role in the determination of product quality. Retailers therefore possess a number of levers at their disposal to influence perceived value, most notably price, product quality and the perceived risk portfolio, as well as packaging, shelf placement, store environmental factors, etcetera.     

论吴文化对苏南本土民营企业伦理观的影响

企业作为社会经济活动的主体,不仅具有经济性,而且具有社会性与伦理性的特点。在我国,企业伦理是随着改革开放而兴起并逐渐被理论界和企业界所重视的问题。企业伦理观的形成受很多因素的影响,其中区域文化是不容忽视的重要因素。吴文化是中华优秀文化的重要组成部分,是一个区域性明显、刚柔并济的文化,根植于此的苏南本土企业受吴文化的影响,形成了重义轻利、精打细算、外柔内刚、富国利民的伦理思想。新的发展时期,需要不断完善苏南本土民营企业伦理道德体系建设,提升苏南本土民营企业建设企业伦理的自主意识,塑造苏南本土民营企业行为文化和精神文化,健全苏南本土民营企业伦理评估机制,才能不断加强苏南本土民营企业社会责任意识,进一步推动苏南社会经济的发展。     

财政支出对民间投资效应的跨时差片和地区差异

本文研究财政支出对民间投资的效应是否存在跨时差异和地区差异。我们对比分析了1981-1993年、1994-2005年这两个时间段的回归结果,发现财政支出对民间投资的促进作用主要体现在1981-1993年。对财政支出效应地区差异的实证分析表明：虽然从全国范围看,财政支出总量无助于促进民间投资,但是分地区看,财政支出效应在中部最大,而在东西部并不显著。     

CCPIT Delegation Visits Major Economic Organizations in South Korea

On March 11, a CCPIT delegation headed by WangJinzhen, Vice President of CCPIT visited Federation of Korean Industries （FKI）, Korean SME Central Council and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry （KCCI）.     

Economic impact of a regulation imposing full-face protectors on adult recreational hockey players

Abstract

In 1988, the Government of Quebec adopted a regulation imposing the use of a full-face protector ( FFP) on the 100,000 adult recreational ice hockey players of the province. After one year of enforcement, the FFP use rate increased from 25% to 88%. Compliancy rates then dropped steadily to reach 76% by 1993. Based on those rates and on epidemiological data on facial injuries, health care costs and efficiency of FFPs in preventing such injuries, it was estimated that the regulation resulted so far in a net saving of $1.9 million in health care costs alone. The savings/cost ratio for the regulation is 1.87:1. If the regulation had imposed a visor instead of a full-face protector, the net savings in health care costs for the same period would have been only $96,277, for a savings/cost ratio of 1.04:1. If no regulation had been adopted at all, it is estimated that voluntary use of FFPs would have resulted in $665,912 of savings while voluntary use of visors would have resulted in a saving of $497,023. It is concluded that a governmental regulation imposing the use of FFPs on adult recreational players was economically justifiable     

The impact of private labels on consumer store loyalty: An integrative perspective

This research studies the role of private labels (PLs) on consumers’ store loyalty. It offers an integrative approach that comprises several store loyalty drivers (in-store and economic factors), analyzing the role that PLs play among different types of retailers. Data were collected through an online survey. Using structural equation modeling, we run our analysis across different retail formats, assessing which factors lead to store loyalty and to what extent PLs contribute to it. Findings suggest that depending on retailers‘ market positioning, different factors contribute to loyalty and that the impact of PLs is mostly significant for medium-cost and premium supermarkets.