Social capital in Southeast Asian business relationships

Social capital is the glue and the lubricant facilitating network behavior [Anderson, A. & Jack, S. (2002). The articulation of social capital in entrepreneurial networks: a glue or a lubricant?. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 14, 193-210.]. The purpose of this paper is to add to the current literature on social capital by investigating social capital structures, opportunity, motivation and ability within export relationships in Thailand. We conceptualize social capital following Adler and Kwon [Adler, P. & Kwon, S-W. (2002). Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17-40.] and use interview data to further explore the construct. Our results indicate that the social structures from which social capital is drawn are not independent for large overlaps are present. Opportunity, motivation and ability are linked with a common thread of trust. The research highlights implications for managers wishing to develop social capital or use social capital as a marketing strategy.     

A Time Series Analysis of Private College Closures and Mergers

This study examines and explains private four-yearcollege closures and mergers in the United Statesusing time series data at the national level for theperiod 1960 to 1994. The data imply that, exceptduring the 1970s, private colleges were much lesslikely to close than businesses in general.Furthermore, the data indicate that private collegemergers occur more often than casual empiricismsuggests. Multiple regression analysis of the exit andmerger decision reveals that private college closuresand mergers are more likely when the real tuition ratedeclines and real faculty salaries rise at privatecolleges. Both the closure and merger rates are foundto be highly responsive with respect to changes inprivate tuition and faculty salaries. The empiricalresults further indicate that religiously-affiliatedcolleges are less likely to close and merge thansecular institutions and that a larger student poolleads to less closing and merging of private four-yearcolleges.     

Consumer-driven health care: lessons from the first five years

Lessons learned from the past five years' growth of the consumer-driven health movement bodes well for its longevity in the marketplace. The authors of this article review the results achieved by early adopters of consumer-driven health initiatives and the success strategies they've used in the areas of plan design, pricing, integration with wellness initiatives, communication and vendor selection. They conclude with a case example of how a transportation service company experienced substantial consumer-driven health plan enrollment and achieved a significant number of the key predictive success steps along the way.     

房价攀升对亚洲央行构成新挑战

【摩根士丹利7月7日】全球应对经济下滑的强力举措已经开始发挥效力,世界各地区经济走势出现了近乎同步的轻微好转。这些旨在扭转经济颓势的举措也推动了资产市场的大幅上涨、尤其是房价的攀升。日本之外亚洲（AXJ）地区的房地产市场在见底之后,已出现了大幅回升,香港、新加坡、汉城、上海、曼谷和孟买等金融中心表现得尤为突出。据我们所知,AXJ地区若干不同地点的房价涨幅在10％-40％。香港和新加坡与全球金融市场的联系较为密切,房价回升幅度最大。部分地点的价格指数已逼近全球信贷危机之前的峰值。房地产成交量也大幅上升。     

Analysis of Snack Food Purchasing and Consumption Behavior

This exploratory research examines the purchasing and consumption behavior of snack food consumers. A structured questionnaire and intercept interviews were used to collect quantitative data from respondents inside supermarket stores. For marketers, a key contribution of this study is the importance of the price attribute and certain product claims. Sugar and total fat were found to be the most important nutritional factors that consumers consider when making a purchase decision, but it was also found that only around one half of all consumers actually read product labels when purchasing snack foods. Matters of particular concern that are highlighted by this study are that one third of consumers do not consider their snacking behavior to be healthy, and one quarter of consumers choose to snack in secret. This study addressed a number of gaps in current knowledge by identifying the snack food products that are most frequently consumed, the reasons for consuming snacks, whether consumers read snack food product labels, the importance of various attributes and product claims, whether consumers regard their snacking behavior to be healthy, and whether they snack in secret.     

Young UK adults and the 5 A DAY campaign: perceived benefits and barriers of eating more fruits and vegetables

Although consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases, it is widely recognized that young adults' intakes are currently well below the Department of Health's recommended five portions a day, with men consuming even less than women. One approach in the UK has been to introduce health campaigns such as the 5 A DAY programme; however, little is currently known about how well their messages are understood amongst young adults. This study examined current knowledge of the 5 A DAY message in young adults, as well as the perceived benefits and remaining barriers towards consuming more fruits and vegetables. In total, four focus groups were conducted using male (n = 22) and female (n = 18) students at the University of Reading. Content analysis revealed that while participants were aware of the 5 A DAY recommendation, there was widespread confusion regarding the detail. In addition, men were less accepting of the message than women, reporting greater disbelief and a lack of motivation to increase intake. Finally, a range of barriers was reported by participants of both genders, despite the perceived beneficial effects for health and appearance. The results illustrate a considerable gap between awareness and knowledge of the 5 A DAY message, and underscore the challenge that changing behaviour in young adults represents. As well as stepping up education‐ and skill‐based health campaigns, more targeted gender specific interventions will be needed to achieve sustained increases in fruit and vegetable intake.     

Diversity,knowledge clusters,and job placement: Graduate economics teaching of core microeconomics

The authors present an empirical analysis of what is taught in core micro-economics at a set of top U.S. doctoral economics programs. Their aim is to evaluate the diversity across programs and assess whether there are distinct “schools of thought” in graduate economics education. Their empirical findings reveal substantial, in fact, surprising diversity in what is taught. Application of a clustering algorithm results in programs clustering into two main “schools of thought.” The authors also specify an econometric model of job placement. Their job placement results indicate that candidates are more likely to be hired at schools in the same cluster as their home program, even after controlling for other factors. The results inform debates about graduate education and the relevance of a “common core” curriculum.     

The Effects of Work Stressors,Perceived Organizational Support,and Gender on Work-Family Conflict in Hong Kong

This study examined the direct and moderating effects of perceived organizational support (POS) and gender on the relationship between work stressors and work-family conflict for a sample of Hong Kong Chinese employees. As predicted, we found that POS is negatively related to both FWC (family-to-work conflict) and WFC (work-to-family conflict), and that work stressors (including role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload) are positively related to FWC and WFC. Additionally, the positive relationship between role overload and WFC was found to be weaker when POS was high, suggesting that POS can offset the adverse impact of role overload.     

A model of local demand for education

A careful modeling of the spending behavior of local school districts in New Jersey is presented. The theoretical model relies on the common hypothesis of political competition leading to a median outcome as well as the assumption that school superintendents act as budget maximizers. The model is estimated for a sample of 177 school districts under three different aid formulas. Pooling of the cross sections suggests that the response of school expenditures to changes in variables other than those associated with school aid parameters has remained constant over time. The results are discussed in the context of recent theories regarding the effect of intergovernmental aid on the level of public expenditure.