Consumption of foods and foodstuffs processed with hazardous chemicals: a case study of Bangladesh

Determining the best way to persuade consumers to consume more healthy foods is challenging. In Bangladesh, however, daily newspapers consistently show that various hazardous chemicals (e.g. calcium carbide, sodium cyclamate, cyanide and formalin, etc.) are mixed with or added to foods and foodstuffs. These chemicals are very dangerous to humans. This present study examines the reasons behind the use of hazardous chemicals in foods as well as the extent to which food producers/sellers use such chemicals. In addition, this study assesses consumer perceptions of and attitudes towards these contaminated food items and explores how adulterated foods and foodstuffs affect consumer health. The empirical data were collected from 110 consumers, 25 sellers or producers, seven doctors and seven pharmacists in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This study shows that nearly every consumer (93.7%) is aware that various foods and foodstuffs contain hazardous chemicals, and that 95.5% of consumers are aware that these adulterated foods and foodstuffs are harmful to their health. This paper explores the myriad reasons why consumers nevertheless feel compelled to consume such chemically treated foods.     

China's Non-Performing Bank Loan Crisis: the role of economic rents

Various reasons have been put forward to explain the massive accumulation of non-performing loans in China. This paper applies the financial-restraint model as the analytical framework and argues that failure to create sufficient economic rents is the chief reason underlying the current dismal performance of banks. While the formal financial system is less important than the informal system—especially for financing the private enterprises that are playing a crucial role in economic growth—not addressing the non-performing loan crisis in the formal financial system will likely invite an economic slow-down.     

Overlapping Membership on Audit and Compensation Committees and Financial Reporting Quality

This paper examines whether the audit committee members of a board improve financial reporting quality if they are also on their organisation's compensation committee. Audit committees are responsible for overseeing the financial reporting process of organisations and have been urged to broaden their understanding of business risk and of the incentives provided by their firms’ executive compensation structures. Acknowledging the interrelationships among executive compensation, risk‐taking and financial reporting quality, members of audit and compensation committees have been advocating more information sharing between the two committees. Using archival data from a sample of Australian Stock Exchange listed companies, and discretionary accruals as a proxy for financial reporting quality, this study finds that firms with overlapping committees have better quality financial reporting than those without such an overlap. Our evidence for this is stronger in cases where managers tend to manage earnings upwards in order to meet or beat earnings benchmarks. We also find that the beneficial effect of the existence of overlapping committees is adversely affected by the equity holdings of directors with overlapping memberships.     

TRIBUTE: Trip-based urban transportation emissions model for municipalities

This research aims at developing modeling and scenario-comparison tools to explore the impacts of various transportation and land use planning policies on changing travel behavior and eventually greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A Trip-Based Urban Transportation Emissions (TRIBUTE) model is developed. Data required for TRIBUTE comes from household travel surveys and emissions inventories, which is a major advantage in cases where a detailed transportation network model is unavailable. TRIBUTE is composed of two main parts: a mode choice model and an emissions forecasting model. The mode choice model is responsible for estimating modal shares of alternative modes of travel in response to changes in personal, modal, and land use attributes. The emissions forecasting model translates the modal shares into vehicle kilometers traveled, and subsequently GHG emissions. TRIBUTE is a macroscopic model intended to assist municipalities evaluate alternative transportation and land use policy scenarios and eventually select the one(s) that help them meet their future GHG emission targets. This paper reports on the conceptual framework of the developed model and presents a case study.     

Achieving sustainable urban transport mobility in post peak oil era

Peak oil is the term used to describe the point at which global oil production will peak and thereafter start to decline. Recognising that transport uses a significant portion of global energy, the shortage of fossil fuel in post peak oil era will pose a global challenge in the transport sector. The paper presents an assessment of international research to illustrate the possible time frame of peak oil. It investigates the key implications of the oil shortage that threaten to render the urban transport system of Australia ineffective. Synthesis of documented research evidence suggests three major implications in the urban transport sector: (1) a reduction of mobility for individuals, (2) an increase of transport disadvantage, and (3) a disruption of urban freight movement. In addition, the paper explores strategies to cope with the devastating effects of the shortage of the fossil fuel in the post peak oil era. A number of strategies to achieve sustainable mobility in the future urban transport system are presented. These strategies are summarised into three main themes: (1) a mode shift to alternate transport modes, (2) an integration of land use and transport planning, and (3) a global technical effort for alternate fuels and vehicles. It is expected that a concerted global effort in this regard can have a far-reaching effect in achieving sustainability in urban transport mobility.     

Tourism governance in protected areas: investigating the application of the adaptive co-management approach

Abstract

Protected areas have become popular tourism destinations; yet these areas are often plagued by poor governance systems, particularly in developing countries. Adaptive co-management (ACM) has been advocated as one approach to improve the governance of protected areas, yet empirical evidence from developing countries is lacking. This study investigates the application of the ACM approach in two protected areas in Bangladesh which are also important nature-based tourism destinations. Using Lawachara National Park and Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary as cases, this qualitative study explored the extent to which an ACM approach was able to support the achievement of key governance principles such as participation, accountability, transparency, power, rule of law, and social learning. It was found that the approach was successful in facilitating the increased participation of a broader range of stakeholder groups, and the collaboration between them. Importantly though, it was the adaptive element of ACM which was found to have made the greatest contribution to improved governance with the approach providing new opportunities for stakeholders to engage in iterative learning. This aspect was found to be of particular importance for the sustainability of the protected areas with stakeholders reporting changes attitudes and behaviour towards protected area conservation.     

Re-Examining the Determinants of Islamic Bank Performance: New Evidence from Dynamic GMM,Quantile Regression,and Wavelet Coherence Approaches

This study is the first attempt to conduct a comparative analysis of the internal and external determinants of the Islamic banks’ profitability in the GCC region applying dynamic GMM, quantile regression, and wavelet coherence approaches. The dynamic GMM tends to indicate that equity financing and operating efficiency and macroeconomic variables such as money supply, and inflation are significantly related to Islamic banks’ performance. The bank-specific variables such as credit risk, equity ratio, and cost-efficiency ratios are not significant at different percentiles. ROA is driven by credit risk, equity ratio, and cost-efficiency ratios (as evidenced in wavelet coherence analysis).     

Is better banking performance associated with financial inclusion and mandated CSR expenditure in a developing country?

Motivated by legislation mandating CSR expenditure to improve social equality and economic development in India, we examine the association of CSR expenditure and financial inclusion with the performance of banking firms in the period after introduction of the legislation. We study whether mandated CSR expenditure and/or financial inclusion measures are associated with better financial performance, using both accounting and stock market measures of performance, for Indian banks during 2015–2017. Our results demonstrate that level of CSR expenditure and degree of financial inclusion is not associated with banks’ financial performance when performance is measured in accounting terms. However, a significant negative association is found when performance is measured by stock market return. These results suggest that the current design of the legislation is unlikely to achieve its purpose. This is the first study to present clear evidence on the associations of mandatory CSR spending and firm‐level financial inclusion with accounting‐based and market‐based bank performance.     

The long-run impact of Information and Communication Technology on economic output: The case of Australia

This paper investigates the cointegration and causal relationships between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and economic output in Australia using data for about five decades. The framework used in this paper is the single-sector aggregate production function, which is the first comprehensive approach of this kind to include ICT and non-ICT capital and other factors to examine long-run Granger causality. The empirical evidence points to a cointegration relationship between ICT capital and output, and implies that ICT capital Granger causes economic output and multifactor productivity, as does non-ICT capital.     

Marketing challenges and organic farming in India—Does farm size matter?

The growing health consciousness among the consumer and increasing awareness about organic food has led numerous opportunities for organic producers. Along with opportunities, there also arise challenges; thus, the main purpose of this study is to explore the marketing challenges faced by the organic and conventional farmers in India. The study also aims to examine the differential association of the marketing challenges on various farm sizes. The sample comprised 400 Indian farmers including both conventional and organic producers. A sequential form of mixed‐method design, that is, qualitative–quantitative, was applied. In the first phase, an exploratory study was convened to find out the marketing challenges among organic and conventional farmers. In the second (quantitative) phase, binomial and multinomial logistics regression was applied to ascertain the differential impact of the marketing challenges on the type of farming and different farm sizes. The results of the qualitative analysis revealed six major marketing challenges faced by the farmers, namely, lack of warehousing facility, lack of price information, inadequate demand for crop, costly transportation, market price variations, and lack of government support. The results suggest there are significant differences in the marketing challenges faced by the conventional and organic farmers across farm sizes. This study is among the few to examine the marketing challenges of organic and conventional farmers in a developing country such as India. The findings will help different stakeholders to frame policies and build strategies to promote organic farming, which will lead to sustainable and responsible consumption in India.