Determinants of export performance

Comparative advantage, government incentives and entrepreneurial dynamics as determinants of a country’s export performance are discussed in this article. The author’s particular attention is focussed on the present situation and future perspectives of the less developed countries.     

Problems now and in the past

In some places, voices are raised today which assert that development aid is not worth the noise that is being made about it, because the industrialised countries went through exactly the same phase of development by their own, unaided efforts and still had arrived where they are now. Any development aid, so it is said, will only paralyse the determination of LDCs to aid themselves. The author discusses this assertion in the following article.     

Consumer adoption of Internet banking in Jordan: Examining the role of hedonic motivation,habit, self-efficacy and trust

Despite the rapid growth of Internet banking (IB), customers in developing countries still hesitate to adopt this technology and its use in the Middle East remains low. This study aims to identify and examine the factors that predict behavioural intention and adoption of IB in Jordan. Four factors – hedonic motivation, habit, self-efficacy and trust – are proposed in a conceptual model. Data was collected by means of a survey with bank customers in Jordan. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data. The results strongly supported the conceptual model. Further, hedonic motivation, habit, self-efficacy and trust were all confirmed to have a significant influence on behavioural intention. Trust was found to be strongly predicted by both hedonic motivation and self-efficacy. This study provides both academics and practitioners with an insight into the factors that can be used to encourage customer adoption of IB specifically in a Middle East context.     

Berufsbedingte Dermatosen bei Pflegenden

Ekzeme – eine h?ufig untersch?tzte Gefahr - Untersuchungen zeigen, dass die Lebensqualit?t durch berufsbedingte Hauterkrankungen genauso eingeschr?nkt wird wie durch einen Myokardinfarkt oder Schlaganfall. Das ist für Pflegende deshalb so bedeutsam, weil gerade in Pflegeberufen Kontakt zu potenziell Allergie ausl?senden Stoffen besteht.     

An examination of consumers’ cross-shopping behaviour

This study addresses antecedents of cross-shopping behaviour. Five theory-driven hypotheses are derived and tested. The results indicate that impulse buying tendency and perceived time pressure have a statistically significant negative effect on supermarket patronage. Product assortment and price consciousness have a statistically significant negative effect on speciality store patronage, while impulse buying tendency and convenience orientation have a statistically significant positive effect on speciality store patronage. Perceived time pressure has a statistically significant positive effect on meat store patronage. This effect is, however, not statistically significant on seafood store patronage. The findings have managerial implications for both supermarkets and speciality stores.     

The roles of insurance and well-specified standards in dealing with environmental risks

The present liability system for managing environmental risks has had huge transaction costs through the courts with limited funds actually utilized for compensation (except to the lawyers) and cleanup of wastes. This paper discusses the use of insurance coupled with well-specified standards as an alternative to the current system. It illustrates the potential for the use of these policy tools in the context of two environmental risk management problems: providing liability protection to contractors involved in asbestos removal and protecting commercial property lenders and owners from liabilities associated with environmental contamination.