Business responses to climate change: strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Vietnam

This study identifies the climate change strategies adopted by firms in developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. First, a framework is developed to classify and assess the GHG emission strategies of companies; second, it is then improved by using data on their implementation collected from 185 companies operating in 10 energy-intensive industries in Vietnam. We find that multinational subsidiaries engage in various climate change activities and have a higher level of implementation than those of domestic firms. Further, the most active and proactive companies are large in size and from Europe, the United States and Japan.     

The Effect of Low‐ versus High‐Variance in Product Reviews on Product Evaluation

This research investigates whether the effect of low‐ versus high‐variance product reviews on the evaluation of a product about which consumers have favorable or unfavorable prior expectation can vary depending on product type, the argument quality of product reviews, and the number of reviewers. The data across three laboratory experiments demonstrate that high‐variance product reviews are more likely than low‐variance product reviews to undermine product evaluation when consumers have unfavorable prior expectation about a product. When consumers have favorable prior expectation, however, high‐variance product reviews can enhance or undermine product evaluation depending on product category, the argument quality of reviews, and the number of reviewers. The findings are explained by the type of causal attribution consumers make, such that high‐variance product reviews can allow consumers to make biased product evaluation consistent with their prior expectation when the causes of variance in the product reviews are attributed to the reviewers rather than to the product. However, when the causes of variance are attributed to the product rather than the reviewers, high‐variance product reviews can undermine product evaluation regardless of the favorability of prior expectation.     

Do futures‐based strategies enhance dynamic portfolio insurance?

In this paper we investigate the relative performance of two approaches to dynamic portfolio insurance: the synthetic put and the Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI). The investigation is conducted on the Australian market, over a sample period of 59 non‐overlapping quarters from December 1987 to December 2002. Its main contribution is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the two approaches under different market conditions, and the testing of ex ante information as an input into the trading program. The major finding is that the futures‐based implementation of both synthetic put and the CPPI approach is robust to both tranquil and turbulent market conditions in preserving the desired floor. The fact that this conclusion includes the case of employing implied volatility (obtained from the options market) is highly encouraging as it suggests high implementability of the strategy. Notably, the risk‐return tradeoff shows that portfolio insurance using this volatility measure yields a return that is 64 basis points over the risk free investment. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:591–608, 2004     

Economic designs of single and double screening procedures

Summary Economic designs of single and double screening procedures for improving outgoing product quality based on two screening variables are presented for the case of one-sided specification limit. Two screening variables are observed simultaneously in single screening procedure and are observed sequentially in double screening procedure. It is assumed that the performance variable and the two screening variables are jointly normally distributed. Three quality cost functions — constant, linear, and quadratic — are considered. Cost models are constructed which involve screening inspection cost, and costs of accepted and rejected item. Methods of finding the optimal cutoff values are presented and a numerical example is given.     

Optimal growth when consumption takes time

This article analyzes a one‐sector growth model where the consumption takes time. When the consumption takes time, the consumption set is compact and we meet satiety. However, we prove that dynamic constraints are binding. This result is crucial to prove that, under well‐known assumptions in macroeconomic dynamic programming, the optimal path is monotonic and always converges to a unique nontrivial steady state as in the case where consumption is timeless.     

Comparative advantage,demand for external finance,and financial development

This paper analyzes the effect of comparative advantage in international trade on a country's level of financial development. Countries with comparative advantage in financially intensive goods experience a higher demand for external finance, and therefore financial development. By contrast, financial development is lower in countries that primarily export goods which do not rely on external finance. We use disaggregated trade data to develop a measure of a country's external finance need of exports, and demonstrate this effect empirically. In order to overcome the simultaneity problem, we develop a novel instrumentation strategy based on the exogenous geographic determinants of trade patterns.     

Tourism students’ motivational orientations: the case of Vietnam

The availability of skilled labor and institutions of higher education that can contribute to human capacity building are prerequisites for tourism-dependent nations like Vietnam. The exploration of students’ motivations is one way in which the role of institutions of higher education in capacity building and tourism development can be further understood. This research explores students’ motivational orientations related to enrollment in tourism degree programs in Vietnam. Three key categories emerged: enthusiasm for travel and tourism; employment; and contribution to national industry. The findings are linked to the basic psychological needs of self-determination theory, namely autonomy, competence, and relatedness.     

The temporal behavior of scale economies within A banking firm

Examining the time path of the scale economies has not received much attention until recently. Moreover, the time path of scale economies for a given firm has not been studied in the banking literature at all. Examining scale economies, either from cross-sectional or panel data, based only on a single estimate ignores the dynamic behavior (both cost- and production-wise) of a banking firm as well as of the banking industry. We study the time-varying scale economies of commercial banking firms. We employ the Kalman-filter approach in estimating the translog cost function. The Kalman filter allows the parameters of the translog cost function and therefore the scale economies to be time dependent and varying. The estimation results indicate significant variation in inter- and within-firm scale economies over time for sample banks.     

The determinants of FDI in Turkey: A Markov Regime-Switching approach

This paper considers movements of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Turkey, and therefore, to understand the dynamics of FDI, runs several nonlinear FDI equations in which the basic determinants of FDI in Turkey are determined through Markov Regime-Switching Models (MSMs). The statistical properties of Markov Regime-Switching time series models are more desirable than those of conventional time series or panel regression models. Through these properties of MSMs, i) one can observe structural changes, if they exist, in FDI equations through time, ii) if, in fact, the true FDI regression equation follows a nonlinear relationship, MSMs fit data better than the linear models. This paper eventually follows maximum likelihood methodology of Markov Regime-Switching Model (MSM) to search for the possible structural changes in level and/or trends and possible changes in parameters of independent variables of FDI–MSM equations through the transition probabilities. In conclusion, this paper yields the outcome that Turkish FDI growth equation has significant structural changes in level and trend and that has significant coefficient shifts in explanatory variables. These explanatory variables are Turkish GDP Growth, Labor Cost, the Electricity Price Growth, the growth in average prices of High Sulphur Fuel Oil, Cooking Coal, Steam Coal and Natural Gas, Export Growth, Import Growth, Discount Rate and Country Risk Indexes for Turkey, US and EU, respectively, within the time interval from 1988 first quarter to 2010 second quarter.     

Financial distress and bankruptcy prediction: An appropriate model for listed firms in Vietnam

This paper aims to develop a comprehensive model, the first of its kind in Vietnam, for the purpose of predicting financial distress and bankruptcy at Vietnamese listed firms. The period 2003–2016 is used to study the likelihood of financial distress in different scenarios. Various factors are utilized, including (1) accounting factors in the emerging market score model; (2) market factors in the distance-to-default model; and (3) macroeconomic indicators. The area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUC) curve is used to compare the usefulness of various models that predict financial distress and bankruptcy. Empirical findings from this study show that accounting and market factors, together with macroeconomic fundamental factors, both affect financial distress when they are considered in isolation. However, in a comprehensive model, the effects from accounting factors appear to be more significant than those from market-based factors. The default prediction model, which includes accounting factors with macroeconomic indicators, appears to perform much better than the model comprising market-based factors with macroeconomic fundamentals.