What Factors Determine Whether Small and Medium Enterprises Obtain Credit from the Formal Credit Market? The Case of Vietnam

Using a survey of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) conducted during 2005–2013, this paper examines the process of applying for a formal loan and the level of satisfaction (credit needs) obtained by SMEs. The empirical results show that banking relationships and the business environment are important factors when applying for and obtaining formal credit. However, positive measures of firms' financial performance, such as a high return on assets score and sales growth, did not have a significant influence on whether firms obtained credit. Formal financial institutions in Vietnam were found to depend too much on collateral assets in assessing whether to supply credit to an SME.     

“If It’s Easy to Read,It’s Easy to Claim”—The Effect of the Readability of Insurance Contracts on Consumer Expectations and Conflict Behaviour

In the area of financial services, lawmakers and regulators increasingly promote the use of plain language in business-to-consumer contracts. Although such efforts are undoubtedly welcomed by consumers, as they promote better comprehension, not much is known about the actual effects of improved readability on consumer attitudes and cognitive processes. Does improved readability in general contract terms have an impact on the consumer’s perception of their contractual position? Do contracts that are easier to read influence the steps or actions taken by consumers in the wake of conflict? In response to these questions, we present data from an experiment that investigates the relationship between the reading ease of general contract terms on the one hand and consumer expectations and willingness to engage in conflict on the other. Our findings suggest that readability increases the trust and confidence of the consumer in the sense that it increases their expectations of the claim. Moreover, we have found partial evidence to suggest that reading ease also increases the consumer’s willingness to engage in legal action in the case of subsequent claim denial.     

Playing with class: Middle‐class intensive mothering and the consumption of children's toys in Vietnam

This article explores the way in which Vietnamese mothers purchase, gift and share toys with their children. The study utilises a qualitative design comprising semi‐structured interviews with 10 Vietnamese middle‐class professional working mothers of children aged between 5 and 9. This research highlights the way in which toys defined as “good” by mothers need to fulfil a number of important practical and social functions: they act as an investment in the child's future, as a reward, and as a means for mothers to buy time for themselves. The findings illustrate how these functions are influenced by Confucian and Western discourses of intensive mothering, generating a localized style of middle‐class intensive mothering, characterized by what we have called the ideal of the triple excellent and intensive mother.     

Corporate usage of financial derivatives,information asymmetry,and insider trading

This article investigates whether financial derivative usage by Australian corporations constitutes information asymmetry when proxied by profitable trading in the firms' securities by insiders. The findings show that insiders who trade in companies that employ derivatives make larger purchase returns compared to insiders in nonuser firms with regard to trading identity, trading intensity, variability of usage, volume of trading, and industry effects. A plausible explanation is that asymmetry is driven by derivative traders who undertake noisy transactions in firms where risk outcomes were previously transparent. Excess returns are confined to purchase transactions consistent with insiders primarily selling for noninformation reasons. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 30:25–47, 2010     

The Productivity Commission Inquiry Report into Mental Health—A Commentary from a Health Economics Perspective

The Productivity Commission's Inquiry Report into Mental Health makes extensive recommendations to improve population mental health as a means of further enhancing productivity and economic growth. While providing an invaluable high‐level vision for reforming current mental health and social systems at a programmatic level, it lacks supporting evidence that would guide implementation of specific recommendations. We discuss important methodological considerations used to measure the output of the mental health sector and present clinical and cost‐effectiveness evidence, supporting selected recommendations. We suggest the development of a broad‐based health technology assessment process to facilitate consistent decision making across health and other government sectors.     

Sustainable employment: the importance of intrinsically valuable work and an age-supportive climate

The aging workforce emphasizes the importance of sustainable employment, that is the extent to which workers are able and willing to remain working now and in the future . This raises the question how organizations can design work contexts that contribute to sustainable employment. This study investigated the role of a intrinsically motivating job (intrinsic job value) and an age-supportive climate for three indicators of employees’ sustainable employment: employability, work engagement and affective commitment. The questionnaire was completed by 119 office employees (response 35%) of a Dutch public transport organization. A SEM analysis revealed that intrinsic job value was strongly and positively related with all three indicators of sustainable employment for employees of all ages. In contrast, an age-supportive climate was especially important for older employees’ work engagement and affective commitment. This study has implications for practice and for research of sustainable employment, HRM and aging.     

The effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process: Evidence from Vietnam

This study aims to identify the effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces/cities. I employ labour quality assessments of firms as a proxy for human capital and divide human capital accumulation into the following two processes: an educational process and a process through which educational outcomes and worker training transform into labour quality. The estimation results have some notable implications for the Vietnamese context. Corruption has both negative and positive effects on human capital. On the one hand, corruption reduces the positive effect of local government spending on educational achievements and worsens labour quality. On the other hand, the prevalence of corruption in provinces/cities increases the advantages of local schools in the competition to obtain funds from the central government; hence, corruption enhances educational achievements in those regions. The results of this study indicate that corruption adversely affects human capital overall.