Domestic Energy Consumption and Country’s Income Growth: A Quantitative Analysis of Developing and Developed Countries Using Panel Causality,Panel VECM,Panel Cointegration and SURE

Journal of Quantitative Economics - The present study is an attempt to test the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for developed and developing counties. For this purpose,...     

A longitudinal study of the effects of life status changes on changes in consumer preferences

Marketers and consumer researchers have maintained a long-standing interest in understanding continuities and changes in consumer preferences. The present research attempts to provide explanations for stability and changes in consumption patterns by presenting a theoretical framework according to which the results of previous studies may be recast and further research advanced. The authors develop hypotheses and test them with retrospective and longitudinal data, using alternate measures of key variables. The authors suggest implications of the study findings for marketers and theory development, and they provide directions for future research.     

Stock Price Reactions to Securities Recommended in Business Week's “Inside Wall Street”

The price behavior of stocks of firms that were favorably mentioned in the “Inside Wall Street” column in Business Week are studied. These firms have been the subject of rumors or have been recommended by analysts or brokerage houses and, therefore, their mention in Business Week constitutes dissemination of secondary information. Positive, significant excess returns are observed the day prior to the publication date, the publication date, and the two days after publication. Positive, significant excess returns are observed for long-term holding periods prior to the publication date, while negative, significant excess returns are observed for the post-publication holding periods. The observations appear to be consistent with the price performance of firms that might have been subject of either rumors or recent recom-mendations by analysts or brokerage houses. The results suggest that secondary information is of value only to low transaction cost, short-term traders. Investors who buy for the longer term based on secondary information generally receive below market rates of return.     

Energy use in eight rural communities in India

A study of eight rural communities in India indicates that levels of energy consumption vary widely among the communities and that consumption depends on socioeconomic and agroclimatic factors. Irrigation is the most significant factor influencing energy consumption and demand. Fuelwood is not used mainly by the low-income households but by the higher-income households. There is a progressive trend towards monetizationof fuelwood, animal wastes and agricultural residues. Energy planning for rural communities should be location and household-specific, and disaggregated information should be generated for this purpose using baseline surveys.     

Does knowledge of finance mitigate the gender difference in financial risk-aversion?

We investigate the gender difference in financial risk aversion using a survey of finance professors from universities across the United States. We compare their actual portfolio allocations to that of respondents in the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). We find that among highly educated individuals, women are significantly more risk averse than men. However, we find that when men and women have both attained a high level of financial education, they are equally likely to invest a significant portion of their portfolio in risky assets, suggesting that financial education mitigates the gender difference in financial risk aversion.     

Contextual factors: assessing their influence on flow or resource efficiency orientations in healthcare lean projects

The outcomes of lean projects have been mixed, with some being successful while many others have not. An explanation for this is a paradox that can develop depending on the focus of the project. Ironically, in projects where the focus is on maximizing the efficiency of a resource (‘resource efficiency’), this focus might lead to worsening of the resource’s efficiency, thereby generating an ‘efficiency paradox’. This paradox does not usually arise in projects where the focus is on the subject of interest being processed through the system in the most efficient manner (‘flow efficiency’). The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that give rise to either form of efficiency. We conducted a detailed study of eight lean projects in two large hospitals. In doing so, we advance the theory of lean service operations by identifying four key contextual factors that drive the orientation of a project to resource or flow efficiency. These are: service variety, interdependency, capital resource intensity, and service uniqueness. We propose a conceptual framework and four propositions that integrate the contextual factors to determine the dominant focus in lean projects. Through this, recommendations are made as to how the efficiency paradox can be avoided.