The non-linear impact of oil price on the oil demand

ABSTRACT

A panel smooth transition regression model was adopted to analyse the non-linear impact of oil prices on oil demand. Data for 42 countries was obtained from the International Energy Agency for the time period spanning from January 1990 to June 2017. The results indicate that a threshold value does exist. Furthermore, when the oil price was lower than this threshold value, a positive relationship between oil price and oil demand was observed. When the price of oil was higher than the threshold value, however, a negative relationship between price and demand was found.     

Retrograde air insufflation in MRI: A technical note

Retrograde air insufflation was employed to distend the colon and the ileum in 18 patients and five volunteers for magnetic resonance examination. Good and moderate marking of the ileum was obtained in 18 cases. The colon was nearly completely distended in every case. Intraluminal tumor, mural thickening, and extraluminal lesion were outlined by intraluminal air and surrounding air-distended bowel. This study shows that retrograde air insufflation is a useful method to mark the colon and most parts of the ileum.     

Investigating passengers’ intentions to use technology-based self check-in services

As more and more airlines have introduced technology-based self check-in services, it has become increasingly important to understand the factors affecting airline passengers’ attitudes toward this new form of check-in services and also their intentions, especially from Asian passengers’ perspectives. An empirical study was conducted among Taiwanese airline passengers using the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the basic research model while considering additional factors for further analysis such as external stimuli, perceived service quality, perceived behavioral control, need for service, and perceived risk. The findings revealed that attitude and external stimuli best explain passengers’ behavioral intentions to use the kiosks, whereas perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have little effect on their intentions. These findings suggest that airlines in Taiwan should persuade passengers to acquire a more positive attitude toward the new check-in kiosks and should consider implementation of incentive strategies in encouraging passengers to adopt the self check-in service.     

Strategic order splitting,order choice,and aggressiveness: Evidence from the Taiwan futures exchange

We investigate the strategic order‐splitting behavior and order aggressiveness of different types of traders using a unique dataset on the Taiwan Futures Exchange. By examining the trades and orders for each and every account, we find that, as compared with domestic institutional traders and individual traders, foreign institutional traders and futures proprietary firms are more likely to split their orders and it appears that the price adjustments after their trades are permanent. Foreign institutional traders and futures proprietary firms seem to be better informed, with their orders apparently being split so as to reveal their information on a gradual basis. Furthermore, we find that foreign institutional traders and futures proprietary firms use fewer market orders, choosing instead to submit aggressive limit orders, possibly due to their desire to make the most of their information advantage. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:1102–1129, 2009     

Long-term stock performance following extraordinary and special cash dividends

Using essentially all declared extraordinary and special cash dividends between 1926 and 2001 which are not preceded or followed by the same for a period of three years, we find no robust post-declaration long-term abnormal stock returns, even in sub-samples defined by the special dividend yield, the bang-for-the-buck, the declaration-period abnormal return, the sub-sampling period or the stock market condition at declaration. Only event firms in the smallest CRSP market capitalization quintile display significant positive abnormal returns during the first-year following the declaration. However, these latter are not robust across sub-sampling periods. Overall, there is no compelling evidence that investors under- or over-react to extraordinary or special cash dividends.     

Range-based multivariate volatility model with double smooth transition in conditional correlation

This paper proposes a multivariate model named Double Smooth Transition Conditional Correlation Conditional Autoregressive Range (DSTCC-CARR for short). Determined by two transition variables, the correlations smoothly transit from one state to another. Together with the DSTCC-GARCH model, the model is employed to investigate the interdependence between Hong Kong's and international stock markets. It is proved by the empirical analysis that the DSTCC-CARR model is more credible and efficient than the DSTCC-GARCH model. Linkages among Hong Kong's and other world's markets captured by these two models are testified to be consistent with history, and have meaningful interpretations.     

Does possessing an installed base induce a proprietary software producer to act aggressively or mildly in pricing and intrinsic quality provision?

This paper investigates competition between open-source software (OSS) and proprietary software (PS) which possesses an installed base. We find that an increase in PS installed base does not necessarily induce the PS producer to increase price or reduce intrinsic quality. Specifically, if OSS is weakly (moderately) compatible with PS, then an increase in PS installed base induces the PS producer to invest less (more) in intrinsic quality. Regarding the price of PS, if OSS is highly compatible with PS possessing a large installed base, then an increase in installed base induces the PS producer to sell products for a lower price.     

An integrate method for performance of women in science and technology based on entropy measure for objective weighting

In the 21st century the role of women in the science and technology (WIST) field is very important. Many countries are actively promoting policies of women in higher education and R&D careers. A nation’s economic growth depends heavily upon its talent base, specifically, the quantity, quality, and utilization of HRST. Therefore, assessing WIST productivity variation is important. The problem of the complexity of performance evaluation makes the development and the application of standard models more difficult. This study uses the VIKOR and entropy method to evaluate the performance of WIST and rank the priorities for them accordingly. The relative weight of different evaluation criteria for the performance of WIST comes from the entropy results. We can see that, the first two important factors for the performance of WIST are a higher education sector and government sector women researchers, as a percentage of the total researchers. The results show that the Korean alternative has the best performance of WIST followed by the Netherlands and Japan.     

Utilization of family-friendly policies in Hong Kong

Employees in Hong Kong, like those in many other industrialized societies, face the competing demands of work and family. Long working hours and the associated problem of work–family conflict is a serious problem for the workforce. Although a number of family-friendly policies, such as the five-day working week, paternal leave and so on, have been introduced, they are not necessarily used to their fullest extent. This paper examines the utilization of family-friendly incentives using a telephone survey of 661 employees in Hong Kong with access to such measures. Its major strength is the use of a well-established model of health care utilization, the Andersen model, to conceptualize the factors associated with the uptake of family-friendly policies. The results indicate that the Andersen model works very well in this context, and further demonstrate that access to family-friendly policies in Hong Kong is not equitable. The study makes a number of significant contributions to the literature on work–life balance and the uptake of supportive measures, and shows that enabling (such as perceived effectiveness) rather than need factors explain most of the variance in such use.     

The transformation of industrial authority and paternalistic capitalism in the global economy: case studies of Taiwan's textiles industries

Abstract This paper is an attempt to theorize changing employment relations in capitalist development, drawing upon Taiwan's experience of industrialization within the context of global economic competition and undertaking case studies in the textiles industries. It aims to investigate changes in the nature of employment relations, with special reference to authority relations, by examining how they have been shaped by changes in Taiwan's textiles industries. It argues that a transformation of paternalistic capitalism is under way in Taiwan. The study also examines how changes in economic activities have profoundly affected people's lives and experiences. It is suggested that the underpinnings of traditional authority are being shaken. Loosened personal ties and claims for statutory working rights have led to the emergence of different sources of industrial authority. Here is a crucial 'ideological break' in terms of workers' consciousness. Moreover, the 'communal paternalism' or 'enterprise paternalism' of labour regimes in Taiwan propounded by Deyo (1989, 1998) is now called into question.