Foreign and Domestic Shocks: Macroeconomic Responses of ASEAN-3 Countries

Abstract

The study provides new empirical evidence on the relative importance of foreign and domestic shocks on selected ASEAN-3 (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand) macroeconomic variables. Three structural vector auto regression models are estimated for each country. The focal point is given on the formulation of the sources of foreign factors. The first model uses trade-weighted foreign variables of both US and Japan to represent the foreign factors. The other two models use US and Japan by themselves, respectively, to represent the foreign factors. Two important results are emerged. First, foreign sectors play an important role in influencing macroeconomic variables of each of the ASEAN-3 country, especially in the medium and the long-run horizon. Second, most of the time, the Japanese factors are more dominant than the US factors in influencing domestic output and inflation for each of the ASEAN-3 countries.     

The intellectual structure of the strategic management field: an author co-citation analysis

This paper complements a recent study by Ramos-Rodriguez and Ruiz-Navarro (2004) that investigated the intellectual structure of the strategic management field through co-citation analysis. By using authors as the units of analysis and incorporating all the citations that are included in the Science Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index, we trace the evolution of the intellectual structure of the strategic management field during the period 1980–2000. Using a variety of data analytic techniques such as multidimensional scaling, factor analysis, and Pathfinder analysis, we (1) delineate the subfields that constitute the intellectual structure of strategic management; (2) determine the relationships between the subfields; (3) identify authors who play a pivotal role in bridging two or more conceptual domains of research; and (4) graphically map the intellectual structure in two-dimensional space in order to visualize spatial distances between intellectual themes. The analysis provides insights about the influence of individual authors as well as changes in their influence over time. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Measurement of Changes in Product Quality in Marginal Intra-Industry Trade

There is a long established thread of the international trade literature concerned with the measurement of intra-industry trade (IIT). Two distinct strands of the literature have developed: First, measures of marginal IIT that are concerned with the adjustment implications of volume-based changes in IIT; second, measures of vertical and horizontal IIT that are concerned with quality-based differences in IIT. This paper marries the two literatures to provide a new perspective on the smooth adjustment hypothesis debate and suggests the use of the marginal product quality index, a new measure of changes in quality in matched trade changes that complements dynamic measures of volume-based IIT. JEL no.  F19     

LIFETIMES OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM DUTCH MANUFACTURING

This paper estimates service lifetimes for capital assets in Dutch manufacturing industries, using information on asset retirement patterns. A Weibull distribution function is estimated using a non-linear regression technique to derive service lifetimes for three selected asset types: transport equipment, machinery and computers. For this purpose, benchmark capital stock surveys for different two-digit industries are linked to annual discard surveys. On average the estimated lifetimes are 6, 9 and 26 years for transport equipment, computers and machinery, respectively. However, these estimates vary across industries. A comparison of our estimates with Canadian, U.S. and Japanese estimates shows notable differences in the lifetimes of all the asset types, with machinery showing the largest difference.     

On the measurement of product quality in intra-industry trade: An empirical test for China

A relatively recent development in the intra-industry trade (IIT) literature is the measurement of the simultaneous import and export of quality-differentiated products, commonly known as vertical and horizontal IIT. A recent paper from Azhar and Elliott [Azhar, A. K. M. & Elliott, R. J. R. (2006), On the Measurement of Product Quality in Intra-Industry Trade, Review of World Economics, Vol 142 no 3, pp 476–495] analyses various approaches for disentangling vertical and horizontal IIT and suggests a complementary methodology. To investigate the robustness and sensitivity of the existing approaches we examine data on the nature of trade flows between China and its East Asian neighbours and show that in 2002 China tended to export low quality versions of its manufactured goods to Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.     

Market orientation practices among small and medium hotels (SMHS) in tourist destination island of Langkawi

The purpose of the study is to investigate the underlying components of market orientation practices and their effect on the Small and Medium Hotels (SMHs) performances on tourist destination island of Langkawi. Fifty SMHs were randomly selected from a sampling frame of a list of SMHs registered with Malaysian Tourism Board. For data collection purposes, structured questionnaires were personally delivered and collected. Rotated component matrix factor analysis of the data extracted four underlying factors that explain seventy nine point four six percent of the total variances and alpha reliability coefficient of ninety eight percent. Those components were named as customer orientation, interfunctional orientation, service orientation, and competitor orientation. One sample Kolmogorov‐Smirnov Test indicates that SMHs in Langkawi practices market orientation in their operations and businesses. However, the finding of the study showed that their performances in 1998 was lower than 1997. We believe that this outcome is due to the effect of national and regional economic downturn in 1998.     

Random walk and breaking trend in financial series: An econometric critique of unit root tests

The present note sheds light on several pitfalls associated with unit root tests that are overlooked by a growing volume of literature in financial economics. Specifically, several studies have confused unit root tests with the Random Walk hypothesis. Unit root tests are not designed for such a task since they aim at investigating whether a time series is difference-stationary or trend-stationary and are not, therefore, predictability tests. Secondly, we emphasize some serious shortcomings associated with the widely used unit root test developed by Zivot and Andrews [Zivot, E. & Andrews, D.W.K. (1992). Further evidence on the great crash, the oil-price shock, and the unit-root hypothesis. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 10, 251–270.]. In particular, we stress that results from the Zivot–Andrews test are sensitive to the methods employed to calculate the critical values and to select the maxim lag k. Furthermore, Zivot–Andrews test imposes a one time structural break in a time series; however recent studies showed that not counting for other true structural breaks may bias the results and may cause a spurious rejection of the unit root null hypothesis. Finally, we support our arguments by an empirical example based on the findings of Narayan and Smyth [Narayan, K.P. & Smyth, R. (2004). Is South Korea’s stock market efficient? Applied Economics Letters, 11, 707–710.] with regards to the efficiency of South Korean stock market. We show that contrary to what the authors claim, the KSE (KOSPI) price index is predictable, and hence the South Korean stock market is not informationally efficient.     

The UK New Regulatory Framework of High-Cost Short-Term Credit: Is There a Shift Towards a More “Law and Society” Based Approach?

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the consumer credit market in the UK has witnessed a proliferation in the number of high-cost short-term credit (HCSTC) providers promising easy access to credit without the complications of credit history. This act of generosity came at a very high price, which on some occasions reached 4000% APR. After refusing for many years to interfere with the credit price and other aspects of the HCSTC business’ practices, the Government since 2014 started to impose certain regulatory restrictions on the sector including a cost cap, January 2015, on what HCSTC providers can charge. This article argues that the FCA’s credit cost cap and other regulatory measures taken since 2014 signify an important shift in the regulatory approach to HCSTC. It argues that the neoliberal ‘law and economics’ theoretical paradigm is no longer the foundation of the regulatory framework. Instead, the Government has shifted towards a Polanyian ‘law and society’ based approach, which is attentive to the vulnerability of HCSTC consumers and consequently more capable of protecting them. This article concludes by arguing how this newly adopted approach can be further advanced.     

To Help or Not to Help? The Good Samaritan Effect and the Love of Money on Helping Behavior

This research tests a model of employee helping behavior (a component of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, OCB) that involves a direct path (Intrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior, the Good Samaritan Effect) and an indirect path (the Love of Money → Extrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior). Results for the full sample supported the Good Samaritan Effect. Further, the love of money was positively related to extrinsic motives that were negatively related with helping behavior. We tested the model across four cultures (the USA., Taiwan, Poland, and Egypt). The Good Samaritan Effect was significant for all four countries. For the indirect path, the first part was significant for all countries, except Egypt, whereas the second part was significant for Poland only. For Poland, the indirect path was significant and positive. The love of money may cause one to help in one culture (Poland) but not to help in others. Results were discussed in the light of ethical decision making.