A tale of Asian exchange rate management: Romance of the three currencies

Asian currencies lack regional policy coordination and are therefore subject to volatilities such as the Asian currency crisis of 1997/99. As the Asian currencies have already been observed to be ‘flying-in-unison’, a stable exchange rate arrangement can be helpful as the next step of evolution for regional financial stability. We consider that creating a cluster effect from coordinated efforts/policies of policy-makers can lead to regional exchange rate stability. To demonstrate this cluster effect, a three-party-game is computed for an Asian bloc, viz-á-viz US dollar and the Euro, based on a Nash and a cooperative equilibrium. The cluster effect would generate external and internal pressures that work towards the formation of a regional currency, although the exact form of exchange rate regime would have to await political consensus. There are substantial welfare gains within Asia network economy through currency cooperation. The formation of an Asian currency bloc would also create counter-balance to the current dominance of the US dollar and the Euro. Like the epic story of Three Kingdoms who sought hegemony in Chinese history, the Asian currency bloc will contend with many possible outcomes of competition as well as cooperation.     

A study of the non‐economic determinants in tourism demand

Traditionally, many studies have attempted to use economic demand models. This paper stresses on the influence of non‐economic factors on tourism demand. Some researchers have suggested that tourists from different origins have various cultural and nationalistic backgrounds, and they may interpret visual imagery and experiences differently. Aligning with this suggestion, we have investigated different underlying factors of tourism demand from four continents (Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania). Statistical data are collected from international organisations and 135 countries were covered. Our results showed that there are differences and similarities among the factors in determining the tourism demand. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear effects of government debt on private consumption: Evidence from OECD countries

This paper investigates nonlinear effects of government debt on private consumption. The estimated consumption function shows smooth regime switching depending on the debt-to-GDP ratio, and a higher level of government debt crowds out private consumption to a greater extent.     

A Study of Authenticity in Traditional Korean Folk Villages

The purpose of this study is to examine the structural relations among tourist motivation, the perception of authenticity, and tourist satisfaction. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis was performed to the study model. It is confirmed that study concepts have significant relations through multiple regression analysis (MRA). The suggestions of this study are as follows. First, the authenticity is perceived through the direct tour activities consisting of the tourist's experiences on the basis of the results of the preceding studies, and it is an important factor of cultural tourism activities. Second, cultural tourism sites including traditional folk villages are to choose city dwellers, club members who like adventure and exploration, and student groups as target markets. Third, tourists are to be made to have various historical and cultural experiences by realistic and lively compositions of traditional culture.     

Emotional labor's impact in a retail environment

It is essential for organizations to understand and manage salespeople's emotions. By monitoring the effects of emotions on the job, management can promote and enhance its sales force. However, the literature on salespersons' emotions has been largely overlooked. This paper establishes an integrative emotional labor process model to better understand the emotional component of the sales force in a retail context. Specifically, the paper examines the impact of emotional labor and emotional exhaustion in relation to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Findings suggest that emotional labor predicts both job satisfaction and organizational commitment, while emotional exhaustion only predicts job satisfaction.     

Human Resource Management Practices and Trust in Public Organizations

Abstract

Trust has been acknowledged as a valuable managerial resource within organizations. Working as a lubricant of organizational functioning, trust reduces opportunistic behaviours while it increases voluntary compliance to organizational norms and rules as well as enhancing individual and organizational performance. Considering the importance of trust, it is worthwhile to explore what factors may help build trust within organizations. This research investigates whether perceptions of several human resource management (HRM) practices are associated with trust in government organizations. According to social exchange theory, HRM practices signal management's commitment to employees which in turn leads to greater trust in the organization. Using data from an employee survey conducted for the Georgia Department of Transportation in 2007, this research tests how employee perceptions of HRM practices are related to trust in three distinct levels of management in a large department of state government: trust in department leadership, trust in one's leadership team, and trust in one's supervisor. Binary logit analyses suggest that perceptions of HRM practices focusing on autonomy, compensation, communication, performance appraisal, and career development are associated with trust in public organizations. According to the result, those practices present variation in their leverage on trust in leadership at different levels.     

An Integrative Approach to Empowerment

Abstract

While public organizations have focused on structural empowerment as a strategy to reform public bureaucracies, there is no consensus on the conceptualization or dimensionality of this construct. In addition, public organizations have paid little attention to the importance of psychological empowerment in their reform efforts. This article examines the construct validity of multidimensional measures of structural empowerment – consisting of participative decision making, feedback, and delegation – and psychological empowerment – consisting of meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact – and develops an integrative model of empowerment. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), conducted with the data from a sample of 191 public employees, showed support for a multifactor model that integrates the two types of empowerment.     

The Retirement Consumption in Korea: Evidence from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study

Abstract

This paper examines the retirement consumption in Korea using the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study. This paper reports a significant post-retirement consumption fall among elderly households. The empirical results of this paper suggest that a reduction in work-related expenses is an important factor to explain the observed post-retirement consumption fall. In addition, this paper finds that the post-retirement consumption growth rate varies depending on each household's pre-retirement wealth level. The findings of this paper provide empirical evidence on retirement consumption in an emerging market with no matured public pension programmes.     

Is there really an Asian connection? Professional service quality perceptions and customer satisfaction

Scenarios involving dental services investigate whether Asian cultures are similar enough to allow standardization of service offerings. The authors control and manipulate levels of service quality and performance to yield a 2 × 2 experimental design, with Japanese, Chinese, and Korean subjects (N = 637) selected to test the invariance of the measures. The findings yield significant cultural differences with the Chinese respondents perceiving significantly higher service quality and expressing greater customer satisfaction when performance is high and expressing less customer satisfaction when performance is low than do the Japanese and Korean respondents. Thus, even though all three countries are considered high-context cultures, having their roots in Confucianism, differences in national culture lead to the conclusion that “one size does not fit all” in terms of service offerings.     

韩国网上证券交易

<正> 信息技术最近的进步,尤其是因特网,正使全球的商务和交易发生根本性的变革。对证券业来说,体现在网上证券交易的这些进步使其未来的发展方向和整个行业的前景发生了变化。