Working capital management in the automotive industry: Financial value chain analysis

Financial value chain analysis is used to examine working capital management by cycle times in the value chain of the automotive industry during 2006–2008. The applied method offers a holistic view of the value chain from raw materials to the end customers. The average cash conversion cycle of the value chain of the automotive industry was 67 days. According to the study, the change of cycle times of working capital followed mainly the change of cycle time of inventories. The position of the stages of the value chain measured by the cash conversion cycle did not change substantially from 2006 to 2008.     

A Study of the Key Strategic Drivers of the Use of the World Heritage Site Designation as a Destination Brand

This article examines the emergence of the World Heritage Site (WHS) designation as a de facto brand. The study applies Balakrishnan’s (2009) strategic framework for destination branding to the demand for World Heritage Sites. A total of 72 countries currently applying for WHS status for national sites are examined. Previous studies in this area have been based mainly on case-study methodologies and/or are limited either to a single country or to a comparison among a small number of countries. The study finds, inter alia, that countries that have a large number of foreign arrivals but are not yet fully integrated into the global economy are particularly disposed to expanding the number of WHS on their national territories.     

Time-varying Armington elasticity and country-of-origin bias: from the dynamic perspective of the Japanese demand for beef imports

Elasticities of substitution, often called Armington elasticities, reflect incomplete substitutability because of perceived product characteristics. This study divides the determinants of the Japanese demand for beef imports into two factors: (i) substitution elasticity and (ii) country-of-origin bias, and demonstrate how these measurements are associated with trade policy and food scare events. The Japanese beef industry serves as a case study to evaluate the multifold impact of import liberalisation and a series of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreaks. A time-varying parameter model is used to shed light on the dynamic effects of the import liberalisation and BSE outbreaks on the measurements. The estimation results reveal that the estimated substitutability and country-of-origin bias are very sensitive to the BSE cases, but not to the process of trade liberalisation. The results also confirm that as a result of the BSE outbreaks, the major factor of the Japanese demand for beef imports has changed from relative prices to the country-of-origin effect, thereby emphasising the importance of a traceability system and promotional activities, which would help in the formation of the country-of-origin effect.     

The impact of value added components of GDP and FDI on economic freedom in Europe

This paper investigates the possibility of a long-run relationship between the Economic Freedom Index (EFI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and value added components of GDP in thirty Eastern, Central and Western European countries. The study further examines whether the FDI and sector-specific components of GDP have any significant impact on economic freedom for these countries. We use annual data and employ Pedroni and KAO panel cointegration analyses to assess the long-run relationships. The results indicate that there is a significant long-run relationship between the variables under study. Moreover, the evidence shows that the service and industry value added components positively affect EFI, while the agriculture value added component has a negative effect on EFI. However, contrary to the prior literature, we observe a marginally significant and negative relationship between EFI and FDI in the random effects model.     

Energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon emissions: Challenges faced by an EU candidate member

This paper investigates the long run Granger causality relationship between economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption in Turkey, controlling for gross fixed capital formation and labor. The most interesting result is that carbon emissions seem to Granger cause energy consumption, but the reverse is not true. The lack of a long run causal link between income and emissions may be implying that to reduce carbon emissions, Turkey does not have to forgo economic growth.     

Labour–management relationships in transitional economies: convergence or divergence in Vietnam and Indonesia?

Western labour–management relationships (both formal and informal), their respective rights, obligations and negotiating frameworks, have been well- established, understood, and supported by a complex set of associated legislation for decades. However, in many developing countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, historical, socio-cultural, ideological or political factors constrained the development of such formalized employee relations until very recent times. This paper explores the different paths taken by Vietnam and Indonesia towards a modern employee relations system, with its concomitant positive and adverse consequences.     

Understanding travel risks in a developing country: a bottom up approach

This paper explores travel risk associated with natural disasters focusing on a developing country context using a bottom-up approach. A mixed method was used to identify seven travel risk types from tourists’ perspective. The exploratory sequential design was applied to 52 respondents in the qualitative phase and 605 respondents in the quantitative phase. The study area was West Sumatra, Indonesia, a popular tourist destination that is prone to natural disasters. This study found different dimensions of travel risk and provide scales for future research in Indonesia and other developing countries.     

Are There Any Diversification Benefits Among Global Finance Center Candidates in Eurasia?

Several Eurasian markets are considered as potential global financial centers. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the two strong candidates, Russia and Turkey, based on short- and long-run diversification benefits they provide to global investors along with big four global finance centers (US, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore) in the world. To that respect, we investigate both price spillover and volatility spillover effects among global finance centers and the two strong Eurasian candidates. Our results suggest that Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) has more diversification benefits and is more resilient to risk transfers from other markets compared to Moskow Stock Exchange (MSE).