Human Resource Development in the Asia–Pacific

The literature on education, training and other aspects of human resource development in the Asia–Pacific region is still under-developed. Many country studies are emerging, together with regional programs initiated under ASEAN, APEC and PECC auspices. Many East Asian countries have proved that a human resource development-led strategy promotes economic growth and development. Upgrading of education and skills relevant to R&D and international competitiveness in technology-intensive manufacturing and services are evident in some newly-industrialising economies in the region. But more efforts are needed.     

The Designation and Removal of Trustee Stock Status: Wealth Effects

This study investigates the impact of trustee stock status announcements on shareholders' wealth in Singapore. An event study methodology is used to ascertain the abnormal returns around the announcement day. The results show that there is a positive and permanent wealth effect on trustee stocks resulting from designation announcements. Conversely, when trustee stocks lose their status, the significant negative abnormal returns suggest that shareholders' wealth is adversely affected. This reaction, however, appears to be a temporary phenomenon and is not simply a mirror image of designation announcements. The differences in the underlying regulatory structures partially explain the findings.     

International Evidence on the Link between Quality of Governance and Stock Market Performance

Abstract

This paper examines the link between country-level governance and global stock market returns. We find a negative relation between governance quality and equity return. Countries with low governance scores, on average, have higher equity returns than those with high governance scores after controlling for global risk factors known to influence international equity returns. This implies that investors associate low governance quality with increased risk and thus demand higher risk premium. We find that the quality of governance as measured by Political Stability and Absence of Violence is key governance dimension affecting international equity returns, suggesting that heightened investor concerns over political risks have profound impact on equity markets. Interestingly, we find no evidence that variation in equity returns is affected by the governance indicator representing Voice and Accountability. The findings of this study provide important policy implications.     

The Exercise and Acceptance of Power in an Industrial Channel Dyad

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Power is an adaptive process in which power exercised by one firm could be less than, equal to, or greater than that accepted by another over the course of different periods. This study incorporates previous research on power asymmetry to examine the process of power exercise and acceptance over three stages: power exploration, power balance and power idleness.

Design/methodology/approach: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 4 powerful suppliers (the source firms) and their distributors (the target firms) in different industries.

Findings: The exercise and acceptance of power are influenced by expected rewards and expected costs in the power exploration stage and are impacted by dependence and trust in the power idleness stage; in the stage of power balance, power exercise and acceptance will not be altered. Under power shortage, the source firm will attempt to use less power and/or to enhance the levels of power accepted by the target; under power surplus, the source firm will transform the surplus into company performance and/or personal interests.

Research limitations/implications: The findings deepen our understanding of how power is exercised and accepted in a channel dyad over time, and of how firms behave in dealing with power shortage and power surplus.

Practical implications: The findings also provide some guidance for practitioners, so that they may apply power more appropriately based on different power stages in marketing channels.

Originality/value: This study extends our knowledge on power evolution over three stages from both a power holder and an acceptor viewpoint.     

Recent evidence on the relationship between money growth and budget deficits

This paper examines the recent evidence on the extent to which the Federal Reserve accommodates Treasury financing activities by effectively monetizing newly issued debt. Various lag and lead formulations are used to determine the timing of FED actions. Results suggest that validation has been significant over the 1960–1980 period, and that, especially in recent periods, the FOMC has responded to capital market pressure which appears in advance of impending debt issues. Finally, we find in the limited number of observations available since October 1979 that there has been no substantive “break” in this accommodative policy despite the Fed's alleged emphasis on monetary aggregates.     

Discoveries, innovations, and business cycles

There is considerable evidence that the density of basic innovations is peaked at definite periods with intervals of about 40–60 years. This has been used as support for the behavior of economic cycles as postulated by Kontradieff and amplified by Schumpeter. Recently some economists have used this model to forecast economic recovery in the middle or late 1980s.This paper points out that the shape of the clusters of innovation or inventions are different and sharper than those of economic depression or economic recovery. The transfer of knowledge from basic inventions to industrial innovations shortens as one moves from the 18th to the 20th century, and some probable explanations for this are offered. The importance of discoveries and limited discoveries to the process of invention and innovation is discussed. Also shown is that discoveries reveal cluster phenomena which are functionally related to the clusters of invention and innovation.