Strengthening the Global Financial Safety Net: Challenges and Prospects

The paper shares the idea on the current global financial circumstance; whereas rapid financial globalization was a basic source of the systemic risks of the global financial crisis, the world economy is even more integrated in the aftermath of the global crisis. It emphasizes the importance of the global community to strengthening the GFSN to respond to a crisis. Kim argues that the GFSN should be a multi-layered structure, and only a single layer alone would not be sufficient to handle the global crisis due to its impact of economic damage. More specifically, the paper suggests a multi-layered structure of the GFSN as follows: self-insurance with foreign exchange reserves, bilateral currency swaps by central banks, RFAs already influencing regional financial recourse and stability in several regions, and global arrangements, such as the IMF facilities.     

From plan to market: financial statements and economic transition in the East German enterprise

This article examines the changing role of financial accounting in the former East Germany as that country underwent the transition from a centrally planned to a market-driven economy. The German government's insistence on a sales model of privatization in preference to some form of mass privatization, combined with legal requirements to make up equity shortfalls in eastern German enterprises, resulted in a highly centralized and interventionist approach to accounting change. The article reviews and analyses the historical, technical, economic and political aspects of this change process.     

Is there a case for replacing parking charges by road user charges?

The price of parking is often considered an important tool with which to influence transport choice but, since many local authorities have limited control over off-street charges and since parking charges have no direct impact on through traffic, its influence on overall travel demand may be limited. Road user charges, on the other hand, do appear to offer an effective means of influencing overall demand. The problem is that public acceptance of such charges is low unless some obvious “carrot” can be identified. This paper explores the possibility that the removal of parking charges might be that “carrot”. Our analysis suggests that, although the removal of parking charges would reduce revenues and dilute the reduction in demand caused by the introduction of road charges, the combined effect might, in certain circumstances, be more beneficial to the local economy and might still yield a net increase in revenue. Given the incidence of impacts, it also appears that a combined scheme would be more equitable and might stand a greater chance of achieving public acceptance than a more conventional road charging scheme. The paper identifies the circumstances in which a combined scheme might work well and outlines the detailed analysis that would be necessary to confirm this.     

How entrenched managers beat earnings expectations before and after SOX

This study investigates the relationship between managerial entrenchment and how firms meet or beat earnings forecasts. It further examines whether this relationship changes before and after the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). We find that, in the pre-SOX era, entrenched managers meet or exceed analyst forecasts more often than their unentrenched counterparts when analysts’ initial forecasts are high. This is mainly due to the drop in analysts’ consensus rather than earnings management. These results nearly disappear in the post-SOX era.     

Characteristics and Behaviour of Tourists Who Use Trails

This article documents the popularity of five types of trail-based recreation relative to other forms of recreation that tourists frequently participate in on their trips; identifies these trail users’ cross-participation in other outdoor recreation activities; and profiles the travel behaviour, media habits, trip planning behaviour, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of day hikers and snowmobilers as two particularly large trail user segments. Findings are based on data from a household telephone survey conducted in Michigan, surrounding states, and Ontario, Canada. Hiking/backpacking was found to be the most popular natural resource-based recreation activity that respondents participated in on pleasure trips taken during the past 12 months; other forms of trail-based recreation were significantly less popular; mountain bikers participated in nature-oriented recreation activities in Michigan at levels that were similar to those of hikers/backpackers; and snowmobiling appeared to be the focus of most pleasure trips on which this activity occurred, in contrast to day hiking, which appeared to be more of an ancillary pursuit.     

Roadmapping for prioritisation of smartphone feature requirements based on user experiences

Since the life cycle of smartphones is becoming shorter, users are demanding new and improved smartphone features for updated smartphones, but it is difficult to know which features are the most important to users. In Internet user communities, users increasingly review smartphone functions and share information about their experiences such as complaints, problems, and satisfaction, and these user experiences have been fruitful sources for manufacturers that lead to smartphone improvements. Focusing on these user experiences, this paper proposes a systematic roadmapping process including prioritisation of smartphone feature requirements. By prioritising smartphone feature requirements, new and improved versions of smartphones that reflect user needs can be planned based on a product–market roadmap. The systematic approach consists of three parts: user-driven quality function deployment (QFD), a frequent pattern (FP)-tree algorithm, and a product–market roadmap. First, we collected data extracted from text mining in Internet user communities to construct a user-driven QFD. Second, using user experiences related to smartphone features, we applied the FP-tree algorithm to algorithmically derive a priority list of smartphone feature requirements. Finally, based on the result of the FP-tree of smartphones, we proposed guidelines to construct a product–market roadmap. It is expected that a versioning strategy can be formulated through this prioritised product–market roadmap. Furthermore, covering each step from data collection to roadmapping, this study suggests a systematic process for prioritisation of smartphone feature requirements based on user experiences.     

Promoting Giving Campaigns in University Websites: A Cross-cultural Comparison between the United States and South Korea

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to compare the ways the websites promote giving campaigns between the United States and South Korea. Furthermore, this study explored how the campaign appeals are associated with the distinct cultural values between universities in the United States and Korea. Guided by a content analysis of 200 universities in the United States and South Korea, the findings of this study demonstrated that, compared to the Korean university websites, U.S. university websites more frequently targeted university-affiliated donors, including alumni, students, parents, and so forth, and used multimedia-based exemplars about the giving campaigns.     

Strategies of Korean firms in china's high‐tech market: Striving for a new and sustainable business model

China has become a strategically important market for Korean companies. While cooperating with China is obviously important for their success and survival, a more difficult question lies in finding a new and sustainable business model applicable to China. This paper studies the current challenges and strategies of Korean Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the high‐tech market such as the mobile handset and online game industries that are trying to extend their business to China. It focuses on the issue that Korean firms face in order to find a way to survive and integrate with a rising China. By conducting an in‐depth firm level analysis, it examines their successes and failures in terms of what parts of the value chain they specialize in and how they establish a division of labor with China.