Who is Deprived? Who Feels Deprived? Labor Deprivation,Youth, and Gender in Morocco

The paper provides a method to better understand how objective conditions of deprivation are translated into subjective feelings of deprivation using a strand of the recent literature on relative deprivation, and applies this method to labor deprivation in Morocco. We postulate that gender norms are associated with identity and the reference group that people compare themselves with. We find that the reference group plays a pivotal role in understanding how feelings of labor deprivation are generated and this can explain the apparent mismatch between objective conditions of deprivation and subjective feelings of deprivation related to joblessness among young men and women. It can also potentially help governments design public policies that address objective conditions of deprivation, such as unemployment, with a better understanding of subjective implications.     

How often should a firm modify its products? A Bayesian analysis of automobile modification cycles

In this paper, we develop and estimate a series of Bayesian generalized gamma family and mixture family models of product modification timing that take into account both firm- and industry-specific effects that are time varying. Our models are capable of capturing non-standard modification behavior such as multi-modality and non-monotonicity in the hazard rates motivated by real data. Additionally, we explore the existence of latent groups with respect to product modification timing strategies. The models are estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods using a panel data from the automotive industry that covers 50 years and contains 6598 car model-year observations for 683 car models. The results reveal the non-monotonic modification behavior over time and the existence of three latent groups. Larger product portfolios and higher industry product proliferation lengthen the modification time. Brand and competitive modification dynamism increases the frequency of major modifications.     

The Influence of Unions on CSR: Is There a Trade-Off Between Employee-Oriented and Non–Employee-Oriented Policies?

Strategic managers are consistently faced with decisions of how to allocate a company's scarce resources to meet the demands of shareholders and other powerful and legitimate stakeholders. This article analyses whether higher union density at company level pushes management to engage more in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Drawing from stakeholder theory and the resource allocation approach of CSR as well as union voice and monopoly models, this article finds that companies have to substitute non–employee-oriented CSR with employee-oriented CSR as union density increases but is still at low levels. At higher levels of union density, companies can complement both types of CSR. This perhaps represents a reinforcement of mutual interests between management and organized labour, which has implications for managerial prerogatives as well as union positioning in the labour and political process.     

Measuring Market Power in the Integrated Malaysian Poultry Industry: New Empirical Industrial Organization Approach

This article examines the level of competition that prevails in the Malaysian poultry markets by using the new empirical industrial organization methodology. We follow the Bresnahan (1982) and Lau (1982) oligopoly model, which allows the identification of market power using aggregated time-series data. The methodology involves the estimation of demand and supply equations for the identification of the parameters measuring the degree of market power. This study uses annual data from 1980–2010 to estimate the demand and supply equations of the poultry market in Malaysia. The estimation results show that the demand for chicken meat is inelastic (?0.124), indicating that consumers are not sensitive to price change. On the other hand, income is elastic at 3.636, implying that poultry meat is a luxury. The cross-price elasticity with respect to beef is ?2.405, rejecting beef as a substitute to chicken meat in Malaysia. The coefficient of conduct parameters for the three subperiods of 1980–1990, 1991–2004, and 2005–2010 measuring market power are 0.6740, 0.5540, and 0.5790, respectively. The results indicate imperfect competitive market in the poultry industry as more farmers opt to join poultry integrators.     

Working capital management and corporate governance: a new pathway for assessing firm performance

This study reports the relationship of working capital management (WCM) and corporate governance (CG) on firm performance (FP) using system generalized method of moments (SGMM). SGMM controls potential sources of endogeneity. This study uses US listed firms and includes two stages. In the first stage, the individual impact of WCM and CG on FP is examined. In the second stage, the collective effect of WCM and CG on FP is examined. The study finds that efficient WCM and good CG practices do affect FP on both an individual basis and on a collective basis. Therefore, this study recommends that the impact of WCM, being a short-term performance indicator, and CG, being a long-term indicator should be considered collectively in the future while investigating financial FP.     

Impact of the effect of economic crisis and the targeted motorcycle safety programme on motorcycle-related accidents, injuries and fatalities in Malaysia

In 1997, a Motorcycle Safety Programme (MSP) was introduced to address the motorcycle-related accident problem. The MSP was specifically targeted at motorcyclists. In addition to the MSP, the recent economic recession has significantly contributed to a reduction of traffic-related incidents. This paper examines the effects of the recent economic crisis and the MSP on motorcycle-related accidents, casualties and fatalities in Malaysia. The autocorrelation integrated moving average model with transfer function was used to evaluate the overall effects of the interventions. The variables used in developing the model were gross domestic product and MSPs. The analysis found a 25% reduction in the number of motorcycle-related accidents, a 27% reduction in motorcycle casualties and a 38% reduction in motorcycle fatalities after the implementation of MSP. Findings indicate that the MSP has been one of the effective measures in reducing motorcycle safety problems in Malaysia. Apart from that, the performance of the country's economy was also found to be significant in explaining the number of motorcycle-related accidents, casualties and fatalities in Malaysia.     

The antecedents of behavioral intention regarding rural tourism destination

The main purpose of this study is to build an understanding of the effects of customer experience on trust and behavioral intention. The samples used in this study were 155 local tourists who made a one-time visit only to a village tourism in Sleman Regency, the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the village that is located on the slopes of Mount Merapi, offering recreational activities, entertainment, cultures, and outdoor adventures for tourists. Generalized Structured Component Analysis is used to analyze the correlation between customer experience and trust and behavioral intention. The findings reveal that customer experience has a significant effect on trust. Moreover, it also indicates that customer experience has a significant effect on behavioral intention, and so does trust. The findings of this study suggest that customer experience on trust is the antecedent of behavioral intention.     

Impact of organizational justice on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry of Pakistan: The moderating role of uncertainty avoidance

This study investigates the impact of distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, and informational justice on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry of Pakistan, also the study investigates the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance on all relationships. Data were collected from 309 consumers from all provinces of Pakistan. A significant positive impact of dimensions of organizational justice on customer satisfaction is found; however, contrary to expectations, no moderating role of uncertainty avoidance is proved for any of the relationships. At the end of the article, the results of the study are discussed. This study shows potential implications for service providers.     

Information content, audit reports and going-concern: an Australian study

Research conducted on the information content of going concern ‘modified’ reports in the USA and UK indicates that a modified audit report does not appear to have information content to users if the going concern contingency is disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. In the present study, we provide evidence from Australia. We examine whether modification/qualification by an auditor in Australia (an ‘Emphasis of Matter’ and an ‘Except for’ report, respectively) has information content to a user. The results indicate that for a company in a state of financial distress, the modification, in either form, does not appear to significantly enhance either perceptions of risk or decision-making.