Exploring efficiency differentials between Saudi higher education institutions

There have been considerable public debates surrounding the efficiency of Saudi higher education institutions, specifically after Vision 2030. We explore the efficiency of institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia. Panel data from 61 higher education institutions are employed for the academic years 2008–2014 to estimate efficiency scores. Also, second stage regression analysis was employed to identify the main determinants of efficiency scores. We conclude that despite exponential growth in government funding for the higher education sector, technical efficiencies remained almost stagnant over the study period along with a persistence of inefficiencies. Second stage regression results confirm that institution ownership itself does not have a significant effect on efficiency scores. However, being a university and acquiring more than 20 years of experience have a positive impact on efficiency scores. An increase in both lower secondary completion rates and percentage of female students in secondary general education increases efficiencies, whereas higher employment to population ratio and increasing female academic staff ratio in tertiary education reduces institutional efficiencies.     

Asymmetric impacts of disaggregated oil price shocks on uncertainties and investor sentiment

This paper aims to examine short- and long-run asymmetries in the impacts of disaggregated oil price shocks on economic policy uncertainty, stock market uncertainty, treasury rates, and investor (bullish and bearish) sentiment in the US. To this end, we use a nonlinear auto-regressive distributed lag cointegration approach, which allows us to capture both positive and negative disaggregated oil shocks. We find that oil demand shocks are the main drivers of both measures of uncertainty, while oil supply shocks affect treasury rates. However, both oil demand shocks and oil supply shocks affect investor sentiment, with certain differences in the effects of positive and negative shocks. The overall effects of both oil demand and supply shocks—whether positive or negative—are stronger in the long-run than in the short-run. Additionally, we apply rolling causality and reveal evidence of a rather homogenous causal flow from disaggregated oil shocks to the variables studied, particularly around global stress periods. Our findings have implications for asset pricing and portfolio risk management and suggest policy formulations that differentiate between disaggregated positive and negative oil price shocks.

     

How do foreigners perceive? Exploring foreign diners’ satisfaction with service quality of Chinese restaurants

China has received 138 million inbound trips in 2016. The purpose of travel may vary but these international travelers visit Chinese restaurants as an integral part of their travel experience. Our study tries to comprehend their dining experience and regional differences in service quality (SQ) perceptions. The findings indicate that food and process quality significantly influence satisfaction and behavioral intentions. More importantly, the results reveal that international travelers roving through all the six continents hold significantly different perceptions regarding SQ attributes of Chinese restaurants. Additionally, we found proficiency in Chinese language as a significant contributor in generating dissimilar perceptions.     

Industry-level determinants of the linkage between credit and stock markets

This paper examines the relationship between US credit default swaps (CDS) and stock returns on an industry-wide basis across a number of investment horizons, with particular focus on the major determinants of such a relationship. Wavelet analysis is first applied to extract the CDS–stock wavelet correlation for each US industry. Then, Bayesian Model Averaging is employed to identify the key driving factors of the industry CDS–stock wavelet correlations at short- and long-term horizons. The empirical results indicate that the wavelet correlations between the industry CDS and stock returns are primarily negative over time and across time scales. Moreover, the CDS–stock correlation at longer horizons exhibits a much more stable pattern than its counterpart at shorter time frames. The results also demonstrate that the volatility of US Treasury and stock markets, as measured by the MOVE and VIX indices, respectively, the volatility of volatility, as captured by the VVIX index, and US economic policy uncertainty, as measured by the EPU index, are the most robust determinants of the correlation between CDS and stock returns at shorter and longer horizons for most US industries. In contrast, the Fama–French systematic equity factors exhibit a practically negligible explanatory power on the CDS–stock link.     

Basic needs: Some issues

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, first, the need for a development strategy aimed directly at the abolition of absolute poverty within a short period of time, and, second, to spell out the main elements of such a strategy. After sketching, in very broad terms, some of the conceptual and operational issues involved in a basic needs strategy, the paper provides some very rough orders of magnitude of the number of people who suffer basic forms of deprivation in the developing world. Finally, the paper describes the analytical work and country studies that should be undertaken to give operational content to the concept of basic needs.     

The pattern of deaths in road traffic crashes in Sindh, Pakistan

The objectives of this study were to examine the pattern and magnitude of deaths in road traffic crashes (RTCs) in Sindh province of Pakistan. This cross-sectional study used data obtained from government documents and content analysis of daily newspapers' reports on incidents of deaths in RTCs. Results showed that the total annual number of RTCs, fatal RTCs and deaths in RTCs were 2272 (+/-293), 1104 (+/-89) and 1321 (+/-136) respectively. On average, there were four deaths per day in RTCs. The victims were 85% male and the majority were between 15 and 49 years of age. Pedestrians, passengers, motorcyclists and drivers were most commonly the victims. Deaths in RTCs were double in rural areas compared to urban areas. The most common causes of fatal RTCs were by being hit by a vehicle, breakdown and collision of motor vehicles and speeding. The frequent involvement of the men of working age in RTCs may have serious social and economic implications; therefore, the prevention of RTCs, as far as possible, is imperative.     

The ethics of ‘going green’: the corporate social responsibility debate

A significant proportion of authors of green business texts proposes that managers should be the instigators and guardians of a societal change towards sustainable development. There is the notion of managerial duty towards the environment. This paper attempts to unravel the implications of this call for managerial eco‐heroism. The reason that this unravelling is important is that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that win–win situations – the ‘low hanging fruit’ – are progressively becoming less apparent for many firms. This implies a conflict between profitability and environmental performance. This translates into a (perhaps familiar) scenario for business: one greener option is more expensive, and the financial gains associated with it are insufficient to justify it on the grounds of profitability – ‘going green’ then means losing potential profits. A neoclassical and a socio‐economic perspective are provided as foundations for managerial reasoning. Even though the corporate social responsibility debate is not resolved, it is nonetheless of importance, not least because environmentally proactive managers might intend to increase social well‐being but actually reduce it through their green decision‐making. Thus the real‐world applicability of the positions adopted by the opposing philosophical schools is analysed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Estimating financial risk measures for options

This paper proposes a simulation-lattice procedure to estimate financial risk measures for option positions. The framework proposed can be applied to many different kinds of options, including exotic and vanilla options; it can take account of early exercise features; heavy tails in underlying processes; estimate different risk measures, including VaR, Expected Shortfall and Spectral Risk Measures; and in a limited way it can be generalized to accommodate multiple-factors. It avoids many of the limitations of existing approaches and, in particular, avoids the problems associated approaches based on delta–gamma and similar approximations. It also generates some interesting results about the risk measures of some illustrative options positions.     

Islamic Work Ethic,innovative work behaviour,and adaptive performance: the mediating mechanism and an interacting effect

This study’s focus is on the relationship between Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) and adaptive performance with the mediating role of innovative work behaviour (IWB) and moderating role of ethical leadership among hospitality sector employees in Pakistan. Data were collected using questionnaires from 257 employees working in various hotels across Pakistan. Results indicate that IWE significantly predicts adaptive performance both directly and indirectly through IWB. In addition, results also confirm the moderating role of ethical leadership between IWE and IWB. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.