Do EHR investments lead to lower staffing levels?

A study used FTE employees per adjusted occupied bed (FTE/AOB) as a measure to ascertain the effect of EHR investments on labor productivity. The study focused on three primary questions: Do FTE/AOB decline as the number of EHR applications used in a hospital increases? Is impact on FTE/AOB greater with some EHR applications than with others? Do FTE/AOB decline overtime, as the hospital continues to use the EHR application?     

Are Real GDP Levels Stationary in African Countries?

In this study, we apply flexible Fourier stationary unit root test proposed by Enders and Lee (2012) to assess the non‐stationary properties of the per capita real gross domestic product (GDP) for 32 African countries. We find that Fourier stationary unit root test has higher power than linear method if the true data‐generating process of per capita real GDP is in fact a stationary nonlinear process of an unknown form with structural change using the low frequency components. We investigate the stationarity of per capita real GDP from the nonlinear point of view and provide robust evidence that clearly indicates that real output is well characterised by a nonlinear, mean‐reverting process, namely Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Our evidence points that these seven countries are nonlinear stationary, implying that per capita real GDP follows a steady rate of growth, and policy innovations then have temporary effects. These results have important policy implications for African countries.     

The Effect of Organization-Based Self-Esteem and Deindividuation in Protecting Personal Information Privacy

In this research we apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to study decisions related to information privacy protection. A TPB-based model was proposed to investigate whether organization-based self-esteem and perceived deindividuation can be employed to measure the strength of the perceived behavioral control construct. In addition, we examined if the addition of a causal path linking subjective norms to attitudes and another causal path linking organization-based self-esteem to subjective norms enhanced our research model's predicting power. Our study shows that information systems (IS) professionals' intentions to protect personal information privacy are influenced by their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived deindividuation, and organization-based self-esteem. It further shows that attitudes are influenced by subjective norms, which, in turn, are influenced by organization-based self-esteem.     

The Employer Size-Wage Differentials in Taiwan

This paper examines the factors affecting wage differentials for firms of different sizes, using Taiwans Manpower Utilization Survey data of 1996. The main findings of the paper are as follows: (a) People with years of education, working experience, degrees in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, as well as females and married people tend to have a greater preference for working in big firms. Workers in public utility companies and manufacturing industries also prefer to work in big firms. While professionals, technicians, and service and sales workers prefer to work in large firms, business executives and managers have a preference for small firms. (b) Small-scale (less than 100 workers) firms tend to have a negative selection, while large-scale (more than 500 workers) firms tend to have a positive selection. That is, under self-selection, more able workers choose to work at large firms and less able workers at small firms.     

The Effects of Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Fixed-Capital Formation at Home: The Roles of Host Location and Industry Characteristics

Abstract

This paper pursues the idea that the relationship between foreign and domestic investments may be not as uniform as many studies suggest. By examining the case of Taiwanese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), this paper is marked out from existing studies in the following three respects. First, it examines the extent to which the relationship between OFDI and domestic investment varies with the location of investment. Second, this research allows the results to vary between Heckscher–Ohlin (H–O) industries and Schumpeter industries. Finally, its breakdown of data will reveal sub-relationships in the data that up to now have remained hidden within the aggregate relationships reported in most studies. This study suggests that OFDI in China has a positive impact on domestic investment in H–O industries, while OFDI in other countries (OFDIO) has a negative impact on domestic investment in the same industries. These findings are in marked contrast to Schumpeter industries where a positive effect is observed only for OFDIO. Our findings also suggest that the Taiwanese government should design policies to adjust the level of liberalisation for overseas investment through legislation on an industry-by-industry basis in order that OFDI stimulates domestic investment in relevant industries more effectively.     

Is a Common Currency Area Feasible for East Asia? A Multivariate Structural Vector Autoregression Approach

In this paper the feasibility of forming a common currency area in East Asia is investigated. A three‐variable structural vector autoregression model is used to identify three types of shocks: global, regional and domestic shocks. The empirical results show that in the post‐crisis period the importance of asymmetric domestic shocks has declined sharply, whereas that of symmetric global and regional shocks has increased. Furthermore, although a ‘prevalent shock’ cannot be uniquely defined, most East Asian economies respond to global and regional shocks in a symmetric way. Although the findings do not provide strong support for forming a common currency area in this region at the current stage, they suggest that most East Asian economies have become relatively symmetric in terms of economic shocks and adjustments, implying that a common currency area might become viable through deepening regional integration.     

Leverage, performance and capital adequacy ratio in Taiwan's banking industry

We examine the relation between firms’ financial structures and their risky investment strategies in Taiwan's banking industry. Regressions cover two subperiods: before the first financial reform (1996–2000) and after the first financial reform (2001–2006), to address the impacts of the first financial reform on banking firms’ financial structures. Our first result demonstrates that the restrictions on CAR have indeed affected firms’ risky investment strategies, as market share and leverage are positively related. Second, the firm performance is significantly and positively related to firm size, leverage and financial cost. Finally, the regression results show that financial structures for banking firms are positively related to the states of business cycle (i.e., cyclical). The positive signs coincide with Proposition 4 in our analytical model.     

Consumption externality, efficiency and optimal taxation in one-sector growth model

In an economy with consumption externalities, existing studies find that a competitive equilibrium is efficient in the long run and remains efficient in transitions if preferences are homothetic. This paper revisits the efficiency issue in an otherwise standard one-sector growth model where consumption externalities affect a utility via their effects on the time preference. We find that even if preferences are homothetic, the externality changes the marginal rate of substitution between now and future and leads to a disparity in the intertemporal elasticity of substitution between the centrally planned economy and a decentralized economy. As a result, a competitive equilibrium is inefficient in transition dynamics. We characterize an optimal tax/subsidy structure that enables the allocation in a decentralized economy to replicate the social optimum.     

Pricing and hedging of quanto range accrual notes under Gaussian HJM with cross‐currency Levy processes

This study analyzes the pricing and hedging problems for quanto range accrual notes (RANs) under the Heath‐Jarrow‐Morton (HJM) framework with Levy processes for instantaneous domestic and foreign forward interest rates. We consider the effects of jump risk on both interest rates and exchange rates in the pricing of the notes. We first derive the pricing formula for quanto double interest rate digital options and quanto contingent payoff options; then we apply the method proposed by Turnbull (Journal of Derivatives, 1995, 3, 92–101) to replicate the quanto RAN by a combination of the quanto double interest rate digital options and the quanto contingent payoff options. Using the pricing formulas derived in this study, we obtain the hedging position for each issue of quanto RANs. In addition, by simulation and assuming the jump risk to follow a compound Poisson process, we further analyze the effects of jump risk and exchange rate risk on the coupons receivable in holding a RAN. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:973–998, 2009     

Industrial policy,social capital,human capital,and firm-level competitive advantage

Despite the popularity of governmental action devised to foster firm performance, the link between industrial policy and firm-specific human capital and social capital has received scant attention in the strategic management literature. In this paper, we build a dynamic optimization model which bridges concepts from industrial policy, social capital, human capital, and firm-level competitive advantage. We derive theoretical and policy implications from our competitiveness model, concluding that it increases in the opportunity cost of social capital reduce the production of human capital, so the optimal opportunity cost of social capital under feasible industrial policy should be set equal to zero. A government’s optimal industrial policy to help accumulate and churn human capital should reduce the opportunity cost of social capital to zero and reduce the probability of human capital leaving the community to zero. Thus, the model not only expands the potential determinants of competitive advantage in the context of governmental intervention, but also broadens the human capital theory and social capital theory in the creation of firm-specific human capital.