Moving Beyond Culturalism and Formalism: Islam,Women, and Political Unrest in the Middle East

ABSTRACT

Scenes of political unrest throughout the Middle East are often coupled with media reports and public debates in the United States that have a recurring theme: the relationship between women and Islam. After discussing the culturalist accounts that portray women as being in grave danger from Islam and in need of Western protection and supervision, this contribution examines an emerging trend in political science developed under the influence of the formalism of neoclassical economics. The study argues that despite ostensibly universal assumptions about human behavior and alleged objectivity, the theoretical foundations of neoclassical economics and its methodological formalism fall short in providing an alternative to culturalism, and, instead, reinforce the misperceptions and misunderstandings about the region.     

The Changing Role of Financial Stress,Oil Price,and Gold Price in Financial Contagion among US and BRIC Markets

The objective of this paper is to explore the determining factors behind financial contagion between US and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) equity markets. To this end, we investigate the effects of global macroeconomic factors on the time‐varying correlations among these markets obtained by asymmetric dynamic conditional correlation method. Utilizing quantile regression analysis, we examine the determinants of financial contagion at different levels of time‐varying correlations. The results of quantile regression analyses reveal that global financial crisis (GFC) (2008) leads to changes in the dependence structure between dynamic conditional correlations among equity markets and global macroeconomic factors, such as global financial stress, oil prices, and gold prices. Following the GFC, monetary, and fiscal policy changes in the BRIC markets and hence changing macroeconomic risks of these markets are conducive to these changes. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of cross‐market rebalancing channel for information transmission across US and BRIC markets.     

PRICE SEARCH,CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY AND EXPENDITURE INEQUALITY OVER THE LIFE ‐CYCLE

We differentiate consumption from expenditure by incorporating price search decision into an otherwise standard life‐cycle model. We first analytically show that, under very general conditions, poorer households search more and pay lower prices compared to wealthier ones. As a result, consumption inequality is smaller than expenditure inequality, and the gap between them increases over the life‐cycle. Next, using a plausibly calibrated model, we find that life‐cycle increase in consumption inequality is about 30% lower than the increase in expenditure inequality. Price search provides an insurance mechanism against income shocks and increases the welfare of a newborn by 3.9%.     

Semiparametric estimation of a hedonic price function

Previous work on the preferred specification of hedonic price models usually recommended a Box-Cox model. In this paper we note that any parametric model involves implicit restrictions and they can be reduced by using a semiparametric model. We estimate a benchmark parametric model which passes several common specification tests, before showing that a semiparametric model outperforms it significantly. In addition to estimating the model, we compare the predictions of the models by deriving the distribution of the predicted log(price) and then calculating the associated prediction intervals. Our data show that the semiparametric model provides more accurate mean predictions than the benchmark parametric model.     

A new fuzzy multi-criteria framework for measuring sustainability performance of a supply chain

Sustainable supply chain performance measurement is aimed at addressing environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable supply chain management. It can be argued that it is not easy to reduce all dimensions of sustainable supply chain to a single unit. Then, the issue is that all valuations should somehow be reducible to a single one-dimensional standard. Multi-criteria evaluation introduces a framework to remedy this issue. As a consequence, multi-criteria evaluation seems to supply a proper and adequate assessment framework for sustainable supply chain assessment. In this study, a multi-criteria framework based on fuzzy entropy and fuzzy multi-attribute utility (FMAUT) is proposed in order to evaluate and compare the company performances in terms of sustainable supply chain. However, note that reducing all aspects of sustainable supply chain to a single unit using a multi-criteria framework may not be sufficient to satisfy all the needs of decision makers although it is used to evaluate sustainability performance of supply chains with respect to three aspects. Therefore, in this research, an alert management system is also developed to satisfy further requirements of users. The proposed frameworks are tested using data obtained from one of the middle sized Turkish grocery retailers.     

Banking system control,capital allocation,and economy performance

We observe less efficient capital allocation in countries whose banking systems are more thoroughly controlled by tycoons or families. The magnitude of this effect is similar to that of state control over banking. Unlike state control, tycoon or family control also correlates with slower economic and productivity growth, greater financial instability, and worse income inequality. These findings are consistent with theories that elite-capture of a country’s financial system can embed “crony capitalism.”     

Consumer complaint handling in an advanced developing economy: An empirical investigation

The purpose of this article is to examine consumer protection, complaint, and statisfaction/dissatisfaction behaviors in developing countries with special reference to an advanced developing country — Turkey. The study was designed to describe consumer complaint handling issues in urban Turkey. It tries to explain consumer behavior differences along five consumer product categories as to the frequency and manner of consumer complaining behavior and suggests insights into the effectiveness of consumer complaint handling policies in Turkey. It is maintained that the study results are also applicable to other developing countries which are at a similar level of socio-economic and technological development.Erdener Kaynak, Ph.D. is currently a Professor of Marketing at the School of Business Administration of The Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Kaynak has served as a business consultant and training adviser to a number of Turkish, Canadian, Dutch, American, Peruvian, Yugoslavian, and international organizations. A prolific author, he has published over one hundred articles in refereed scholarly and professional journals as well as being the author or co-author of thirteen books. Dr. Kaynak is also Executive Editor ofInternational Business Press (IBP), an imprint of the Haworth Press Inc. of New York, London, and Sydney. In this capacity, in addition to being responsible for the international business book series, he edits several international marketing journals.Orsay Kucukemiroglu is presently an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Pennsylvania State University, York Campus, York, Pennsylvania. He holds a B.S. degree in Economics, an M.A. in Statistics, and an M.Sc. in Business Administartion and Operations Research. He also holds a CPA designation in the Communwealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kucukemiroglu has published articles in such journals asDecision Sciences, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Professional Services Marketing as well as presenting papers before various learned societies in North America and in Europe.Yavuz Odabasi is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Vocational Training School of Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey. A graduate of Turkish and U.S. universities, Dr. Odabasi was a faculty member at Erciyes University before joining his current university. He has published articles in such journals asService Industries Journal, International Journal of Bank Marketing as well as publishing in Turkish academic and professional journals.     

Is there an innovation effect on current account? A case for European countries

The aim of this article is to find out whether there is an innovation effect on the current account, and if there is one then to determine its significance. The study is carried out for the current accounts of European countries. Innovation is tested together with some other factors as control variables in order to estimate and compare its role in the determination process of the current account. The results indicate that innovation has quite a significant influence on the current accounts of European countries, and the form of the relationship between innovation and current account is non-linear. Moreover, the impact of innovation is stronger for countries at higher levels of innovation, but the growth rate of its average marginal effect diminishes through its increasing levels.     

Untangling African indigenous management: Multiple influences on the success of SMEs in Kenya

This article examines the nature of indigenous management in relation to the success of SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa, taking Kenya and six SMEs under the management of Kenyan Africans, Kenyan Asians and Kenyan British as examples. It proposes that management systems, styles and practices, when appropriate to the local cultural contexts, will give rise to successful organizations. By formulating tentative hypotheses about this relation after reviewing the literature, the data from these case studies are interrogated first by using a ‘template’ derived from theories of management control to investigate the inter-continental cultural influences on local management, and then inductively to modify and develop the original hypotheses in view of possible intra-country influences. Paternalism, emerges as a common theme in the way cultural influences are combined, suggesting different types of paternalism for in-group and out-group organizational members. This is a possible success factor for local SMEs. Implications for future research in these areas and management practice are discussed.