Islamic Attributes of Destination: Construct Development and Measurement Validation,and Their Impact on Tourist Satisfaction

The objectives of the paper are to first develop a measurement scale for Islamic attributes of destination and then to investigate the influence of Islamic attributes on overall tourist satisfaction. This study followed the sequence of steps that should be performed in developing measures of constructs. The measurement was tested and found to be both reliable and valid. The study found positive relationship between Islamic attributes of destination and overall tourist satisfaction. Important marketing implications are also presented. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Subsidiary initiatives and subsidiary autonomy: Evidence from New Zealand and Brazil

The paper uses evidence from a developed and a developing economy (New Zealand and Brazil) to study the consequence of multinational subsidiary initiative taking for subsidiary autonomy. Initiative taking and autonomy are known to increase the likelihood of a subsidiary continuing to grow and develop. Uncertainty remains as to whether subsidiaries acquire or lose autonomy as they engage in initiatives partly as the willingness to pursue initiatives can be viewed positively or negatively by the parent company. By using cross-country data and distinguishing three types of initiative according to the scope of their potential impact (internal, local and global) the study provides a basis for examining this topic that improves on evidence from a single country or single initiative study. Data from 200 multinational subsidiaries in New Zealand and 172 in Brazil are gathered for analysis. As well as examining the overall relationship between initiative taking and autonomy the study presents the first evidence on this topic for subsidiaries in New Zealand and Brazil. The overall conclusion is that subsidiary initiative taking is likely to increase subsidiary autonomy but the affect over autonomy is dependent upon the type of initiative that the subsidiary undertakes: subsidiary autonomy is more likely to increase as a result of a local market initiative than a global or internal market initiative.     

Multivariate-based Granger causality between financial deepening and poverty: the case of Pakistan

This paper deals with the empirical investigation of causal relationship between financial deepening, economic growth and poverty reduction using quarter frequency data in case of Pakistan over the period of 1972–2011. We applied the autoregressive distributed lag model bounds testing approach by incorporating structural breaks stemming in the series. The order of integration of the variables is examined by applying structural break unit root test. Our empirical exercise indicated that the long run relationship between financial deepening, economic growth and poverty reduction exists in case of Pakistan. The causality analysis implied that causality results are sensitive with the use of proxy for poverty reduction.     

Determinants of an Organization’s Website Ease of Use: The Moderating Role of Product Tangibility

The ease of use of an organization’s website is central to determining users’ experiences and behavioral intentions. Understanding how the site-related factors contribute to shaping perceived ease of use is thus critical. Nonetheless, we contend that the relative importance of these factors in shaping ease of use may vary according to the product offered by the organization. This research hypothesizes that the information quality of a website and its interactivity and aesthetics are antecedents to perceived ease of use and that the relative tangibility of the offered products moderates these relationships. The hypotheses are examined by performing a large-scale study in which each participant performs a task on one of 59 organizational websites. The study’s hypotheses were supported, and the results were then replicated using a second study conducted on a French-speaking sample. Site information quality is the strongest predictor of perceived ease of use, followed by the site interactivity and aesthetics. The results, however, underscore the moderating role of product tangibility. While the effects of interactivity and aesthetics are greater for sites offering services (e.g., communication, travel, insurance, and financial services), the effect of information quality is stronger for sites offering tangible products (e.g., electronics, books, and home improvement goods). The findings suggest that organizations offering tangible products should focus on providing their sites’ visitors with quality information, whereas organizations offering services should primarily focus on their sites’ aesthetics, interactive, and personalization features.     

Financial development and economic growth: an empirical evidence from the GCC countries using static and dynamic panel data

This paper contributes to the existing empirics of finance-growth nexus of all GCC countries with new results based on a larger dataset and longer time period 1975–2012, incorporating additional control variables, FDI, interaction term of FDI & financial development variables, and oil production. We employed four estimation techniques, Pooled OLS, Fixed effect estimation, Random effect estimation, and the system GMM estimation and used static and dynamic panel data. We obtain a robust finding of consistently a positive effect of financial sector development (FSD) on economic growth of GCC region with implication that a substantial improvement in FSD was in place. The results indicate that FDI, Fixed capital formation and oil production contribute positively to the economic growth of this region. The study results signify for a continuity of the on-going financial reform process, supervision & monitoring exercises to bring hitherto more dividends to the GCC economies.     

Knowledge spillovers through FDI and trade: the moderating role of quality-adjusted human capital

The paper extends the findings of the Coe and Helpman (Eur Econ Rev 39(5):859-887, 1995) model of R&D spillovers by considering foreign direct investment (FDI) as a channel for knowledge spillovers in addition to imports. Deeper insights on the issue are provided by examining the inter-relationship between knowledge spillovers from imports and inward FDI. Furthermore, human capital is added to the discussion as one of the appropriability factors for knowledge spillovers, with special focus on its quality-content, using journal publications and patent applications. Applying cointegration estimation method on 20 European countries from 1995 to 2010, the direct effects of FDI-related as well as import-related spillovers on domestic productivity are confirmed. Furthermore, a strong complementary relationship is found between knowledge spillovers through the channels of imports and inward FDI. When considering quality-adjusted human capital, countries with better human capital are found to benefit not only from direct productivity effects, but also from absorption and transmission of international knowledge spillovers through imports and inward FDI. Finally, technological distance with the frontier does not appear to play a role in the absorption of import and FDI related knowledge spillovers.     

Dual-Class Firms: Evidence from IPOs of Chinese Firms Cross-Listed on US Exchanges

We compare Chinese single with dual-class firms cross-listed on US exchanges. We find that dual-class firms are larger in terms of assets and sales, possess ownership concentration, and have higher institutional ownership. Chinese firms in IT industry are especially likely to use dual-class structure. We find that, contrary to the literature, dual-class firms underprice 30.42% more and firm underprices less when governance practices are adequate. Insiders need to bear underpricing cost for retaining control. Interestingly, we find that dual-class firms hire more independent directors to show commitment toward shareholder’s rights but control them through CEO Chairman Duality and superior voting rights.     

基于组合赋权和AHP法的农机化可持续发展研究

[目的]通过定量分析,明确不同准则层对农业机械化可持续发展的影响,衡量农机化可持续发展在时间维度上的演变趋势。[方法]建立了新疆农机化可持续发展评价指标体系,并构建了2001~2015年可持续发展水平评价指标关系数据模型。提出了组合赋权和专家法相结合的判断矩阵构建方法,并基于层次分析法(Analytic Hierarchy Process,AHP)分别定量分析了2001年和2015年农机化可持续发展状态。[结果](1)2015年新疆农机化可持续发展水平达到了80.31,和2001年相比提高了1.284 7倍。(2)从准则层来看,新疆可持续发展水平在农机化作业能力、农机化经济效益和农机化发展能力方面分别提高了69.70、85.94和48.64,但资源消耗方面的得分下降了1.12。[结论]2001~2005年新疆农业机械化可持续发展水平在作业能力、经济效益和发展能力等因素推动下进一步提升;揭示资源环境影响是约束农机化可持续发展的主要因素。从新疆农业机械化发展现状来看,文章方法得出的量化结果与实际情况较接近,表明研究方法有效和可行。     

天然草原综合风险评估与区划研究——基基于多重风险相互作用的视角

目的 在建立健全草原风险管理体系,保障草原生态安全和稳定草原畜牧业生产的背景下,草原保险的作用更加凸显。草原风险评估和区划作为草原保险设计的前提和基础,其准确性直接决定着草原保险条款的合理性及科学性。方法 文章利用半定量化因果关系矩阵法、HP滤波模型、多种聚类分析法和单因素方差分析法。结果 可将锡林郭勒草原分为低、中、高和极高4个风险区,各风险区间的差异显著,其中,低风险区呈现出致灾因子危险性低、承灾体脆弱性低和防灾减灾能力强的显著特点;中风险区呈现出承灾体暴露性水平高,但致灾因子危险性处于中等水平的显著特点;高风险区呈现出致灾因子危险性高,防灾减灾能力处于中等水平的典型特征;极高风险区呈现出承灾体脆弱性水平高,防灾减灾能力弱的典型特征。结论 在厘定草原保险费率时,应考虑多种风险间的交互作用,构建合理的草原风险区划图。     

基于灰色神经网络和MIV的农机总动力影响因素研究

[目的]以顷均农业机械总动力及影响因素为研究对象,量化各因素对顷均总动力的影响强度,进而为定量分析顷均农机总动力影响因素提供途径。[方法]以新疆1990~2014年顷均农业机械总动力及其影响因素作为数据源,建立关系数据模型。构建嵌入式灰色神经网络(Embed grey neural network,EGNN)模型,并与EGNN与平均影响值(Mean impact value,MIV)方法相结合,建立了EGNN-MIV影响因素重要度计算模型,并对新疆25年顷均农机总动力的影响因素MIV进行测度。[结果]新疆1990~2014年顷均农机总动力受各种影响因素的交叉影响。各影响因素标准化后的MIV分别为0.70、0.39、0.39、0.46、0.20、0.50、0.90、0.74。顷均农机总动力影响最大的前3个因素分别为:劳均土地面积、最大种植面积农作物比重以及耕地均顷GDP。对顷均农机总动力的影响最小的因素为农业比较劳动生产率。[结论]建立的EGNN-MIV模型在量化模型输入对输出的影响程度方面有效和可行。顷均农机总动力主要受土地面积分布、农作物种植结构和均顷GDP等因素的显著影响。为定量分析顷均农业机械总动力等时间序列的影响因素提供了思路和方法,同时为农机管理部门提供决策参考。