Managing mobile phones: a work/non-work collision in small business

We can see technology changing people's private and working lives. But what happens when these two worlds collide? This paper explores two small organisations that have taken different approaches to the use of mobile phone technology. This area of contested terrain is becoming increasingly present on the landscape of the employment relationship.     

Identifying Financial Distress Indicators of Selected Banks in Asia

The banking sector plays a pivotal role in the economic development of most Asian countries. In 1997, a full-fledged banking and financial crisis took place in South Asian countries. Many banks had to be bailed out by their governments. It is believed that an examination of indicators that led to the problems suffered by banks in this region will be of enormous benefit. Models were developed for each country that identified banks experiencing financial distress as a function of financial ratios. The countries in the study include Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. The banking sectors of these three countries are ideal for this study, as the banks enjoyed profitability during the pre-crisis period and were the most severely affected by the financial crisis in 1997. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data sample from 1995 to 1997. In the findings, capital adequacy, loan management and operating efficiency are three common performance dimensions found to be able to identify problem banks in all three countries. It is hoped that the financial ratios and results of the models will be useful to bankers and regulators in identifying problem banks in Asia.     

Mass Media Advertising in a Developing Country

This paper examines mass media advertising in the developing country of Morocco, with a special reference to the relevance of standardized versus localized advertising strategies. The advertising infrastructure is described, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of local advertising agencies. Advertising budgets are discussed according to size and type of company, before presenting a detailed assessment of the advertising media. Five selected campaigns serve to illustrate current advertising practices and problems. The authors conclude that knowledge of the local environment and a willingness to address consumers in their own terms are essential for advertising effectiveness in Morocco, and recommend use of localized rather than standardized marketing strategies.     

Does Economic Analysis Improve the Quality of Foreign Assistance?

The World Bank undertakes an annual expenditure of around $60million on country-specific economic analysis and advice forits member developing countries. What is the impact of thiseconomic and sector work on the quality of World Bank lending?It would be useful to know whether past analytical work hasgenerated measurable economic benefits that would justify itscontinued provision in an environment of increasingly scarceresources. This article sets out an idealized model of decisionmaking inwhich a country manager makes a broad allocation of resourcesbetween lending services and economic and sector work. Giventhat decision, the task manager for each project makes project-specificdecisions with respect to the allocation of resources betweenpreparation and supervision. The analysis indicates that economicand sector work has a significant positive impact on the qualityof World Bank loans. The results provide clear evidence of underinvestmentin economic and sector work. And the analysis shows that resourcescould be switched from preparation and supervision to economicand sector work to the benefit of both the quality of programsand level of disbursements.     

Complex home care: Part I--Utilization and costs to families for health care services each year

As many as 120 persons per million people in the United States are dependent on the lifelong, complex, technology-based care of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) infusions. However, data for costs paid by families for HPN-related health care services and for non-reimbursed expenditures are rarely tabulated and most often underestimated. The goals of this study were to describe health care services used by families to manage HPN, report the frequency of each service used annually, and estimate the average annual non-reimbursed costs to families for these health services. The numerous and varied types of services reported and the time required to coordinate and access HPN services illustrates the challenges faced by patients and their family caregivers. The lack of a coordinated and efficient system for delivering complex chronic care results in poorer outcomes for HPN patients and their families on-reimbursed costs and the extensive amount of time required to coordinate multi-professional services negatively impacts the clinical outcomes and quality of life of complex chronic home care.     

Sensemaking in expatriation—A theoretical basis

Contemporary thinking and research into expatriation has fallen into two clusters: a macrostrategic level and a micropractice level. Some theoretical tension exists between the clusters, and calls for the reframing of understanding gained from the theoretical basis of past acculturation studies to address global management in volatile business environments. This article explores the theoretical concept of sensemaking in expatri‐ation. Two sensemaking elements, Sense of Coherence and Socio‐Cultural Brokerage, are introduced as potentially contributing to expatriation responses, together with the implications of sensemaking theory for research and practice in the management of overseas assignments. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Explaining International and Intertemporal Variations in Income Inequality

This paper explores the propositions that, income inequality is relatively stable within countries; and that it varies significantly among countries. A new and expanded data set provides broad support for both propositions. Drawing on a political economy and capital market imperfection arguments to explain the intertemporal and international variation in inequality, the empirical analysis shows that the predicted variables associated with the first argument (a measure of civil liberties and the initial level of secondary schooling) and the second argument (a measure of financial depth and the initial distribution of land) are indeed important determinants of inequality.     

Good Growth,Bad Growth: How Effective are REITs’ Corporate Watchdogs?

The rapid growth of REITs over the last two decades raises an old debate on the existence of scale economies. Out of the 874 growth incidents recorded by individual REITs between 1992 and 2012, we observe that 44.5% of them are sub-optimal, that is they resulted in the acquiring REITs operating at decreasing returns to scale. Large REITs with more free cash flows have a higher propensity to engage in bad growth activities. We find evidence that institutional investors play an effective role in discouraging managerial opportunism and empire building. Independent directors and external creditors, however, do not appear to be effective in discouraging REIT managers from making bad growth decisions.     

Can Bank Lines of Credit Protect REITs against a Credit Crisis?

In a tight credit market, the primary concern of most real estate investment trusts (REITs) is the ability to access capital and maintain adequate liquidity. Bank lines of credit or loan commitments, which are legally binding contracts arranged to provide debt at the call of the borrowers under prespecified terms, have been theorized to provide insurance protection against a credit crisis. This article examines whether bank lines of credit can indeed provide some insurance for REITs and allow them to access credit during bad times. Covering three credit crunch events, both the origination and utilization patterns of commitment loans by 275 REITs publicly traded between 1992 and 2007 are analyzed. We find that bank lines of credit insulated REITs from credit rationing at both the broad market level as well as at the firm level. However, the insurance value is qualified in the case of smaller and risky firms which may not get to extend their credit limit or draw down on their existing credit lines in a credit crisis.     

2016–2017 Real Estate Finance & Investment Symposium

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics -