Post-privatization corporate governance and firm performance: The role of private ownership concentration,identity and board composition

We examine and analyze the post-privatization corporate governance of a sample of 52 newly privatized Egyptian firms over a period of 10 years, from 1995 to 2005. We look at the ownership structure that results from privatization and its evolution; the determinants of private ownership concentration; and the impact of private ownership concentration, identity and board composition on firm performance. We find that the state gives up control over time to the private sector, but still controls, on average, more than 35% of these firms. We also document a trend in private ownership concentration over time, mostly to the benefit of foreign investors. Firm size, sales growth, industry affiliation, and timing and method of privatization seem to play a key role in determining private ownership concentration. Ownership concentration and ownership identity, in particular foreign investors, prove to have a positive impact on firm performance, while employee ownership concentration has a negative one. The higher proportion of outside directors and the change in the board composition following privatization have a positive effect on firm performance. These results could have some important policy implications where private ownership by foreign investors seems to add more value to firms, while selling state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to employees is not recommended. Also, the state is highly advised to relinquish control and allow for changes in the board of directors following privatization as changing ownership, per se, might not have a positive impact on firm performance unless it is coupled with a new management style.     

Access to credit and heterogeneous effects on agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from large rural surveys in Ethiopia

Modern agricultural technologies hold huge potential for increasing productivity and reducing poverty in developing countries. However, adoption levels of these technologies have remained disappointingly low in Africa. This paper analyzes the effect of access to credit on the likelihood of adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizers using data from large rural surveys in Ethiopia. Using a heteroscedasticity-based identification strategy to address the endogenous nature of access to credit, we find that access to credit has significant positive effects on adoption and intensity of use of chemical fertilizers. However, important heterogeneities are observed. Credit obtained from formal sources is more important for the intensity of use than for the decision to adopt chemical fertilizers. Credit taken with the primary purpose of financing agricultural inputs is more likely to promote adoption of chemical fertilizers than credit taken per se. Furthermore, reported credit effects are larger when estimated against the sample of credit-constrained non-users as compared with the pool of the whole sample of credit non-users. The results remain robust to several sensitivity analyses. Our results yield useful implications for the design, promotion, and targeting of credit services to leverage their effect on adoption of agricultural technologies.     

A comparison between North and South business ethics: the concepts of Renzhi and Fazhi in China

The purpose of this study is to compare the ethical standards of business practitioners of Northern provinces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) who follow the ‘rule by man’ (i.e. the Renzhi system) versus those of southern provinces who follow the ‘rule by law’ (i.e. the Fazhi system). Our Shanghai survey represented the south Chinese sample, and our Shijiazhuang mailing represented our north Chinese sample. We received 95 completed responses for the former and 102 completed responses for the latter. Our results found that the south Chinese practitioners were more likely to be idealistic, possessed virtue epistemic traits and were more sensitive to ethical practices than north Chinese practitioners were.     

Developing the e-commerce sector for the fishery industry: What business are we really in?

In this study, we use the theory of the marketing firm to explain marketing relationships between consumers and firms selling fish in the context of developing the e-commerce sector for the fishery industry. We use a unique dataset composed of quantitative and qualitative data to provide a behavioral economic analysis and interpretation. The results reveal interdependent managerial and consumer behavioral relationships, indicating the presence of bilateral contingencies. The results also provide some indication of the theory of transaction cost, where cost-intensive activities are likely to be internalized within marketing firms selling fish.     

Values,gender and attitudes towards environmental policy: A study of future managers

This study explores if the value priorities and their impact on future managers' attitudes towards environmental responsibilities vary with gender. While relevant prior studies mostly focus on gender‐based variations of individuals' personal values in developed economies, we concentrate on both personal values and pro‐environmental attitudes in an emerging economy. This study is built on MBA students (a proxy for future managers) in India since India is characterized as a male‐dominated society and a producer of larger number of MBA graduates. Overall, our results show that personal values and attitude towards environmental responsibilities do not vary significantly with gender. Only two values (among the 21 values) and one value type (out of 10 values) get significantly higher ranking from females compared with males. Further, although ‘universalism’ and ‘benevolence’ are found to have a statistically significant impact on respondents' attitude towards environmental responsibility, the latter is invariant to the respondents' gender. Our findings may indicate India's transformation from a male‐dominated society towards a more gender‐balanced society. These findings can be used to operationalize a pro‐environmental recruitment policy and to formulate strategies to improve female participation in MBA cohorts of business schools.     

The Dutch disease: The Canadian evidence

Zusammenfassung Die ⋯holl?ndische Krankheit”: Der kanadische Befund. — Der Autor betrachtet detailliert das Ausma\ der sektoralen Verschiebungen und untersucht die strukturellen Anpassungsprozesse in der kanadischen Volkswirtschaft. Er zeigt, da\ das Wachstumsmuster nicht nur zwischen den Sektoren asymmetrisch ist, sondern auch zwischen zwei Phasen des Konjunkturzyklus. Dementsprechend scheint der Strukturwandel einem zyklischen Pfad gefolgt zu sein. Diese Hypothese wird empirisch getestet unter Verwendung von Vierteljahresdaten aus der Zeit zwischen 1962 und 1983. Eine disaggregierte Analyse der Lohnentwicklung zeigt eine ?hnliche Asymmetrie. Dies wird zum gro\en Teil auf die Rohstofflastigkeit der kanadischen Wirtschaft zurückgeführt. In einem verallgemeinerten Rahmen für die ⋯holl?ndische Krankheit” l?\t sich daraus entnehmen, da\ die Rohstofflastigkeit zum strukturellen Wandel beigetragen und auch die zyklischen Charakteristika bestimmt hat.

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Résumé La maladie néerlandaise: l’évidence canadienne. — Cette étude jette un coup d’oeuil sur la dimension des déplacements sectoriels et examine le processus d’ajustement structurel dans l’économie canadienne. Il est constaté que la croissance se développe d’une manière asymétrique en ce qui concerne les secteurs et les deux phases consécutives du cycle conjoncturel. Pour cette raison le changement structurel semble avoir suivi une voie cyclique. Cette hypothèse est examinée par un test empirique en utilisant des dates trimestrielles pendant la période 1962–83. Une analyse désagrégée du développement des salaires démontre une asymétrie similaire. Ce fait est largement attribué au caractère de l’économie canadienne basée sur des ressources naturelles. Dans un cadre généralisé de la maladie néerlandaise cela peut être expliqué d’avoir contribué au changement structurel et aussi d’avoir déterminé le caractère cyclique.

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Resumen La enfermedad holandesa: evidencia para el Canadá. — En este trabajo se analiza detalladamente la magnitud de cambios sectoriales y se examina la naturaleza del proceso de ajuste estructural de la economía canadiense. Se encuentra que además de ser asimétrica entre los sectores, la pauta de crecimiento también es asimétrica entre dos fases del ciclo económico. Por ello, el cambio estructural parece haber seguido una trayectoria c?clica. Esto se estudia emp?ricamente utilizando datos trimestrales correspondientes al período 1962-1983. El análisis desagregado del comportamiento salarial muestra una asimetría similar. Esto es atribuído en gran parte a la importancia de los recursos naturales para la economia canadiense. En el marco generalizado de la enfermedad holandesa esto puede haber contribuído al cambio estructural y a determinar sus características cíclicas.

     

Future groundwater conditions under long-term water stresses in an arid urban area

The urban area of Greater Dhahran has an extremely arid climate where the average annual rainfail is less than 71 mm. The Umm Er Radhuma (UER) aquifer in that area is the main source of domestic and landscape irrigation demands. Groudwater use has increased drastically during the last 15 years due to extensive developments in the area. Numerical simulation techiques and hydrogeochemical investigations were carried out to assess the effects of increasing pumping rates on the piezometric surface in the UER aquifer and to predict the future levels and quality of water under different pumping scenarios. A groundwater flow model was developed and calibrated for the area. The increase in the water extraction rate between 1967 and 1990 has resulted in a decline in the piezometric surface by about 4 m in the Dhahran area. The results of simulation investigations indicated that if the present trend of the groundwater withdrawal rate continues, the water level is expected to drop by an additional 2 and by the end of the year 2000, by an additional 6 m by the end of 2010. If the present increasing rate in groundwater withdrawal is reduced by 50%, the additional drawdown will also be reduced to about 1 and 2.5 m by the end of years 2000 and 2010, respectively. The average total dissolved solids (TDS) has increased from 2750 to 3545 mg/l between 1967 and 1990 and will continue to rise to 3922 and 4361 by the end of years 2000 and 2010, respectively. These original findings are important because they postulates the negative impacts of increasing groundwater pumping from an aquifer in an arid urban area on future groundwater levels and quality. Therefore, effective groundwater management and conservation schemes should be adopted to maintain the long-term productivity and quality of aquifers in the area.     

Book reviews

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Water Conservation in Oman

ABSTRACT

Limited resources and growing needs for water have triggered a nationwide campaign for water conservation in the Sultanate of Oman. A land and soil survey study of Oman shows the availability of more arable land than present water resources could support. Groundwater is the main source for agricultural production. Overpumping at rates higher than the natural recharge has resulted in lowering of the ground water table, while seawater intrusion has led to an increase in soil salinity. A comprehensive water program is underway to: (1) conserve water through efficent irrigation, use of soil additives, modern irrigation systems, agronomic management, and institutionalization; and (2) augmentation of resources via introduction of more desalinization plants, more waste water treatment, use of brackish water; water fog collection, and water harvesting by building recharge dams.     

Consumer ethics: An empirical investigation of the ethical beliefs of Austrian consumers

Business and Marketing ethics have come to the forefront in recent years. While consumers have been surveyed regarding their perceptions of ethical business and marketing practices, research has been minimal with regard to their ethical beliefs and ideologies. In addition, no study has examined the ethical beliefs of Austrian consumers even though Austria maintains a unique status of political neutrality, nonalignment, stability, economic prosperity and geographical proximity to the East- and West-European countries. This research investigates the relationship between Machiavellianism, ethical ideology and ethical beliefs of Austrian consumers. The results indicate that Austrian consumers are mostly situationists who, while rejecting moral rules, judge the ethics of a behavior by the consequences and outcomes of the situation. Mohammed Y.A. Rawwas is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Northern Iowa. His research has appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Marketing Educational Review, Advances in International Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Hospital Marketing, Health Marketing Quarterly, Medical Marketing and Media,among other journals and proceedings.