Market forces and competition in university systems: theoretical reflections and empirical evidence from Italy

This paper deals with the reforming processes in higher education (HE) from centralised systems towards more competitive ones. In particular, I discuss these issues referring to the Italian case, and the market‐like mechanisms introduced in it during 1990s and early 2000s. The focus of the paper is in analysing the effects of the increasing competition on teaching performance of universities. For this purpose, I develop a theoretical model, moving from the framework of yardstick competition (YC), to describe the functioning of a competition model based on comparing performance of institutions. Then, I apply this model using data from the Italian university system. The results suggest that an increasingly competitive environment effectively improves the universities’ performance, which is also influenced by other factors, namely the characteristics of the institutions themselves and of their students, and by the resources available. As the exploratory nature of the study, these findings must be validated through future research.     

中国上市公司并购绩效实证研究述评

经过5次并购浪潮之后,关于企业并购的效果以及如何来评价企业的绩效,国内外学者做了大量的实证研究。国内目前采用较多的是事件研究法、会计指标法和EVA法。通过对国内上市公司并购绩效的实证文献梳理,分析现有评价方法存在的局限性,为正确评价并购绩效指明方向。     

基于价值链的作业成本法分析

本文针对传统成本管理方法存在的局限性,将价值链的思想引入作业成本法,用价值链分析帮助找出各作业与产品成本的联系;阐述了价值链在作业成本法中的具体分析步骤,为成本管理提供更准确的依据;从而有利于提高企业的成本优势,形成企业核心竞争力。     

“双二元短缺约束”下中国经济的阶段性特征

2005年以后,中国结束了长达50多年的短缺经济,进入产能过剩与资源约束为主的新短缺经济阶段,主要体现为＂生产资料与生活资料生产能力双过剩＂和＂资源性生产要素与基础设施、公共服务供给双短缺＂并存。1978年改革开放以后,中国经济经历了一个从短缺经济——后短缺经济——新短缺经济的演化过程。第一,1978-1996年,短缺经济阶段,主要表现为生产资料和生活资料的双短缺;第二,1996-2005年,后短缺阶段,主要表现为生活资料基本过剩,而生产资料存在短缺和不足;第三,2005年以后,新短缺经济阶段,主要表现为生产资料和生活资料的＂双过剩＂,资源约束与市场约束＂双约束＂逐渐成为我国经济发展的主要制约性因素。     

影响农产品加工类上市公司股价的因素分析——基于公司财务绩效的视角

以近五个季度沪深A股市场20家农产品加工类上市公司为分析样本,从公司披露的会计信息的角度出发,运用多元线性回归的研究方法分析了财务绩效对公司股价的影响。结果表明,农产品加工类上市公司的股价波动取决于公司的盈利能力和发展能力,其中影响最为显著的是每股净资产,并且公司的发展能力在对股价的影响中呈现越来越显著的趋势。     

我国融资性担保机构绩效评价实证研究——以江苏省为例

融资性担保机构的经营绩效在不同地区往往存在一定的差异,需要政府出台有差别的政策来促进其发展。从江苏省苏南、苏中和苏北分别选取了6家融资性担保机构,运用因子分析法对它们的经营绩效进行评价。针对三个地区担保机构经营绩效表现的不同,提出提升江苏省不同地区担保机构经营绩效的制度创新路径,对我国其他地区也有较大的借鉴意义。     

Social networks and small business performance in West African border regions

This paper studies the links between economic performance and social networks in West Africa. Using data collected on 358 small-scale traders in five border markets, we show that social networks can be simultaneously a resource which positively contributes to labour market outcomes and a social burden that has a negative economic impact. Testing the effect of social networks between small traders and three categories of actors, we find that the most well-connected actors are also the most successful in terms of monthly profit. The effects of social networks are, however, dependent on the type of persons with whom traders are connected. We show that support received from state representatives and politicians is converted into economic performance, while the impact of law enforcement officers on the monthly profits of traders is not significant. We also find that interacting with traditional religious leaders has a negative effect on economic performance. Our work has two implications: Firstly, collecting data on social networks remains challenging due to endogeneity. Secondly, network-enhancing policies should aim at improving both the internal connectivity of economic actors at the local level and their external connectivity with the rest of the world.     

The relation among self-efficacy,learning approaches,and academic performance: an exploratory study

Self-efficacy influences students’ activities, effort and persistence, and it can help predict their motivation and academic performance. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy, preferred learning methods, and academic performance under different learning methods in a unique hospitality course setting. The results indicate that hospitality management students prefer a “learn by doing” approach instead of computer-based learning and lecturing. This study concludes that self-efficacy affects the academic performance in both lecturing and practical learning in hospitality education. However, students’ preference in terms of learning methods does not influence their academic performance. Emphasizing “learn by doing” in the hospitality higher education curriculum is recommended in addition to recruiting faculty members with extensive industry experience. Conversely, it is recommended that faculty find the means to increase students’ self-efficacy when adopting different teaching approaches.     

Analysis of congress destinations' competitiveness using importance performance competitor analysis

To be competitive and successful in congress tourism, destinations must learn which congress tourism-related attributes are important and how they perform against their main competitors. This study identifies the importance and performance of destination attributes in Antalya, Turkey, and compares the position of these attributes to those of its main rival in congress tourism, ?stanbul. Importance performance competitor analysis results show that, according to domestic participants, Antalya has to focus on “sight-seeing and cultural attractions” and “outside entertainment.” For international participants, “climate,” “choice of meeting and housing properties,” and “suitability of conference facilities” exhibit higher performance in Antalya than ?stanbul.     

Board structure and CEO compensation: Evidence from U.S. lodging industry

Using a sample of U.S. lodging firms, this paper examines the relationship between board of director characteristics and chief executive officer (CEO) compensation. Previous research shows that larger boards are detrimental to the effectiveness of the board of directors and deteriorate the control imposed on CEO actions and pay. Board independence is also suggested as an important quality to emphasize the control on the CEO. We propose that U.S. lodging firms’ board of directors provide a nice setting to investigate the effects of size and independence on CEO compensation level. Our findings suggest that CEO compensation is not related to board size, and positively related to proportion of the outside board members. These findings are contrary to the findings of previous studies. Our findings may provide significant insights to lodging firms’ board of directors to structure efficient compensation packages.