Non-technical skills for managing risk and performance in financial trading

Recent large-scale failures in financial institutions have been found to be caused, in-part, by human factors-related issues in financial trading. In other environments where risk management and performance are intertwined, a human factors approach is often adopted to understand how the ‘non-technical skills (NTS)’ (leadership (LD), decision-making (DM), situation awareness (SA), teamwork) of organisational actors influence outcomes. Yet, to date, there has been minimal application of human factors research in financial trading. This study (i) identifies ‘real-world’ (i.e. non-laboratory) research studies investigating the NTS important for performance in financial trading, (ii) examines and synthesises data on the NTS found to underpin good or poor performance and (iii) considers the quality and coverage of research investigating NTS in financial trading, and identifies potential areas for future research. Nineteen studies were identified through a systematic literature search and then content-analysed for associations between NTS and performance in financial trading. The review found a range of decision-making (e.g. heuristics and biases, intuitive DM, emotional regulation) and LD skills (e.g. setting standards, monitoring behaviour, encouraging speaking-up) to have been identified as important for managing risk and performance in financial trading environments. Furthermore, SA (e.g. information search and assessment strategies, vigilance, identifying ‘noise’ data) and teamwork (e.g. avoiding ‘role’ conflict, communication between traders) were found to be important, yet remain less explored within the literature, and should be the focus of future research. NTS appear essential for effective risk management within the financial sector, yet further field research is required to examine the context-relevant behaviours that underpin safe activity. This will facilitate the development of evidence-based systems for assessing and training NTS competencies.     

巷道快速掘进技术在贵州省煤与瓦斯突出煤层中的探讨与应用

巷道快速掘进技术是一项系统工程。为了实现矿井高产高效,必须以巷道快速掘进技术为前提和保障。本文以贵州省为例,探讨了巷道快速掘进技术的研究现状及影响因素。针对贵州某矿突出综合检测指标经常超限、掘进速度慢等问题,采用了高压水射流割缝与瓦斯抽放边抽边掘相结合技术。研究表明:该项技术能有效削弱煤层突出危险性,大幅度提高瓦斯抽放量且巷道掘进速度提高了2~3倍。同时根据贵州省的本土情况,提出了针对性地建议和措施,能为巷道快速掘进技术的推广与应用提供一定的指导。     

National politics and bank default risk in the eurozone

We study the impact of national politics on default risk of eurozone banks as measured by the stock market-based Distance to Default. We find that national electoral cycles, the power of the government as well as the government’s party ideological alignment significantly affect the stability of banks in the eurozone member countries. Moreover, we show that the impact of national politics on bank default risk is more pronounced for large as well as weakly capitalized banks.     

基于目标满意改进的辽宁农产品出口影响因素分析

辽宁是农产品出口大省,虽然出口额呈逐年上升趋势,但近几年受国内外不同问题和因素的影响,导致辽宁农产品出口出现了瓶颈。本文在总结了辽宁农产品出口的现状的基础上,探讨了辽宁农产品出口的问题,以此总结了影响出口的因素,并基于目标满意对影响因素进行了分析,最终提出了解决措施。     

Migration,Unemployment, and Skill Downgrading

In this paper, we analyze the labor market impacts of immigration under flexible and rigid labor market regimes. A general equilibrium framework is developed, accounting for skill heterogeneity and labor market frictions, where unemployed medium‐skilled manufacturing workers are downgraded into low‐skilled service jobs, while low‐skilled service workers might end up unemployed. The analytical analysis shows that medium‐skill immigration decreases low‐skilled unemployment under the flexible regime, indicating a complementarity effect, while the rigid regime induces a substitution effect, leading to low‐skilled unemployment. Moreover, it leads to wage polarization. In a numerical analysis, the economic effects of different migration scenarios are quantified.     

FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa: A longitudinal perspective on location-specific factors (2003–2010)

This paper examines the characteristics of Location Specific Factors (LSFs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regarding inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) of 758 MNEs in 2003, 1216 in 2005 and 2402 in 2010 is used to compare the variability in LSFs in ten, 15 and 19 SSA countries respectively. We find firstly the most powerful factors, influencing the political-economy and trade dynamics of hosts to FDI, stable over time. Secondly, by 2010, production inputs become the most important factor for FDI followed by political-economic stability. This result reflects findings in International Business (IB) literature. Policy implications point to unwavering need by SSA to reduce transaction costs for FDI; increase the predictability of the policy environment; and increase the productivity-adjusted cost efficiency of inputs.     

基于结构方程模型的集聚农户共生认知及影响因素分析:以重庆市为例

研究目的:探讨对集聚农户共生、集聚区土地利用率提高的影响因素,为提升农户共生的认知水平、优化农户共生关系及促进资源的节约集约利用提供有效路径及理论指导。研究方法:参与式农户调查,结构方程模型。研究结果:(1)户主自身特征、农户家庭特征、集聚共生效益特征及外部环境与政策特征这4类外源潜变量对农户共生认知产生重要影响且影响程度大小不同,其中,集聚共生效益特征的影响最为显著,外部环境与政策特征、户主自身特征和农户家庭特征的影响依次减弱;(2)是否为干部、对原集聚模式的满意度、是否促进农户生产生活条件和政府对集聚区的补贴力度分别对这4类外源潜变量具有较好的解释能力。研究结论:显化农户共生效益、增强"精英"农户及村干部的正向引导、提升农户成员受教育水平、培养农户"共生共荣"理念等是深化农户共生关系,促进和谐乡村人居环境建设的重要路径。     

Understanding the formation of e-loyalty based on a dedication-constraint perspective

Despite the importance of retaining customers in the context of e-shopping, the formation of an e-buyer’s loyalty remains inconclusive. Drawing on e-shopping literature, this study developed and tested a model to explain e-buyer loyalty from the perspective of business-to-consumer relationship management. We build on a dedication-constraint dual model to delineate the relationship between perceived benefits, switching cost, service-specific investment, and loyalty. Empirical results from 505 respondents show that loyalty is influenced by both perceived benefits and switching costs. In addition, switching costs partially mediate the relationship between service-specific investments and loyalty. Implications of these results are discussed.     

An empirical analysis of the factors influencing farmer demand for forest insurance: Based on surveys from Lin’an County in Zhejiang Province of China

The lack of effective farmer demand is a major factor that restricts the development of China's forest insurance. To solve this problem, this study uses a Logit model to conduct an empirical analysis of relevant factors in the farmers’ demand for forest insurance, based on field survey data of Lin’an County, Zhejiang Province. The results show that the farmers’ understanding of forest insurance, the proportion of forestry revenues in the total household income, forest size, forest disaster frequency, forest insurance liability, insurance amount setup, and the farmers’ satisfaction regarding the premium subsidy policy, are the main factors that affect the farmers’ demand for forest insurance. Therefore, we propose to expand forest insurance promotion, raise the farmers’ income, rationally design insurance products, and optimize the forest premium subsidy policy to enhance the farmers’ willingness to participate in forest insurance.     

创业企业家不确定性容忍度对企业迁徙决策的影响

创业企业迁徙是创业企业成长过程中的重要决策。基于文献研究并结合创业企业家特征,构建创业企业迁徙意愿影响因素模型,重点探讨在不确定性容忍度影响下创业企业迁徙意愿影响因素及其作用机制。研究结果表明,政策环境、生活质量、政府服务质量是影响创业企业迁徙的三大外部因素,创业企业家不确定性容忍度则是重要的内部因素,随着创业企业家不确定性容忍度提高,生活质量对迁徙意愿的影响减弱,而政策环境对迁徙意愿的影响增强,表明当前创业企业孵化与迁徙受政策环境主导。研究结论进一步解释了迁徙情景中创业企业对区域经济环境不敏感以及云集于北上广深等生活成本畸高的城市等现象。