LIFTING QUADRATIC TERM STRUCTURE MODELS TO INFINITE DIMENSION

We introduce an infinite dimensional generalization of quadratic term structure models of interest rates, aiming that the lift will give us a deeper understanding of the classical models. We show that it preserves some of the favorable properties of the classical quadratic models.     

Climate change and tourism in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Climate change impacts such as coral bleaching are now evident on many coral reefs visited by tourists. This paper reports on climate change workshops and climate change actions implemented by tourism operators and agencies in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, with a focus on eco-efficiency initiatives. The results of a climate change action survey of 82 Great Barrier Reef tourism operators are also presented. Climate change responses by coral reef destinations require a mix of environmental and business strategies.     

Looking into the overlooked: incoming tour operators and early tourism development in Gabon

For a few years, Gabon has demonstrated increasing signs of its willingness to develop tourism. This has led a growing number of individuals and/or companies to seek opportunities and invest in the inbound tourism sector. Yet Gabon still presents high barriers to tourism development, resulting in major constraints upon tourism firms. This paper focuses on the particular example of incoming tour operators (ITOs); ITOs play a role in tourism distribution but have received little attention in the literature. This study seeks to better understand their profiles as well as their marketing and channel behaviours in the Gabonese fledgling tourism industry. Based on semi-structured interviews held in 2011–2012 with 11 ITOs in Gabon, the study outcomes show that ITO marketing and channel behaviours were rational and growth-oriented and were influenced by company profiles, demand requirements and the position of power of ITOs in the distribution channel. The accessibility, comfort and reliability of products/suppliers stood out as key factors in the upstream or downstream channel behaviours of ITOs (selection of suppliers vs. selection of customers). Most respondents considered vertical integration as an appropriate strategy to improve the supply channel.     

MVNO进入电信市场后基础运营商的企业发展策略

随着工信部《移动通信转售业务试点方案》的出台,标志着鼓励和引导民间资本进入电信业迈出了实质性步伐。不少民营企业乘势而发加入虚拟运营商的行列。传统运营商则处于机遇与挑战并存的环境,应当合理对待虚拟运营商的出现,采取合作共赢的模式,提高核心竞争力。     

黑龙江省农村新型经营主体融资中存在的问题和对策研究

目前,黑龙江省农村新型经营主体融资仍然是以银行贷款为主,其融资呈现出支付利息多、风险高、贷款中间环节多、费用大、评估费和担保费用高等特点,面临着贷款难、融资贵的问题。解决这些问题,农村新型经营主体要不断完善自身融资条件,拓宽融资渠道;形成金融立体服务网,降低贷款利率;组成多个信用联合体,实行统一授信,确定总的授信额度;加大对担保、评估公司的业务监管,破解法律在集体土地方面规定对农村新型经营主体的禁锢;加快农村新型经营主体信用信息平台建设。     

Cross‐border expansion and competitive interactions of indigenous mobile network operators in sub‐Saharan Africa

Emerging‐market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) have become major players in the global economy, with an increasing share of global foreign direct investment (FDI). Indigenous mobile network operators (MNOs) in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) are not left out in this pursuit, as they seek growth and competitiveness beyond their domestic markets. We investigate the FDI location choices and competitive interactions of the five indigenous SSA MNOs that had internationalized as of 2014 and find that, contrary to the literature, these EMNEs, operating in a key and rapidly developing industry, did not tend to commence their cross‐border expansion in geographically close markets. In addition, the MNOs are more likely to invest in countries with stronger control over corruption and do not appear to engage in heavy head‐to‐head competition with their rivals. These findings contribute to the internationalization literature in the context of the investment and competitive behaviors of the currently underexplored indigenous SSA multinationals.     

Lodging REITs and third-party operators: Do more operators enhance the performance of REITs?

Lodging REITs are required to hire unaffiliated third-party operators to manage their properties. It has been noted that some lodging REITs use only one operator, whereas others hire a number of different operations. However, why lodging REITs choose to hire one or more operators has not been verified yet. Accordingly, this study intended to examine whether hiring more operators (i.e., operator diversification) affects the performance of lodging REITs. The results of this study showed that diversifying third-party operators has a curvilinear relationship with firm performance. Furthermore, the curvilinear relationship can weaken when operator diversification is paired with geographic diversification, but the relationship does not change depending on segment or brand diversification. This study implies that it is critical to understand not only the appropriate number of operators but also how to combine diversification strategies to ensure the success of lodging REITs.     

An institutional analysis of environmental management in the Korean mobile communications industry

Environmental sustainability in the mobile communications industry can affect corporations not only in the sector but also in other industries by providing solutions to cope with environmental issues. However, despite the significance of environmental sustainability in the industry, there has been a lack of academic attention. This study investigated the environmental issues in the mobile communications industry by adopting an integrated and holistic approach to corporate sustainable management. In addition, the environmental management of mobile network operators was analyzed using the framework of institutional theory. To investigate the environmental management of mobile network operators, we carried out a case study on three Korean mobile network operators including SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus. The results demonstrated that economic and environmental issues were mostly found in the mobile communications industry, and the mobile network operators have actively coped with these issues. Their environmental management was relatively active, and regulatory, mimetic and normative mechanisms were working simultaneously. This study provides some meaningful implications for practitioners and policymakers.     

Challenging the principles of ecotourism: insights from entrepreneurs on environmental and economic sustainability in Langkawi,Malaysia

Ecotourism is a normative concept defined and driven by generalized principles concerning local livelihoods and conservation of natural and cultural environments. Supply-side studies considering the applicability of these principles in practice are limited. In particular, an understanding of how entrepreneurialism shapes ecotourism is largely absent from the literature. We investigate the intersection of entrepreneurialism, ecotourism, and governance using a case study of actors at the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (KKGP) in Langkawi, Malaysia, which has seen a rapid rise in entrepreneurial “ecotourism” activities. However, levels of competition between actors, their perceptions of ecotourism, and the challenges and tensions they face are unknown. To address this, a “hierarchy of entrepreneurship” is presented, grouping actors into three tiers: governing institutions, tour companies, and independent entrepreneurs, from whom qualitative data are elicited. Opinions and contestations between and among tiers are elucidated around themes including how understandings of ecotourism influence entrepreneurial strategies, and how challenges and tensions may inhibit the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of ecotourism at KKGP. The study demonstrates that the normative dogma guiding how ecotourism should be practised must be balanced against the diverse understandings, motivations, and capacities of ecotourism entrepreneurs on the ground and the effectiveness of governance systems.     

RiskRank: Measuring interconnected risk

Given the consequences of the recent financial crisis, there is an increased interest in modelling and predicting the behaviour of complex financial systems. As a novel approach to measuring risk in networks, this paper proposes RiskRank as a general-purpose aggregation operator of risk in nodes and links. RiskRank relies on a system represented as a hierarchical network, where node values and linkages represent individual risk levels and interconnectedness, respectively. The measure is used to aggregate risk in the vein of a novel network centrality measure, allowing for the integration of the interrelations of different entities in the network with any other measure of node risk. The use of RiskRank is illustrated through a real-world case on systemic risk in Europe, in which we show that it improves performance in out-of-sample analysis. We provide an estimation of systemic risk from country-level risk indicators and combine it with cross-border linkages to illustrate the practical benefit of the proposed approach. From a policy perspective, our results strengthen the results of previous research and underline the importance of integrating a network perspective in macro-prudential analysis.