Economic and Internet Growth Effect on Electricity Consumption in the BRICS Countries

International Advances in Economic Research - This study investigated the impact of information communication technology and economic growth (measured as gross domestic product) on electricity...     

High level of education builds up strong relationship between organizational culture and organization performance in Pakistan

Organizational culture is an important aspect to be considered by dynamic organizations in order to develop some competitive advantage to ensure enhanced organizational performance. This study aims to elaborate the dimensions of cultural construct in organizations of diversified sectors and their implications in Pakistan. Ten organizations were selected for the study. Four hundred and seventy eight questionnaires were received from these organizations. The questionnaires consisted of three parts, of these, the first part had nine elements that were related to organization and personal profile of the respondents, whereas the second part consisted of 60 elements of cultural construct, namely mission, adaptability, consistency, and involvement. In the third part, dependent variable appears as organization performance and was evaluated by asking eight questions. Results are revealed in two models: according to the first model, organization performance increases from negative 56% to positive 92% due to organizational culture with respect to education. And the second model is also significant at the 95% of confidence level (p < 0.05), and there is a positive relationship between independent and dependent variables. Organizational culture is an essential part of organizational success. Core organizational values typically emphasize special themes such as performance excellence, innovation, social responsibility, worker involvement, and quality of work life. Literacy rate in Pakistan is far below the literacy rate in developed countries. Educated employees play an important role in enhancing organizational performance, particularly in corporate setup. To measure affects of education on organizational performance through its construct involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission have been endeavored in this study.     

Terrorism and its Determinants in the Sub‐Saharan Africa Region: Some New Insights

Terrorism is undesirable as it adversely affects the economic development of countries. This study explores the determinants of terrorism in 29 countries of sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The data is extracted from reliable sources spanning over 2005 to 2016. Econometric techniques relevant for panel data that control for unobserved heterogeneity (fixed effects) and endogeneity (generalized method of moment) are employed to estimate the specified models. The results indicated that low growth in per capita incomes along with political instability are the main driving forces responsible for terrorism. Similarly, military expenditures are influencing terrorism positively whereas corruption has impacted terrorism negatively in the SSA region. Further, the growth of both physical as well as human capital reduces terrorism. The paper suggests that the region should take appropriate steps for increasing income of the population, education and capital stock, along with ensuring political stability to eradicate terrorism from the region.     

Causality between exports,world income and economic growth in Pakistan

This paper investigates the direction of causation between GDP representing economic growth, exports and its different categories, imports and world income. After experiencing vigorous import-substitution in the past decades, Pakistan adopted an outward-looking strategy in the late 1980s with an emphasis on export promotion. A strong and stable relationship between GDP and exports and bi-directional causality between manufactured exports and GDP has been found. Export promotion policy is pursued consistently with an emphasis on manufactured exports and this is most likely to contribute adequately to economic growth in the long run.     

Price expectations of sheep and goats by producers and intermediaries in Quetta market,Pakistan

Analysis of producers' and intermediaries' livestock price expectations was used to describe the market in Quetta, the largest livestock market in the highlands of Balochistan Province, Pakistan, and to identify factors that determine price expectations of small ruminants. A total of 4800 expected prices for sheep and goats were collected from producers and market intermediaries at monthly intervals between January 1991 and December 1992. In addition to the expected price of the animal, liveweight, species, sex, breed, body condition (fatness), calendar day and month were recorded, and whether data were collected on a meat or meatless day. Monthly rainfall data were also collected. Models of goat and sheep price expectations were built to compare the similarity of the behaviour of producers and intermediaries. Results indicated that producers and intermediaries expected high prices from November to January and during religious holidays. They expected premiums and discounts related to animals' attributes. Liveweight and seasonality had the strongest effect on prices. Rainfall in the current and previous month was positively related to seller's expected prices suggesting that livestock are retained to take advantage of favourable grazing conditions. The models of price expectations showed that producers adjusted expected goat prices (P ≤ 0.10) for seasonality, liveweight, body condition, age, sex and breed, while they adjusted sheep prices for seasonality and liveweight only. High pay-offs could be expected if extension efforts focused on factors that determine sheep meat quality; however, the retail ceiling price of meat and the lack of grading are a disincentive to work in this direction. Seasonality of supply and demand is important in determining prices and this study provides baseline information for market scheduling; however, scheduling of sales of transhumant pastoralists may be difficult to achieve. Further investigation is justified to understand the gap in marketing knowledge between producers who sell in the villages and those who sell in Quetta.     

Integrating Behavioural and Branding Perspectives to Maximize Green Brand Equity: A Holistic Approach

The aim of this study is to expand the existing understanding of green consumers' behaviour by proposing and testing an integrated conceptual model that explores the influence of consumers' personal concerns for the environment and general attitudes towards green products on brand‐related knowledge structures (image and associations) and relationship preferences (trust and brand equity) for green brands. A questionnaire‐based survey method was used to collect data using convenience sampling. One hundred and ninety‐nine usable responses were obtained. A structural equation modelling procedure was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results confirmed that a positive relationship exists between consumer concern for environmental values and general attitudes towards green products. Both these constructs influence consumers' knowledge structure of a green brand (image and associations). Furthermore, a strong relationship exists between consumers' knowledge structure (image and associations) and their relational preference (trust and brand equity) with green brands. These findings are important for business strategy formulation by providing empirical support for the idea that a firm should invest its resources not only to project its environmentally friendly brands but also to build consumers' concern for environmental values and their attitude towards green products. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment