Does Psychological Contract Violation Moderate the Impact of Severity and Recovery Satisfaction on Boycott? An Analysis of Halal Violation

Halal violation is a critical issue in the Islamic market, but little is known on its impact on the Muslim consumer. Thus, this study investigates the effect of psychological contract violation (PCV), recovery satisfaction, and severity of halal violation on product boycott. The moderating role of PCV in the relationship between recovery satisfaction and seriousness of a violation on the product boycott is also examined. Data collected from a sample of 360 customers were analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results show that recovery satisfaction, severity, and PCV significantly influence product boycott and PCV significantly moderates the relationship between recovery satisfaction and product boycott. This study provides new insights into the relationships among recovery satisfaction, the severity of the halal violation, psychological contract violation, and product boycott and helps the managers to design recovery action toward halal violation.     

Tax planning,corporate governance and equity value

Tax planning by firms is a highly significant activity. After audit fees, tax related services are the largest source of fee income for UK accounting firms. When viewed in terms of its impact, tax planning is the major source of the corporation tax gap amongst large firms (HMRC, 2010). Although traditionally tax planning has been viewed as benefiting shareholders via increased after tax earnings, more recently the underlying motivation has been questioned. Desai and Dharmapala (2006) argue that when an information asymmetry exists between managers and shareholders with respect to tax planning, it can facilitate managers acting in their own interests resulting in a negative association between tax planning and firm value. Using a sample of UK quoted firms from 2005 to 2007 and data drawn from International Accounting Standard 12 Income Taxes (IASB, 2010) Effective Tax Rate (ETR) reconciliations, this paper reports such a negative relationship. Further, the relationship is robust to the inclusion of corporate governance measures which could be expected to moderate the potential implications of a tax related shareholder–manager information asymmetry. An innovation of this paper is in using the ETR reconciliations to examine sub-categories of tax planning activities. The paper contributes to the debate of who determines, and benefits from tax planning conducted by firms. Its findings have direct policy relevance for shareholders and tax administrations in monitoring and controlling firms’ tax planning activities.     

Economic well-being and morbidity of the elderly in Malaysia

Studies about the elderly are mostly focused on morbidity and psychological conditions of the elderly. Effects of social relations have been noted to be important for the well-being of an elderly person. Later studies have begun to look at socioeconomic status of the elderly to see its relation to the level of morbidity. This paper is based on a nationwide survey. A total of 10 percent of elderly total population was interviewed to obtain socioeconomic and lifestyle information. A self reporting method was used as it was easiest to obtain the answers from the elderly. A total of 1410 elderly respondents aged 60 and above were interviewed from the regions of northern, eastern, middle and southern Peninsular Malaysia and also from Sabah and Sarawak. The data was analyzed using the SPSS 16. Quantitative analysis based on mean, standard deviation and multiple regressions was done. Findings show that higher morbidity rate lowers ones economic well-being. Females report higher morbidity then males, while those who are married and residing in rural area also reoort lower morbidity.     

Vertical Integration,Foreign Multinationals and Stigler's Hypotheses: An Empirical Test Using Malaysian Data*

In this paper the hypotheses on motives for vertical integration as proposed by Stigler are empirically tested using a panel dataset from Malaysian manufacturing under both fixed‐effects and random‐effects specifications. Because the degree of multinational participation is expected to influence the results of the regression estimates, empirical tests are conducted with and without controlling for the effect of foreign firms’ participation. Depending on model specifications, evidence is found in favor of Stigler's hypotheses where vertical integration is positively related to demand growth and industry concentration. This result is generally consistent with those found in other vertical integration studies. Significantly, the coefficient estimates of the growth variable are not significant and biased downwards if there is no control on the effect of foreign multinationals in the estimation process.     

Designing corporate brand experience in an online context: A qualitative insight

This study explores the dimensions and components of corporate brand experience in an Internet setting. Corporate brand experience (CBE), which is a source of a company's added value, could be an effective way to position a corporate brand in relation to the overall corporate marketing strategy. However, the concept of CBE has attracted very little attention from previous research, thereby our understanding of what the concept is and how to operationalize it is limited. Previous brand experience research is mainly focused on the conceptual understanding of brand experience itself, and/or the product brand level (rather than at corporation level). Understanding CBE is important because corporate brand equity (e.g. corporate image, brand loyalty) is dependent not only on how one is satisfied with the product (mostly addressed by functional/performance values of product), but also through the values of the corporation (corporate brand values). This study thus contributes theoretically to the corporate and online branding literature by proposing underlying new dimensions and components of CBE in an online environment. A series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with 32 online banking respondents informs the study. We identify five main themes and 26 sub-themes of corporate brand experience — corporate visual identity, functionality, emotional, lifestyle and corporate/self-identity. Financial service providers can address these dimensionalities during the process of brand positioning and when designing their corporate marketing in an online setting.     

Governing Enclosure: The Role of Governance in Producing Gated Communities and Guarded Neighborhoods in Malaysia

Enclosed residential areas are proliferating in Malaysian cities, in common with many other parts of the world. The production of gated communities and guarded neighborhoods in Malaysia reveals the active role of the state in creating conditions that support enclosure and securitization of space. This article examines the role of governance in producing residential enclaves that reinforce segregation and fragment urban landscapes. Based on a study of gated communities in Malaysia, we argue that governments, corporations and citizen groups collaborate within a complex governance system that (re)produces enclosure. Neoliberal market principles fuse with ethnic politics, cultural predilections and economic imperatives to generate a socially and spatially fragmented urban landscape where security concerns dominate and where citizens culturally, physically and symbolically segregate themselves from others.     

A Takayama–Judge activity model applied to the analysis of allocation and trade in Sweden

The purpose of this article is to formulate a numerical general equilibrium model of the Swedish economy, and to use the model for a quantitative evaluation of the pattern of comparative advantages. The model is essentially a Leontief type of input-output model, extended with linear demand functions for final commodities, foreign trade activities and capacity and resource constraints. Due to the linearity the model can easily be reformulated and solved as a quadratic programming model. The evaluation of the pattern of comparative advantages of the Swedish economy is carried out as an analysis of the choice between inport and domestic production in a temporary equilibrium framework with exogenously given world market prices, exports and domestic production capacities.     

Corporate governance mechanisms and firm valuation in Malaysian listed firms： A panel data analysis

Corporate governance mechanisms emerge to tackle agency problems in ensuring that shareholders＇ funds are not expropriated or wasted on unprofitable activities. The issue arises as to whether these improvements have been effective in reducing agency costs, and therefore enhancing firm value. The objectives of this paper is to examine the effects of governance mechanisms of dividend, types of ownership structure, and board governance on firm value. This paper utilises a panel data analysis of 403 firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia over a four-year period from years 2002 to 2005. A hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses and the data is analysed using the generalized least square （GLS） estimation technique. Overall, the results highlight the importance of moderating role played by board governance variables with types of ownership structure to influence firm value. However, the benefits of better corporate governance through enhanced board governance are not the same across all firms since their incentives vary with respect to dividend and different types of ownership structure mechanisms.