Stakeholder Returns of Islamic Banks Versus Conventional Banks

Sharia principle shaping the Islamic banking model is most determinant on collection and deployment of funds with its ban on interest. This study aims to look at the results of funded activities in isolation for a healthier comparison between Islamic and conventional deposit banks with respect to their financial stakeholders. The differences are reflected as lower asset returns and lower returns for depositors of Islamic banks. These differences sustain throughout normal and crisis periods. Our findings show that despite differences in asset structures and returns, Islamic banks retain similar returns for shareholders to position themselves close to and in competition with their conventional counterparts.     

A theoretical framework of electronic word-of-mouth against the backdrop of social networking websites

This study proposed and tested a theoretical framework that explains electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) against the backdrop of social networking websites (SNWs), which have gained substantial popularity among travelers. In particular, a United States (US) nationwide online survey was conducted and nine hypotheses were tested. The findings suggest that willingness to share knowledge and switching costs are positively related to eWOM communication. In addition, customer value (utilitarian) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge, perceived security, and switching cost, while customer value (hedonic) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge and switching costs. Last but not least, the findings indicate that perceived security does negatively impact eWOM. In light of the major findings, the article sets forth strategic implications for travel-related social networking websites.     

WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE DECLINE IN CRIME?*

In this article we analyze recent trends in aggregate property crime rates in the United States. We propose a dynamic equilibrium model that guides our quantitative investigation of the major determinants of observed patterns of crime. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: First, the model is capable of reproducing the drop in crime between 1980 and 1996. Second, the most important factors that account for the observed decline in property crime are the higher apprehension probability, the stronger economy, and the aging of the population. Third, the effect of unemployment on crime is negligible. Fourth, the increased inequality prevented an even larger decline in crime. Overall, our analysis can account for the behavior of the time series of property crime rates over the past quarter century.     

When Do Outsider CEOs Generate Strategic Change? The Enabling Role of Corporate Stability

When academic researchers, business commentators, and boards of directors have debated the merits of hiring new CEOs from outside the firm, the implicit or explicit assumption typically made is that outsider CEOs will provide an advantage in achieving strategic change. In this study, we challenge this assumption by employing a duality perspective on stability/change, and we provide an original conceptual framework to posit that it is the presence of corporate stability (ordinary succession, a long‐tenured predecessor CEO, and good firm performance) that allows outsider CEOs to generate a greater degree of post‐succession strategic change. We use extensive longitudinal data from US airline and chemical industries between 1972 and 2010 to test our hypotheses, and we discuss how our supportive findings challenge long‐standing assumptions regarding the outsider succession–strategic change relationship, and we advocate embracing the non‐intiutive notion that stable (unstable) conditions can be enablers (barriers) of strategic change for outsider CEOs.     

Informal Institutional Arrangements in Credit,Land Markets and Infrastructure Delivery in Trinidad

Informal institutional arrangements, permeating both formal and informal housing settlements, allow markets to function in developing countries. Yet their economic, social and policy impacts are largely unexamined. Insights from the new institutional economics literature are used to show the significance of informal institutional arrangements in credit, land markets and infrastructure delivery. The analysis is grounded in the experience of Trinidad and Tobago, with empirical information drawn from fieldwork research done in 1993 and 1997. Research findings show that informal institutions of cooperation (e.g. sou‐sou, CBOs) support transactions by reducing transaction costs, by lowering risk and by providing mechanisms to cope with uncertainty. They are therefore used instead of formal institutions. Policy‐makers should expect intense utilization of such locally designed institutions that use social capital in the process of land and housing market reform in developing countries. Ce sont les arrangements institutionnels informels, organisent l'habitat officiel et officieux, qui donnent aux marchés la possibilité de fonctionner dans les pays en voie de développement. Néanmoins leur impact économique, social et politique n'ont généralement pas été examinés. J'utilise des outils provenant des travaux sur l'économie neo‐institutionaliste pour démontrer la signification des arrangements institutionnels officieux pour le crédit, les marchés agraires et la distribution des infrastructures. L'analyse est basée sur l'expérience de Trinidad et Tobago, et l'information empirique provient d'une recherche de terrain faite entre 1993 et 1997. Les résultats montrent que les institutions officieuses de coopération (par exemple sou‐sou, CBOs) supportent les transactions en réduisant leurs coûts, en abaissant les risques, et en fournissant des mécanismes pour faire face à l'incertitude. Elles sont donc utilisées à la place des institutions officielles. Les politiciens peuvent s'attendre à une utilisation intense de telles institutions désignées localement et qui utilisent le capital social dans le processus de réformes du marché agraire et du logement dans les pays en voie de développement.     

Examination of the effects of the relationship marketing orientation on the company performance

The research objective is to examine empirically the relationship marketing and its successful implementation in Turkish Beverage Companies. Three scales were used to generate the data. Relationship marketing scale, environmental factors scale and company performance scale. Some of the variables in questionnaire used as control variables that reflect company-specific characters namely, company size, business type and sales volume. First the main effect of relationship marketing orientation on company performance was assessed, and then the moderating effect of environmental factors on the relationship between relationship marketing orientation and company performance was estimated by using multivariate techniques.     

Determinants of state equity ownership,and its effect on value/performance: China's privatized firms

Evidence on the relationship between state ownership and performance in China's privatized firms is convex, concave and linear. Hence, the nature of this relationship is not resolved. This study examines this relationship for a larger, more recent sample of 4315 firm year observations of privatized Chinese firms during 1996–2003. Results support the hypothesis of a convex relationship between state ownership and performance showing benefits from strong privatization and state control. Not only is ownership structure found to affect performance, but also ownership concentration and balance of power jointly affect performance. Chinese firms with mixed control show significantly poorer performance than state or private controlled firms affirming the problem of ambiguity of ownership control, property rights, agency issues, profits and welfare objectives. New determinants of state ownership in China's firms are strategic importance, legal ownership, profitability, and market performance. Privatization benefits because there is a causal relation between ownership and performance.     

Hedonic price estimation for the Turkish bread wheat characteristics

This research has been made to assess the effects of the characteristics of bread wheat quality on the prices in the Turkish bread wheat market. A hedonic price model was used to analyze factors affecting the variability in bread wheat prices. Results indicate that prices received by bread wheat producers reflect the presence of basic quality characteristics of bread wheat. According to the research consequences, the hectoliter and sedimentation are the major factors that have the greatest effect and influence on Turkish bread wheat market in respect to the quality aspects. The study shows that the five regions in Turkey, which have been chosen as the research area and are important in bread wheat production, have differences in terms of bread wheat quality characteristics.     

Indicators of Local Housing Affordability: Comparative and Spatial Approaches

This paper focuses on the measurement of local housing affordability problems. A number of different housing market indicators are offered that help identify the magnitude and nature of housing affordability problems and their geographic distribution. This interest is prompted by the predominance of housing affordability problems and the severity of the problems for many of the lowest income renter households. In addition, there is significant policy interest in "the national goal that every American family be able to afford a decent home in a suitable environment" (National Affordable Housing Act of 1990). This paper develops measures of the spatial distribution of affordability problems and implements measures of the mismatch between the demand and supply of housing affordable to the lowest income households.     

Individualization and Marketization of Responsibility for Gender Equality: The Case of Female Managers in China

This article investigates the question of where the responsibility for promoting gender equality resides in the Chinese employment context. Utilizing Acker's (2006) inequality regimes framework, the study explores women's underrepresentation in management roles in China and explains the persistence of gender inequalities in managerial echelons of Chinese organizations. Based on 30 interviews with female managers, the findings demonstrate the marketization and individualization of gender equality in organizational activity. The existing gender inequality, and the lack of responsibility for tackling it, has been either legitimized by eluding to the commercial‐only focus of organizations or rendered invisible through a belief in individual choice as the determining factor of career progression for women. Gender inequality in management is also maintained through the compliance of female managers themselves with the presumed legitimacy of gender‐based differential access to managerial roles. References to culture and tradition, market forces, competitive pressures, and individual choices by female managers are often made in explaining the unequal career paths and outcomes for men and women in their organizations. Our findings contribute to the human resource management (HRM) literature by framing macrosocietal context as a dynamic and endogenous aspect of management of human resources in organizations and provide novel insights into the interplay between HRM and societal context. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.