Transformation of Islamic Work Ethic and Social Networks: The Role of Religious Social Embeddedness in Organizational Networks

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of religious beliefs on social or work-related ties of managers who are member of organizational networks representing two different ideologies (religious and secular) in Turkey. In this research, the emergence of secular and devout entrepreneurs is considered as a phenomenon, and special attention is paid to religious transformation and secularism in Turkey. Social network analysis method is used to define the nature of communication links among 80 chairmen who are the members of two conflicting and dominant groups in Turkish business system. The findings show that Protestant work ethic suggested by Weber with regard to Christianity have attained a similar place over the past decade in Islamic organizational networks. The concern of political power in religion leads to organizational networks being nourished by religious norms and creeds in many developing countries. Especially in societies like Turkey where the state is dominant in the business life, organizations and managers prefer to be included in religious networks to make close contacts with the state. Another significant finding is that efforts of the members of religious networks—in spite of their relatively closed characteristics—in terms of being at the center of a network and taking the brokerage role, are highly developed on the contrary to the literature.     

Dust entrainability and its effect on explosion propagation in elongated structures

Two apparatuses have been developed to characterize the entrainability of dust deposits. The minimum aerodynamic wall shear stress required for dust removal (Critical Shear Stress), measured by the first apparatus, is an indicator of the ease with which dust particles can be removed from a layer. The second apparatus measures the settling velocity distribution of dust clouds, which is an important factor controlling the extent of dispersion as well as the time period during which the entrained dust cloud can remain suspended. Testing has shown that the critical shear stress depends not only on the nature of the dust, but on the way the dust deposit is formed. Therefore, a portable version of this apparatus was developed to allow field testing of dust deposits. This methodology has also been used to evaluate the effect of oil treatment sometimes used in the grain handling industry to reduce dust emission. Simulated explosion tests have demonstrated the importance of critical shear stress on dust entrainability. A simple model calculating unsteady dust concentration in elongated structures has been developed. The model shows that flammable dust concentrations induced in a gallery by a primary explosion exist over a finite length and time period. Therefore, the probability of a secondary explosion depends not only on the dust and layer properties, but on the details of the primary explosion and of the enclosure geometry. A simple criterion for transmission of a primary explosion into an adjoining elongated structure is discussed in the paper.     

Can Direct Payments Facilitate Agricultural Commercialisation: Evidence from a Transition Country

We investigate the impact of direct payments on agricultural commercialisation in Kosovo. Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe but, with European assistance, provides substantial funds to support agriculture, made up of many small and often semi‐subsistence farms. Thus, the effect of this support is a central policy issue. Identifying the effect of direct payments on market participation faces endogeneity issues arising from the possible simultaneous determination of participation in support programmes and market participation. In order to achieve proper identification of the endogenous direct payments, we use a strategy of targeted identification search that employs several different methodological approaches. We find that direct payments for fruit and vegetables, and those for cereals and oilseeds have a positive effect on market participation. However, we cannot identify any definite effect of livestock payments.     

Theory-Driven Choice Models

We explore issues in theory-driven choice modeling by focusing on partial-equilibrium models of dynamic structural demand with forward-looking decision-makers, full equilibrium models that integrate the supply side, integration of bounded rationality in dynamic structural models of choice and public policy implications of these models.     

Credit growth,current account and financial depth

Exploring the determinants and dynamics of the current account balance is one of the priorities of academic literature and policy circles. Although the effects of structural variables are deeply analysed, a lesser attention has been paid to the impact of financial variables. Drawing on standard empirical current account models and with a large sample of industrial and developing countries, we report a significant deterioration in the current account balance in case of an increase in the credit growth. Moreover, we find that this link is substantially stronger for the developing ones motivating a closer examination. Therefore, we further advance our analysis and show that credit growth causes a stronger impact on the current account balance for lower levels of financial depth. In other words, at the early stages of financial development, acceleration in the credit growth might cause a larger deterioration in the current account balance; thus, it might be suggested that monetary policy and macro-prudential measures aimed at preventing financial excess might be more effective to reduce the external imbalances at the early stages of financial deepening.     

Existence of competitive equilibrium under financial constraints and increasing returns

This paper studies a ‘factor cost in advance’ model with increasing returns in production. In the model both partial equilibrium and general equilibrium may exist since working capital of firms limit their input demand. We provide a sufficient condition for the existence of partial equilibrium of a firm operating on a non-convex choice set. Furthermore we establish the existence and uniqueness of competitive equilibrium in the special case of logarithmic utility.     

The effects of exchange rate pass-through and cost channel on price level: The case of fragile five countries

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated whether the exchange rate and the interest rate had an effect on the inflation rate in the fragile five countries between the years of 1996Q4 and 2015Q4. In this context, a model was created to estimate the effect of interest rate and exchange rate on the inflation rate. The methods used in the study take into account cross-section dependence and heterogeneity. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was an exchange-rate and interest-rate pass-through effect in the fragile five countries. Moreover, it was found out that the cost channel and price puzzle were effective in Indonesia and South Africa but were not effective in Turkey, Brasil and India.     

How do integrated quality and environmental management practices affect firm performance? Mediating roles of quality performance and environmental proactivity

Based on a sample of 208 Turkish firms, this paper investigates the integration of two management systems, quality management and environmental management, and explores the effect of this integration on firm performance. First, a conceptual framework was developed, relying on the premises of the resource‐based view. Second, mediating roles of quality performance and environmental proactivity were examined on the association between integrated quality and environmental management systems and firm performance. Among the underlying trends, both quality performance and environmental proactivity were found to fully mediate the relationship between integrated quality and environmental management and firm performance.     

Local Culture and Dividends

I empirically investigate whether geographical variations in local culture, as proxied by local religion, affect dividend demand and corporate dividend policy for a large sample of US firms. Firms located in Protestant counties are more likely to be dividend payers, initiate dividends, and have higher dividend yields, while firms located in Catholic counties are less likely to be dividend payers and have lower dividend yields. There is a geographically varying dividend clientele effect consistent with the variations in risk aversion among different cultural groups. My results suggest that firms largely held by local investors determine their corporate policies in line with local culture.