Scott R. Swanson, Robert Frankel, Mariusz Sagan and Douglas L. Johansen
This research adopts Hofstede's typology of culture as a framework to test for cultural differences regarding consumer verbal behaviors in the context of a service provider…
Abstract
Purpose
This research adopts Hofstede's typology of culture as a framework to test for cultural differences regarding consumer verbal behaviors in the context of a service provider switching incident.
Design/methodology/approach
The study includes respondents from five countries selected to provide global diversity by including cultures from Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. Cooperation from a variety of businesses was utilized in each country investigated to survey employees.
Findings
Findings indicate there are significant relationships between cultural orientation and: the propensity of engaging in discussion of service switching incidents; communication valence; the social network that private word‐of‐mouth is shared with; the likelihood of public complaint behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The sample, while five‐country in design, is somewhat limited by its representation at the extremes (i.e. most developed and least developed) and from urban populations only. Within‐country differences are also not considered. A broad range of service sectors strengthens the results, but does not allow for sector‐specific conclusions. The results of this study can assist global service providers to better understand the role that culture plays in customer verbal behaviors as well as providing direction to formulate strategies and tactics to better manage the complaint process.
Originality/value
As service organizations become more globally diverse, understanding the subtle influences of cultural differences becomes increasingly important for building effective customer relationships. No study to date has examined consumer post‐switching verbal behaviors across a broad range of cultural settings.
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Academic research in the USA and more recently in the UK and Sweden, has highlighted public capital as a significant growth determinant. Public capital, it is argued, has a…
Abstract
Academic research in the USA and more recently in the UK and Sweden, has highlighted public capital as a significant growth determinant. Public capital, it is argued, has a positive effect on private sector output, productivity and capital formation. However, controversy surrounds the empirical results emerging from this literature. Much of the controversy rests on research methods employed. Adds to this body of literature in two ways. First, estimates aggregate production functions for private sector output using Irish data. The stock of public capital is included as an input to investigate the effects of government investment on private sector productivity. Second, uses modern time‐series techniques to test the hypothesis. Employs the Johansen (1988) cointegration testing procedure and error correction modelling on annual data for the period 1958‐1990. These modern techniques produce empirical results which do not support the public capital hypothesis. Suggests several reasons to explain this outcome, and outlines possible policy implications.
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Julia Darby and Simon Wren‐Lewis
An understanding of the determination of real wages is crucial inanalysing the determination of the natural rate of unemployment orNAIRU. Uses cointegration techniques to examine…
Abstract
An understanding of the determination of real wages is crucial in analysing the determination of the natural rate of unemployment or NAIRU. Uses cointegration techniques to examine a core theoretical model of the long‐run determinants of real wages involving unit labour costs, unemployment, union power and the replacement ratio. Considers the different measures of union power and the duration of unemployment and alternative specifications involving the “wedge” but a robust cointegrating relationship is not found. These results can be interpreted in several ways: concepts such as union power or the “generosity” of benefits may be measured inadequately; the theoretical understanding of the long‐run determinants of real earnings may remain seriously incomplete; alternatively the short spans of data examined may be insufficient for the application of cointegration techniques, although the sample sizes examined here are fairly typical of most macroeconomic time series.
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Alessandra Girlando, Simon Grima, Engin Boztepe, Sharon Seychell, Ramona Rupeika-Apoga and Inna Romanova
Purpose: Risk is a multifaceted concept, and its identification requires complex approaches that are often misunderstood. The consequence is that decisions are based on limited…
Abstract
Purpose: Risk is a multifaceted concept, and its identification requires complex approaches that are often misunderstood. The consequence is that decisions are based on limited perception rather than the full value and meaning of what risk is, as a result, the way it is being tackled is incorrect. The individuals are often limited in their perceptions and ideas and do not embrace the full multifaceted nature of risk. Regulators and individuals want to follow norms and checklists or overuse models, simulations, and templates, thereby reducing responsibility for decision-making. At the same time, the wider use of technology and rules reduces the critical thinking of individuals. We advance the automation process by building robots that follow protocols and forget about the part of risk assessment that cannot be programed. Therefore, with this study, the objective of this study was to discover how people define risk, the influencing factors of risk perception and how they behave toward this perception. The authors also determine how the perception differed with age, gender, marital status, education level and region. The novelty of the research is related to individual risk perception during COVID-19, as this is a new and unknown phenomenon. Methodology: The research is based on the analysis of the self-administered purposely designed questionnaires we distributed across different social media platforms between February and June 2020 in Europe and in some cases was carried out as a interview over communication platforms such as “Skype,” “Zoom” and “Microsoft Teams.” The questionnaire was divided into four parts: Section 1 was designed to collect demographic information from the participants; Section 2 included risk definition statements obtained from literature and a preliminary discussion with peers; Section 3 included risk behavior statements; and Section 4 included statements on risk perception experiences. A five-point Likert Scale was provided, and participants were required to answer along a scale of “1” for “Strongly Agree” to “5” for “Strongly Disagree.” Participants also had the option to elaborate further and provide additional comments in an open-ended box provided at the end of the section. 466 valid responses were received. Thematic analysis was carried out to analyze the interviews and the open-ended questions, while the questionnaire responses were analyzed using various quantitative methods on IBM SPSS (version 23). Findings: The results of the analysis indicate that individuals evaluate the risk before making a decision and view risk as both a loss and opportunity. The study identifies nine factors influencing risk perception. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that we can continue to develop models and rules, but as long as the risk is not understood, we will never achieve anything.
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Raouf Boucekkine, David de la Croix and Omar Licandro
Vintage capital growth models have been at the heart of growth theory in the 1960s. This research line collapsed in the late 1960s with the so-called embodiment controversy and…
Abstract
Vintage capital growth models have been at the heart of growth theory in the 1960s. This research line collapsed in the late 1960s with the so-called embodiment controversy and the technical sophisitication of the vintage models. This chapter analyzes the astonishing revival of this literature in the 1990s. In particular, it outlines three methodological breakthroughs explaining this resurgence: a growth accounting revolution, taking advantage of the availability of new time series; an optimal control revolution, allowing to safely study vintage capital optimal growth models; and a vintage human capital revolution, along with the rise of economic demography, accounting for the vintage structure of human capital similarly to physical capital age structuring. The related literature is surveyed.
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Sahbi Farhani and Mohammad Mafizur Rahman
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth of France.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth of France.
Design/methodology/approach
To analyze the relationship, an extended Cobb–Douglas production function is used. The auto-regressive distributive lag bounds testing approach is applied to test the existence of the long-run relationship between the series. The vector error correction model Granger causality approach is implemented to detect the direction of causal relation between the variables.
Findings
The results show that variables are cointegrated for the long-run relationship. They also indicate that natural gas consumption, exports, capital and labor are the contributing factors to economic growth in France. The causality analysis indicates that feedback hypothesis is validated between gas consumption and economic growth. The bidirectional causality is also found between exports and economic growth, gas consumption and exports and capital and gas consumption.
Research limitations/implications
The feedback hypothesis between gas consumption and economic growth implies that adoption of energy conservation policies should be discouraged; rather, gas consumption and economic growth policies should be jointly implemented.
Originality/value
This study is an original work for France and shows the results of the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth. In line with the results of this study, new direction for policy makers is opened up to formulate a comprehensive energy policy to sustain long-term economic growth in France.