Peter Koveos and Dipinder Randhawa
The objective of this study is to analyze the framework within which microfinance institutions (MFIs) deliver their services and provide an assessment of their operations and…
Abstract
The objective of this study is to analyze the framework within which microfinance institutions (MFIs) deliver their services and provide an assessment of their operations and financial management. These institutions are examined because of their current importance to a special group of consumers, primarily the poor and disenfranchised in the developing world, and of their future promise as an economic development solution. Since the objective of these institutions is somewhat unique, the manner of their assessment must also differ from that used to assess the performance of traditional financial intermediaries. In particular, assessment of MFIs must recognize their dual (bank and development instrument) status. Their efficiency, then, must be analyzed in terms of its economic (or financial) dimension as well as its social dimension. The first dimension may be examined with traditional measures, while examination of the second requires measures that reflect the MFI’s social objectives. In order to accommodate the special nature of MFIs, this study proposes the use of a Balanced Scorecard approach. It contributes to the study of financial institution performance by examining a non‐traditional group of institutions using a variety of assessment measures. The findings should be of value to those interested in the financial sector as well as those involved in public policy decision making.
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Corporate history has featured a number of approaches to restructuring, both internal and external to the firm. External restructuring has taken place through a variety of…
Abstract
Corporate history has featured a number of approaches to restructuring, both internal and external to the firm. External restructuring has taken place through a variety of mechanisms, including mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, and spinoffs. Restructuring has been especially prevalent on worldwide basis since the 1980s. In addition to developments in western industrialized economies, the presence of the phenomenon within the world business system has been augmented by the transition of so many previously planned economies to a new market‐based framework.
Rajib N. Sanyal and Turgut Guvenli
A survey of managers in Israel, Slovenia, and the USA finds a marked similarity with respect to the characteristics and abilities managers need to contribute to organizational…
Abstract
A survey of managers in Israel, Slovenia, and the USA finds a marked similarity with respect to the characteristics and abilities managers need to contribute to organizational success. Factors such as decision making ability, communication skills, commitment to organizational goals, ability to choose the right persons in key persons and ability to delegate are considered to be very important although there are differences with respect to the degree of their importance. Several managerial characteristics are also found to be significantly correlated with the firm’s financial success and employee morale. The findings are framed in the context of convergence‐divergence hypothesis as it applies to the internationalization of management practices.
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Ben Amoako‐Adu and Brian Smith
Criticizes previous research on price/earnings ratios (PER) for neglecting their historical links with interest rates and analyses the causal links between interest ratres and the…
Abstract
Criticizes previous research on price/earnings ratios (PER) for neglecting their historical links with interest rates and analyses the causal links between interest ratres and the PERs of the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Index (TSE300) and of seven major Canadian industries 1965‐1997. Explains the methodology and identifies three “distinct PER regimes”: 1965‐1974 (average PER 17.17), 1975‐1982 (average PER 8.92) and 1983‐1997 (average PER 17.2 with a higher standard deviation). Looks at the economic conditions for each period and suggests that current PERs “may not be too high”. Finds a negative correlation between PERs and treasury bill rates, differing between industries; and that the bill rate explains 95 per cent of PER variation for the TSE300, although it is not significant for the gold and silver industry. Adds that divided payout ratios and lower investor risk aversion are positively related to PERs, but that growth rate has a more variable influence. Summarizes the findings and their implications for PER forecasters.
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Recent studies indicating long term dependence in stock market indices have found a mean reversion process. However, studies using rescaled range (R/S) analysis have not found…
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Recent studies indicating long term dependence in stock market indices have found a mean reversion process. However, studies using rescaled range (R/S) analysis have not found evidence of a mean reversion or ergodic process. Instead, evidence from these studies indicate either long term persistence in a nonperiodic cycle or short run Markovian dependence with no long term persistence. The purpose of this paper is to study the issue of long term dependence using rescaled range analysis. The empirical results obtained in this study support the persistent dependence/nonperiodic cycle results and suggest that the dependence arises from the general economic cycle.
This paper focuses on two books that Robert Heilbroner wrote with Peter Bernstein on public finance – A Primer on Government Spending (1963) and The Debt and the Deficit (1989)…
Abstract
This paper focuses on two books that Robert Heilbroner wrote with Peter Bernstein on public finance – A Primer on Government Spending (1963) and The Debt and the Deficit (1989). It also discusses how the economic world changed between the early 1960s and the late 1980s, and how these changes affected their books. Primer introduced Keynesian economics, and the possibility that government policy and deficits could be forces for good in the world. Debt focused exclusively on government deficits and public debt. Changing circumstances made this work a more difficult undertaking. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, government budget deficits were small, growth was sluggish, and Keynesianism was the dominant paradigm in macroeconomics. Primer explained Keynesian public finance, why tax cuts would spur spending and growth, and why we should not worry about government debt under these circumstances. By the 1980s, Keynes was vanquished, deficits were ballooning, and Keynesian public finance was under attack. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, Debt advocated government deficits along the lines proposed by Keynes but not along the lines enacted during the Reagan administration. Nonetheless, there were many similarities in these two works. Both made a case for an active government role in creating a good society; and both argued that when done correctly deficit spending created no economic problems and had many benefits.
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Ravi Kumar Jain and Ramachandran Natarajan
This paper is an empirical study of outsourcing practices in the banking sector in India. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the impact of factors which influence the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is an empirical study of outsourcing practices in the banking sector in India. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the impact of factors which influence the decision makers' attitude towards outsourcing.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of the existing literature, an attitudinal model of outsourcing was developed. This model was used to: identify the key factors of benefits, risks, roadblocks, and criticality of outsourcing; develop the instrument to measure the factors; and formulate hypotheses concerning the impact of these factors. The constructs in the instrument that measured these factors were validated by factor analysis.
Findings
The impacts of perceived benefits, perceived roadblocks, and perceived criticality on the attitudes towards outsourcing were found to be strong and statistically significant. The impact of perceived risk was weak and statistically insignificant. The model explaining the combined impact of these four factors on outsourcing attitudes was also statistically significant.
Research limitations/implications
An important insight from this study is that the clients, at least in the banking sector in India, tend to value in outsourcing quality factors such as process improvement, services improvement and cost transparency more than cost savings. The results of the study provide a basis for rethinking the value proposition offered by outsourcing vendors and for refocusing the research on outsourcing of services in particular.
Originality/value
While most studies on outsourcing tend to be theoretical and/or focus on outsourcing from developed to developing countries, this is an empirical study focusing on outsourcing by organizations based in developing countries such as India. Therefore, the results are not confounded by differences in culture‐specific communications, business practices, and regulatory regimes between the countries.
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Franklin Velasco, Omar S. Itani and Paul Cajina
Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks a consensus on the effectiveness of ecolabels in persuading consumers to choose green products. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by first evaluating the net persuasion effect of using ecolabels and second by investigating the role of cultural orientations, operationalized at the country level, in this effect.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-cultural meta-analysis analyzed data from 26,116 consumers across 18 countries, encompassing 75 papers published between 1995 and 2023. Univariate and meta-regression analyses were utilized.
Findings
The results demonstrate that the presence (vs absence) of ecolabels has a medium positive persuasion effect. Findings show cultural orientations moderate the persuasion effect of ecolabels in that the effect is stronger in countries with high power distance, individualism, masculinity (motivation towards achievement and success) and uncertainty avoidance orientation, which create contingent conditions to ecolabels’ persuasion. In addition, results show other methodological factors that affect ecolabel persuasion. Contributions and implications of the findings are discussed.
Originality/value
This meta-analysis is distinctive for its global scope, including diverse countries and cultures. It addresses a crucial gap in ecolabel persuasion research, providing insights that reconcile discrepancies in existing studies. It offers practical implications for businesses and policymakers while laying the groundwork for future cross-cultural research in this field.
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Alexander M. Goulielmos, Constantine Giziakis and Michalis Pasarzis
The purpose of this article is really to provide an answer to the question: Why have marine accidents that result in ships lost have, over the years, been concentrated in two main…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is really to provide an answer to the question: Why have marine accidents that result in ships lost have, over the years, been concentrated in two main areas by numbers? Indeed in the British Isles/North Sea/E. Channel‐Biscay Bay 367 ships were lost between 1992‐1999 and in S. China and E. Indies 433 ships also were lost. In contrast, in Cape Horn and in the Panama Canal only five ships were lost over the same period. This strange “attraction” of accidents to only two sea areas has induced us to assume that this phenomenon cannot probably be explained by random walk statistical/ mathematical methods, but by non‐linear chaotic methods and especially that of Hurst Rescale Range Analysis and Spectrum Analysis. Our numerical results – on rather limited data – have shown that in these ships lost a non‐random factor or factors have acted that further investigation may reveal. We consider this as an important fact with wide applications, e.g. in accidents in national highways that strangely enough the majority of road accidents occur mainly in certain locations! Another important conclusion is that man cannot and wishes not to interfere with “randomness” and simply accepts it doing nothing, transferring responsibility from his shoulders over to destiny. Things that are not random must be prevented. If they are random or not chaos/complexity theory helps us to see. Our analysis, we believe, is of special interest to the marine insurance companies.