Services trade has registered a dynamic evolution in almost all developing countries. Despite the rising share in world services trade by developing countries, the gap between…
Abstract
Services trade has registered a dynamic evolution in almost all developing countries. Despite the rising share in world services trade by developing countries, the gap between developed and developing countries in service exports have been widening. Developed economies have become service exporters, while developing economies are found to be more receptive towards service imports. This paper attempts to gain some insight into the actual nature and extent of exports of services from developing countries, and examines their emergence as significant players of services trade as well as the underlying factors and broader implications. One of the conclusions of this paper is that developing countries successfully export a variety of services to both developed and developing countries, whereas a relatively limited number of developing countries seem to be heavily involved in services exports trade across a range of sectors. This, alternatively, indicates that services exports, on a large international level, are associated with higher levels of development and that not all developing countries are yet in a position to be large-scale exporters.
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Since the 1980s the economic development of countries in East Asia has had a marked impact on the world port community, particularly in container transport. This paper analyses…
Abstract
Since the 1980s the economic development of countries in East Asia has had a marked impact on the world port community, particularly in container transport. This paper analyses changes in the competitive environment of the world container port sector using some standard tools of market concentration. Initially, this paper reviews the competitive position of world container port system and then examines the East Asian economic environment. Both ordinal and cardinal measures of port system inequality are used to demonstrate both the rankings and levels of container throughput have been diverging in the world's major economic blocs. Conversely, East Asian countries during the 1990s have shown a trend towards convergence. Measures of dispersion suggest that ports in East Asian countries have become more competitive in their levels of container throughput.
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In a supply-constrained region like Asia, promoting exports has always been a challenge particularly at a time when Asia’s trade has been severely affected by lack of external…
Abstract
In a supply-constrained region like Asia, promoting exports has always been a challenge particularly at a time when Asia’s trade has been severely affected by lack of external demand. This paper argues that price barriers have taken a new shape during the global financial crisis period which may generate differential impacts on trade flows as we proceed toward recovery. The size and shape of price barriers would be higher if NTBs, applied by the countries during the crisis period, were counted. One of the conclusions of this paper is that ‘price’ barrier is still more important than ‘non-price’ barrier in enhancing Asia’s trade and integration. The higher the price barrier between countries in a pair, the less they trade. In other words, a 10 percent increase in the ad-valorem price (transport and tariff) lowered trade by 6 percent. Tariff and transport costs, each considered separately, also influence the trade flow in the same direction, to more or less the same extent. There are indications of huge domestic infrastructure bottlenecks in countries in Asia. Based on direct and indirect evidence related to trade barriers, this paper concludes that complementary trade policies focusing on price and non-price barriers have immense importance in enhancing international trade and integration in the post-crisis period.
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The purpose of this study is to analyze the two-way causal nexus between macroeconomic factors such as foreign aid, industrialization, economic growth, population growth…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the two-way causal nexus between macroeconomic factors such as foreign aid, industrialization, economic growth, population growth, urbanization, control of corruption and the infrastructure development index of the top-ranking African countries from 2003 to 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts various econometric tools such as cross-sectional dependence test, panel unit root and cointegration test and Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel Granger causality test in ascertaining the relevant relationships between the variables under consideration.
Findings
The main findings of the Granger causality test result revealed a bidirectional causal relationship between foreign aid and infrastructure and between urbanization and infrastructure. The study also found unidirectional causality running from population growth to infrastructure while a zero causal relationship existed between industrialization and infrastructure, economic growth and infrastructure and lastly, between control of corruption and infrastructure. The study concludes that the major macroeconomic factors that influence infrastructure development in these selected African countries are foreign aid, population explosion and urbanization. Also, their high infrastructure development index has causal influence in only attracting more foreign aid and also promoting urban expansion.
Originality/value
To the best of the author's knowledge, the study is unique as it is the first to determine the two-way causal nexus between macroeconomic factors and infrastructure development using a sample of the top ten African countries in infrastructure ranking. The findings reflect the current situation in Africa.
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The global economic fallout following the unexpected onset and rapid spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, in early 2020, has necessitated international and national action plans…
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The global economic fallout following the unexpected onset and rapid spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, in early 2020, has necessitated international and national action plans towards new normal models of realignment in enterprise bottom-line and management. In 2020, ‘Supporting Small Business through the COVID-19 Crisis’ was declared the lead theme of the MSME Day – June 27 – by the UN. A ‘COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs’ was launched by an affiliate of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Drawing inspiration from the ‘small business’ focus of the UN MSME Day declaration and the ‘social entrepreneurship’ perspective of the WEF, the study seeks to draw few perceptions and conclusions in the post-COVID economic recovery context of India, where Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are observed to be a key driver of development, thanks to an add-on supportive package in the wake of the COVID-19 economic crisis. It is found that the package fails to provide a direct push for promotion of social enterprises/entrepreneurship in the Indian MSME sector, as there is no focused policy approach on leveraging ‘entrepreneurship resources’. Hence, the general trend of the sector continues to be dominated by the ‘for-profit first’ concern rather than a fair blend of ‘social value creation first’, with ‘profit’. Discourse on social entrepreneurship and action-oriented rehabilitation tools proposed in the Covid context globally have failed to reorient the dominant outlook of social enterprises in India – business as a tool for achieving social impact – to social impact as a spontaneous/positive outcome from business. The study highlights the lapses on the ground, of theoretical formulations, despite their couching in Covid contexts, and the need for a more institutionalised enabling environment for social value creation, impact investment and social stock exchange in the social enterprise ecosystem.
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Ahmed Tlili, Fahriye Altinay, Zehra Altinay and Ye Zhang
This study aims to examine a topic of growing significance to hospitality and tourism scholars and practitioners – how emerging technologies can fulfill accessible hospitality and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine a topic of growing significance to hospitality and tourism scholars and practitioners – how emerging technologies can fulfill accessible hospitality and tourism services for people with disabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the literature based on the Web of Science database and qualitative research were conducted. Specifically, bibliometric analysis and thematic analyzes of expert interviews were used. The obtained views from experts in the field further validated and enriched the obtained findings.
Findings
The primary topics of exploration in existing literature were identified, such as social networks and data-empowered services. The potential areas of further advances are also revealed such as the need for cross-country collaborations and potential gaps between scholarly and practitioner interest in the topic.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited by the scope of adopted search keywords and databases.
Practical implications
This study offers vital practical implications for the future integration of emerging technologies to fulfill accessible hospitality and tourism. It also demonstrates the pressing need for more interconnected global collaborations for this important initiative.
Social implications
This study emphasizes how the hospitality and tourism industry could better leverage technological power to empower people with disabilities. It also points out the importance of an inclusive process for technology implementation for accessible hospitality and tourism services to fully represent the interests of disabled customers (including the consideration of their different backgrounds).
Originality/value
This study sheds light on the future research directions of technological empowerment of accessible hospitality/tourism. It also makes methodological contributions by demonstrating what bibliometric analysis has to offer to relevant fields of studies. The solicited views of experts in the field from different countries on the topic further add to the depth and value of the findings while demonstrating the combination of these two approaches as a promising mixed-methods route to produce richer and more robust findings.
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Sangita Dutta Gupta, Ajitava Raychaudhuri and Sushil Kr. Haldar
This paper aims to address the issue of gender inclusivity in the information technology (IT) sector of India. The main objective of the paper is to find out the factors…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the issue of gender inclusivity in the information technology (IT) sector of India. The main objective of the paper is to find out the factors influencing female participation in the IT industry. It proposes some policy initiatives to support involvement of women in adequate proportion in the workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a unique set of data from 63 IT companies from three big cities of Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru and Kolkata. An ordered logit model is applied to find out the determinants of female absorption in the IT industry. ANOVA is used to study the variations between and within the IT industry of female labor force participation.
Findings
Result reveals that the percentage and mobility of female employees in an organization does not depend on the turnover or the total number of skilled employees in the organization. It depends on the location.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the paper is that many IT companies do not want to reveal data about the percentage of female employees. If more companies could have been included, more accurate results could have been found.
Practical implications
The study discusses the aspect of gender inclusivity in the IT sector as well as the impact of higher skill on gender. The paper proposes some policy initiatives which can increase the number of female employees in the IT sector.
Originality/value
The study fulfills the need to know about the gender inclusivity aspect of the IT sector in India.
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Arshad Alam, Prabir K. Bagchi, Bumsoo Kim, Subrata Mitra and Fernando Seabra
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of individual logistics-related factors, namely, supplier involvement (SI), length of supplier relationship (LSR), use of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of individual logistics-related factors, namely, supplier involvement (SI), length of supplier relationship (LSR), use of information technology (IT), and logistics integration (LI) on a firm's supply chain performance (SCP) and test for the mediating effect of LI in a multi-country survey conducted in Brazil, Korea and India. The paper also develops a composite variable, supply chain competency (SCC), as an overall measure of the quality of a firm's supply chain and demonstrate its effect on a firm's SCP.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology was based on designing and administering a survey instrument. Data collected from 187 organizations in Brazil, Korea and India were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling methodology.
Findings
Results show that for the combined data, the direct effects of SI, LSR and IT on SCP are insignificant while LI has a very significant direct effect on SCP. On the other hand, except for SI, LSR and IT have significant effects on SCP through LI establishing the mediating role of LI. The paper also finds that SCC has a significant effect on SCP. Further, when countries are considered individually the paper finds that IT has a significant indirect effect on SCP in the case of all the countries while LSR has a significant indirect effect on SCP, both in the case of Brazil and Korea. Additionally, in the case of Korea SI has a significant indirect effect on SCP.
Research limitations/implications
Like other survey-based research, the findings of this paper are also limited by the sample size. Especially, the observations specific to individual countries are as good as the respective sample sizes. Also, since all the respondents belonged to manufacturing firms, the findings of this paper are relevant for the manufacturing sector.
Practical implications
This paper establishes the mediating effect of LI in assessing the impact of logistics-related factors on a firm's SCP. It confirms that although logistics-related factors are necessary for a firm's superior SCP, they are not sufficient unless their interactions are taken into consideration, as evidenced by the significant positive relationship between SCC and SCP.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first paper to study the effect of logistics-related factors on a firm's SCP and establish the mediating role of LI in a multi-country setting. This paper also develops a composite variable SCC and examines its effect on SCP.