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The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect differences in measured efficiency of foreign‐owned banks operating in Australia. The relevance of both comparative advantage theory and new trade theory to multinational banking in Australia will be tested.

A three stage research method is employed. First, estimates of foreign bank efficiency are drawn from a larger sample of domestic and foreign banks in Australia. Efficiency is estimated using parametric distance functions, applying several different specifications of inputs and outputs. Second, factor analysis is used to estimate a series of common factors drawn from the above theories. Third, general to specific modelling is used to determine which of the factors from the second stage determine differences in foreign bank efficiency.

Following clients (defensive expansion) was found to increase host nation efficiency, and new trade theory tended to, (but not conclusively), dominate comparative advantage theory. The limited global advantage hypothesis was found to apply for US bank revenue creation efficiency, but not for transformation of physical inputs into outputs. Banks from the UK and Japan were also found to display superior revenue creation efficiency. Competitor market share reduces host nation efficiency and positive parent bank attributes such as size, credit rating and profits are associated with lower host nation efficiency, as is home nation financial development.

This is the first study that has used a combination of factor analysis and general to specific modelling to study determinants of foreign bank efficiency in the host nation.

The relationship between military expenditure and economic growth is complex. The purpose of this paper is to examine this relationship in India.

The design of this study is descriptive in the theoretical part, and quantitative in the applied one. The study uses time series approach, and Hendry General-to-Specific (GTS) modeling methodology, to examine and analyze the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India, during the period 1980-2016.

The study shows the following: Absence of causal relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India, during indicated period. The continuous regional tensions facing India represent the main factor for adopting Indian military strategy and emphasizing military capabilities. India has been able to build and develop links between civilian and military sectors. The Indian military scientific and manufacturing policies have achieved self-sufficiency in some of its military needs, a strong military industrial base and high levels of military exports. India participated with developed countries in military strategic industries. Such participation contributed to the integration of civilian and military sectors. India gave rights to private sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) for manufacturing in military industries, giving full marketing rights to the Indian government. These new policies considered a great move toward deep changes for Indian military manufacturing policy.

The findings shed light on the importance of stimulating links between civilian and military sectors, particularly in the industrial sectors and scientific activities.

This study has a contribution to literature of military expenditures' economic effects. Theoretically, this study tries to fill the research gap regarding the impact of military expenditure in Indian case. Furthermore, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India using Hendry general-to-specific (GTS) modeling methodology and time series approach.

We study up to 27 years of weekly data on nine currencies to examine the importance of the Japanese yen in exchange rate determination in North and Southeast Asia. We combine a time-varying methodology alongside a focus on long-run equilibrium. Our findings suggest that the Japanese yen had virtually no influence on Asian exchange rates in the 10-year period prior to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Since the crisis, the yen and the German mark in particular have exerted a significant influence over the region's exchange rates except for the Chinese yuan, the Hong Kong dollar and the Malaysian ringgit, which continue to be closely related to the US dollar.

This article examines whether increasing the income of the poor – measured as the income of the lowest quintile – is more beneficial in reducing infant and child mortality rates compared with increases in average income. Given the global importance in reducing infant mortality, the value of this research is important to academics, policymakers and practitioners alike.

Using a sample of 86 countries from 1995–2014 inclusive, our preferred estimation strategy uses an instrumental variable fixed-effects estimator.

Our results propose that the elasticity of the income of the lowest quintile never exceeds that of average income. Therefore, if reducing infant and child mortality is a key policy goal, then boosting average income may be preferable to raising incomes at the lower end of the distribution.

Given these findings, we open a gateway for new literature to add to this unexplored area of research in the income and health relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of the real effective exchange rate in Australia and New Zealand.

The paper describes three empirical models commonly used to conduct exchange rate assessments and applies them to data for Australia and New Zealand.

The baseline results using data and medium‐term projections, available as of October 2008, suggest that the Australian and New Zealand dollar were broadly in line with fundamentals, but with a wide variation across models. A battery of sensitivity tests illustrates that altering the underlying assumptions can yield substantially different assessments. The results are particularly sensitive to the choice of assessment horizon, the set of economies included in the sample, medium‐term forecasts, and the exchange rate reference period.

The paper provides an assessment of the exchange rates in Australia and New Zealand.

This paper investigates the causal links between financial development and economic growth in China by employing the Granger causality test within a VARECM framework. Bi‐directional causality is found between financial development and growth, suggesting that economic growth and financial development are mutually reinforcing under the open‐door policy.

The Asia Pacific region is a geographical appellation that many still feel with justification will be the dynamic economic arena for this century. Accepting this premise and acknowledging the importance of the role of finance in that development brings with it the imperative to gain a greater understanding of the unique financial characteristics of the region. This chapter has two major pursuits. The first goal is to provide some background on the various markets of the region. An understanding of institutional detail (size and scope) of the relevant markets affords a view that lends or detracts from the credibility of intermarket comparisons. An exposure to institutional detail also supplies information that may bear on the statistical results of the empirical analysis. The vital roles played by stock markets of pricing capital, issuing new shares, providing a liquidity-creating secondary feature, serving as a vehicle for asset transfer and providing a linkage to international capital markets are as important to emerging markets as to developed countries. However, fixed income markets are still not as well developed in emerging markets and therefore an even heavier capital sourcing burden is placed on emerging stock markets. The Asia Pacific region derivatives markets (futures and options) play their risk-transfer role in equity and fixed income areas and are integral to the scene. The second pursuit in this chapter is to provide a thumbnail sketch of each of the contributions. The summary will include the nature of the empirical work, the type of methodology or statistical technique applied, and the results. In addition the results will be viewed in light of any reinforcement or digression from a priori expectations drawn from other markets. This volume contains 19 original research papers from 36 authors who represent major academic and financial institutions around the globe.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the core factors that determine tourism demand in four inbound markets of Hong Kong.

The general-to-specific approach was adopted as a step-by-step approach to identify the major determinants of tourism demand in Hong Kong.

The study revealed word of mouth and income of source market are core determinants of tourism demand in all four inbound markets.

Knowledge of core determinants of tourism demand is useful to destination management organizations and tourism business owners for strategic planning and decision making to increase total revenues.

The dissolving trade barriers, financial deregulation, hyper‐mobility of capital and the rapid diffusion of new information technologies have ushered the Australian economy into the borderless world. The orthodoxy that states that centralised wage‐fixing in Australia has impeded wage flexibility and resulted in high unemployment is unconvincing. Partly, this is because in the 1980s Australian labour market institutions have been decentralised and decollectivised in response to pressures from the borderless world. The insights garnered from cross‐sectional comparative statics that, first, skill‐biased Schumpeterian technological change was the major cause of labour immiserisation and, second, adverse Stolper‐Samuelson trade played an insignificant effect need to be reviewed. Parsimonious dynamic time‐series models of trade and technology have been formulated using general‐to‐specific methods after taking account of stochastic trends through unit root and cointegration tests. Granger causality and non‐nested tests applied to these models support the contention that both trade and technology contributed to increasing wage disparity during the borderless era. Moreover the supply side factors such as female participation, immigration and institutional factors such as deunionisation have also increased wage disparity. The deregulation of the Australian labour market by the Workplace Relations Act, whilst an inevitable response to achieve competitiveness in the borderless world market, would exacerbate wage inequality. Policies aimed at skill accumulation on the one hand, and social welfare policies involving negative income taxes on the other may have to be implemented to mitigate the deleterious social effects of rising wage inequality.

This paper examines the determinants of corporate dividend policy in Jordan. The study uses a firm‐level panel data set of all publicly traded firms on the Amman Stock Exchange between 1989 and 2000. The study develops eight research hypotheses, which are used to represent the main theories of corporate dividends. A general‐to‐specific modeling approach is used to choose between the competing hypotheses. The study examines the determinants of the amount of dividends using Tobit specifications. The results suggest that the proportion of stocks held by insiders and state ownership significantly affect the amount of dividends paid. Size, age, and profitability of the firm seem to be determinant factors of corporate dividend policy in Jordan. The findings provide strong support for the agency costs hypothesis and are broadly consistent with the pecking order hypothesis. The results provide no support for the signaling hypothesis.