Search results
1 – 10 of over 3000Vojtěch Koňařík, Zuzana Kučerová and Daniel Pakši
Inflation expectations are an important part of the transmission mechanism of the inflation targeting regime. As such, central bankers must study the inflation expectations of…
Abstract
Inflation expectations are an important part of the transmission mechanism of the inflation targeting regime. As such, central bankers must study the inflation expectations of economic agents to anchor them close to the level of the inflation target. However, economic agents are affected by the past and current macroeconomic situation when they form their expectations concerning future inflation. Using survey data on inflation expectations in Czechia, we investigate the macroeconomic determinants of Czech analysts' and managers' inflation expectations. We find that both actual and past inflation have a substantial impact on inflation expectations of the agents surveyed. We also identify backward-looking behaviour among these agents: persistence in inflation expectations of up to two quarters was detected. Moreover, financial analysts formed inflation expectations more in line with economic theory, while company managers evinced expectations similar to those of consumers.
Details
Keywords
Skilled workers are crucial for an organization’s success, and managing, retaining and attracting them is vital in long-term. This study aims to explore talent management…
Abstract
Purpose
Skilled workers are crucial for an organization’s success, and managing, retaining and attracting them is vital in long-term. This study aims to explore talent management practices in the Finnish restaurant industry and to align workers' expectations with the real-world experiences of their work to reduce turnover and enhance job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a mixed methods approach, including a survey and interviews with workers and managers to gain insights into their expectations and experiences of work. The study considers themes for designing and implementing effective talent management procedures.
Findings
This study highlights the importance of employees' experiences of their work conditions, leveraging positive emotions and fair utilization of temporary agency work (TAW). Understanding the different work preferences of generational cohorts and addressing the challenges associated with owner disengagement and TAW can also contribute to attracting and retaining talent in the restaurant industry.
Originality/value
Skilled workers have often been portrayed as targets that need to be managed, with insufficient consideration given to their preferences, needs and expectations. With the findings of this study, companies can establish mutual understanding with their employees and attract diverse talent.
Details
Keywords
Somtochukwu Emmanuel Dike, Zachary Davis, Alan Abrahams, Ali Anjomshoae and Peter Ractham
Variations in customer expectations pose a challenge to service quality improvement in the airline industry. Understanding airline customers' expectations and satisfaction help…
Abstract
Purpose
Variations in customer expectations pose a challenge to service quality improvement in the airline industry. Understanding airline customers' expectations and satisfaction help service providers improve their offerings. The extant literature examines airline passengers' expectations in isolation, neglecting the overall impact of online reviews on service quality improvement. This paper systematically evaluates the airline industry's passengers' expectations and satisfaction using expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and the SERVQUAL framework. The paper analyzes online reviews to examine the relationship between airline service quality attributes and passengers' satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The SERVQUAL framework was employed to examine the effects of customer culture, the reason for traveling, and seat type on customer's expectations and satisfaction across a large sample of airline customers.
Findings
A total of 17,726 observations were gathered from the Skytrax review website. The lowest satisfaction ratings were from passengers from the USA, Canada and India. Factors that affect perceived service performance include customer service, delays and baggage management. Empathy and reliability have the biggest impact on the perceived satisfaction of passengers.
Research limitations/implications
This research increases understanding of the consumer expectations through analysis of passengers' online reviews. Results are limited to a small sample of airline industries.
Practical implications
This study provides airlines with valuable information to improve customer service by analyzing online reviews.
Social implications
This study provides the opportunity for airline customers to gain better services when airline companies utilize the findings.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights into passengers' expectations and their perceived value for money in relation to seat types. Previous studies have not investigated value for money as a construct for passengers' expectations and satisfaction relative to service quality dimensions. This paper addresses this need.
Details
Keywords
Nisansala Wijekoon, Umesh Sharma and Grant Samkin
This paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
Postal questionnaire surveys with owners and accountants of SMEs were used to identify users and their financial information needs. In total, 1,498 questionnaires were sent to SME owners and accountants. A total of 358 questionnaires were returned, generating 323 useable questionnaires. The management branch of stakeholder theory is used for the study which asserts that company management is expected to meet the expectations of those stakeholders who are more powerful than others.
Findings
The users of Sri Lanka SME financial information were limited to owners, banks and Department of Inland Revenue. Users and financial information needs of owners varied in relation to the size of the SME. Financial information are useful for making capital investment and planning decisions for owners regardless of the size of the SME. By sharing information with outside parties, disclosures can diminish information asymmetries between the firms and its stakeholders. The top three reasons for which owners use SME financial information are for planning purposes, estimating income tax liabilities, and taking marketing and pricing decisions.
Research limitations/implications
Since the study focuses only on the views of owner-managers and accountants of SMEs, the holistic understanding of uses of SME financial information by other user groups cannot be achieved.
Practical implications
The results of this study provide international and local standard setters with an indication of future direction for SME financial reporting.
Social implications
This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. Consequently, the findings of this paper make a valuable contribution to the work of practitioners such as local and international standards-setters and regulators who may be considering developing/revising financial reporting framework for SMEs either worldwide or in developing countries.
Originality/value
Although SME financial reporting has attracted enormous attention in the recent accounting literature, academic research into SME financial reporting is scant. This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. The general purpose financial reporting model and the accounting standard IFRS for SMEs in particular would not be applicable to Sri Lankan SMEs unless it modifies to reflect the financial information needs of users of Sri Lankan SME financial information.
Details
Keywords
Wendy A. Bradley and Caroline Fry
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the extent to which female and male university students from low-income countries express different entrepreneurial intentions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the extent to which female and male university students from low-income countries express different entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, the study empirically tests whether the anticipated financial returns to entrepreneurship versus salaried employment, or the perceived barriers to entrepreneurship exert a stronger influence on the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the relationship of anticipated rewards versus barriers to entrepreneurship on gender and entrepreneurial intention, the study uses new data from a field survey in Sierra Leone and employs multiple mediation analyses.
Findings
The authors find that the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intentions operates through the mediator of perceptions of the financial returns to entrepreneurship but not perceived barriers to entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
The authors study intent, not behavior, acknowledging that cognitive intent is a powerful predictor of later behavior. Implications for future research on entrepreneurship in the African context are discussed.
Practical implications
The results from this study can be applied to both pedagogic and business settings in the field of entrepreneurship, with concrete implications for policymakers.
Originality/value
Results suggest that the gender gap in entrepreneurial intentions (EI) for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)- and business-educated students in Sierra Leone is predominantly influenced by anticipated financial returns to occupational choices, as opposed to perceived barriers to entrepreneurship, a more frequently studied antecedent to EI.
Details
Keywords
Yeva Nersisyan and L. Randall Wray
In this paper, the authors examine the causes of 2021–2023 inflation and evaluate whether raising interest rates is the right solution.
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors examine the causes of 2021–2023 inflation and evaluate whether raising interest rates is the right solution.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors evaluate both the macroeconomic (too much demand) and microeconomic (monopoly pricing and supply chains) explanations for the causes of inflation.
Findings
The authors argue that the spike in inflation is due to disrupted supply chains and corporations taking advantage of the situation to raise their prices. The aggregate demand stimulus from fiscal policy had all but played out by the time inflation arose, making it an unlikely cause of said inflation.
Originality/value
The authors' paper demonstrates that raising interest rates is the wrong solution to tackling the problem of inflation, especially since it's coming from the supply side.
Details
Keywords
Charilaos Mertzanis and Asma Houcine
This study employs firm-level data to evaluate how the knowledge economy impacts the financing constraints of businesses across 106 low- and middle-income nations, focusing on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study employs firm-level data to evaluate how the knowledge economy impacts the financing constraints of businesses across 106 low- and middle-income nations, focusing on the influence of technological transformation on corporate financing choices.
Design/methodology/approach
The research centers on privately held, unlisted firms and examines the distinct effects of knowledge at both the within-country and between-country levels using a panel dataset. Rigorous sensitivity and endogeneity analyses are conducted to ensure the reliability of the findings.
Findings
The findings indicate that greater levels of the knowledge economy correlate with reduced financing constraints for firms. However, this effect varies depending on the location within a country and across different geographical regions. Firms situated in larger urban centers and more innovative regions reap the most significant benefits from the knowledge economy when seeking external funding. Conversely, firms in smaller cities, rural areas and regions characterized by structural and institutional inefficiencies in knowledge generation experience fewer advantages.
Originality/value
The impact of knowledge exhibits variability not only within and among countries but also between poor and affluent developing nations, as well as between larger and smaller countries. The knowledge effect on firms' access to external finance is influenced by factors such as financial openness and development, educational quality, technological absorption capabilities and agglomeration conditions within each country.
Details
Keywords
Jorge de Andres-Sanchez, Angel Belzunegui-Eraso and Amaya Erro-Garcés
This paper aims to shed light on the perception of the consequences of implementing home teleworking (TW) for employers and employees amid the pandemic. By doing so, the research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to shed light on the perception of the consequences of implementing home teleworking (TW) for employers and employees amid the pandemic. By doing so, the research analyzes the factors that explain employers' and employees' perceptions of home TW and the symmetry of their impact on its acceptance and rejection.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is done over the survey “Trends in the digital society during SARS-COV-2 crisis in Spain” by the Spanish “Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.” The explanatory variables were selected and classified using the well-known taxonomy of Baruch and Nicholson (i.e. individual factors, family/home, organizational and job-related).
Findings
The global judgment of HTW is positive, but factors such as gender, age, children in care or being an employer nuance that perception. While some factors, such as the attitude of employees toward information communication technologies (ICTs), perceived productivity or the distance from home to work, have a significant link with both positive and negative perceptions of HTW, other factors can only explain either positive or negative perceptions. Likewise, the authors observed that being female and having children on care had a detrimental influence on opinions about HTW.
Practical implications
A clearer regulation of TW is needed to prevent imbalances in rights and obligations between companies and employees. The authors also highlight the potentially favorable effects of telecommuting on mitigating depopulation in rural areas.
Originality/value
The authors have also measured not only the significance of assessed factors on the overall judgment of HTW for firms and workers but also whether these factors impact acceptance and resistance attitudes toward TW symmetrically.
Details
Keywords
Mohd Tariq Jamal, Imran Anwar, Nawab Ali Khan and Gayas Ahmad
Working remotely in a COVID-19-induced lockdown has been challenging for both organisations and their employees; studies report that job demands changed, and teleworkers…
Abstract
Purpose
Working remotely in a COVID-19-induced lockdown has been challenging for both organisations and their employees; studies report that job demands changed, and teleworkers experienced increased burnout. This paper explores the negative employee outcomes that this work arrangement brings along and offers possible solutions to counter such negative outcomes since they could be detrimental to the much-touted future of work.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a time-lagged longitudinal design and collected two-waved data from 403 quaternary sector employees. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling and model-21 in PROCESS macro for SPSS.
Findings
Findings affirm that employees experienced increased job demands during this crisis. Employees reported an increase in turnover intention because of burnout caused by increased job demands. However, increased task interdependence alone did not have any effect on turnover intention. The perceived organisational task support (POTS) was found to forestall the negative effect of job demands on burnout, and employee resilience (ER) buffered the burnout and turnover intention relationship.
Practical implications
Providing remote work task support and boosting resilience among employees will help in doing away with the negative effects of teleworking. However, managers shall prioritise reducing job demands for teleworkers.
Originality/value
The linkage between work factors and turnover intention is well established. Drawing on the event system theory and using the COVID-19 context, the present study added to the existing knowledge by studying the role of job demands (workload pressure and task interdependence) on turnover intention through the mediation of burnout. The study goes beyond the existing literature by accounting for POTS as a first-level moderator between job demands and burnout relationship, and ER as a second-level moderator between burnout and turnover intention relationship.
Details
Keywords
Terence Y.M. Lam, Taylah O. Hasell and Malvern L.D.B. Tipping
Referring to “behavioural finance” and “normative model” theories, this study explores the relative significance of behavioural heuristic biases in the investment decisions of…
Abstract
Purpose
Referring to “behavioural finance” and “normative model” theories, this study explores the relative significance of behavioural heuristic biases in the investment decisions of real estate investment trusts (REITs) when compared with the conventional normative decision factors, with an ultimate aim to identify the significant behavioural factors that should be avoided to ensure rational asset acquisitions and market efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
A triangulation approach was adopted. Qualitative multiple case studies were conducted, with four cases selected from Australian and New Zealand REITs across the industry, to identify what normative and behavioural finance factors are involved in investment decisions. This formed the basis for the subsequent expert review survey to explore how significant the behavioural factors were manifested in the judgement when compared with the normative factors.
Findings
Three out of four theoretical behavioural factors manifested themselves in the investment decisions: investor sentiment, anchoring factors and overconfidence. The overall impact of these three behavioural factors was that they were as significant as normative factors in investment decisions. The heuristic availability of information was found to have no significant effect on experienced REIT fund managers.
Research limitations/implications
The findings were based on four multiple cases and an expert review survey of six frontline fund managers, which form a baseline upon which further research can be conducted to widen the scope of research to cover all REITs in Australasia so that the results can become more robust to benefit the entire market in the region.
Practical implications
As behavioural factors are significant in the decision-making process, REIT fund managers should raise awareness to avoid the significant behavioural factors identified, in particular investor sentiment, which was found to be the most significant one.
Originality/value
This study confirms the relative significance of behavioural factors in property investment decisions within the context of Australasian REITs and alerts fund managers to the ways they should follow to ensure rational investments and market efficiency. It also extends the scale of existing studies to cover not only Australia but also New Zealand for the benefit of the entire Australasian market.
Details