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1 – 10 of 112Nikhil Rastogi, V.N. Reddy and Kiran Kumar Kotha
The purpose of this paper is to study the empirical relationship between order imbalance and returns in the backdrop of structural changes in the Indian market.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the empirical relationship between order imbalance and returns in the backdrop of structural changes in the Indian market.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of hypothesis testing and dummy variable regression to investigate the relationship between order imbalance and returns during the period 1999‐2005, which saw definitive change in the structure of the Indian markets.
Findings
Order imbalance (buying or selling pressure) has significantly reduced post the structural reforms at the daily as well as intra‐day intervals across trade, as well as value measures of order imbalance. After controlling for the number of transactions, order imbalance and return correlations have fallen in the post‐2002 period as compared to the pre‐2002 period, at daily as well as intra‐day intervals. Further, after controlling for past high and low returns, order imbalance exhibits day of the week effect in the pre‐2002 period while no such effect is seen in the post‐2002 period.
Originality/value
The work brings out order imbalance and returns relationship for the Indian market, which has different structure from that of many developed, as well as developing, markets in the backdrop of changes in its own structure. This would provide a richer literature in the area of market structure and design.
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Grahame Fallon, Stuart Graham and Roger Willetts
Pricing and positioning strategies are of increasing strategic importance and are crucial to the long‐term competitiveness of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Following…
Abstract
Pricing and positioning strategies are of increasing strategic importance and are crucial to the long‐term competitiveness of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Following the introduction of the Single European Currency (referred to as the “Euro” throughout this paper), the paper suggests that there will be a major squeeze on price differentials between European Union (EU) member states, creating a danger that existing price‐based positioning strategies will be undermined. This “European pricing and positioning time bomb” will affect UK SMEs (as well as larger businesses) over their short‐term planning horizon, even if UK entry into the Euro is delayed indefinitely. Strategic responses to the Euro will be most effective if they are planned and implemented at the earliest possible time. This paper explores and analyses the findings from a small sample survey of export‐active, consumer goods manufacturing, Northampton SMEs, carried out in late 1997. The aim is to establish their existing pricing and positioning strategies for EU Europe, their preparedness at that time for the introduction of the Euro and the main forms which their pricing and positioning strategies for the Euro were then taking. The findings suggest that most of the SMEs surveyed were in the early stages of planning for the Euro, but that many had not yet fully grasped its strategic marketing significance. Three categories of current marketing postures are identified: price standardisation, price but not product differentiation, and price differentiation supported by product differentiation between EU markets. The paper concludes by evaluating the effectiveness of responses based on these three alternative categories to the new marketing environment in EU Europe that the Euro will create. A set of strategic recommendations is also made for SMEs’ pricing and positioning strategies in the Euro context.
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Yu-Cheng Lai and Santanu Sarkar
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in the effects of gender equality legislation on employment outcomes among female and male workers in industries with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in the effects of gender equality legislation on employment outcomes among female and male workers in industries with different intensity of foreign investment (namely, foreign direct investment (FDI)-intensive industries and non–FDI–intensive industries). The specific employment outcomes that were studied to compare the effects of the legislation are the working hours, employment opportunities, and wages of female and male workers in Taiwan.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from the annual Manpower Utilization Survey, the authors applied a differences-in-differences-in-differences estimation method to test the effect of gender equality legislation on employment outcomes. By using multinomial logit, the authors measured the effect of the legislation on employment opportunities. To correct for simultaneity and selectivity problems/biases, the authors adopted Heckman two-stage selection procedures. Likewise, the authors used weighted least squares to solve heteroskedasticity in the wage and working hour equations. Further, the instrumental variable (IV) method was used to correct for simultaneity bias in the equation on working hour. The authors applied three stages estimation method following Killingsworth’s (1983) approach to measure the effect of the legislation on wages and working hours.
Findings
The authors found the restrictions enforced by the gender equality legislation (namely the Gender Equal Employment Act (GEEA), enacted in 2002) in Taiwan to have made certain impact on the workers’ working conditions in FDI-intensive industries. The major finding indicated that in a country like Taiwan, where the legislature tried tilling the perpetual gender gap in its labour market, by passing a law to counter inequality, could finally narrow the gender gap in wages among workers in the FDI-intensive industries. Although initially after the enactment of the GEEA (between 2002 and 2004), the gender gap in part-timers’ wages has widened, yet over a period of time the gap in their wages too has narrowed down, particularly during 2005-2006. The legislation, however, could not improve the job opportunities for full-time female workers’ in FDI-intensive industries. Besides, post 2002, the female workers were found to have worked for shorter hours than male workers, which according to us, could be largely attributed to the enforcement of the GEEA.
Practical implications
An in-depth analysis of the labour market effects of gender equality legislation should be useful to policymakers, especially those interested in understanding the impact of legislative measures and policy reforms on labour market and employment outcomes across industry types. If enforcement of a gender equality legislation has succeeded in reducing the gender gap more in one set of industries than the others (e.g. foreign owned instead of domestic industries), as the authors noticed in this study, then the same should have a bearing on revamping of future enactment and enforcement too.
Originality/value
Current study findings would not only provide the broad lessons to the policymakers in Taiwan, but the results that have emerged from a country case study could be referred by other growing economies who are enthusiastic about improving female workers’ working conditions through legislative reforms.
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Kevin Clarke, Jack Flanagan and Sharron O'Neill
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether accounting researchers in Australia more proactively pursued government‐sponsored Australian Research Council (ARC) research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether accounting researchers in Australia more proactively pursued government‐sponsored Australian Research Council (ARC) research funding in the post‐Enron period than researchers in other commerce‐related disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
The study measures disciplinary research activity using successful Australian Research Council Linkage and Discovery grants for the period 2000 to 2008. The study identifies the number of grants received, the total dollar amount funded, the number of participating institutions, individual researchers and (where applicable) partnering organisations. Using these criteria, the study compares the success of accounting with that of banking and finance, economics and business and management.
Findings
The study highlights accounting's failure to attain comparable levels of research funding relative to other commerce‐related disciplines (both in terms of grants and dollars), even given the public profile of accounting events post‐Enron. The study reveals a significantly higher “elite institution effect” exists in accounting and lower levels of academic and commercial partnerships when compared to other disciplines. The study examines potential reasons for the lack of ARC funding won by accounting researchers.
Practical implications
The persistently low level of representation of accounting researchers among ARC grant winners during this period appears counterintuitive to the traditional “professional model” that links university‐based disciplinary members with practitioners. Why accounting, as a high‐profile profession diverges from this model should be of concern to researchers, universities and the accounting profession.
Originality/value
The study's use of comparative ARC data extends and contextualises earlier studies that have sought to examine the state of accounting research in Australia.
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Sonia R. Bhalotra, Manuel Fernández and Atheendar S. Venkataramani
We analyze the evolution of the gender wage gap in Mexico between 1989 and 2012, a period in which skill-biased technological change accelerated. We deviate from most prior work…
Abstract
We analyze the evolution of the gender wage gap in Mexico between 1989 and 2012, a period in which skill-biased technological change accelerated. We deviate from most prior work investigating the gap across the wage distribution. We find substantial gender wage convergence in the decade of the 2000s at the mean and, more markedly, at the upper and lower ends of the wage distribution, alongside little change in the median wage gap. The gender wage gap at the 90th percentile was largely eliminated by the year 2012 and, at the 10th percentile, it narrowed by a fourth of its 1990 level. This narrowing of gender inequality in wages occurred alongside a narrowing of inequality in wages within each gender group. The share of college-educated women relative to men in the work force grew substantially over the two decades, and they sorted disproportionately into brain-intensive occupations, where the gender wage gap fell sharply. The wage return to being in a brain-intensive occupation was, in both periods, greater for women; it declined for men while rising for women during the 2000s. Our findings demonstrate how structural economic change may interact with a biologically premised comparative advantage of women in brain-intensive occupations to raise their relative wages. Our results also underline the relevance of studying changes across the wage distribution.
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Satish K. Mittal and Rajesh Pillania
– The purpose of this paper is to study the progress of research on business research in India and identify the key disciplines, journals, articles, authors, and institutions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the progress of research on business research in India and identify the key disciplines, journals, articles, authors, and institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliometric analysis using data for articles published from the ISI Web of Knowledge databases consisting of the ISI Web of Science (1899-present) consisting of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI); BIOSIS Previews (1969-present); CABI: CAAAB Abstracts (1910-present); MEDLINE (1950-present); Zoological Record (1864-present); and Journal Citation Reports (1999-2008).
Findings
There is growing number of research literature on the theme and more so post 2002. Among the journals, the most prolific, measured by number of articles published are Management Decision, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Harvard Business Review, and Journal of International Marketing and the top ten percent of the journals are responsible for 36 percent of all publications. Similarly the top seven authors are responsible for about 15 percent of all publications and the top ten institutions account for 30 percent of all publications. This highlights that few journals, authors, and institutions are dominating the research arena of business research in India.
Research limitations/implications
Despite its high degree of objectivity, bibliometric analysis has a subjective dimension (Van Raan, 2003) since the researcher had to make choices on the search terms, the time period used, etc., and while the data set is comprehensive, is it not exhaustive as many new journals are not part of SSCI (Pillania and Fetscherin, 2009; Pillania, 2011).
Practical implications
The study undertakes a multi-disciplinary review of literature on business research in India. It identifies the key disciplines, journals, articles, authors, and institutions on business research in India. It is a ready reference for practitioners and future researchers on the subject.
Originality/value
This study has made an attempt to study and document the literature on business research in India.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role, purpose and effectiveness of CILIP in the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role, purpose and effectiveness of CILIP in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a review of key issues in relation to the library and information profession in the UK based on available documentary evidence.
Findings
The paper establishes an evaluative framework for assessing the concept of professionalism, and the role of professional associations, in relation to the contemporary library and information profession. It discusses the work of CILIP post‐2002, and assesses the extent to which it meets the criteria for a successful professional association. The paper concludes that, whilst CILIP has a number of useful strategies in place, it is too early to evaluate its long‐term prospects.
Originality/value
This review is a useful source of information in assessing the contemporary role of professional associations.
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Tim Hannagan, Alan Lawton and Geoff Mallory
The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in the management of further education (FE) colleges in England following the Further and Higher Education Act (1992) and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in the management of further education (FE) colleges in England following the Further and Higher Education Act (1992) and the removal of colleges from Local Education Authority control. These changes are mapped against developments in the management of public service organisations, more generally, labelled new public management (NPM), and the adoption of “business‐like” tools to support management responses to a new environment for colleges.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws upon a national survey of general FE colleges and four case studies, researched in depth through semi‐structured interviews and analysis of relevant documents. The research was carried out between 1997 and 2000. The case studies were revisited through recent Inspection reports.
Findings
The paper finds that colleges reacted differently to the imperatives of change and that the extent to which the prescriptions of NPM were acted out depended upon a range of factors that were not included in many configurations of NPM.
Research limitations/implications
The research was carried out in the 1990s and the original cases were revisited through Inspection reports post 2002. The inspectors had a different agenda than the original researchers and care needs to be taken in utilising the Inspectors' reports.
Practical implications
The implementation of a uniform public policy across a diverse and complex sector is not guaranteed to succeed. Policy‐makers need to be aware of the “one‐size‐fits‐all” tendency of public policy making.
Originality/value
The management of the FE sector is under researched. This paper researches key issues for practitioners following on from education reform and provides empirical evidence for academics of the extent to which NPM reforms take hold on the ground.
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Xiaoyang Li and Yue Maggie Zhou
The impact of competition on innovation has been extensively studied, but with ambiguous findings. We study the impact of import competition on U.S. corporate innovation and…
Abstract
The impact of competition on innovation has been extensively studied, but with ambiguous findings. We study the impact of import competition on U.S. corporate innovation and present some new perspectives. We conjecture that U.S. firms view import competition from high-wage countries (HWCs) as “neck-and-neck” competition and will respond by intensifying innovation. In contrast, U.S. firms will reduce innovation in response to import competition from low-wage countries (LWCs), because such competition does not always increase the potential benefits from innovation. Our empirical results are supportive. We find that, when confronting HWC import competition, U.S. firms increase R&D spending while intensifying and improving innovation output (file more patents, receive more citations to their patents, and produce more breakthrough patents). Moreover, U.S. firms closest to the technological frontier – largest firms, firms with the largest stocks of knowledge, and most profitable firms – increase and improve their innovation the most in response to HWC competition. These results shed light on the relationship between product market competition and innovation, and point to the origin of import competition as a determinant of innovation decisions made by different U.S. companies.
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This chapter deals with family/household relevance as a stakeholder institution in rural (farm) communities. The data collection approach is qualitative. Families in Japan and the…
Abstract
This chapter deals with family/household relevance as a stakeholder institution in rural (farm) communities. The data collection approach is qualitative. Families in Japan and the Philippines’ rice-cultivating communities were the subjects of the study. Results revealed that households in the two sites were experiencing a unique ontological crisis vis-á-vis farming communities. The crisis pointed to the problem of farm families’ relegation as secondary stakeholders in the farming sector. Despite the struggle for survival in the farm sector, farm families were differently adaptive and enduring in dealing with the modern development – that is, selective technology adoption, farmland redefinition, struggle and resistance against farm policies, and community group accommodation, to name a few. This endurance contributes to farm family persistence as a relevant institution in Japan and the Philippines.
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