Business and Economics Journal

This paper investigates the causal relationship between stock market development and economic growth for Germany for the period 1965-2007 using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The purpose of this paper was to examine the long-run relationship between these variables, applying the Johansen co-integration analysis based on the classical unit roots tests. The results of Granger causality tests indicated that there is a unidirectional causality between stock market development and economic growth with direction from stock market development to economic growth.

This paper seeks to extend the findings regarding factors that affect Canadian propensity to undertake direct investment abroad by examining the perception of risk factors that may hinder direct investment in the Indian real estate market. This study utilized survey research (a non-experimental field study design). 226 Canadian investors were surveyed and reported their perceptions of various risk factors regarding investing in the Indian real estate market. The findings suggest that perceptions of political and legal nature, corruption, confiscation, and economic risk can hinder investments and may lead to capital losses on investments in the Indian real estate market. We also found that investors’ foreign direct investment behavior does not differ based on their age and the level of education. This paper discusses several techniques by which investors can mitigate foreign direct investment risk in India. It also points out how real estate investors can implement these techniques and the challenges that they might face through this implementation process. Finally, some suggestions to overcome these challenges are provided.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of transformational leadership (TL) and employee empowerment (EE) on employee job stress (JS). This study also extends the findings of Gill et al. [1] related to the factors that mitigate job stress in the service industry. A survey research (a non-experimental field study design) was utilized. The current study consists of a population of Indian hospitality industry employees. A convenience sampling method was applied to select and recruit the research participants. Data were collected using questionnaires. The p < .05 significance level was used to accept or reject the null hypotheses. The results suggest that the improvement in the level of perceived TL used by managers and EE mitigate the job stress of customer contact service employees (CCSEs) in the Indian hospitality industry. The results also show that TL and EE mitigate the job stress of CCSEs in the Indian hotel industry.

The paper observes that rising government expenditure has not translated to meaningful development as Nigeria still ranks among world’s poorest countries. In an attempt to investigate the effect of government expenditure on economic growth, we employed a disaggregated analysis. The results reveal that government total capital expenditure (TCAP), total recurrent expenditures (TREC), and government expenditure on education (EDU) have negative effect on economic growth. On the contrary, rising government expenditure on transport and communication (TRACO), and health (HEA) results to an increase in economic growth. The authors’ recommendations include among others the following. Government should increase both capital expenditure and recurrent expenditure, including expenditures on education, as well as ensuring that funds meant for the development of these sectors are properly managed. Secondly, government should increase its investment in the development of transport and communication, in order to create an enabling environment for business to strive. Thirdly, government should raise its expenditure in the development of the health sector since it would enhance labour productivity and economic growth. Lastly, government should encourage and increase the funding of anti-corruption agencies in order to tackle the high level of corruption found in public office.

The development of the networks and the distributed systems permitted to ease the communication and the information exchange on one hand, and on the other hand, it generated important risks in the field of information systems security. So, it is important to take the right necessary measures to be protected from these threats. Similarly, the intrusion detection systems have to be adapted to the change of the users’ behaviour and to the complex evolution of the networks. In this paper, we propose a platform for the intrusion detection based upon a distributed approach using the multi-agents aspect so as to eliminate the strong attacks and to do a more deepened analysis of the intrusions representing eventually weak threats.

The present empirical study focuses on identifying key economic factors and other conditions that have influenced the per customer commercial and industrial consumption of electricity in the U.S. during recent years. Unlike most previous studies, this study uses a state-level panel data set for the period 2002 through 2005. The three panel two-stage least squares (P2SLS) estimates provided in this study imply that per customer commercial and industrial electricity consumption is an increasing function of the annual number of cooling degree days, per capita real disposable income (a de facto “control” variable), and the peak summer electricity generating capacity. Furthermore, per customer commercial and industrial electricity consumption is a decreasing function of the average real unit price of electricity to commercial and industrial enterprises and the degree of each state’s commitment to energy efficiency programs, as reflected in a “LEEP” score. The latter result provides evidence that public policies to promote energy efficiency have yielded some benefits, albeit modest, in terms of reducing commercial and industrial electricity consumption.

Whereas the impact of culture on international business has been frequently investigated, the impact of culture on value perceptions especially in small teams has received less attention in the academic debate. This research note investigates the impact of culture on a small team represented by a group of international students. The underlying research question is to investigate whether the culturally influenced work values on country level discovered by Hofstede can be confirmed in small multicultural teams too. In summary, this study could not find clear indications that cultural dimensions play a role on a small group level. This result might be explained by the students’ adoption to an international environment and by the convergence of cultures due to their dynamic character, especially within a young target group. This pilot study indicates a preliminary result, rather than drawing a valid final conclusion, particularely due to the small sample size of the observed group. Further research in this direction is recommended by investigating a larger number of small teams on the basis of a mulitmethod research approach.

This paper explores the determinants of the dividend policy of firms in the Japanese electrical appliances industry. First, our empirical investigations reveal that in this industry, corporate managers do not cater to investors’ demands in both their dividend initiation and continuation decisions. Instead, in the Japanese electrical appliances industry, the determinants of firms’ dividend policies are value-weighted dividend yields, valueweighted nonpayers’ size, and value-weighted after-tax earnings-to-total-asset ratios. Moreover, cross-sectionally, this paper finds relations between corporate earnings and firm dividend payments in general. However, on an aggregate time-series basis, dividend payments tend to decrease company earnings in the Japanese electrical appliances industry, and this means rejection of the traditional signaling hypothesis.

The paper seeks to extend Lazaridis and Tryfonidis’s findings regarding the relationship between working capital management and profitability. A sample of 88 American firms listed on New York Stock Exchange for a period of 3 years from 2005 to 2007 was selected. We found statistically significant relationship between the cash conversion cycle and profitability, measured through gross operating profit. It follows that managers can create profits for their companies by handling correctly the cash conversion cycle and by keeping accounts receivables at an optimal level. The study contributes to the literature on the relationship between the working capital management and the firm’s profitability.

The paper aimed at examining factors that influence employees’ employability. Factors that were examined are formal and informal career management practices, training, job experiences, education and tenure with current job. Employability is measured using two dimensions; internal and external employability. Data was collected using questionnaires that were distributed to selected organizations in various industries. Measurement items were adopted and adapted from previous studies. Two hundred and sixty employees participated in the study. Pearson correlation tests indicated that formal career management practices was positively related to external employability and internal employability. Informal career management practices were found only significantly related to external employability. The relationship with internal employability was insignificant. Training received by employees was both related to internal and external employability. On the other hand, job experiences were only significantly related to internal employability. Education and tenure were found only giving significant influence to external employability.

The role of fair value accounting in the financial crisis is controversial and heavily debated. Some claim that fair value accounting of financial instruments contributed to the recent crisis. This note acknowledges that, in many industries, a significant proportion of the financial instruments are entered into for hedging purposes. I examine if a crisis, through the hedge accounting regulations, can affect the overall use of fair value accounting in an economy. I present analytical evidence that the boosting price volatility during the crisis lead to more companies complying with the hedge accounting requirements, and thus to an increased extent of hedge accounting at the expense of fair value accounting. Hence, the analysis suggests that the hedge effectiveness provisions ensure more hedge accounting in uncertain and turbulent times, which are exactly the periods when hedge accounting is especially called for.

In most developing countries, agriculture is both the main sector that provides employment to large segments of the population and the key to sustained economic growth of the countries. In the light of this, the study presents an empirical analysis of the impact of agriculture credit on economic growth in Nigeria. Equally highlighted are the problems of agricultural production in Nigeria and the strategies for agricultural transformation of the economy. A review of the various policies of the government was discussed. Our finding revealed that agricultural variables have impact on economic growth and their contribution to export growth has been encouraging. Consequently, the macro-econometric model in this study contributes to the development of policy and programming by shedding light on the choice to be made and indicating the magnitude and direction of responses that can be expected from changes in key agricultural policy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of organizational conflict on organizational performance. This was carried out by investigating the causes, types, reason and strategies for managing conflicts in some selected service organizations in Nigeria, with a view of coming out with ways of improving their performance and productivity. The study employs descriptive research design and uses questionnaire to collect data from 96 managers in some selected Airlines, Road Transport and Insurance companies in Lagos Metropolis. The research revealed that limited resources is the major cause of conflict and that conflicts have both negative and positive effects on organization, but when managed properly, the positive effects can be used to encourage organizational innovativeness and build cooperation among the employees.

This paper points out that even distinct patterns in financial time series, which persist over long periods of time, cannot immediately be taken as genuine. In view of the large number of possible patterns, the only way to avoid any data- snooping bias is to use a formal statistical test, which has not been tailored to the specific patterns present in the data. Adopting a universal frequency domain test for the detection of synchronous cycles, we find clear evidence for within-month patterns in daily returns on the S&P 500 index, which corroborates earlier findings obtained simply by comparing different days of the month.

This paper seeks to extend the findings regarding factors that affect the propensity of small business owners to grow and expand small businesses. This study utilized survey research (a non-experimental field study design). A total of 218 Canadian small business owners were surveyed and reported their perceptions of various factors that adversely affect their propensity to grow and expand their businesses. The findings suggest that the factors are perceptions of lack of expertise, family-business role conflict, and lack of management skills. The findings may be useful for the Canadian governments and small business management advisors.

This paper examines if transformational leadership and empowerment affect job satisfaction among Indian restaurant employees. This study utilized survey research (a non-experimental field study design). A total of 218 restaurant industry employees from the Punjab area of India were surveyed to assess their perceptions of transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction at their places of work. Positive relationships between i) employee perceived transformational leadership used by managers and employee perceived job satisfaction and ii) employee perceived empowerment and employee perceived job satisfaction were found. The paper makes recommendations to managers and owners/operators of the hospitality organizations for improving employee retention.