Scientific Annals of Economics and Business
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Introduction
Get PDFThis volume brings together selected papers presented during the 12th edition of Globalization and Higher Education in Economics and Business Administration (GEBA 2020), the international conference traditionally organized in Iaşi, Romania, almost every October by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, within the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. This high-quality conference, which I had the pleasure and privilege to attend several times, in the last fourteen years, brings together academics and researchers from all over Europe, as well as some participants from other continents.JEL Codes
Automated vs Manual Content Analysis – A Retrospective Look
Get PDFContent Analysis, which is a part of qualitative analysis, has mainly been studied in scientific articles from health and medicine domains. With the emerge of social networks, there are new opportunities for content analysis, which can be used to analyse user generated content, from various sources. Nevertheless, the companies are investing millions of dollars in content analysis, which is often known as sentiment analysis. The discussion in this article helps to understand the main concepts of content analysis for those interested in the domain of qualitative analysis, with the help of automated and manual qualitative research. The overall conclusion is that automated qualitative analysis is dependent on how accurate is the tool used and this feature can be checked with the help of manual qualitative analysis.JEL Codes - O33; O3
Determinants of Shadow Economy in Eastern European Countries
Get PDFIn this article the relationship between shadow economy and its’ determinants has been examined. Ten Eastern countries from European Union were chosen due to specific particularities, which may cause higher shadow economy levels in the investigated countries compared with the EU average. Time span of 2003-2016 was selected, as 2017 data has yet to be released at the time of the analysis. Article consists of examination of the current situation and shadow economy trends in Eastern European countries; overview of shadow economy scientific literature followed by hypothesis, which are examined by constructing regression models. Models aim to distinguish the relationship between selected determinants and shadow economy size. Scientific literature analysis revealed that increase of tax burden on labor is seen as a primary reason for the increase of shadow economy, however, such relation has not been identified. Furthermore, results show that unemployment and self-employed people ratio affect shadow economy insignificantly. This suggests that further analysis is needed. Nonetheless, regression model has not rejected the hypotheses of corruption level, income inequality, business freedom and GDP per capita effect on shadow economy. Thus, it can be stated that these variables are determinants of shadow economy in Eastern European countries.JEL Codes - O11, O17, C12, G1
Prioritizing CSR barriers in the Indian Service Industry: A Fuzzy AHP Approach
Get PDFThe present study identifies and prioritizes the barriers pertaining to implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in Indian service industries. The 10 most important barriers related to CSR implementation have been first identified and then evaluated for the ranking process using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based methodology. The outcome of the study clearly presents that lack of top management commitment, lack of significant benefit of CSR, and financial constraints are the most important barriers in effective implementation of sustainable CSR initiatives among organizations belonging to the Indian service industry. These results may be used by decision makers to understand and these barriers, and identify critical success factors for the CSR process, which will help them to ensure that CSR is effectively implemented in their respective organizations.JEL Codes - C35; L80; M1
Flamenco Performer’s Perceived Value: Development of a Measurement Index
Get PDFThis paper aims to explain the main elements influencing the perceived value of the flamenco performer. In the framework of cultural economics, it presents a methodology based on two stages: interviews to experts, to identify the different aspects which influence the value of the performer; and surveys to consumers, to measure the valuation of stated aspects. The data from surveys were used for an exploratory factor analysis which results identified three factors that influence the perceived value of the performer: virtuosity, feelings, and influencer-brand. The conclusions also show that among these factors, virtuosity may be used as a synthetic index of performer valuation, since it represents more than 42% of the accumulated total variance. Due to its findings the article is a useful instrument for researchers in cultural economics, art sociology, consumer studies, and empirical aesthetics.JEL Codes - Z1
Cultural and creative entrepreneurs in financial crises: Sailing against the tide?
Get PDFWe focus on a number of idiosyncrasies of cultural and creative entrepreneurs (CCEs) to study CCEs’ capacity of resilience under times of downturn (economic, financial and debt crisis). We analyse CC firms’ demography (born and dead), trends and performance and the association between subsidies received and firm survival. We look at mostly micro firms in a country where CCEs are particularly challenged from the financial perspective, namely Portugal. We exploit the unique availability of accounting micro data at private firm level in a time span of 8 years (2004-2011), which allows to include the effects of the latest financial crisis, and to understand the evolution of the economic success criterion. The obtained results about the impact of subsidies on survival are interesting in both CCEs and policy perspectives, suggesting a positive impact of subsidies in periods of downturn, and negative impact of subsidies in periods of growth of the economy. Further, CC firms revealed to be more dynamic than other firms in other sectors.JEL Codes - L26; Z11; L8
Ability-Biased Technical Change and Productivity Bonus in a Nested Production Structure: A Theoretical Model with Endogenous Hicks-Neutral Technology Spillover
Get PDFThis paper develops a model of endogenous trade-mediated productivity spillover in which jointly trade-intensity, capital-intensity of production, and skill-intensity for adoption of technology from an exogenously available stock of world knowledge determine firm’s productivity. The representative firm, in the process of maximising profit (or minimising costs), takes into account the benefits of technological improvements embodied in imported intermediates. Sectors with higher skilled labour intensity will have an advantage in extracting the ‘bonuses’ from spillovers. The framework is useful for exploring technology adoption, considering wage premium, investigating innovative changes in sectors, and analysing productivity differences.JEL Codes - D58; O47; O3
Interest Rate Reforms and Economic Growth in SADC Countries: The Savings and Investment Channel
Get PDFThe 2008/2009 global financial crisis has re-ignited the debate around financial reforms with contrasting views with regards to the impact of financial reforms on economic growth. This study examines the impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth through savings and investments in SADC countries for the period 1990-2015. Three specifications are used for the analysis; the first one determines the influence of interest rate reforms on savings, the second one analyses the effect of savings on investments while the third one examines whether investments have a positive impact on economic growth. The Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation technique is employed for analysis. The results show that interest rate reforms have a positive impact on economic growth through savings and investments. The study therefore recommends that market forces should be allowed to determine real interest rates and furthermore, real interest rates maintained at artificially low levels may harm economic growth.JEL Codes - C50; E20; E6
The Determinants of Income Inequality: The Role of Education
Get PDFThe economics literature reports mixed evidence on the importance of education as a determinant of income inequality. In this document we shed light on the debate by testing this relationship for a sample of developing and developed countries from 1990 to 2014. We control for country specific characteristics including trade openness, unemployment, foreign direct investment, and the share of elderly population. The results of robust panel data estimations unequivocally find that education is negatively and significantly associated with income inequality.JEL Codes - O1; O15; O5
Efficiency and Competition in Banking Industry: Case for ASEAN-5 Countries
Get PDFThis paper analyzes the level of the efficiency and competition (market structure) of ASEAN-5 banking industry from 2005 until 2016. Two methods were employed, i.e. Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Adjusted Lerner Index. The former is utilized to measure the bank efficiency in ASEAN-5 countries and the latter is applied to measure the bank competition (market structure) in ASEAN-5 banking industry. In order to connect the efficiency and competition level of ASEAN-5 banking industry, this study also utilizes quadrant analysis based on three different periods, namely the period before the global crisis (2005-2008), the period after global crisis (2009-2015), and the period after the establishment of ASEAN Economic Community –AEC- (2016). The results reveal that on average, the efficiency and the competition level of banks in ASEAN-5 countries are found to be relatively high. The competition in ASEAN-5 banking industry could be classified as monopolistic where each bank competes by diversifying their products or segments.JEL Codes - D24; D40; G2