The Effects Of Human Resource Management Practices (Hrm) On Service Innovation In Malaysian Islamic Banks

Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji kesan amalan sumber manusia pada inovasi perkhidmatan dalam konteks bank-bank Islam dan secara praktik kajian ini meneliti tiga dimensi amalan HRM: pampasan, prestasi penilaian dan penyertaan. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of human resource practices on service innovation in the context of Islamic banks. This study examines three dimensions of HRM practices: compensation, performance appraisal and participation

Fragmenting markets and quality change in New Zealand foods: empirical analysis with a Rotterdam model

Very little is known about changes in the demand characteristics of food in New Zealand. As far as we can determine, there has never been a complete disaggregated food demand model estimated for New Zealand. The object of this paper is to update these estimates using more recent data to see whether there are grounds for believing that the structural changes that occurred primarily during the last two decades are having effects on the magnitude of food demand elasticities in New Zealand. To this end, a Rotterdam food demand system is estimated using time series data. The results indicate that over the last 20 years, household consumption has increased for fruit and vegetables, poultry, food eaten away from home, and sweet products, drinks and other foods. Fish, poultry, meat, farm products, cereals and meals away from home are all more price elastic than earlier estimates.consumer behaviour, food demand, agricultural and food policy, Rotterdam model, food quality, New Zealand, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

International Evidence on Cost, Revenue, and Profit Efficiency of Conventional and Islamic Banks

Bank efficiency is important in achieving the competitive edge for survival in a globalised banking industry. Conventional and Islamic banks operate on different principles in maximizing the wealth of their shareholders and are subjected to the competitive regulatory environment. Minimising cost and maximising revenues and profits to ensure survival are the two aims of all banks. These aims ensure the efficiency of financial sector and contribute to the overall economic growth. An important issue that needs to be addressed is the differences in the level of efficiency of these banks. In spite of the overwhelming empirical evidence on the efficiency of conventional banks, to date, there is no comprehensive evidence on the comparative cost, revenue, and profit efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks. This study fills this gap by analysing and comparing the efficiencies of Islamic and conventional banks in 21 countries during the period 1990-2005 The cost, revenue, and profit efficiency of Islamic banks and conventional banks are analyzed based on size, age, and region. The average and over-time efficiency for these banks are analyzed using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Financial Ratios. Overall cost and profit efficiencies are ascertained using the Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA). The findings suggest that there are no significant differences between the overall efficiency results of conventional and Islamic banks irrespective of the method of analysis. Based on the documented evidence on efficiency of conventional banks, these findings imply that the banking transactions compliant with the Shari'ah are not an impediment to efficiency of Islamic banks. However, there is a substantial avenue to fhther improve the cost, revenue and profit efficiencies in both the banking systems. The DEA based findings show no significance difference in average efficiency scores between big and small banks and between new and old banks in both the banking streams. However, geographical location explains the significant differences in revenue and profit efficiency. Further, the results show that, on average, banks are better in utilising their resources than in generating revenues and profits. In general, more inefficiency comes from the revenue side and banks in both banking streams need to further improve their revenue efficiency. The evidence, based on SFA, suggests no significant differences between the cost and profit efficiency scores between conventional and Islamic banks based on size, age, and region. Similar evidence is observed from the Financial Ratios analysis.Overall, the results on the efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks are consistent with the documented literature. The robustness of the results has been tested based on single-&untry analysis and dso a group of seIe&ted countries representing relatively less-developed and more-developed countries. Except for minor differences the results of these tests are consistent with the overall results, further substantiating the fact that there are no significant differences in cost, revenue and profit efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks

Manufacturing trade: The changing demand for apparel in New Zealand and import protection

New Zealand import protection was been reduced from amongst the highest in the developed world in the 1980’s to about the OECD average in 1999. At that point, Government stopped further reductions that had been planned. That policy has left import protection on apparel goods (clothing and footwear) at high levels and restricted imports from many important trading partners, particularly in Asia. Future import protection in apparel goods may need to be revisited as New Zealand continues negotiations on free trade agreements with China and other countries. The consumer gains that could be made from further reductions in apparel tariffs and anti-dumping duties will be influenced by recent market changes in New Zealand. Markets have changed a great deal over the last few decades in response to a range of demand and supply side factors. This paper reports on consumer demand elasticities estimated over the last twenty years for apparel items purchased by New Zealand households that would be useful in evaluating further reductions in import protection. The Rotterdam model parameter estimates indicate that the demand for particular apparel items has been very price-elastic with significant cross-price elasticities. This would imply that the overall consumer gains from reductions in import protection for apparel might be less than in the past

On the dynamics of international stock market efficiency

Purpose – to measure the temporal change in market efficiency of 17 international stock indices based on small firms

New Zealand's love affair with houses and cars

Twice in the last decade there have been surges in the demand for property in New Zealand - what could be described as speculative bubbles. An important part of these demands has been that for owner occupied housing. This has occurred in a generally buoyant economic environment since the early 1990’s as the economy finally recovered from the reform shock of the period 1985-91. In both cases, the central bank has raised interest rates in attempts to stem this exuberance. The housing market itself has been examined in two recent papers, Grimes and Aitken (2004) and Rosborough (2005). They explore drivers within the housing market at the national and regional levels. An earlier household demand system study by Michelini (1999) excluded housing (other than housing operations) essentially because of its capital nature and the lumpy transactions involved. A notable feature of the period has been an apparent drift away from owner occupied housing towards rental accommodation. This has been characterised as an affordability issue in the face of rapidly rising house prices. However, there have also been changes in government housing policy with a move away from state provision towards rental house subsidies for qualifying people (means tested portable housing supplements). This policy change is likely to have driven rents upwards and caused some substitution away from rental accommodation. More generally, there may have been a number of expenditure switches by households occurring over the last decade, so it is interesting to explore consumer expenditure patterns generally in an attempt to uncover any changes in demand parameters and preferences that may have occurred recently. This paper addresses this last issue with particular reference to the household demand for housing using household expenditure data (HES) up to 2004. As supply of housing, even that in the fairly long run, is essentially fixed (Grimes and Aitken, 2004), housing prices and the allocation of the existing stock are determined initially by demand conditions. Good estimates of housing demand elasticities will therefore be very useful in understanding variations in housing demands. Housing presents an interesting case because housing represents both a consumption good and a capital good. The purchase of houses for both own use and for rent can, accordingly, be thought of as having two income streams - an explicit or implicit rental stream and a stream of capital gains. The capital gains portion is attractive in New Zealand because, where the owner is not seen to be a property trader, it is not subject to income tax