Search results for: stock market trading

Authors: Mohammed Alghamdi, Ghanem Al-Ghamdi

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The Governorate of Al-Baha is known for a history of farming that focused on plant products such as Date Palm, olives, figs, pomegranate and cereals as well as raising cattle, sheep, goats and to some extent camels for many decades. However, farmers have been facing with very significant natural and artificial challenges lately. The goal of this study was to determine the most significant challenges facing farmers in the Governorate of Al-Baha. Sixty farms were surveyed during the year of 2013. Farm survey focused on the farm management, farm financial status and governmental support. Our results showed that most farms were dedicated to farming with limited number of farms used parts of its premises for recreation. About 90% of farms were engaged in exclusively farming business. The financial status was good in most of the farms (80%), stable in 16% and hardly standing in less than 5%. Nearly 60% of the farms marketed 1-3 products and 23% marketed up to 6 products, 14% of the farms marketed up to 9 products and 4% marketed more than 9 products. Less than 14% had a chance to market their products over seven times per year while about 11% market their products and 32% of farms market 3-4 per year and 43% of farms market 1-2 per year. Our data showed that most farmers are in good financial status producing healthy food.

Keywords: farming system, Al-Baha, healthy food, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Bartholomew Badar

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An NFT is a digital certificate with rights to own an asset, including various valuable digital goods such as art pieces, music items, collectibles, etc. The market for NFTs started developing in 2017 and has lately seen increased growth as crypto-currencies and the blockchain market continue to gain popularity. This study aims to understand potential uses for NFTs concerning the music industry and record labels. Independent artists struggle to distribute and sell their music without the help of a record label. The NFT marketplace could be a great tool to eliminate this problem. The research objective is to identify possibilities for independent artists to own their music rights and share value with an audience. We see a trend of new-school music artists trying to enter the music NFT market by creating visualizers, beats, cover art, etc. To analyze various existing music NFT assets and determine whether or not independent artists could monetize their music without a record label is the main focus of this scholarly paper.

Keywords: blockchain, crypto-currency, music, artist, NFT

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Authors: Kalai Lamia, Jilani Faouzi

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Measuring and controlling risk is one of the most attractive issues in finance. With the persistence of uncontrolled and erratic stocks movements, volatility is perceived as a barometer of daily fluctuations. An objective measure of this variable seems then needed to control risks and cover those that are considered the most important. Non-linear autoregressive modeling is our first evaluation approach. In particular, we test the presence of “persistence” of conditional variance and the presence of a degree of a leverage effect. In order to resolve for the problem of “asymmetry” in volatility, the retained specifications point to the importance of stocks reactions in response to news. Effects of shocks on volatility highlight also the need to study the “long term” behaviour of conditional variance of stocks returns and articulate the presence of long memory and dependence of time series in the long run. We note that the integrated fractional autoregressive model allows for representing time series that show long-term conditional variance thanks to fractional integration parameters. In order to stop at the dynamics that manage time series, a comparative study of the results of the different models will allow for better understanding volatility structure over the Tunisia stock market, with the aim of accurately predicting fluctuation risks.

Keywords: asymmetry volatility, clustering, stylised facts, leverage effect

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Authors: Mihai Gheorghe

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Freelancing in IT has seen an increased popularity during the last years mainly because of the fast Internet adoption in the countries with emerging economies, correlated with the continuous seek for reduced development costs as well with the rise of online platforms which address planning, coordination, and various development tasks. This paper conducts an overview of the most relevant Freelance Marketplaces available and studies the market structure, distribution of the workforce and trends in IT freelancing.

Keywords: freelancing in IT, freelance marketplaces, freelance market structure, globalization, online staffing, trends in freelancing

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Authors: Anna Savchenko

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The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought about a wave of decolonisation throughout the Soviet space in the 1990s. While this emancipation ushered in an era of reform in the newly independent states, it also opened up the opportunity for countries such as Ukraine to be (re)colonised by a different ruling power: the European Union. Ukraine’s relationship with the EU has been further complicated by the fact that the country’s political leadership has aligned itself with a Western agenda of democratisation. This article challenges the neoliberal belief that the global market can spurn democratisation by analysing the way in which market privatisation in Ukraine has allowed for mass corruption to flourish. I submit that neoliberalism, or the sheer force of the global market, is just as colonising as modern-day imperialism has proven to be by providing an analytical synthesis of Russia and Ukraine’s century-old conflict. The EU’s demonstrated inability to mediate cross-border conflict in the region foreshadows that Ukraine may have been economically colonised by another failing state.

Keywords: neoliberalism, imperealism, Russian-Ukrainian conflict, democratisation, colonisation

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Authors: Luis N. Pereira, Marco P. Carrasco

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Dynamic pricing is a revenue management strategy in which hotel suppliers define, over time, flexible and different prices for their services for different potential customers, considering the profile of e-consumers and the demand and market supply. This means that the fundamentals of dynamic pricing are based on economic theory (price elasticity of demand) and market segmentation. This study aims to define a dynamic pricing strategy and a contextualized offer to the e-consumers profile in order to improve the number of reservations of an online distribution channel. Segmentation methods (hierarchical and non-hierarchical) were used to identify and validate an optimal number of market segments. A profile of the market segments was studied, considering the characteristics of the e-consumers and the probability of reservation a room. In addition, the price elasticity of demand was estimated for each segment using econometric models. Finally, predictive models were used to define rules for classifying new e-consumers into pre-defined segments. The empirical study illustrates how it is possible to improve the intelligence of an online distribution channel system through an optimal dynamic pricing strategy and a contextualized offer to the profile of each new e-consumer. A database of 11 million e-consumers of an online distribution channel was used in this study. The results suggest that an appropriate policy of market segmentation in using of online reservation systems is benefit for the service suppliers because it brings high probability of reservation and generates more profit than fixed pricing.

Keywords: dynamic pricing, e-consumers segmentation, online reservation systems, predictive analytics

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Authors: Jonghae Park, Daesung Kim

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The impact of aggressive and conservative working capital‘s strategies on the value and profitability of the firms has been evaluated by applying the panel data regression analysis. The control variables used in the regression models are natural log of firm size, sales growth, and debt. We collected a panel of 13,988 companies listed on the Korea stock market covering the period 2000-2016. The major findings of this study are as follow: 1) We find a significant negative correlation between firm profitability and the number of days inventory (INV) and days accounts payable (AP). The firm’s profitability can also be improved by reducing the number of days of inventory and days accounts payable. 2) We also find a significant positive correlation between firm profitability and the number of days accounts receivable (AR) and cash ratios (CR). In other words, the cash is associated with high corporate profitability. 3) Tobin's analysis showed that only the number of days accounts receivable (AR) and cash ratios (CR) had a significant relationship. In conclusion, companies can increase profitability by reducing INV and increasing AP, but INV and AP did not affect corporate value. In particular, it is necessary to increase CA and decrease AR in order to increase Firm’s profitability and value.

Keywords: working capital, working capital management, firm value, profitability

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Authors: Farah Kanani

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Blue Tide Environmental is a company focused on developing a network of used motor oil recycling facilities across the U.S. They initiated the redesign of its recycling plant in Texas, and aimed to establish an updated carbon footprint of re-refined used motor oils compared to an equivalent product derived from virgin stock that is not re-refined. The aim was to quantify emissions savings of a circular alternative to conventional end-of-life combustion of used motor oil (UMO). To do so, they mandated an ISO-compliant carbon footprint, utilizing complex models requiring geographical and temporal accuracy to accommodate the U.S. refinery market. The quantification of linear and circular flows, proxies for fuel substitution and system expansion for multi-product outputs were all critical methodological choices and were tested through sensitivity analyses. The re-refined system consisted of continuous recycling of UMO and thus, end-of-life is considered non-existent. The unique perspective to this topic will be from a life cycle i.e. holistic one and essentially demonstrate using this example of how a cradle-to-cradle model can be used to quantify a comparative carbon footprint. The intended audience is lubricant manufacturers as the consumers, motor oil industry professionals and other industry members interested in performing a cradle-to-cradle modeling.

Keywords: circularity, used motor oil, re-refining, systems expansion

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Authors: Raja Kannusamy

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The research focuses on the applicable technologies in the automobile industry and their effects on the productivity and annual revenue of the industry. A study has been conducted on 6 major automobile manufacturing industries represented in this research as M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 and M6. The results indicate that M1, which is a pioneer in technological applications, remains the market leader, followed by M5 & M2 taking the second and third positions, respectively. M3, M6 and M4 are the followers and are placed next in positions. It has also been observed that M1 and M2 have entered into an agreement to share the basic structural technologies and they maintain long-term and trusted relationships with their suppliers through the Keiretsu system. With technological giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Uber and Google entering the automobile industry in recent years, an upward trend is expected in the futuristic market with self-driving cars to dominate the automobile sector. To keep up with the market trend, it is essential for automobile manufacturers to understand the importance of developing technological capabilities and skills to be competitive in the marketplace.

Keywords: automobile manufacturing industries, competitiveness, performance improvement, technological applications

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Authors: Matthew Scott Lau

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This study addresses the research question: How effective has the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) been in reducing market failure in Singapore’s healthcare sector? The CHAS policy, introduced in 2012 in Singapore, aims to improve accessibility and affordability of healthcare by offering subsidies to low and middle-income groups and elderly individuals for general practice consultations and healthcare. The investigation was undertaken by acquiring and analysing primary and secondary research data from 3 main sources, including handwritten survey responses of 334 individuals who were valid CHAS subsidy recipients (CHAS cardholders) from 5 different locations in Singapore, interview responses from two established general practitioner doctors with working knowledge of the scheme, and information from literature available online. Survey responses were analysed to determine how CHAS has affected the affordability and consumption of healthcare, and other benefits or drawbacks for CHAS users. The interview responses were used to explain the benefits of healthcare consumption and provide different perspectives on the impacts of CHAS on the various parties involved. Online sources provided useful information on changes in healthcare consumerism and Singapore’s government policies. The study revealed that CHAS has been largely effective in reducing market failure as the subsidies granted to consumers have improved the consumption of healthcare. This has allowed for the external benefits of healthcare consumption to be realized, thus reducing market failure. However, the study also revealed that CHAS cannot be fully effective in reducing market failure as the scope of CHAS prevents healthcare consumption from fully reaching the socially optimal level. Hence, the study concluded that CHAS has been effective to a large extent in reducing market failure in Singapore’s healthcare sector, albeit with some benefits to third parties yet to be realised. There are certain elements of the investigation, which may limit the validity of the conclusion, such as the means used to determine the socially optimal level of healthcare consumption, and the survey sample size.

Keywords: healthcare consumption, health economics, market failure, subsidies

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Authors: Mohammad Hadi Khorashadi Zadeh, Amin Karkon, Hamid Golnari

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This study aimed to investigate the impact of information technology on the quality of accounting information was made in 2014. A survey of 425 executives of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange, using the Cochran formula simple random sampling method, 84 managers of these companies as the sample size was considered. Methods of data collection based on questionnaire information technology some of the questions of the impact of information technology was standardized questionnaires and the questions were designed according to existing components. After the distribution and collection of questionnaires, data analysis and hypothesis testing using structural equation modeling Smart PLS2 and software measurement model and the structure was conducted in two parts. In the first part of the questionnaire technical characteristics including reliability, validity, convergent and divergent validity for PLS has been checked and in the second part, application no significant coefficients were used to examine the research hypotheses. The results showed that IT and its dimensions (timeliness, relevance, accuracy, adequacy, and the actual transfer rate) affect the quality of accounting information of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange influence.

Keywords: information technology, information quality, accounting, transfer speed

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Authors: D. Tappi

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In the past decades, the idea of innovation moved from being considered the result of development to being seen as its means. Innovation and its diffusion are indeed keys to the development and economic catch-up of a country. However, the process of diffusing existing innovation in low income countries has demonstrated dependent on inadequate infrastructures and institutions. The paper examines the role of disruptive innovation in bridging the technology gap between high- and low-income countries, overcoming the lack in infrastructures and institutions. In particular, the focus of this paper goes to the role of disruptive innovation in people transportation in Nigeria. Uber, Taxify, and Smartcab are covering a small and interesting market that was underserved, between the high-end private driver markets, the personal car owners and the low-priced traditional cab and the Keke (tricycle). Indeed the small Nigerian middle class and international community have found in the sharing people transportation market a safe, reasonably priced means of transportation in Nigerian big cities. This study uses mainly qualitative data collection methods in the form of semi-structured interviews with major players and users and quantitative data analysis in the form of a survey among users in order to assess the role of these new transportation modes in shaping the market and even creating a new niche. This paper shows how the new sharing economy in people transportation is creating new solutions to old problems as well as creating new challenges for both the existing market players and institutions. By doing so, the paper shows how disruptive innovations applied to low income countries, not only can overcome the lacking infrastructure problem but could also help bridge the technology gap between those and high income countries. This contribution proves that it is indeed exactly because the market presents these obstacles that disruptive innovations can succeed in countries such as Nigeria.

Keywords: development, disruptive innovation, sharing economy, technology gap

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Authors: Nasser Alsadoun

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Today's companies in Saudi Arabian capital market must comply with strict criteria and adhere to rigid corporate governance rules and continuous disclosure requirements. Unlike other regulators in the region, decision makers of the Capital Market Authority (hereafter CMA) of Saudi Arabia believes that the announcements of economic sanctions and penalties for non-compliance firms will foster more effective regulatory compliance and hence improve the quality of financial reporting. An implied argument put forward by the opponents, however, states that such penalties are unnecessary and stated to be onerous for non-compliance firms. Over that last years, the CMA has publicly announced several economic fines levied on some listed companies for their failing to comply with corporate governance and continuous disclosure regulation clauses, with the amount of fine levied ranges between 50,000 SR to 100,000 SR for each failing. Economic theory suggests that rational investors make decisions based on a cost-benefit principal. The regulatory intervention made by CMA on the announcement of economic sanctions has been costly to the society (economy) hoping that it improves the transparency of financial statements. It is argued, therefore, that threat of regulators and economic sanctions will provide incentives for firms’ managers to report more relevant and reliable accounting information, and the benefit of such announcements is likely to be reflected in the context of the quality of the financial reports. Yet, the economic consequences of the revealed fines announcement for non-compliance firms in Saudi Arabian market have not been examined. Thus, this study attempts to empirically examine whether market participants are pricing the supposed benefits of rigid governance and disclosure rules in the Saudi market. The study employs an event study methodology to assess the impact of CMA economic sanctions announcements on the market price of non-compliance firms. The study also estimates and examines bid–ask spread behavior of violated firms around the CMA announcements. The findings indicate that the CMA fines announcements for failing to comply with governance and disclosure rules do not appear to play any significant role in securities pricing. In addition, tests of bid-ask behavior does not indicate any significant increases in information asymmetry surrounding these announcements. While the CMA has developed many goals to increase the awareness of listed companies with the best governance and disclosure practices, it seems they have to develop more goals to improve market efficiency and increase investors and public awareness.

Keywords: governance and disclosure violations, financial reporting quality, regulatory intervention, market efficiency

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Authors: Gultekin Gurcay

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It is known that the most crucial influence of the psychological, social and emotional factors that affect any human behavior is to corrupt the rational decision making mechanism of the individuals and cause them to display irrational behaviors. In this regard, the social context of human beings influences the rationality of our decisions, and people tend to display different behaviors when they were alone compared to when they were surrounded by others. At this point, the interaction and interdependence of the behavioral finance and economics with the area of social psychology comes, where intentions and the behaviors of the individuals are being analyzed in the actual or implied presence of others comes into prominence. Within the context of this study, the prevalent theories of behavioral finance, which are The Prospect Theory, The Utility Theory Given Uncertainty and the Five Axioms of Choice under Uncertainty, Veblen’s Hidden Utility Theory, and the concept of ‘Overreaction’ has been examined and demonstrated; and the meaning, existence and validity of these theories together with the social context has been assessed. Finally, in this study the behavior of the individuals in financial crisis situations where the majority of the society is being affected from the same negative conditions at the same time has been analyzed, by taking into account how individual behavior will change according to the presence of the others.

Keywords: conditional variance coefficient, financial crisis, garch model, stock market

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Authors: Pham Duc Hieu, Do Thi Huong Lan

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting the extent of voluntary disclosure by examining the annual reports of 205 industrial and manufacturing companies listing on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HSX) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) for the year end of 2012. Those factors include company size, profitability, leverage, state ownership, managerial ownership, and foreign ownership, board independence, role duality and type of external auditors. Evidence from this study suggests two main findings. (1) Companies with high foreign ownership have a high level of voluntary disclosure. (2) The company size is an important factor related to the increased level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports made by Vietnamese listed companies. The larger the company, the higher the information is disclosed. However, no significant associations are found between profitability, leverage, state ownership, managerial ownership, board independence, role duality and type of external auditors as hypothesized in this study.

Keywords: voluntary disclosure, Vietnamese listed companies, voluntary, duality

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Authors: Chokri Slim

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The objective of this research is attempting to respond to this question: Is there a significant difference between the regression model and statistical learning models in predicting credit risk management? A Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model was compared with neural networks including Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), and a Support vector regression (SVR). The population of this study includes 50 listed Banks in Tunis Stock Exchange (TSE) market from 2000 to 2016. Firstly, we show the factors that have significant effect on the quality of loan portfolios of banks in Tunisia. Secondly, it attempts to establish that the systematic use of objective techniques and methods designed to apprehend and assess risk when considering applications for granting credit, has a positive effect on the quality of loan portfolios of banks and their future collectability. Finally, we will try to show that the bank governance has an impact on the choice of methods and techniques for analyzing and measuring the risks inherent in the banking business, including the risk of non-repayment. The results of empirical tests confirm our claims.

Keywords: credit risk management, multiple linear regression, principal components analysis, artificial neural networks, support vector machines

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Authors: Maruf Ariyo Raheem, Patrick Oseloka Ezepue

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This research aimed at determining most appropriate heteroskedastic model to predicting volatility of 10 major Nigerian banks: Access, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust, Skye, Diamond, Fidelity, Sterling, Union, ETI and Zenith banks using daily closing stock prices of each of the banks from 2004 to 2014. The models employed include ARCH (1), GARCH (1, 1), EGARCH (1, 1) and TARCH (1, 1). The results show that all the banks returns are highly leptokurtic, significantly skewed and thus non-normal across the four periods except for Fidelity bank during financial crises; findings similar to those of other global markets. There is also strong evidence for the presence of heteroscedasticity, and that volatility persistence during crisis is higher than before the crisis across the 10 banks, with that of UBA taking the lead, about 11 times higher during the crisis. Findings further revealed that Asymmetric GARCH models became dominant especially during financial crises and post crises when the second reforms were introduced into the banking industry by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Generally, one could say that Nigerian banks returns are volatility persistent during and after the crises, and characterised by leverage effects of negative and positive shocks during these periods

Keywords: global financial crisis, leverage effect, persistence, volatility clustering

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Authors: Mahfoud Djebbar

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Stock dilution is a financial phenomenon resulting from the issue of additional shares by a company, or when holders convert their convertibles into new shares (capital increase). This issue and/or conversion enlarge the company’s share base that will result in marginal dilution (loss) for existing shareholders, and a benefit to new ones. Dilution issues have already been addressed in mainstream finance, particularly as far as information disclosure is concerned. However, in Islamic finance, stock dilution problems have not been deeply studied and the subject has not received sufficient attention from shariah-compatible firms, investors, and scholars. In this regard, this paper emphasises the forms, the effects of capital dilution on current shareholders as well as the ways and techniques of compensating them. And since the research in this field, in its Islamic perspective, is still in its infancy, the paper tries to analyse the phenomenon theoretically in detail using numerical examples, and expose some case studies of Shariah-compliant issuers of convertible Sukuk and how they compensate their existing shareholders. Finally, this study shows that the Sukuk issuers compensate old shareholders using the right of shuf’ah as a well known and practiced pre-emptive right in Islamic transactions centuries ago, as well as the ways conventional bond issuers use.

Keywords: compensating shareholders, convertible Sukuk, Islamic financial innovation, Shuf’ah

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Authors: Maciej Kozlowski, Agnieszka Piotrowska-Piatek

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Purpose: This article analyses the most important financial participation programmes (FPP) in Poland to show the relationship between the programmes applied and the socio-economic results of enterprises and assesses the impact of participation on these results and the impact of selected factors on the introduction of FPP. Methodology: The research has been based on a questionnaire answered by senior management of listed Polish companies that had at least one out of three major FPPs in operation, namely share ownership, profit-sharing, or a stock option scheme. Findings: The results of the empirical study conducted indicate the existence of some peculiar relationships. The vast majority of schemes in Polish public companies are aimed at the participation of the management personnel; these programmes are narrow-based (only for management) and rather hermetic, with a high concentration of stocks or shares in the hands of the management. Conclusion: FPPs generally have a positive influence on enterprise functioning. However, the effects are more social than economic (no significant economic improvement after programme implementation). The paper contributes to the debate about financial participation and suggests actions to popularize these programmes on a wider scale.

Keywords: financial participation, profit sharing, stock options, worker attitude, worker ownership

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Authors: Zuk Nechemia Turbovich

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This paper introduces DoD, a contextual spiral model that describes the lifecycle of products intended for manufacturing using Personal 3D Printers (P3DP). The study is based on a review of the desktop P3DPs market that shows that the combination of digital connectivity, coupled with the potential ownership of P3DP by home users, is radically changing the form of the product lifecycle, comparatively to familiar lifecycle paradigms. The paper presents the change in the design process, considering the characterization of product types in the P3DP market and the possibility of having a direct dialogue between end-user and product designers. The model, as an updated paradigm, provides a strategic perspective on product design and tools for success, understanding that design is subject to rapid and continuous improvement and that products are subject to repair, update, and customization. The paper will include a review of real cases.

Keywords: lifecycle, mass-customization, personal 3d-printing, user involvement

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Authors: Fereshteh Darash

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Reflective tax management corresponds to the Agency Theory since it determines the motivation of managers for tax management actions and short-term and long-term consequences. Therefore, selection of tax strategy contributes to the tax and financial position of the firm in the future. The aim of the present research is to evaluate the effect of tax management components on risk-taking of firms listed in Tehran stock exchange by using regression analysis method. Results show that tax effective rate, tax risk and tax planning have no significant effect on the firm's future risk. Results suggest that stakeholders assess the effective tax rate and delay in tax payment in line with their benefits. They tend to accept the higher risk cost for reduction of tax payments and benefits of higher liquidity in current period. Hence, effective tax rate and tax risk have no significant effect on future risk of the firm. Moreover, tax planning yields no information regarding the predictability of the future profits and as a result, it has no significant effect on the future risk of the firm since specific goals of financial reporting are in priority for the stakeholders and regardless of the firm’s data analysis, they take investment decisions and they less intend to purchase the stocks in a rational manner.

Keywords: tax management, tax effective rate, tax risk, tax planning, firm risk

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Authors: Hooshang Mohammad Alikhani, Javad Nikoukar

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Restructuring and deregulation of power industry have changed the objectives of transmission expansion planning and increased the uncertainties. Due to these changes, new approaches and criteria are needed for transmission planning in deregulated power systems. The objective of this research work is to present a new approach for transmission expansion planning with considering new objectives and uncertainties in deregulated power systems. The approach must take into account the desires of all stakeholders in transmission expansion planning. Market based criteria must be defined to achieve the new objectives. Combination of market based criteria, technical criteria and economical criteria must be used for measuring the goodness of expansion plans to achieve market requirements, technical requirements, and economical requirements altogether.

Keywords: deregulated power systems, transmission network, stakeholder, energy systems

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Authors: Titinan Pothong, Prasit Wangpakapattanawong, Stephen Elliott

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Shifting cultivation is an indigenous agricultural practice among upland people and has long been one of the major land-use systems in Southeast Asia. As a result, fallows and secondary forests have come to cover a large part of the region. However, they are increasingly being replaced by monocultures, such as corn cultivation. This is believed to be a main driver of deforestation and forest degradation, and one of the reasons behind the recurring winter smog crisis in Thailand and around Southeast Asia. Accurate biomass estimation of trees is important to quantify valuable carbon stocks and changes to these stocks in case of land use change. However, presently, Thailand lacks proper tools and optimal equations to quantify its carbon stocks, especially for secondary evergreen forests, including fallow areas after shifting cultivation and smaller trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of less than 5 cm. Developing new allometric equations to estimate biomass is urgently needed to accurately estimate and manage carbon storage in tropical secondary forests. This study established new equations using a destructive method at three study sites: approximately 50-year-old secondary forest, 4-year-old fallow, and 7-year-old fallow. Tree biomass was collected by harvesting 136 individual trees (including coppiced trees) from 23 species, with a DBH ranging from 1 to 31 cm. Oven-dried samples were sent for carbon analysis. Wood density was calculated from disk samples and samples collected with an increment borer from 79 species, including 35 species currently missing from the Global Wood Densities database. Several models were developed, showing that aboveground biomass (AGB) was strongly related to DBH, height (H), and wood density (WD). Including WD in the model was found to improve the accuracy of the AGB estimation. This study provides insights for reforestation management, and can be used to prepare baseline data for Thailand’s carbon stocks for the REDD+ and other carbon trading schemes. These may provide monetary incentives to stop illegal logging and deforestation for monoculture.

Keywords: aboveground biomass, allometric equation, carbon stock, secondary forest

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Authors: Maria Amaia Iza Padilla, Ibai Ostolozaga

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The objective of this paper is to analyze how transportation costs between regions within a country can affect not only domestic trade but also the allocation of resources in a given region, aggregate productivity, and relative domestic prices (tradable versus non-tradable). On the one hand, there is a vast literature that analyzes the transportation costs faced by countries when trading with the rest of the world. However, this paper focuses on the effect of transportation costs on domestic trade. Countries differ in their domestic road infrastructure and transport quality. There is also some literature that focuses on the effect of road infrastructure on the price difference between regions but not on relative prices at the aggregate level. On the other hand, this work is also related to the literature on resource misallocation. Finally, the paper is also related to the literature analyzing the effect of trade on the development of the manufacturing sector. Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey database, it is observed cross-country differences in the proportion of firms that consider transportation as an obstacle. From the International Comparison Program, we obtain a significant negative correlation between GDP per worker and relative prices (manufacturing sector prices relative to the service sector). Furthermore, there is a significant negative correlation between a country’s transportation quality and the relative price of manufactured goods with respect to the price of services in that country. This is consistent with the empirical evidence of a negative correlation between transportation quality and GDP per worker, on the one hand, and the negative correlation between GDP per worker and domestic relative prices, on the other. It is also shown that in a country, the share of manufacturing firms whose main market is at the local (regional) level is negatively related to the quality of the transportation infrastructure within the country. Similarly, this index is positively related to the share of manufacturing firms whose main market is national or international. The data also shows that those countries with a higher proportion of manufacturing firms operating locally have higher relative prices. With this information in hand, the paper attempts to quantify the effects of the allocation of resources between and within sectors. The higher the trade barriers caused by transportation costs, the less efficient allocation, which causes lower aggregate productivity. Second, it is built a two-sector model where regions within a country trade with each other. On the one hand, it is found that with respect to the manufacturing sector, those countries with less trade between their regions will be characterized by a smaller variety of goods, less productive manufacturing firms on average, and higher relative prices for manufactured goods relative to service sector prices. Thus, the decline in the relative price of manufactured goods in more advanced countries could also be explained by the degree of trade between regions. This trade allows for efficient intra-industry allocation (traders are more productive, and resources are allocated more efficiently)).

Keywords: misallocation, relative prices, TFP, transportation cost

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Authors: Muhammad Khaliqi, Amzul Rifin, Andriyono Kilat Adhi

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The non-tariff policy could make Indonesian shrimp exports decrease in the international market. This research was aimed to analyze factors affecting Indonesia's exports of shrimp and the impact of SPS and TBT policy on Indonesian shrimp. Factors affecting the exports of Indonesian shrimp were estimated using gravity model. The results showed the GDP of exporters and exchange rate, have a negative influence against the export of Indonesia’s shrimp exports. The GDP of the importers and trade cost have a positive influence against the export of shrimp Indonesia while the SPS policy and TBT don’t affect Indonesia's exports of shrimp in the international market.

Keywords: gravity model, international trade, non-tariff measure, sanitary and phytosanitary, shrimp, technical barriers to trade

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Authors: Zofia Romanowska

Abstract:

Recently there have been significant changes in the Polish energy market. Due to the government's decision to strengthen energy security as well as to strengthen the implementation of the European Union common energy policy, the Polish energy market has been undergoing significant changes. In the face of these, it is necessary to answer the question about the direction the Polish energy rationing sector is going, how wide apart the powers of the state are and also whether the real regulator of energy projects in Poland is not in fact the European Union itself. In order to determine the role of the state as a regulator of the energy market, the study analyses the basic instruments of regulation, i.e. the licenses, permits and permissions to conduct various activities related to the energy market, such as the production and sale of liquid fuels or concessions for trade in natural gas. Bearing in mind that Polish law is part of the widely interpreted European Union energy policy, the legal solutions in neighbouring countries are also being researched, including those made in Germany, a country which plays a key role in the shaping of EU policies. The correct interpretation of the new legislation modifying the current wording of the Energy Law Act, such as obliging the entities engaged in the production and trade of liquid fuels (including abroad) to meet a number of additional requirements for the licensing and providing information to the state about conducted business, plays a key role in the study. Going beyond the legal framework for energy rationing, the study also includes a legal and economic analysis of public and private goods within the energy sector and delves into the subject of effective remedies. The research caused the relationships between progressive rationing introduced by the legislator and the rearrangement rules prevailing on the Polish energy market to be taken note of, which led to the introduction of greater transparency in the sector. The studies refer to the initial conclusion that currently, despite the proclaimed idea of liberalization of the oil and gas market and the opening of market to a bigger number of entities as a result of the newly implanted changes, the process of issuing and controlling the conduction of the concessions will be tightened, guaranteeing to entities greater security of energy supply. In the long term, the effect of the introduced legislative solutions will be the reduction of the amount of entities on the energy market. The companies that meet the requirements imposed on them by the new regulation to cope with the profitability of the business will in turn increase prices for their services, which will be have an impact on consumers' budgets.

Keywords: license, energy law, energy market, public goods, regulator

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Authors: Ali Akber Jaffri, Asad Naseem, Javeria Khan

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to determine safety stock, maximum inventory level, reordering point, and reordering quantity by rearranging lot sizes for supplier and customer in MRO (maintenance repair operations) warehouse of Engro Polymers & Chemicals. To achieve the aim, physical analysis method and excel commands were carried out to elicit the customer and supplier data provided by the company. Initially, we rearranged the current lot sizes and MOUs (measure of units) in SAP software. Due to change in lot sizes we have to determine the new quantities for safety stock, maximum inventory, reordering point and reordering quantity as per company's demand. By proposed system, we saved extra cost in terms of reducing the time of receiving from vendor and in issuance to customer, ease of material handling in MRO warehouse and also reduce human efforts. The information requirements identified in this study can be utilized in calculating Economic Order Quantity.

Keywords: carrying cost, economic order quantity, fast moving, lead time, lot size, MRO, maximum inventory, ordering cost, physical inspection, reorder point

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Authors: Tippawan Nasawan

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to find the replenishment policy in Assembly-to-Order manufacturing (ATO) which some of the major components have lead-time longer than customer lead-time. The variety of products, independent component demand, and long component lead-time are the difficulty that has resulted in the overstock problem. In addition, the ordering cost is trivial when compared to the cost of material of the major component. A conceptual design of the Decision Supporting System (DSS) has introduced to assist the replenishment policy. Component replenishment by using the variable which calls Available to Promise (ATP) for making the decision is one of the keys. The Poisson distribution is adopted to realize demand patterns in order to calculate Safety Stock (SS) at the specified Customer Service Level (CSL). When distribution cannot identify, nonparametric will be applied instead. The test result after comparing the ending inventory between the new policy and the old policy, the overstock has significantly reduced by 46.9 percent or about 469,891.51 US-Dollars for the cost of the major component (material cost only). Besides, the number of the major component inventory is also reduced by about 41 percent which helps to mitigate the chance of damage and keeping stock.

Keywords: Assembly-to-Order, Decision Supporting System, Component replenishment , Poisson distribution

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Authors: Nadine Wills

Abstract:

The whole life thinking of buildings (independent if these are commercial properties or residential properties) will raise if incentive systems are provided to investors, planners and users. The Use of Building Information Modelling (BIM)-Systems offers planners the possibility to plan and re-plan buildings for decades after a period of utilization without spending many capacities. The strategy-incentive should be to plan the building in a way that makes rescheduling possible by changing just parameters in the system and not re-planning the whole building. If users receive the chance to patient incentive systems, the building stock will have a long life period. Business models of tenant electricity or self-controlled operating costs are incentive systems for building –users to let fixed running costs decline without producing damages due to wrong purposes. BIM is the controlling body to ensure that users do not abuse the incentive solution and take negative influence on the building stock. The investor benefits from the planner’s and user’s incentives: the fact that the building becomes useful for the whole life without making unnecessary investments provides possibilities to make investments in different assets. Moreover, the investor gains the facility to achieve higher rents by merchandise the property with low operating costs. To execute BIM offers whole property life cycles.

Keywords: BIM, incentives, life cycle, sustainability

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Authors: A. Almubrad, R. Clouse, A. Aljlaoud

Abstract:

Organizational culture (OC) is recognized to have an influence on the propensity of organizations to innovate. It is also presumed that it may impede the innovation process from thriving within the organization. Investigating the role organizational culture plays in enabling or inhibiting innovation merits exploration to investigate organizational cultural attributes necessary to reach innovation goals. This study aims to investigate a preliminary matching heuristic of OC attributes to the type of innovation that has the potential to thrive within those attributes. A mixed methods research approach was adopted to achieve the research aims. Accordingly, participants from a national telecom company in Saudi Arabia took the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). A further sample selected from the respondents’ pool holding the role of managing directors was interviewed in the qualitative phase. Our study findings reveal that the market culture type has a tendency to adopt radical innovations to disrupt the market and to preserve its market position. In contrast, we find that the adhocracy culture type tends to adopt the incremental innovation type and found this tends to be more convenient for employees due to its low levels of uncertainty. Our results are an encouraging indication that matching organizational culture attributes to the type of innovation aids in innovation management. This study carries limitations while drawing its findings from a limited sample of OC attributes that identify with the adhocracy and market culture types. An extended investigation is merited to explore other types of organizational cultures and their optimal innovation types.

Keywords: incremental innovation, radical innovation, organization culture, market culture, adhocracy culture, OACI

Procedia PDF Downloads 89