Estimating import and export demand elasticities for Mauritius and South Africa

In this paper, we re-estimate the import and the export demand functions for Mauritius and South Africa using time series data. We use the bounds tests for cointegration and find evidence of a long-run relationship between import demand, income and prices for both countries. Our long run elasticities reveal that domestic income and relative prices have significant effects on the import demand for both countries, with income being the most important determinant. Furthermore, we find that while South Africa’s export demand is not responsive to relative prices or income; for Mauritius income is statistically significant.

Keeping talents for advancing service firms in Asia

Purpose – Skill shortages worldwide have intensified the need for talent management. Few papers examine the pattern of human resource (HR) and talent management practices that help retain competent employees among service multinational companies (MNCs) in Asia. The purpose of this paper is to map out a number of HR practices used by service companies and to examine the effect of talent retention as perceived by MNC managers on service delivery capacity and business growth.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey data of 281 service MNCs in six Asian countries (namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand) are used to compare country and sectoral differences. Standard multiple regression analysis is conducted to test the link between HR practices, employee retention, and service firm performance.

Findings – The results confirm that there are statistically significant linkages between HR practices, talent retention and firm performance. In particular, various skill training and development programs are seen to be significantly associated with capacity to deliver quality service and on firm growth as perceived by managers surveyed. Informal recruitment methods that are used more by Asian-bred firms have contributed to better retention rates. Not all formalised HR practices lead to talent retention; and the degree to which HR is perceived to have impacted on firm performance varies.

Research limitations/implications – The paper focuses on examining the perceptual impacts of human resource management (HRM) practices on firm performance, rather than actual HRM impacts. The interpretation of results should be taken with caution.

Originality/value – Talent management is influenced by country specific variables. This paper shows how important it is for service firms to focus on strategic selection of both formal and informal HR practices in order to deliver high quality service and to drive service firm growth.

Analyzing international travelers' profile with self-organizing maps

It is generally agreed that knowledge is the most valuable asset to an organization. Knowledge enables a business to effectively compete with its competitors. In the tourism context, an in-depth knowledge of the profile of international travelers to a destination has become a crucial factor for decision makers to formulate their business strategies and better serve their customers. In this research, a self-organizing map (SOM) network was used for segmenting international travelers to Hong Kong, a major travel destination in Asia. An association rules discovery algorithm is then utilized to automatically characterize the profile of each segment. The resulting maps serve as a visual analysis tool for tourism managers to better understand the characteristics, motivations, and behaviors of international travelers.

Middle powers and the building of regional order : Australia and South Korea compared

This article compares how two alliance partners of the United States — Australia and the Republic of Korea — are adjusting to the transition from the Cold War order in the Asia-Pacific to a new, as yet undefined regional order. As states occupying positions of privilege in the U.S.-led Cold War order, these two middle powers have engaged with the ASEAN grouping, the putative driver of the coming order, while maintaining traditional alliance commitments to the United States. This article focuses on proposals for the building of formal institutions and also other policies which can influence the formation of regional order, such as economic integration through the pursuit of free trade agreements. In examining an Asian and a non-Asian state, the article also considers how identity shapes attitudes to region and order.

Prescription medication hoarding and borrowing or sharing behaviours in older residents in the Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Aim: To examine prescription medication hoarding and borrowing or sharing (PMHBS) behaviours in older people, particularly which medications are subject to these behaviours and the circumstances that enable these behaviours.

Methods: A mixed methods triangulation design, using consecutive qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (survey) methodologies in a convenience sample of people older than 65 years, living independently in the Illawarra region (New South Wales).

Results: Focus group participants (n= 28) acknowledged PMHBS behaviours were widespread; however, very few survey respondents (n= 226) admitted to engaging in these behaviours. Main findings in the study were enablers for these behaviours: the prescription medication is considered the same as that prescribed previously; and self-medicating for pain relief.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PMHBS behaviours in this study was low, although it was acknowledged such behaviours occurred in the wider community. Sharing strong pain medication and the same prescription medication appeared to be acceptable in this population.

Competing notions of regionalism in South Korean politics

In the past decade, ASEAN has been the primary driver of East Asian regionalism, and Korea has been an active supporter of ASEAN plus Three. Korea has explored the idea of an East Asian Community, and has been relatively open to notions of Asia–Pacific regionalism. The ROK has involved itself comparatively heavily in regional projects as both an initiator and a participant, but its notion of ‘region’ has oscillated between more and less inclusive forms of regionalism. This article examines how competing conceptions of region have influenced Korea's pursuit of regional initiatives. By revisiting historical understandings of Korea's regional identity, we explore the normative bases and material interests which motivate Korean regional initiatives, and assess the impact of its proposals.

Implementation of diabetes prevention programs in rural areas : Montana and south-eastern Australia compared

Objective: To identify the key elements that enabled the Greater Green Triangle Diabetes Prevention Project (GGT DPP) and the Montana Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Prevention (CDDP) programs successful establishment and implementation in rural areas, as well as identifying specific challenges or barriers for implementation in rural communities.
Methods: Focus groups were held with the facilitators who delivered the GGT DPP in Australia and the Montana CDDP programs in the USA. Interview questions covered the facilitators’ experiences with recruitment, establishing the program, the components and influence of rurality on the program, barriers and challenges to delivering the program, attributes of successful participants, and the influence of community resources and partnerships on the programs.
Results: Four main themes emerged from the focus groups: establishing and implementing the diabetes prevention program in the community; strategies for recruitment and retention of participants; what works in lifestyle intervention programs; and rural-centred issues.
Conclusions: The results from this study have assisted in determining the factors that contribute to developing, establishing and implementing successful diabetes prevention programs in two rural areas. Recommendations to increase the likelihood of success of programs in rural communities include: securing funding early for the program; establishing support from community leaders and developing positive relationships with health care providers; creating a professional team with passion for the program; encouraging participants to celebrate their small and big successes; and developing procedures for providing post-intervention support to help participants maintain their success.

Efficiency, cointegration and contagion in equity markets : evidence from China, Japan and South Korea

This paper empirically examines whether three East Asian stock markets, namely, those of China, Japan and South Korea, are individually and/or jointly efficient, and whether contagion exists between the cointegrated markets. While individual market efficiency is examined through testing for the random walk hypothesis, joint market efficiency is examined through testing for cointegration and contagion. The present study finds that the hypothesis of individual market efficiency is strongly rejected for the Chinese stock market, but not for the Japanese and the South Korean stock markets. However, when testing for cointegration, market efficiency is strongly rejected for all these markets. We take a simple case of contagion and find that although there is a long-term relationship among the three markets, the contagion hypothesis cannot be rejected only between Japanese and South Korean stock markets, indicating short-run portfolio diversification benefits from these two markets.

Reconciliation and the Goguryeo/ Gāogōulì disputes between China and South Korea

Just as the failure to reconcile views of the past and to address historical injustice has damaged inter-state relations in East Asia, the Goguryeo/Gāogōulì dispute has harmed relations between South Korea and China. In this chapter, we provide a detailed analysis of the dispute, and explore how this contestation has been reconciled through elite settlement, UNESCO's arbitration and the idea of shared history.

Characteristics of cancer diagnoses and staging in South Western Victoria: a rural perspective

Australian states and territories have legislation mandating reporting of cancer diagnoses; however, tumour stage at diagnosis, treatment plan and associated outcomes are not routinely recorded in cancer registries for all tumour types. This study describes the Evaluation of Cancer Outcomes study that collects detailed information for patients diagnosed with cancer in south-western Victoria.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia occupies the mainland area east of India and south of China, as well as the archipelago between the mainland and Australia, west of the Pacific Ocean. The region is self-identified by its geographic proximity, although cultural commonalities across the region occur mostly at the level of consensus gentium rather than as an overarching mode of regional distinction. Its peoples derive from a broad East Asian racial grouping, dividing primarily along linguistic lines into four families of languages. These linguistic families thereafter quickly devolve into hundreds of ethnic groups, many of which have been bound together in postcolonial states that, to various degrees, comply or otherwise with precolonial polities. While some states have a strong sense of coherent national identity, others have had to consciously construct such an identity, with varying degrees of success and not a little resistance.