The impact of Islamic banking on the cost efficiency and productivity change of Malaysian commercial banks

This study employs Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to analyse Malaysian commercial banks during 1996–2002, and particularly focuses on determining the impact of Islamic banking on performance. We derive both net and gross efficiency estimates, thereby demonstrating that differences in operating characteristics explain much of the difference in costs between Malaysian banks. We also decompose productivity change into efficiency, technical, and scale change using a generalized Malmquist productivity index. On average, Malaysian banks experience moderate scale economies and annual productivity change of 2.68%, with the latter driven primarily by Technical Change (TC), which has declined over time. Our gross efficiency estimates suggest that Islamic banking is associated with higher input requirements. However, our productivity estimates indicate that full-fledged Islamic banks have overcome some of these cost disadvantages with rapid TC, although this is not the case for conventional banks operating Islamic windows. Merged banks are found to have higher input usage and lower productivity change, suggesting that bank mergers have not contributed positively to bank performance. Finally, our results suggest that while the East Asian financial crisis had a short-term costreducing effect in 1998, the crisis triggered a long-lasting negative impact by increasing the volume of nonperforming loans.

Is a little sunshine all we need? On the impact of sunshine regulation on profits, productivity and prices in the Dutch drinking water sector

This paper analyzes the performance of Dutch drinking water utilities before and after the introduction of sunshine regulation, which involves publication of the performance of utilities but no formal price regulation. By decomposing profit change into its economic drivers, our results suggest that, in the Dutch political and institutional context, sunshine regulation was effective in improving the productivity of publicly organised services. Nevertheless, while sunshine regulation did bring about a moderate reduction in water prices, sustained and substantial economic profits suggest that it may not have the potential to fully align output prices with economic costs in the long run. In methodological terms, the DEA based profit decomposition is extended to robust and conditional non-parametric efficiency measures, so as to account better for both uncertainty and differences in operating environment between utilities.

Growth expectations of business owners:impact of human capital, firm characteristics and environmental transition

This paper presents an empirical study based on a survey of 399 owners of small and medium size companies in Lithuania. Applying bivariate and ordered probit estimators, we investigate why some business owners expect their firms to expand, while others do not. Our main findings provide evidence that SME owner's generic and specific human capital matter. Those with higher education and 'learning by doing' attributes, either through previous job experience or additional entrepreneurial experience, expect their businesses to expand. The expectations of growth are positively related to exporting and non-monotonically to enterprise size. In addition, we analyse the link between the perceptions of constraints to business activities and growth expectations and find that the factors, which are perceived as main business barriers, are not necessary those which are associated with reduced growth expectations. In particular, perceptions of both corruption and of inadequate tax systems seem to affect growth expectations the most.

Impact of peanut allergy on quality of life, stress and anxiety in the family

Background: Peanut allergy (PA) is known to impact on quality of life (QoL) of the sufferer, but little research has focused on all family members. We therefore sought to establish the impact of PA on QoL and reported anxiety of children with clinically confirmed PA, their parents and older siblings. Methods: Forty-six families, who had a child with PA, completed QoL (PedsQLTM or WHOQOL-BREF), anxiety (SCAS or STAI) and perceived stress (PSS) scales. PA children completed a PA specific QoL questionnaire (Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2003;14:378). Parents and sibling also completed QoL proxy questionnaires for the PA child (PedsQLTM, Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2003;14:378). Results: Mothers rated their own psychological (P < 0.01) and physical (P < 0.05) QoL significantly worse than fathers rated theirs, and had higher scores than fathers for anxiety (P < 0.05) and stress (P < 0.001). Children with PA had significantly poorer physical health-related QoL (P < 0.05), QoL within school (P < 0.01) and general QoL (P < 0.05) than their siblings did, and greater separation anxiety (P < 0.05). The majority of differences were between girls with PA and female siblings. Mothers felt that there was a greater impact on QoL for their PA child, compared with that reported by siblings, fathers or the PA children themselves (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Mothers report that they have significantly poorer QoL and suffer more anxiety and stress than fathers do; this inter-parental difference may be an important feature of family stress caused by PA. Siblings have a similar view of how QoL affects the PA child as the PA child does, while mothers may possibly overestimate this impact.

The impact of relational demography on the quality of leader-member exchanges and employees' work attitudes and well-being

This study investigated the role of differences in age, organizational tenure and gender between manager and employee as potential moderators between employees' leader-member exchanges (LMX) and related work outcomes. The results support the interaction effect of manager-employee organizational tenure difference with LMX and outcome variables. Employees with a high organizational tenure difference from the manager reported the worst work outcomes when they perceived LMX was of low quality, whereas when the quality of LMX was high, they reported the highest work attitudes and well-being.

Impact of the counterion on the solubility and physicochemical properties of salts of carboxylic acid drugs

Aim: Salt formation is a widely used approach to improve the physicochemical and solid state properties of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. In order to better understand the relationships between the active drug, the selected counterion and the resultant salt form, crystalline salts were formed using four different carboxylic acid drugs and a closely related series of amine counterions. Thirty-six related crystalline salts were prepared, characterized and the relationship between solubility and dissolution behaviour and other properties of the salt and the counterion studied. Methods: Salts of four model acid drugs, gemfibrozil, flurbiprofen, ibuprofen and etodolac were prepared using the counterions butylamine, hexylamine, octylamine, benzylamine, cyclohexylamine, tert-butylamine, 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1-ol, 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1,3-diol andtris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane. Salt formation was confirmed, the salts were characterized and their corresponding solubilities determined and rationalized with respect to the counterions' properties. Results and conclusion: The properties of the salt highly dependent on the nature of the counterion and, although there is considerable variation, some general conclusion can be drawn. For the alkyl amines series, increasing chain length leads to a reduction in solubility across all the acidic drugs studied and a reduction in melting point, thus contradicting simplistic relationships between solubility and melting point. Small, compact counterions consistently produce crystalline salts with high melting point accompanied with a modest improvement in solubility and the nature of hydrogen bonding between the ions has a major impact on the solubility. © 2012 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.

An enhanced functional ability questionnaire (faVIQ) to measure the impact of rehabilitation services on the visually impaired

AIM To develop a short, enhanced functional ability Quality of Vision (faVIQ) instrument based on previous questionnaires employing comprehensive modern statistical techniques to ensure the use of an appropriate response scale, items and scoring of the visual related difficulties experienced by patients with visual impairment. METHODS Items in current quality-of-life questionnaires for the visually impaired were refined by a multi-professional group and visually impaired focus groups. The resulting 76 items were completed by 293 visually impaired patients with stable vision on two occasions separated by a month. The faVIQ scores of 75 patients with no ocular pathology were compared to 75 age and gender matched patients with visual im pairm ent. RESULTS Rasch analysis reduced the faVIQ items to 27. Correlation to standard visual metrics was moderate (r=0.32-0.46) and to the NEI-VFQ was 0.48. The faVIQ was able to clearly discriminate between age and gender matched populations with no ocular pathology and visual impairment with an index of 0.983 and 95% sensitivity and 95% specificity using a cut off of 29. CONCLUSION The faVIQ allows sensitive assessm ent of quality-of-life in the visually im paired and should support studies which evaluate the effectiveness of low vision rehabilitation services. © Copyright International Journal of Ophthalmology Press.

Impact of electric vehicles on GB electricity demand and associated benefits for system control

This paper investigates the impact that electric vehicle uptake will have on the national electricity demand of Great Britain. Data from the National Travel Survey, and the Coventry and Birmingham Low Emissions Demonstration (CABLED) are used to model an electrical demand profile in a future scenario of significant electric vehicle market penetration. These two methods allow comparison of how conventional cars are currently used, and the resulting electrical demand with simple substitution of energy source, with data showing how electric vehicles are actually being used at present. The report finds that electric vehicles are unlikely to significantly impact electricity demand in GB. The paper also aims to determine whether electric vehicles have the potential to provide ancillary services to the grid operator, and if so, the capacity for such services that would be available. Demand side management, frequency response and Short term Operating Reserve (STOR) are the services considered. The report finds that electric cars are unlikely to provide enough moveable demand peak shedding to be worthwhile. However, it is found that controlling vehicle charging would provide sufficient power control to viably act as frequency response for dispatch by the transmission system operator. This paper concludes that electric vehicles have technical potential to aid management of the transmission network without adding a significant demand burden. © 2013 IEEE.

The impact of phase conjugation on the nonlinear-Shannon limit:the difference between optical and electrical phase conjugation

We show that optical and electrical phase conjugation enable effective nonlinear compensation, The impact of polarization mode dispersion and finite processing bandwidth on the ultimate limits are also considered.

Examining the impact of thought substitution on intentional forgetting in induced and naturally occurring dysphoria

Two experiments were conducted to determine if natural and induced dysphoria is associated with impaired forgetting and, whether a thought-substitution strategy would ameliorate any observed deficits. Study 1: 36 dysphoric & 36 non-dysphoric participants learnt a series of emotional word pairs. Participants were subsequently presented with some of the cues and were asked to recall the targets or prevent the targets from coming to mind. Half of the participants were provided with substitute words to recall instead of the original targets (aided suppression). At final memory testing, participants were asked to recall the targets to all cues. Dysphoric participants exhibited impaired forgetting, even when using a thought substitution strategy. Non-dysphoric participants, however, were able to use substitutes to suppress words. Study 2: 50 healthy participants initially completed the aided condition of the forgetting task. Participants were then given a positive or negative mood-induction, followed by another version of the forgetting task. Although all participants showed a forgetting effect prior to the mood-induction, only the positive group was successful at forgetting after the mood induction. Taken together, these findings do not support the utility of thought-substitution as an aid to forgetting in individuals in a naturally or induced dysphoric mood.

A seismic shift? An evaluation of the impact of new media on perceptions of freedom of expression and privacy

New media platforms have changed the media landscape forever, as they have altered our perceptions of the limits of communication, and reception of information. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp enable individuals to circumvent the traditional mass media, converging audience and producer to create millions of ‘citizen journalists’. This new breed of journalist uses these platforms as a way of, not only receiving news, but of instantaneously, and often spontaneously, expressing opinions and venting and sharing emotions, thoughts and feelings. They are liberated from cultural and physical restraints, such as time, space and location, and they are not constrained by factors that impact upon the traditional media, such as editorial control, owner or political bias or the pressures of generating commercial revenue. A consequence of the way in which these platforms have become ingrained within our social culture is that habits, conventions and social norms, that were once informal and transitory manifestations of social life, are now infused within their use. What were casual and ephemeral actions and/or acts of expression, such as conversing with friends or colleagues or swapping/displaying pictures, or exchanging thoughts that were once kept private, or maybe shared with a select few, have now become formalised and potentially permanent, on view for the world to see. Incidentally, ‘traditional’ journalists and media outlets are also utilising new media, as it allows them to react, and disseminate news, instantaneously, within a hyper-competitive marketplace. However, in a world where we are saturated, not only by citizen journalists, but by traditional media outlets, offering access to news and opinion twenty-four hours a day, via multiple new media platforms, there is increased pressure to ‘break’ news fast and first. This paper will argue that new media, and the culture and environment it has created, for citizen journalists, traditional journalists and the media generally, has altered our perceptions of the limits and boundaries of freedom of expression dramatically, and that the corollary to this seismic shift is the impact on the notion of privacy and private life. Consequently, this paper will examine what a reasonable expectation of privacy may now mean, in a new media world.

The impact of family forms on interpersonal influence between single parent and full families

The relationship between individual thoughts and the social environment has been widely studied in sociology (Weber, 1968), psychology (Lewin, 1951) and social psychology. The influence of reference groups on individual behaviour is often manifested in the decisions made by consumers while members of these reference groups are often the individual’s friends and acquaintances. Their decisions, their values and norms serve as an example for the individual. In this study the influences of reference groups are examined within the context of the family form in Hungary. The paper focuses on the nature of peer influence in single parent households and full families, to analyse the normative and informational dimensions of peer pressure and communication patterns within the family.

A válság hatása a vállalatok marketingtevékenységére = The Impact of Financial Crisis on Marketing Activities of Hungarian Companies

A tanulmányban azt elemeztük, hogy a vizsgált vállalatok a válságra milyen marketingválaszokat gondoltak megfelelőnek. Ennek megválaszolásához a „Versenyben a világgal” kutatási program 2009-ben készült felmérésének 300 vállalatra kiterjedő mintáját elemeztük, amelyet szakértői interjúkkal egészítettünk ki. A tanulmány alapozó részében elemeztük a nemzetközi trendeket és megoldásokat. A marketingben a válaszok helyessége ugyanis annak alapján ítélhető meg, hogy milyen mértékben képes a vállalat a fogyasztók dinamikusan alakuló igényeit formálni vagy azoknak megfelelni oly módon, hogy figyelembe veszi a környezet sajátosságait. A vizsgált vállalatok válságkezelő stratégiája ad-hoc jellegűnek mondható, nem illeszkedik az addigi stratégiai irányokhoz vagy az addig folytatott marketingstratégiához. A legnépszerűbb válságkezelő marketingeszközök az új piacok keresése, az akciózás és a költségcsökkentés. Közepesen népszerű a más média használata, a termékinnováció, az árcsökkentés, valamint a reklámkiadások csökkentése. A legkevésbé kedvelt eszközök pedig a marketingtevékenység kiszervezése, a termékválaszték vagy a termékminőség csökkentése. A választott eszközök típusai alapján három stratégiai irány határozható meg, az alternatív utak keresése, az ármérséklés, valamint a beszűkülés. A megkérdezett vállalatok 39,9%-a beszűkülő stratégiát, 30,4%-a az alternatív és ármérséklő stratégiák kombinációját, míg 29,7% egyik stratégiát sem preferálja. A választás azonban a legtöbb esetben inkább ad-hoc jellegűnek, mint tudatosan átgondolt stratégiának tűnik, mivel a választott irány nem függ a vállalat addigi marketingtevékenységétől vagy az addig hangsúlyosnak vélt jellemzőktől és versenyelőnyöktől. ________ In this study the marketing responses of the companies were analyzed, which were involved in the Competitiveness Research Program survey carried out during 2009 among 300 companies, combined with expert interviews. A literature review proceeded the empirical part. The capability of dynamic adaptation to consumer needs defines the right strategy in marketing. In our analysis we mainly found ad-hoc adaptation to handling the crisis that has little connection to firms’ previous strategic directions or their marketing strategy. The most popular crisis management tools include the search for new markets, promotions, and cost reductions. New media, product innovation, price reductions and lower advertising is less followed by companies. The least frequent reactions include outsourcing and reducing product quality. Based on the above three directions emerge. 39,9 % of the companies contract, 30,4 % use a combination of price reduction and alternative strategies and the remaining subset has formulated no strategy. The strategic directions show little correlation to previous practices or to the core competitive advantages.