A network DEA quantity and quality-orientated production model: An application to Australian university research services

The motivation for this analysis is the recently developed Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) program developed to assess the quality of research in Australia. The objective is to develop an appropriate empirical model that better represents the underlying production of higher education research. In general, past studies on university research performance have used standard DEA models with some quantifiable research outputs. However, these suffer from the twin maladies of an inappropriate production specification and a lack of consideration of the quality of output. By including the qualitative attributes of peer-reviewed journals, we develop a procedure that captures both quality and quantity, and apply it using a network DEA model. Our main finding is that standard DEA models tend to overstate the research efficiency of most Australian universities.

Small firm training: Just meeting the day-to-day needs of the business

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore what the attitudes of small firm owner-managers are to developing the skills of their key resources and then examine how these and other factors affect owner-managers’ preferences for training these employees. Design/methodology/approach This study of training in small road transport firms in West Australia is cast in light of the literature on human resource management in small firms underpinned by insights drawn using the resource based view of the firm. Small firms (less than 20 people) dominate this industry, while the increasing freight task, and extreme distances between West Australian ports, towns and mines highlight this sectors’ importance. Survey results from 39 small road transport firms and interviews with nine owner-managers are analysed. Findings Legislative, regulatory and licensing requirements were shown to be a key determinant of skills development. Employers ensured that basic standards for employee certification and qualification were met, as the penalty for not doing so would be too high. Regulations drove the need for certain types of training – licenses, fatigue management, occupational health and safety, handling dangerous goods, the Maritime Security Identification Card card, forklift license, mine site inductions – while owner-managers knew where to get the training their staff needed. Although regulation appeared most visible in prescribing what happened in relation to training for drivers, the relevance of owner-managers’ attitudes could not be ignored, nor could conditions in the firms external environment as this shaped how these requirements were met. Research limitations/implications The RBV is useful in showing how skill development enabled similarity in skills across firms, while the attitudes owner-managers and economic and social conditions meant what happened in firms around skill development varied. The importance of small firm owner-managers’ attitudes are clearly highlighted and shown to influence organizational decisions and choices around training, but these were not independent of the regulatory framework and the economic and social conditions within which the firm operated. The small firms in this study did engage workers in formal training when necessary but it was put in the context of the idiosyncratic approach of the owner-manager and the day-to-day needs of the firm. “Training” was essentially about ensuring certain types of skills were held by employees and then passing on knowledge to ensure the behavior of employees was consistent with the owner-manager’s vision for the firm in its current environment. Originality/value Ways industry and government can encourage training activity that goes beyond the day-to-day firm needs are suggested.

Taking care of business: Tony Abbott and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

After the Australian election, United States President Barack Obama called newly elected Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to congratulate him upon his victory and encourage him to work co-operatively on the regional trade deal the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Pull the plug or take the plunge: Multiple opportunities and the speed of venturing decisions in the Australian mining industry

Effectively capturing opportunities requires rapid decision-making. We investigate the speed of opportunity evaluation decisions by focusing on firms' venture termination and venture advancement decisions. Experience, standard operating procedures, and confidence allow firms to make opportunity evaluation decisions faster; we propose that a firm's attentional orientation, as reflected in its project portfolio, limits the number of domains in which these speed-enhancing mechanisms can be developed. Hence firms' decision speed is likely to vary between different types of decisions. Using unique data on 3,269 mineral exploration ventures in the Australian mining industry, we find that firms with a higher degree of attention toward earlier-stage exploration activities are quicker to abandon potential opportunities in early development but slower to do so later, and that such firms are also slower to advance on potential opportunities at all stages compared to firms that focus their attention differently. Market dynamism moderates these relationships, but only with regard to initial evaluation decisions. Our study extends research on decision speed by showing that firms are not necessarily fast or slow regarding all the decisions they make, and by offering an opportunity evaluation framework that recognizes that decision makers can, in fact often do, pursue multiple potential opportunities simultaneously.

Submission to the Productivity Commission draft report business set-up, transfer and closure

The Commission has released a Draft Report on Business Set-Up, Transfer and Closure for public consultation and input. It is pleasing to note that three chapters of the Draft Report address aspects of personal and corporate insolvency. Nevertheless, we continue to make the submission to national policy inquiries and discussions that a comprehensive review should be undertaken of the regulation of insolvency and restructuring in Australia. The last comprehensive review of the insolvency system was by the Australian Law Reform Commission (the Harmer Report) and was handed down in 1988. Whilst there have been aspects of our insolvency laws that have been reviewed since that time, none has been able to provide the clear and comprehensive analysis that is able to come from a more considered review. Such a review ought to be conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission or similar independent panel set up for the task. We also suggest that there is a lack of data available to assist with addressing questions raised by the Draft Report. There is a need to invest in finding out, in a rigorous and informed way, how the current law operates. Until there is a willingness to make a public investment in such research with less reliance upon the anecdotal (often from well-meaning but ultimately inadequately informed participants and others) the government cannot be sure that the insolvency regime we have provides the most effective regime to underpin Australia’s commercial and financial dealings, nor that any change is justified. We also make the submission that there are benefits in a serious investigation into a merged regulatory architecture of personal and corporate insolvency and a combined personal and corporate insolvency regulator.

ACE Research Vignette 046: Australian Youth Entrepreneurship and Education

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepreneurship researchers. In this vignette, Associate Professor Paul Steffens investigates how Australia is placed on the word stage in terms of Youth Entrepreneurship.

Measuring sustainability performance within the Australian energy industry

Sustainability has become crucial for the energy industry as projects in this industry are extensively large and complex and have significant impacts on the environment, community and economy. It demands the energy industry to proactively incorporate sustainability ideas and commit to sustainable project development. This study aims to investigate how the Australian energy industry responds to sustainability requirements and in particular what indicators used to measure sustainability performance. To achieve this, content analysis of sustainability reports, vision statements and policy statements of Australian energy companies listed in the 2013 PLATTS Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings and government reports relating to sustainability has been conducted. The findings show that the energy companies extensively discuss sustainability aspects within three dimensions, i.e. community, environment, and economy. Their primary goals in sustainability are supplying cleaner energy for future, and doing business in a way that improves outcomes for shareholders, employees, business partners and the communities. In particular, energy companies have valued the employees of the business as a one of the key area that needs to be considered. Furthermore, the energy industry has become increasingly aware of the importance of measuring sustainability performance to achieve sustainability goals. A number of sustainability indicators have been developed on the basis of the key themes beyond economic measures. It is envisaged that findings from this research will help stakeholders in the energy industry to adopt different indicators to evaluate and ultimately achieve sustainability performance.

The equity and efficiency of the Australian share market with respect to director trading

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of directors breaching the reporting requirements of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and the Corporations Act in Australia. Further, it seeks to assess whether directors in Australia achieve abnormal returns from trades in their own companies. Design/methodology/approach – Using an event study approach on an Australian sample, abnormal returns for a range of situations were estimated. Findings – A total of 13 (seven) per cent of own‐company directors trades do not meet the ASX (Corporations Act) requirement of reporting within five (14) business days. Directors do achieve abnormal returns through trading in shares of their own companies. Ignoring transaction costs, outsiders can achieve abnormal returns by imitating directors' trades. Analysis of returns to directors after they trade but before they announce the trade to the market shows that directors are making small but statistically significant returns that are not available to the market. Analysis of returns to directors subsequent to the ASX reporting requirement up to the day the trade is reported shows that directors are making small but statistically significant returns that should be available to the market. Research limitations/implications – Future research should investigate the linkages between late reporting by directors and disadvantages to outside shareholders and the implementation of internal policies implemented to mitigate insider trading. Practical implications – Market participants should remain vigilant regarding the potential for late/non‐reporting of directors' trades. Originality/value – Uncovering breaches of reporting regulations are particularly important given that directors tend to purchase (sell) shares when the price is low (high), thereby achieving abnormal returns.

The differential impact of monetary policy announcements and explanatory minutes releases on the Australian interest rate futures market

Unlike US and Continental European jurisdictions, Australian monetary policy announcements are not followed promptly by projections materials or comprehensive summaries that explain the decision process. This information is disclosed 2 weeks later when the explanatory minutes of the Reserve Bank board meeting are released. This paper is the first study to exploit the features of the Australian monetary policy environment in order to examine the differential impact of monetary policy announcements and explanatory statements on the Australian interest rate futures market. We find that both monetary policy announcements and explanatory minutes releases have a significant impact on the implied yield and volatility of Australian interest rate futures contracts. When the differential impact of these announcements is examined using the full sample, no statistically significant difference is found. However, when the sample is partitioned based on stable periods and the Global Financial Crisis, a differential impact is evident. Further, contrary to the findings of Kim and Nguyen (2008), Lu et al. (2009), and Smales (2012a), the response along the yield curve, is found to be indifferent between the short and medium terms.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models for Australian banks under Basel III

This study compares Value-at-Risk (VaR) measures for Australian banks over a period that includes the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to determine whether the methodology and parameter selection are important for capital adequacy holdings that will ultimately support a bank in a crisis period. VaR methodology promoted under Basel II was largely criticised during the GFC for its failure to capture downside risk. However, results from this study indicate that 1-year parametric and historical models produce better measures of VaR than models with longer time frames. VaR estimates produced using Monte Carlo simulations show a high percentage of violations but with lower average magnitude of a violation when they occur. VaR estimates produced by the ARMA GARCH model also show a relatively high percentage of violations, however, the average magnitude of a violation is quite low. Our findings support the design of the revised Basel II VaR methodology which has also been adopted under Basel III.

Insolvency academics contributing to the review of insolvency laws: An Australian perspective

Introduction 1 It gives me great pleasure to contribute to this publication to honour Professor Ian Fletcher on his retirement as Foundation Chair of the INSOL International Academic Group. A collection of essays that include topics on domestic, cross-border and international insolvency appropriately reflects the breadth of Professor Fletcher’s impact on the scholarship of insolvency law – not only in his “home” jurisdiction of England and Wales and closer to home in Europe, but also stretching around the globe, in this case, to Australia. 2 In the early 1990s when I first began to research in the area of cross-border insolvency law, a colleague mentioned that they had recently attended the XIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law in Montreal in August 1990 and heard the Cross-border Insolvency: General Report expertly delivered by an English academic, Ian Fletcher, who was widely regarded as an authority in the area. This was my first introduction to Professor Fletcher’s work and over the intervening years I have referred often to his scholarship....

Plant Breeder's Rights: An Australian commentary December 2004

The aim of this manual is to provide a practical guide to the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth). It is a resource of information about the legislation, its administration, and its operation. This commentary is intended to assist plant breeders, scientific researchers, and business managers who want to make a more effective use of the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth) in the management and commercialisation of their intellectual property rights. It is also designed to enhance the understanding of the legislation among lawyers, patent attorneys, qualified persons, and policy-makers.

Protective legal regulation for home-based workers in Australian textile, clothing and footwear supply chains

Supply chain outsourcing has posed problems for conventional labour regulation, which focuses on employers contracting directly with workers, particularly employees. These difficulties have been exacerbated by the traditional trifurcated approach to regulation of pay and conditions, work health and safety and workers’ compensation. This paper analyses the parallel interaction of two legal developments within the Australian textile, clothing and footwear industry. The first is mandatory contractual tracking mechanisms within state and federal labour laws and the second is the duties imposed by the harmonised Work Health and Safety Acts. Their combined effect has created an innovative, fully enforceable and integrated regulatory framework for the textile, clothing and footwear industry and, it is argued, other supply chains in different industry contexts. This paper highlights how regulatory solutions can address adverse issues for workers at the bottom of contractual networks, such as fissured workplaces and capital fragmentation, by enabling regulators to harness the commercial power of business controllers at the apex to ensure compliance throughout the entire chain.

Business model publicness and socialness of the social enterprise

Social enterprise is important. Yet, there has been diverse understanding of the phenomenon in the literature. This paper attempts to make sense of the social enterprise phenomenon in the literature from a two-layer framework of two-by-two matrices. The first layer juxtaposes social enterprise against other organizations (a typology of organizations) and the second layer classifies different types of social enterprises (a typology of social enterprise). This framework may provide researchers with tools to develop a clear and comprehensive definition of social enterprise. For practitioners, the ability to recognize structures of different types of social enterprises may offer them guideline to design the appropriate business model to serve their purposes.