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Purpose: This study aimed to explore the spatial accessibility dynamics of urban parks and their driving forces from 1901 to 2010 in terms of the dynamic relationships between spatial morphology and road networks, taking Nanjing City as an example. Design/methodology/approach: This study mapped and examined the spatiotemporal distribution of urban parks and road networks in four time points at Nanjing: the 1910s, 1930s, 1960s and 2010s, using the analysis methodology of spatial design network analysis, kernel density estimation and buffer analysis. Two approaches of spatial overlaying and data analysis were adopted to investigate the accessibility dynamics. The spatial overlaying compared the parks' layout and the road networks' core, subcore and noncore accessible areas; the data analysis clarified the average data on the city-wide and local scales of the road networks within the park buffer zone. Findings: The analysis of the changing relationships between urban parks and the spatial morphology of road networks showed that the accessibility of urban parks has generally improved. This was influenced by six main factors: planning implementation, political policies, natural resources, historical heritage and cultural and economic levels. Social implications: The results provide a reference for achieving spatial equity, improving urban park accessibility and supporting sustainable urban park planning. Originality/value: An increasing number of studies have explored the spatial accessibility of urban parks through the relationships between their spatial distribution and road networks. However, few studies have investigated the dynamic changes in accessibility over time. Discussing parks' accessibility over relatively long-time scales has practical, innovative and theoretical values; because it can reveal correlational laws and internal influences not apparent in short term and provide reference and implications for parks' spatial equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Based on the rankings of the global competitiveness index and the fragile states index, this paper aims to suggest alternative approaches to shed some light on the effectiveness of rankings in helping emerging economies improve their competitiveness from an institutional standpoint. Design/methodology/approach: The statistical analysis consisted of a two-stage analysis; the first stage consisted of constructing an updated Alternative Institutional Quality Index (AIQI), intending to design a comparative measure between dimensions over time. The second stage consisted of evidencing the structure of each of the observed dimensions' variance to evidence the existing changes or gaps of the AIQI and its components. The authors incorporated the Kruskas–Wallis (KW) model to test the results. Findings: This paper demonstrates that the analyzed countries generally maintain their competitive position, even though changes in their scores are reflected. This makes invisible the development and progress factors generated by the countries that are mainly found with low scores and only reflect stable structures that allow them to maintain their position. Research limitations/implications: The current study has a limitation because it concentrated on a few selected indicators based on the literature review. The limitations of this research may be overlooked in the future by adding additional variables and observations. The paper could be improved by including intra- and inter-regional approaches to control based on the occurrence of specific circumstances (i.e. informal institutions, economic development or factor endowments). Practical implications: The paper contributes to the applicable measurement of competitiveness and its structural change over time. Originality/value: This paper proposed an alternative and simple methodology to assess the evolution of the competitiveness indicators; this methodology could be used to measure structural changes at different levels, which may be an input for the design and implementation of policies to foster competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by exploring the role of various economic factors including economic development, foreign investment, human capital, energy dependency, financial development (FD), etc., in CO2 emissions. Design/methodology/approach: For empirical analysis, the samples for the years 2001–2019 of six GCC region countries that apply the fully modified ordinary least squares model were utilized. Findings: The statistical results show that economic development, foreign investment, energy dependency, human capital and oil rents have a direct impact on CO2 emissions, whereas trade liberalization and FD have an indirect impact. Nonetheless, the empirical analysis rejects the EKC hypothesis in the set of GCC region countries. The empirical findings in connection to the basic premises of the EKC model are found to be statistically constant for the linear relationship. The GCC region is rigid regarding CO2 emission because of its reliance on main energy sources like oil and gas. Research limitations/implications: The current analysis directs the policy recommendations about environmental sustainability to environmental economists and other policymakers. The development of such policy instruments as the adoption of contemporary technology and reduced reliance on fossil fuels is advised to mitigate the negative externalities of multiple economic factors. Similarly, future studies should focus on trade liberalization and FD, both of which have a declining trend in CO2 emissions. Originality/value: The present study is innovative by means of testing the EKC model and exploring how other factors related to CO2 emissions in the GCC region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of green finance (i.e. green investment, green security and green credit) along with capital formation and government educational expenditures on the economic development of (ASEAN) countries. Design/methodology/approach: The data were gathered from the central banks of all ASEAN countries and the World Bank Indicators between 2008 and 2019. The fixed-effect model and generalized method of moments were used to check the nexus between the constructs. Findings: The results revealed that green finance along with capital formation and government educational expenditures have a positive association with the economic development of ASEAN countries. Research limitations/implications: The study carries some limitations, even though it addresses the underlying variables comprehensively. These limitations provide opportunities to future researchers and authors to expand the scope and accuracy of their study. This research investigation has been supported by the data collected from a single source. Though data collection is maintained correctly, it is still recommended to the upcoming scholars to acquire data to reconfirm the same findings using multiple data sources. The data collected from using some specific data source may be limited in scope and may hinder the comprehensive elaboration of the underlying variables and their mutual relationship. Therefore, the utilization of multiple sources of data collection gives data sufficient to meet the requirement of an okay quality research study. The study is about the economies of ASEAN countries. It checks the influences of green finance development on economic activities and the country's economic growth in ASEAN countries' economies. Thus, its results are valid only in the economies of these countries, and this research investigation lacks generalizability. For generalizability, the authors must consider the underlying variables in the world's vast economies. They must adopt a standard scale to judge the impacts of green financial development on economic development. Besides, the study analyzes the economic factors, economic conditions and their effects on the country's position in the world economy in the face of a severe epidemic like COVID-19. Thus, the results may be different in the case of the normal situation. So, a general standardized study is recommended to be conducted in the upcoming days. Originality/value: Green finance has significant capability to improve the global economy, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is beneficial for policymakers to develop policies related to economic development with reference to green finance and also helps future research on a similar topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper not only aims to validate the environment Kuznets curve concerning five Asian economies but also attempts to analyze the impact of some additional factors like financial development, energy consumption and foreign direct investment (FDI) on carbon emissions. Design/methodology/approach: This paper applies pooled mean group approach on the variables of a panel of five Asian economies namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia for a period of 35 years from 1980 to 2014. Findings: This study finds that while moderate economic growth as well as moderate financial development increase carbon emissions, accelerated or exponential economic growth as well as exponential financial development eventually reduce the level of carbon emissions. Energy consumption was found to have a direct and significant relationship with carbon emissions. FDI inflows when analyzed on a stand-alone basis were observed to have an inverse relationship with carbon emissions, while FDI inflows when clubbed with financial development were observed to have a direct relationship with carbon emissions. Practical implications: The findings of this study, which validate the environmental Kuznets curve, suggest striving for higher economic growth, even if it causes increased carbon emissions to begin with, as the effects on carbon emissions would eventually get reversed when the economic growth accelerates at a higher rate. This study also suggests the appropriate routing of FDI through a mature and developed financial sector to leverage its impact on the environment in a positive way. Originality/value: To the best of the knowledge of the authors of this paper, there has not been any research carried out so far, which has analyzed the impact of the combination of variables selected for this study concerning the five Asian economies covered in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the impact of remittances on the economic performance of the 16 Asian developing countries, taking account of their institutional qualities. Design/methodology/approach: A panel of 16 Asian developing countries (Central Asia, South Asia, and ASEAN) over the period of 2002–2016 is employed in the analysis. To assess the impact of remittances on economic performance in consideration of institutional quality, OLS estimates as well as GMM are used. Findings: The effect of remittances on economic growth is statistically significant. In addition, they also impact economic growth when they interact with institutional or financial development variables. For the long-run growth process of Central Asian, South Asian, and ASEAN countries, a sound and smooth institutional framework appears to be indispensable. Also, it was found that more fragile economies tend to achieve bigger growth than less fragile economies, as this kind of growth is triggered by more remittances flowing into fragile economies. However, the impact of remittances on growth does not depend on the level of ICT. FDI and financial development have positive impact on growth. Research limitations/implications: There are limitations to this research as well. Due to the unavailability of data, several countries had to be removed from this study. The cost of sending money might be an important variable for this study. However, the data on this variable from reliable sources are almost impossible to gather. Therefore, this variable is also not included in this research. The savings from remittances when intermediated through formal financial channels will, in fact, produce a positive allocation and distribution of resources that may eventually become an important source of growth. However, one precondition for larger and greater growth is that remittances need to be well and properly utilized by the financial sector. Therefore, quality institutions should be formed first, which can facilitate investment activities and make the flow of remittances more convenient. Originality/value: This paper exclusively considers the case of Asian developing countries (Central Asia, South Asia, and ASEAN) to assess the impact of remittances on the economic performance of these countries, with special consideration of the interaction effects of remittances and institutional quality in these emerging Asian economies. The previous studies on the effect of remittances on growth do not conform to one concrete conclusion. This study is undertaken in a bid to get the best possible result on the impact of remittances on the growth of the selected countries, majority of which attract substantial chunk of remittances into their economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: At present, countries are concerned about inflation and the impact of inflation on each country's economic growth. This inflation has been said by economists that inflation is a phenomenon of currency and currency, which has caused inflation in some countries by their monetary policy. According to the economic theory of Karl Marx, Irving Fisher, Friedman, inflation is caused by a continuous increase in the money supply. Design/methodology/approach: The economic theories of Fisher, Friedman and an econometric model are applied to analyse the relationship between money supply and inflation. Besides, Vietnam's and China's research data are also collected in the period of 2012-2016. Findings: It is found out that the continuous increase in the money supply causes inflation in the long-term, but the continuous increase in the money supply growth does not cause inflation in a short time, this was analyzed based on the theory of monetary quantity. Moreover, Chia's and Vietnam's correlations of the money supply growth and inflation are 99.1 per cent. These correlations are very close. Originality/value: Research results show that money supply and inflation are closely related, and the money supply directly affects economic growth. Therefore, the government should have the relevant monetary policy to grow the economy and proposals to make monetary policy, control inflation levels and stimulate economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal the economic impact of policy reversals related to market liberalization reforms in China. Design/methodology/approach: To perform the analysis, the authors hand-collect 59 financial market liberalization policy reversals from 1999 to 2017. These reversals are related to the liberalization of the stock market, bond market, derivatives market, forex market, lending market, and real estate market etc. The authors employ a stylized equilibrium interest rate model from Li et al. (2013) to deduce the impact of policy reversals on economic growth and the associated volatility after the announcement of each policy reversal. Findings: First, the authors discover that about half of reversals are related to some tradeoff between the economic growth and the volatility associated with growth. Second, the authors also find that about a quarter of the reversals are detrimental to both the growth and the stability. These reversals, if known to policymakers, should be entirely avoided or corrected. Third, using a simple diagnostic test, the authors can identify detrimental reversals at the intra-day frequency by computing the change of the term spread and the volatility before and after the reversals. Practical implications: The findings are useful for identifying effective policymaking in developing countries where mature democratic and rigorous policymaking processes are often lacking and formulating economic policies is challenging. The findings suggest that policy reversals serve China well by improving the quality of the policy made without posing destructive consequences to the existing economic infrastructure. This empirical evidence is important for a better understanding of the benefits of policy reversals on economic growth. Social implications: The empirical procedure provides a timely and objective evaluation of policy shifts, allowing for the general public to discern the rationale behind the policy decisions. Consequently, stakeholders' trust and confidence in policymakers is enhanced so that the probability of the successful implementation of structural reforms may increase in these developing countries. Originality/value: First, the results reveal some successful examples of Chinese policymaking in the path of liberalizing financial market. The authors find that the Chinese liberalization policy flip-flops have resulted in a more balanced growth on some occasions with reduced growth rate and volatility. Second, the proposed methodology provides an objective evaluation of policy shifts, allowing for the public to infer the general direction of the impact generated by policy shifts. Subsequently, stakeholders' trust and confidence in policymakers can be enhanced and/or restored if the process of finding a successful path of structural reforms is unambiguous. Finally, the interest rate model also provides a timely method to evaluate the impact of policy shifts at an intra-day frequency, whereas most macroeconomic indicators are available at longer frequencies such as monthly or quarterly. The timeliness in understanding the economic consequences of policy reversals can be critical to prevent the destructive consequences of bad ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between government expenditure and economic growth in Botswana over the period 1985‒2016. The study employed the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach in investigating the nexus. The study makes the argument that the effectiveness of public spending should be assessed not only against the amount of the expenditure but also by the type of the expenditure. The empirical findings showed that aggregate expenditure has a negative short-run and positive long-run effect on economic growth. When expenditure is disaggregated, both forms of expenditures have a positive short-run effect on economic growth, whereas only a long-run positive impact of recurrent expenditure is observed. The study suggests the need to prioritize scarce resources in productive recurrent and development spending that enables increased productivity. Design/methodology/approach: This study examined the effectiveness of government spending in Botswana, within an ARDL framework from 1985 to 2016. To achieve this, the analysis is carried out on both an aggregate and disaggregated level. Government spending is divided into recurrent and development expenditures. Findings: This study examined the effectiveness of government spending in Botswana, within an ARDL framework from 1985 to 2016. To achieve this, the analysis hinged on both the aggregate and disaggregated levels. The results of the aggregate analysis suggest that total public expenditure has a negative impact on economic growth in the short run; however, its impact becomes positive over the long run. On disaggregating government spending, the results show that both recurrent and development expenditures have a significant positive short-run impact on growth; however, in the long run, the significant positive impact is only observed for recurrent expenditure. Practical implications: The results provide evidence of the diverse effects of government expenditure in the country. In the period under investigation, 73 percent of total government expenditure in Botswana was recurrent in nature, whereas 23 percent was related to development. From the results, it can be observed that although the recurrent expenditure has contributed to increased growth and must be encouraged, it is also pertinent for the Botswana Government to endeavor to place more emphasis on productive development expenditure in order to enhance short- and long-term growth. Further, there is a need to strengthen the growth-enhancing structures and to prioritize the scarce economic resources toward productive spending and ensuring continued proper governance over such expenditures. Originality/value: The study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of government spending in a small open, resource-reliant middle-income SSA economy and argues that the effectiveness of public spending must be assessed not only against the amount of the expenditure but also on the type or composition of the expenditure. The study contributes to the scant empirical literature on Botswana by employing the ARDL approach to cointegration technique in estimating the long- and short-run impact of government expenditure on economic growth between 1985 and 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Nowadays, foreign capital inflow (FCI) is considered as a catalyst for economic development and an important source of transferring technology and foreign exchange earnings from developed to developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to study, first, the impact of different forms of FCIs, namely, foreign direct investment (FDI), personal remittances (PR) and official development assistant (ODA) on economic growth on 26 top African countries; and, second, which of them is more effective on economic growth of the studied countries. The results of this paper are very important for host governments’ policy and help them to design their economic plans to absorb the suitable foreign inflow.Design/methodology/approach The paper uses Pooled Mean Group (PMG) econometric technique to estimate the heterogeneous panels over the period 1992–2016.Findings The results of the study show that all three forms of FCIs have positive and significant effects on economic growth in the long and short run. However, the PR had the most effect on economic growth in the long and short run. The study suggests that the governments should design and implement appropriate fiscal, monetary and trade policies in order to create and improve an enabling environment to attract FCIs as a supplementary source of domestic investment.Research limitations/implications The research limitations of this paper are as follows: data sets of FDI, PR and ODA were available not for all African countries; and, data sets that were available were of before the year 1992. Thus, the research is done for the African countries which had the data sets after the year 1992.Practical implications The result of this paper indicates the impact of each FDI, PR and ODA in economic growth. So, countries can take more attentions to each of them on economic planning.Social implications FCIs are one of the important external source of exchange for each country. So, the study of importance of each of them is necessary for economic planning.Originality/value Most of the previous studies have examined the impact of three different forms of FCIs on economic growth separately, on different countries and regions and using various models and econometric techniques. One of the contributions of this paper is focused on the impacts of FDI, PR and ODA on economic growth separately and simultaneously in 26 top recipient African countries and using the PMG technique which is an advanced econometrical estimation and studied less about it. The other contribution of this research is the comparison of the impact of different FCIs on economic growth, and it is very important for governments’ economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings: Scope for SMEs to impact on economic development is significantly enhanced when effective strategies are deployed. Creation of adaptive strategy types that are aligned with important leadership vision can better enable such firms to perform effectively within an operating environment subject to frequent change. Originality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Growing evidence suggests regional economic factors impact on individual outcomes, such as life expectancy and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that player-specific and regional differences have on the number of senior international appearances football players accumulate over the course of their careers, for six UEFA member countries, from 1993 to 2014.Design/methodology/approach The research employs a Poisson regression model to analyse the impact of individual and regional factors on the number of senior international caps a footballer receives over the course of their career.Findings The results indicate that both individual and regional variables can explain the number of caps a player receives over the course of their career. The authors find that an individual’s career length positively influences the number of international caps accrued. Players born in wealthier and more populous regions accumulate a greater number of international appearances. Distance from the capital has no effect, however, the number of youth academies in the player’s region of birth has a significant positive effect.Research limitations/implications The analysis is limited to regional variations within economically developed states. It would be interesting to test whether the correlation between relative regional development and international success exists in less developed countries. The authors only address mens international football in this study and cannot comment on the generality of the findings across genders or sports.Practical implications The results can provide insights for local football authorities and policy makers concerned with regional characteristics and those interested in the development of elite talent.Originality/value This is the first study to analyse a pan-European data set, using an increasingly adopted econometric method to understanding regional economic development – Poisson modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the direct and indirect impacts of social organization in promoting Chinese economic growth. It adopts empirical research to test the correlated hypotheses, and tries to put forward some policy suggestions.Design/methodology/approach Social organizations are measured by four indicators in this paper. It proposes five hypotheses about the impact of social organization on economic growth and builds an economic growth model including social organization. The ordinary least squares and stepwise regression methods are conducted to estimate the economic growth model with the data from 1999 to 2015.Findings Through the empirical analysis, it finds that the added value of social organization, human capital, investment and government budget expenditure affect economic growth significantly. The number of social organization at the end of each year has a positive significant effect on entrepreneurship, while the added value and growth rate of it have a negative effect on it. The numbers of social organization and full-time employee have significant effect on number to workers in the labor force. Only the number of social organization has positive significant effect on public education.Originality/value This paper conducts an empirical study on the impact of social organization on economic growth in China and fills a gap of the role of social organization on the economy in developing countries. The results provide referenced information for public policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Road and transportation has a significant role in the prosperity, economic growth and development of a region. The main purpose of this study is to conduct an in-depth analysis of local residents’ attitude towards road and transport infrastructure (China–Pakistan economic corridor, CPEC) and the wider economic, social, cultural and environmental impact on local people.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from the local people. Factor analysis and structural equation modelling approach were used to test the relation between the observed and latent variables.Findings The result discovered that road infrastructure has significant socio-economic and cultural impacts that significantly affect the local people support for CPEC development. It also revealed that more promotion and awareness regarding benefits of the project for dwellers lead to more support of the local residents in the study area.Practical implications Information provided by this study will help policymakers to gain local resident support for the project and make policies accordingly for the future projects.Originality/value This study investigated the attitude and support of the local people based on the road infrastructure’s social, economic, cultural and environmental impact, which has never been examined in the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gather the current definitions of supply chain management in practical and analytical usage, to develop standards for assessing definitions and to apply these standards to the most readily available definitions of the term.Design/methodology/approach In this research, the authors gathered the current definitions of supply chain management in practical and analytical usage from journals, textbooks, universities, and industry associations and online.Findings The research ends with proposed definitions for consideration. Discussion and areas for future research are included.Research limitations/implications Involved organizations, supply chain management programs in higher education, and professional and certifying organizations in the field need to meet and work together to research consensus on the final definition of the field, realizing that definitions can evolve, but also recognizing that a starting point is needed in this rapidly growing area.Practical implications The authors argue, quite simply, that a consensus definition of supply chain management is unlikely as long as we continue offering and accepting definitions that are technically unsound. Many of the current definitions violate several principles of good definitions. For these reasons, they are either empty, too restrictive, or too expansive. Until we come across or develop a definition that overcomes these limitations and agree on it, then we will still search for “the” definition without finding it. The field will become more crowded with definitions, but less certain, and progress will be restricted.Originality/value Theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners in a discipline require key terms in a field to share a nominal definition and prefer to have a shared real or essential definition. Yet in supply chain management, we find no such shared definition, real or nominal. Even the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional offers its definition with the caveat: “The supply chain management (SCM) profession has continued to change and evolve to fit the needs of the growing global supply chain. With the supply chain covering a broad range of disciplines, the definition of what is a supply chain can be unclear” (CSCMP, 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The conceptualization of flexibility in organizations historically emerged from three views which relate to economic, to organizational and to manufacturing perspectives. Despite the growing number of publications about supply chain flexibility in the area of supply chain management, there is a lack of consensus on how to define and to conceptualize supply chain flexibility from a management point of view. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive overview of the literature on the supply chain flexibility perspective and contributes to our understanding of the current state of research and its future development.Design/methodology/approach The research methodology used is the systematic literature review. In total 92 articles were selected from databases of well-known journal publishers in the field of economics, business studies and management sciences as well as grey literature to cover the topic of supply chain flexibility.Findings A limited number of studies in the field of supply chain flexibility apply theories and define the term supply chain flexibility. Instead they focus on a particular part or dimension of the supply chain. Based on the analysis, a distinction is made between flexibility in the supply chain and supply chain flexibility. Based on the function and characteristics of the supply chain, the authors selected 30 flexibility dimensions that cover supply chain flexibility by concentrating on the different business areas involved.Research limitations/implications The results support researchers and practitioners by identifying relevant trends and gaps in the field of supply chain flexibility.Originality/value The authors review the dimensions and aspects of supply chain flexibility that are currently taken into account in the literature. In this way, the authors provide an overarching perspective on the flexibility literature relating to supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this study aims to analyze solution providers’ strategic capabilities that facilitate above-average returns.Design/methodology/approach The study applies a qualitative comparative case method. In addition to an extensive set of secondary data, the results are based on interviews with 35 executives from nine leading industrial solution providers, their strategic customers and suppliers. The analyzed solution providers were identified based on quantitative survey data.Findings By observing six distinctive resources and three strategic business processes, the present study identifies seven strategic capabilities that occur in different phases of solution development and deployment: fleet management capability, technology-development capability, mergers and acquisitions capability, value quantifying capability, project management capability, supplier network management capability and value co-creation capability.Research limitations/implications The study develops a generic model for the strategic capabilities of servitization. Application of the developed model to different contexts would further validate and enhance it.Practical implications Managers can use the developed model to benchmark, identify, build and manage solution providers’ strategic capabilities and associated practices.Originality/value The study develops a valuable conceptual model based on the comparative case data. Case firms were selected for the study based on a representative quantitative data set. The results were verified and triangulated with external data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to obtain greater insights into the implications for human resource development (HRD) in times of economic development, with a focus on China–Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC). In recent times of economic development, a number of economic corridors have emerged globally as tools of regional cooperation and development. In the context of Pakistan, there is a lack of appropriate attention to the field of HRD, which has suffered neglect through the decades (Abbasi and Burdey, 2008; Asrar-ul-Haq, 2015). With this conception, the present economic interventions merit a well-constructed and proper HRD policy for Pakistan. This study will provide HRD insights for policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and business executives.Design/methodology/approach The research approach of this study is purely based on literature review and on secondary data.Findings Based on the facts and literature reviews, this study concluded that One belt, One Road in general and CPEC in particular as an economic corridor can bring sustainable and long-lasting impact on the economy only if HRD is given proper attention.Originality/value To the best knowledge of the researchers, this is the first study that highlighted the HRD issue in CPEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a review of the trade policy in the UAE. It also investigates the dynamic interaction between trade openness and GDP per capita in this emerging economy.Design/methodology/approach The asymmetric generalized impulse response functions and the asymmetric causality tests developed by Hatemi-J are used.Findings The results from asymmetric generalized impulse response functions indicate that a positive permanent shock in the trade openness results in a significant positive response in the cumulative sum of the positive component of the GDP per capita. Such a response is not found for the negative shocks in the trade openness. Furthermore, neither a positive nor a negative shock in the GPD per capita results in any significant response in the trade openness. These empirical findings are also supported by the implemented asymmetric causality tests.Originality/value This is the first attempt that investigates the impact of trade openness on economic performance in the UAE. Unlike previous literature on the topic, this paper allows for asymmetric impacts in the empirical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In recent years, social media have attracted considerable attention. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical literature review of social media research with the aim of developing a conceptual framework to explain how social media applications are supported by various social media tools and technologies and underpinned by a set of personal and social behavior theories or models. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted a two-stage approach. The first stage involves a critical literature review of academic journals in social media research, followed by the proposal of a conceptual framework that highlights the tools and technologies as well as theories and models that serve as the foundation of social media applications. The second stage involves the use of an actual case to demonstrate how the proposed framework facilitates the development of a social media application for a regional division of an international non-government organization. Findings – The literature review indicated that social media have been applied in diverse business areas with the support of various social media tools and technologies and underpinned by a range of personal and social behavior theories and models. Based upon such findings, a conceptual social media application framework was devised and its usability illustrated via a real-life case study. Managerial implications are also discussed. Research limitations/implications – Social media covers a wide range of research topics and thus, the literature review presented in this study may not be exhaustive. Nevertheless, the proposed framework and case study can both serve as reference for future research and provide recommendations for practitioners in the design and development of their own social media applications. Practical implications – This study not only explains the importance of applying social media in various business sectors, but also enhances the understanding of the infrastructure of social media applications. The study also provides insights for improving the efficiency of application solutions. Organizations are advised to adopt social media in their business based on the proposed conceptual framework. Originality/value – With a literature review of social media research and a real-life case study, this study presents a conceptual framework using extant theories and models to form a foundation for social media applications. The framework extends existing knowledge on the design and development of information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore a selection of projects to understand how conceptual appraisals and choice of concepts are handled, and to which extent the conceptual opportunity space is exploited. Design/methodology/approach – The study is essentially case based, and rooted in a number of in-depth studies of single-project cases. Its study combines information from document studies with interview data, and culminates in normative recommendations. Findings – The study found that the projects do indeed not exploit the opportunity space to a very large extent. The lessons from the present study is that the final choice is determined more by decision makers than the analysts, and will often be the result of policy and preferences more than objective reasoning. Which again suggests that the efforts as analysts will often be in vain. Research limitations/implications – These findings could influence theoretical models outlining project establishment and decision processes. Practical implications – The study has identified many shortcomings in public sector processes that could be utilized to alter such processes. Originality/value – The study is original in that it focusses on the concept development phase of projects, rather than the traditional execution phase, and has studied decision processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine influential factors on branded app adoption from the perspectives of brand relationship and consumption values. Thus a research model integrating consumer-brand relationship literature and the theory of consumption values is developed. Design/methodology/approach -- Using the survey approach, 245 participants were recruited from several app market forums and app fan communities. The banking apps issued by three large banks in Taiwan were used in the research. Findings -- The findings support the research model and confirm that brand relationship in terms of brand attachment and brand identification, and perceived overall consumption values are influencing factors in branded app adoption. Research limitations/implications -- The research advances the understanding of the effect of brand relationship on branded app use behavior and the functional and non-functional value components pertaining to branded apps. Originality/value -- Little research has investigated if brand-consumer relationship and consumption values can sustain and continually impact consumers' choice in mobile apps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this research is to explore the product-agency benefits that emerge as consumers interact with products, and how these benefits shape consumer experiences and marketing-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach -- Sixty-one depth interviews were conducted, and 78 written narratives were collected from informants, which explored how products had changed consumers' lives. The authors applied the tenets of grounded theory in the analysis of their text, creating abstract categories or tropes that reflected consistent patterns in their consumers' experiences. Findings -- The findings support that the conceptualization of agentic benefits should be broadened. The research identifies five salient product-agency benefits: regulation, clarification, transcendence, discovery and growth. Research limitations/implications -- Prior conceptualizations of agency in marketing focus almost solely on control, yet the authors find that multiple product-agency benefits emerge, supporting the need for a broader understanding of product-related agency. The authors also find these benefits can be anticipated or unanticipated. It is also important to note that the benefits can be paradoxical, in that while they often yield positive outcomes, at times they can produce unintended and even negative consequences. Practical implications -- Incorporating consumers' (vs researchers') benefit perceptions into theory building and preference models will enhance understanding of consumer behavior and improve predictive power of preference and choice forecasts. The five salient product-agency benefits provide mechanisms for segmentation and building meaningful relationships with consumers, can propel product development and assist in creating more effective marketing -- communication strategies. Originality/value -- The paper offers a broader, more nuanced conceptualization of agency beyond control. It identifies five types of product-agency benefits that reflect a wide spectrum of consumers' lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The issue of which financial initial conditions are necessary to materialize the benefits of financial globalization remains open to debate in the literature. In this paper, the author tries to put some empirical structure on the concept of financial threshold conditions in order to give policymakers guidance on the Kose et al. and Henry hypothesis. Its object is to assess whether financial benefits of financial globalization are questionable until greater domestic financial development has taken place in African countries. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In framing the financial dimension in a more concrete and tractable manner, the author examines the concerns of how domestic financial initial dynamics of depth (economic and financial systems), efficiency (banking and financial systems), activity (banking and financial systems) and size, play out in the financial development benefits of financial globalization. The estimation approach consists of assessing the impact of financial globalization through out the conditional distributions of domestic financial development dynamics. Findings – The introduction of previously missing financial dimensions into the debate generates a number of important findings. Only financial initial (threshold) conditions of size are necessary to materialize the benefits of financial globalization. While financial depth only partially validates the hypothesis, dynamics of efficiency and activity (credit) do not confirm the hypothesis. Practical implications – Addressing the issue of surplus liquidity in African financial institutions could improve the benefits of financial size and potentially reverse the trends of financial efficiency and activity. Depending on the context of sampled countries, the appropriate role of policy has always been either to stem the tide of capital flows or encourage them. Policymakers who have been viewing their challenges exclusively from the latter perspective for benefits in growth (finance) might be getting the financial dynamics badly wrong. Originality/value – Blanket financial development policies may not reap the financial benefits of financial globalization until domestic financial dynamics of depth, efficiency, activity and size are critically considered. The introduction of the last three previously missing components in the literature sheds more light on the globalization-development nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to extend a theoretical model due to Ljungqvist and data from a sample of 19 developing economies to empirically test it. Design/methodology/approach – Data for all variables are from the 2005 Human Development Report and the 2006 World Development Report. The author applies the least-squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression. Findings – Based on data from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, the paper uses a sample of 19 developing economies and finds that cross-country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index. Practical implications – Assuming a population consisting of skilled laborers, unskilled laborers, educators/health care personnel, and farmers, the paper shows that starting from an initial distribution of assets and in the absence of a perfect capital market along with human capital exhibiting increasing returns it is possible to have persistent inequality in the distribution of income or consumption. Regression results also are consistent with the theoretical implication of the model as the extent of inequality in land distribution and in access to education as well as inequalities in child health do linearly influence income or consumption inequality as measured by the ratio of the share of income or consumption accounted for by the richest quintile to that of the poorest quintile. As a result, if governments in developing countries aim to reduce inequality, they need to implement programs designed to reduce inequalities in child health by allowing children from the poorest of the poor to get fully immunized, which in turn would lead to a reduction in infant and child mortality and in education by providing low-income families with means so that their children have better access to education. Government land policies, on the other hand, that succeed in reducing inequality in land distribution in developing countries, may be beneficial in terms of lessening income/expenditure inequality. Finally, while the present model does not test for the impact that improving capital markets would have, it stands to reason that improving capital markets could also have an impact on decreasing inequality. Originality/value – In this paper the author uses a model due to Ljungqvist to show that individuals are relatively wealthy because they either own a fixed input such as land or they are able to invest in human capital, which in turn allow them to earn sufficient rent or labor income to remain wealthy. On the other hand, poor people either do not own land or are not capable of investing in human capital, and, as a result, earn low incomes and remain poor. This joint causation of factor endowment or human capital investment and income helps explain income distribution. Using data from the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank for a sample of 19 developing economies, it is found that cross-country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index. These results will help governments in developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to reduce income/consumption inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that conceptual frameworks developed from a general theory of competition, i.e. resource-advantage (R-A) theory, can facilitate managerial action. Design/methodology/approach – After a brief overview of resource-advantage (R-A) theory, five conceptual frameworks are developed and offered for the purposes of managerial action. Findings – This paper identifies several conceptual frameworks and after noting that conceptual frameworks that do not have positive theoretical foundations may not be as useful as those that do, develops five conceptual frameworks that are based on R-A theory. Practical implications – The conceptual frameworks developed in this paper have great potential for facilitating managerial action. Originality/value – Conceptual frameworks that have positive theoretical foundations can be very useful for practitioners. In fact, the frameworks proposed in this paper can replace frameworks that are currently in use for managerial action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between growth, investment and military expenditure in the case of the European Union-15. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses fixed panel models, random coefficient models and a trivariate VAR model to examine empirically the relationship between these three macroeconomic variables. Findings - The results obtained and reported herein show a significant positive effect of the growth rate on the share of military expenditure and on the share of investment. However, on the whole, the findings do not seem to point to any consistent quantitative relation between defence spending and either growth or investment. Thus, they appear to be in line with the findings of other studies. Originality/value - The economic effects of military spending have drawn considerable attention. Demand side effects on capacity utilisation are one possible channel through which the economy can be positively affected by such expenditure. On the other hand however, reduced investment and capital stock have been reported as a possible negative economic impact of defence outlays that can more than offset any growth inducing effective demand stimulation. The paper attempts a simultaneous assessment of the impact of defence expenditure on both growth and investment for the EU-15, something that has not been tried before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Using quarterly data for a sample of 17 industrial countries, the purpose of this paper is to study asymmetry in the face of monetary shocks compared to government spending shocks. Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines demand and supply channels determining the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal policies. The time-series model is presented and an analysis of the difference in the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal shocks within countries is presented. There then follows an investigation of the relevance of demand and supply conditions to the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal shocks. The implications of asymmetry are contrasted across countries. Findings – Fluctuations in real output growth, price inflation, wage inflation, and real wage growth vary with respect to anticipated and unanticipated shifts to the money supply, government spending, and the energy price. The asymmetric flexibility of prices appears a major factor in differentiating the expansionary and contractionary effects of fiscal and monetary shocks. Higher price inflation, relative to deflation, exacerbates output contraction, relative to expansion, in the face of monetary shocks. In contrast, larger price deflation, relative to inflation, moderates output contraction, relative to expansion in the face of government spending shocks. The growth of output and the real wage decreases, on average, in the face of monetary variability in many countries. Moreover, the growth of real output and the real wage increases, on average, in the face of government spending variability in many countries. Asymmetry differentiates the effects of monetary and government spending shocks within and across countries. The degree and direction of asymmetry provide a new dimension to differentiate between monetary and fiscal tools in the design of stabilization policies. Originality/value – The paper's evidence sheds light on the validity of theoretical models explaining asymmetry in the effects of demand-side stabilization policies. Moreover, the evidence should alert policy makers to the need to relax structural and institutional constraints to maximize the benefits of stabilization policies and minimize the adverse effects on economic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]