Rok 2020 (ročník 23)
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- ItemAlter Ego Only Four Times? The Case Study of Business Profits in the Visegrad Group(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Valášková, Katarína; Gavurová, Beáta; Ďurana, Pavol; Kováčová, Mária; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper studies a new point of view and the approach to profit as an inherent part of business finance as well as a symbol of every healthy economy. The fundamental function of the profit is a stimulus; it means initial motivator of the business activity. The profit provides core resources for survival at the business start and after the stabilization, it is the synonym for progress. The aim of this paper is to detect significant change-points in times series of EBITDA during the analysed period in every country of the Visegrad Group to recognize the progress years in the monotonic development. We use a method of homogeneity test of time series that delivers significant robust results. We observe the variable EBITDA to eliminate different tax, interest and depreciation policies of these emerging countries. The original research of this article is based on empirical results of business profits of the sample of 3,853 enterprises covered by the broad theoretical review. Firstly, we identify missing values; and detect the outliers by Z-score and Grubbs test. EBITDA of 1,058 Slovak enterprises, 688 Czech enterprises, 1,376 Polish enterprises and 731 Hungarian enterprises is analysed during the period from 2010 to 2018. We eliminate the inconsistent observations and construct average values of EBITDA. Secondly, we prove normality by Jarque-Bera test, and support it by Shapiro-Wilk test, Anderson-Darling test, Lilliefors test to deliver reliable results. Thirdly, we find an independency of distribution that confirm randomness by the Box-Pierce test. And finally, we identify the years that affect heterogeneity of EBITDA in the countries of the Visegrad Four. We uncover some really surprising results. For all countries in the Visegrad Four, the year 2013 is detected as a change-point at a significance level of 0.05. This significant year shifts EBITDA between two homogeneous series with corresponding central lines and recognizes the similar annual development within the groups. In addition, we discuss the results to the areas and factors affecting the business risk. The adjustable area represented by the business dynamism has no significant impact on the development of EBITDA. The uncontrollable macroeconomic factors such as a GDP, unemployment rate, inflation rate, average monthly gross wage, and Ease of doing business index demonstrate the same development of Slovak, Czech, Polish and Hungarian enterprises. We connect our gained results to the undisputed influence of these factors and its derived components on monotonic development of EBITDA. Despite the fact, that the countries are not economically interconnected as they used to be in the past, in has to be underlined that their mutual relations are still very narrow and close and that might be the reason, why identical results are achieved in the countries with divergent development.
- ItemAn Analysis of Bond Market Liquidity and Real Sector Output in Selected African Economies(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Eke, Patrick O.; Adetiloye, Kehinde A; Adegbite, Esther O; Ekonomická fakultaThere is increasing traction in the literature on the activities of the secondary securities’ market especially with bonds on financial development, with little known on its functional linkage to real sector growth. Following popular theories on bond financing, this study sought to fill this gap by examining if functional tie exists between the secondary bond markets and real sector output among fourteen African countries with functional bond markets and complete data. Among the variables adapted for use are real gross domestic product per capital, corporate bond issues, industrial output, corporate bond turnover, financial education, electricity consumption and institutional quality. The study tested through unit roots to augmented Toda-Yamamoto non-causality and co-integration approach to investigate both the short- and long-term relationships among the different variables. A priori, it was expected that market information would engender capital raising through bond issues and fund allocation. The study however, discovers that corporate bond turnover does not cause industrial output growth, neither does it cause corporate bond issue. An important short run result indicates that the impact of financial education is gradually being felt in the bond markets. For most of the long-run relationships, the study accepted the Null hypothesis. This implies that the investing public do not absorb the usefulness of the market information, which may explain the thinness and shallowness of African corporate bond market overtime. The liquidity signalling effects is however found to influence regulatory institutional quality in the long-run. An accelerated financial market liberalization and tax incentives for private sector provision of market infrastructure are recommended among others for improvement in the African bond markets investigated, among others.
- ItemAnalysis of Green Economy Dimension in the Context of Circular Economy: The Case of Baltic Sea Region(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Stankevičienė, Jelena; Nikanorova, Marta; Çera, Gentjan; Ekonomická fakultaThe circular economy is based on the synergy of economic, environmental and social dimensions on -micro, -meso and -macro levels. Integration of circular economy would help to shift from a linear economy, which promotes “take-make-waste” industrial model to a more effective economic system that is based on business models, which replace the “end-of-life” concept with reducing, alternatively reusing, recycling and recovering materials in production/distribution and consumption processes. This alternative model would encourage producers to develop innovative solutions to reduce production waste, be in the line of “green” production and resource-efficient usage. A circular economy would help to solve problems of resource shortage, negative environmental impact, production and consumption waste by developing closer relationships between suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. Regulation and policy determents may influence consumer behaviour by promoting investment into environmental and social drivers, subsidiaries for eco-innovation and eco-technology development, and supporting inefficient consumption taxes and production pollution taxes. The purpose of the article is to propose a way of analysing of green economy dimension in the context of circular economy, by providing empirical tests on economic data of Baltic Sea Region countries. The current paper includes the observation of green economy dimension in the context of circular economy in Baltic Sea Region including Green investment, Green fiscal policy, and Technological development. A multi-criteria decision analysis methods TOPSIS and MULTIMOORA were used to compare the set of indicators by identifying weights for each criterion. TOPSIS and MULTIMOORA are quite useful methods to rank and make selection of several indicators.
- ItemAntecedents of turnover intention: A meta-analysis study in the United States(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Özkan, Ahmet Hakan; Elci, Meral; Erdilek Karabay, Melisa; Kitapci, Hakan; Garip, Cinar; Ekonomická fakultaThe purpose of this paper was to determine the direction and effect size of the relationships between turnover intention and its main antecedents in the United States. The main predictors of turnover intention are chosen as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and empowerment. The studies which are published between 1998 and 2018 are reviewed. ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ProQuest databases were searched and 2.356 studies are screened. The meta-analysis software package, Comprehensive Meta-analysis Software (CMA), was used for the meta-analysis. 101 studies were suitable and the three data sets are formed: first set included 312,261 subjects and 91 studies relating job satisfaction to turnover intention, the second set included 13,502 subjects and 29 studies relating organizational commitment to turnover intention, and the third set included 997 subjects and 5 studies relating empowerment to turnover intention. Each data was heterogeneous significantly and the random effects model was used. Publication bias is analyzed for each data set and no evidence of publication bias was detected. The results revealed that the overall relationship between turnover intention and the selected three constructs was negative and significant: the power of the job satisfaction’s effect and organizational commitment’s effect are almost the same (-.52), and the power of the empowerment’s effect is weaker (-.22). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a large impact and empowerment has a small effect on turnover intention. The moderator analysis determined that type of industry and region are the moderators affecting the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. The findings also provide guidance for the managers working in the United States who need to keep turnover under control.
- ItemThe Application of Data Envelopment Analysis for Evaluation of Efficiency of Healthcare Delivery for CVD Patients(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kočišová, Kristína; Cygańska, Małgorzata; Kludacz-Alessandri, Magdalena; Ekonomická fakultaThe focus placed on the effi ciency of the healthcare system can vary across the countries. This paper aims to analyse and compare the technical effi ciency of medical care for CVD patients across selected OECD countries using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method according to two models. The fi rst model (TE) incorporates the quantitative outputs that are connected with the quantity of the hospital outcomes (the number of surgical operations and procedures related to disease of the circulatory system per 100,000 inhabitants; hospital discharge rates for in-patients with diseases of the circulatory system). The second model (QE) includes the quality outputs that are connected with the health outcomes (survival rates of patients with diseases of the circulatory system). A number of cardiologists and angiography equipment per 100,000 inhabitants and total healthcare costs of CVD patients per 100,000 inhabitants were considered as inputs in both models. Secondly, we analyse whether endogenous (institutional arrangements) and exogenous (population behaviour, economic determinants) factors are associated with the effi ciency of medical care. We utilise Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate the effi ciency of medical care for CVD patients in selected OECD countries and establish healthcare systems’ rankings according to TE and effi cient healthcare delivery for CVD patients. The study found that the technically effi cient countries were not as far effi cient when the quality measure was used to calculation of effi ciency. On the other hand, some of the technically ineffi cient countries were performing well concerning effi ciency based on a quality measure.
- ItemAssessment of Logistics Platform Efficiency Using an Integrated Delphi Analytic Hierarchy Process-data Envelopment Analysis Approach: A Novel Methodological Approach Including a Case Study in Slovenia(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Bajec, Patricija; Kontelj, Monika; Groznik, Aleš; Ekonomická fakultaThe objective of this study is to propose a trustworthy, valid and consistent methodological approach for measuring the efficiency of a logistics platform, where an entire country constitutes a logistic platform. Traditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is found to be an appropriate tool – if its weaknesses are eliminated. DEA results are highly influenced by the choice of appropriate inputs and outputs variables, but the method itself does not provide guidance for their identification. The authors therefore propose to integrate traditional DEA by combining the Delphi technique with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, which will assist in identifying proper, consistent input/output variables, evaluated by their relevance. The proposed framework allows the performance evaluation of the selected platform’s element or elements. It is thus a useful decision support tool for enterprises (private, public, both) that are managing logistics platforms and trying to improve their productivity in order to sustain or improve their position on the competitive market. This methodology allows comparative efficiency analyses to be estimated for similar countries. The presented methodology on one hand enables tailor-made solutions, but on the other hand is very general, and, with minor adjustments, can be applied by a variety of firms and industries. It can be applied in private sector firms in production and service industries, to analyse the relative performance of diverse logistics and non-logistics services, and in public profit or non-profit organisations.
- ItemAsymmetric Effects of Trade Openness on Economic Growth in Selected ASEAN Countries(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Sriyana, Jaka; Afandi, Akhsyim; Ekonomická fakultaIn the growing of economic integration and international relations, the effect of trade openness on economic growth has become an important issue across countries. Following the economic integration, the world trading system has become progressive and competitive in recent years. Many countries generated their economic growth by attracting both foreign and domestic investments and expanding export production. In response to current challenges posed by the implementation of economic integration in the ASEAN region, it is important to conduct a study focusing on the impact of trade openness as well as other economic factors on economic growth. This research examines the effects of trade openness and other economic variables such as foreign direct investment, gross capital formation and human capital on economic growth in selected ASEAN countries. Using long term annual data, the empirical NARDL models incorporate asymmetric effects of trade openness on economic growth in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. While such effects for the case of Malaysia are symmetric both in the short and long-run models, the effects are asymmetric in the long run and symmetric in the short run for the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. The results are different for Indonesia where the impact of trade openness is asymmetric in the short run and symmetric in the long run. This paper highlights that trade openness has a net positive impact on economic growth only in the Philippines and Singapore. It implies that most of the other countries in that region have a challenge regarding the implementation of trade liberalization. This research also found that both foreign and domestic investments are important factors of economic growth in the ASEAN countries. Similarly, human capital is proven to be an important factor in economic growth. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a new insight that incorporates the asymmetric effects of trade openness on economic growth.
- ItemCointegration Analysis of the World’s Sugar Market: The Existence of the Long-term Equilibrium(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kuzmenko, Elena; Smutka, Luboš; Strielkowski, Wadim; Štreimikis, Justas; Štreimikienė, Dalia; Ekonomická fakultaThis paper addresses the issue of interconnection among major sugar markets and commodity/exchange stocks in different parts of the world using the Johansen cointegration approach and vector error correction model. Due to a high degree of sugar market fragmentation and corresponding diversity in price levels and its volatility in different regions, the results of our analysis sheds some light on the very fact of a ‘single’ global sugar market existence and can be important not just with regard to producers and buyers of sugar but for the international investors as well, both in the light of risk governance and maximizing profitability. Using the evaluation of the extent of connection among regional sugar markets, one can assess potential benefits available to investors through international diversification between the analyzed markets. Our analysis has revealed the presence of mutual interaction among the selected sugar markets/commodity stock exchanges in individual regions and confirmed the long-term equilibrium among them. Therefore, despite an obvious diversity in price level and their fluctuations in different world regions, the selected for the analysis regional sugar markets are acting together as a single organism. The determining of the extent to which the analyzed sugar markets are interconnected have significantly strengthen the understanding of the latest sugar price developmental trends. In addition, the results of this study opened space and mapped out clear objectives and measurable targets for potential research – to reveal what markets can be referred to as leading ones in a sense that namely they primarily serve as a source of price turbulence. In summary, our results revealed and confirmed the long-term equilibrium among them and the outcomes of this study opened the new research realms and identified the clear and measurable targets for the future empirical research in this field.
- ItemComparison of Grocery Shopping Behaviour of Slovak Residents on the Slovak-Austrian Border: an Empirical Study – Hainburg an der Donau(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Kita, Pavol; Križan, František; Bilková, Kristína; Zeman, Milan; Siviček, Tomáš; Ekonomická fakultaFood is a part of human life, forming its existential and cultural basis. It also has become the basis of trade and a measure of the level of one or another culture, the engine of economic development. All these themes resonate more and more in debates in Slovakia as well. There are several reasons why. Slovaks still pay relatively more for food in comparison to neighbouring Austrians, who benefit from a rich offer of food at an affordable price. This might be related to an organized agricultural landscape, which is the product of economically prosperous food production. Bratislava residents’ dissatisfaction with shopping experiences and products on offer in the current retail network in Bratislava forces them to travel to shop in the town of Hainburg an der Donau. The article states the types of Slovak consumers and their identities. An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 909 Slovak consumers shopping in Austrian grocery stores located in Hainburg an der Donau on the Slovak-Austrian border. The respondents rated their shopping experience and products on offer in the town. The study compares Slovak and Austrian stores based on the consumers’ reasoning behind purchasing food in Austria and consumer satisfaction with the stores in both countries. Multidimensional scaling was used to present the results of the study. The results of the study represent a comparison of shopping behaviour of Slovak residents when considering shopping in Austria. Constructed perception maps identify the main types of consumers indicating the largest discrepancy in purchasing groceries in Austrian and Slovak stores.
- ItemCompetitiveness of Mutual Agrarian Foreign Trade of the Post-Soviet Countries(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Benešová, Irena; Smutka, Luboš; Hinke, Jana; Laputková, Adriana; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper is an analysis of foreign trade of the post-Soviet countries conducted for years 2000 and 2015. The aims of the research were thus twofold: to examine the bilateral trade scheme for the selected countries and to attempt to explore relations between competitiveness and thus the position of the agricultural commodity aggregates. The UN COMTRADE database was used. In the monitored countries, there is continuous growth of the commodity aggregate 0 – Food and live animals, which is strongly influenced by the commodity sub-aggregates 02 – Dairy products and bird eggs, S3-04 – Cereals and cereal preparations. The first phase entailed calculations of individual indicators of mutual trade (RCA, LFI, GLI and coverage of import). Subsequently, the indicators were used as input variables for further analyses. Using RCA and LFI indexes, the commodity aggregates were classified into 4 quadrants according to their position within the comparative advantage and competitiveness.
- ItemComplementing Data Gaps on Wages in the Labour Force Survey Data Set: Evidence from Poland(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Grabowski, Wojciech; Korczak, Karol; Ekonomická fakultaDue to the low level of quality of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data set, studies devoted to matching the LFS data with data from alternative sources are frequent. In this paper, we propose a novel method of complementing data gaps on wages in the Labour Force Survey data set. The method is based on estimataing the parameters of the multilevel model explaining wages on the basis of the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) data set. In such a way, we identify the impact of individual characteristics and enterprise-level features on wages. We also find evidence of random differences between the wages of workers from different professional groups. The relative importance of consecutive groups of variables is evaluated on the basis of the estimates of the parameters of the full model and reduced models. The results of the estimation of the parameters are in line with expectations. The estimates of parameters and predictions of random effects are used in order to calculate the theoretical wages of individuals who do not report wages in the Labour Force Survey. When the predicted wages are compared with the observed ones, some discrepancies are observed. Rationales for these discrepancies are provided. Therefore, the use of a correction factor is proposed. Correction factors are provided for different features of workers and different features of enterprises. The use of the microeconometric multilevel model, as well as the correction factor, leads to reasonable wage estimates of workers not reporting them in the Labour Force Survey. The proposed method may be used in order to complement data gaps on wages for other EU countries.
- ItemThe contribution of innovation actors into business R&D funding – does the substitution effect of public support work in the EU?(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Pisár, Peter; Ďurčeková, Ina; Stachová, Mária; Ekonomická fakultaInnovation and R&D are becoming a prominent part of policies of countries and transnational unions such as the European Union. This is shown in strategy “Europe 2020” established by EU which prompts member states to invest 3 % of their GDP in R&D. R&D expenditure is an important indicator of innovation performance of a country. However, it is not only important to look at R&D expenditure as one aggregate indicator, but to also consider the contributions of various innovation actors to R&D funding. Since firms are known to be the main innovation actor that creates the biggest amount of innovation in national innovation system, the paper is focused on financing of business R&D. The aim of the paper is to examine business R&D funding from resources of main innovation actors and to analyze the impact of public support of R&D on private R&D investment in EU member states. The research is based on descriptive statistics as well as panel regression and correlation analysis and cluster analysis of 28 EU member states. Our results suggest that the main source used to fund business R&D comes from business sector, followed by public support and resources from abroad. The cluster analysis resulted in four clusters based on the structure of business R&D financing in the EU countries. The analysis of substitution effect of public support of R&D suggests that public support has a positive effect on private investment in business R&D, with the raise of public support for business R&D of 0.1011 % GDP resulting in 1 % increase in business funded R&D expenditure.
- ItemCooperation and Competition in Manufacturer–Key Retailer Relationships: a Business Model Perspective(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Witek-Hajduk, Marzanna Katarzyna; Zaborek, Piotr; Ekonomická fakultaThe study investigates relationships between manufacturers and their key retailers in the Polish durable consumer goods industry from the manufacturer’s perspective. The importance of this topic has been growing with such global phenomena in retailing as concentration and internationalization, the emergence of mega-retailers, the growth of private brands and the rise of the Internet. The balance of this factors has led to a shift in bargaining power towards retailers. On this backdrop, the goal of this study is to examine how a manufacturer’s dependence on the key retailer shapes this relationship in terms of its cooperative/competitive dimensions, scope and outcomes, and if the dominant business models of manufacturers are moderating the focal relationship. The three types of business models include: Traditionalists (unwilling to enter into long-term partnerships despite lacking unique assets), Market Players (the most flexible of the three in choosing their partners and deciding on the scope of cooperation due to their unique assets) and Contractors (the most dependent on their business partners due to their lack of well-developed marketing functions). Data for the study were collected through a representative CATI survey of 580 manufacturers and analyzed with PLS structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that high manufacturer dependence on the key retailer can have positive impacts on manufacturers by inducing greater benefits from cooperation. This effect is the most pronounced among Traditionalists and is the least visible in Market Players, with Contractors showing intermediate effects. Some likely reasons for these positive effects include know-how transfers, extension of the distribution network, manufacturing contracts for private labels and marketing support from the key retailer.
- ItemDEA Approach for Performance Assessment of Call Centre Agents(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Mendelová, Viera; Strnádová, Petra; Ekonomická fakultaThe paper focuses on a relatively new and prospective application of the data envelopment analysis (DEA) in the employee performance assessment. In the paper, a novel DEA approach is proposed for evaluating the performance of call centre agents, based on their relative efficiency. Since call centres handle a majority of customer-company interactions, performance of call centre agents largely influences the future success or failure of a company. To ensure the quality of customer service, permanent evaluation of call centre agents’ performance is essential. The proposed DEA model consisting of two input variables (wage and working time) and five output variables (quick-answer calls proportion, customer satisfaction, net first contact resolution, call quality and inbound contact handle time) has been tested on 55 call centre agents working at the call centre of one of the largest telecommunications operators in the Slovak Republic. After measuring the performance of each agent, based on the DEA models, the call centre agents’ performance was evaluated in the DEA matrix format. As a result, the call centre agents were divided into four groups: Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks and Poor Dogs. Finally, based on the proposed approach, recommendations for call centre managers on how to improve or maintain the performance of each of these groups were drawn. The proposed approach provides a practical framework for call centre managers to assess the performance of the agents, and to plan and take steps to improve the quality of call centre services.
- ItemDemotivation of Medical Staff in the Selected Health Facility in Slovakia(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Szabo, Stanislav; Mihalčová, Bohuslava; Lukáč, Jozef; Gallo, Peter; Čabinová, Veronika; Vajdová, Iveta; Ekonomická fakultaThe biggest challenges for today’s businesses and facilities in ministries (health, education, defence, police, etc.) are to constantly increase their effectiveness. The quality and effi ciency of each business are above all quality employees. They should be as satisfi ed and motivated as possible to their work performance. This requires careful and funded leadership by properly prepared and carefully considered managers. Providing excellent employee work performance is benefi cial to the enterprise/organization and workers themselves. Nowadays, when employees are an integral part of a knowledge-based business/organization, there is a progress that cannot be achieved without development of the workforce. Although educated people work in the healthcare facility under investigation, it is not always possible to achieve a synergy effect based on excellent work performance and successful system management of the given healthcare facility. Managerial readiness and knowledge of factors affecting employee satisfaction and motivation enables them to prepare an appropriate incentive program that can infl uence the behaviour of individuals or workgroups towards to develop and effectively use the potential of employees, their responsible and quality work, considering their personal goals, and also the interest in the entire facility. Motivation/demotivation of healthcare personnel are frequently discussed issue in relation to healthcare policy making and overall health performance. The quality of health care and the performance of healthcare providers depend not only on the level of education, but also on the willingness and motivation of healthcare professionals. Even in a relatively stable environment, it is necessary to examine what contributes to the motivation of individual workers and what their behavioural patterns are. While motivation is generally paid great attention, in the healthcare system, research is mainly carried out on its performance and relatively few studies relate only to the fi eld of motivation of healthcare professionals. The authors’ ambition is to present research on this topic and to introduce some measures that could contribute to improving the motivation system of healthcare personnel in Slovakia. In a sense, we have tried to briefl y compare the similarity of the system of healthcare motivation in Slovakia to systems in selected, mainly developed countries.
- ItemDeterminants of Persistent and Transient Technical Efficiency of Milk Production in EU(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Trnková, Gabriela; Žáková Kroupová, Zdeňka; Ekonomická fakultaThis paper deals with the estimation of technical efficiency of milk production in the EU, its decomposition and the analysis of determinants of transient and persistent efficiency. Attention was focused on specialized milk production using FADN data in the period from 2004 to 2017. The analysis is based on the four-component model that represents the most advanced approach to technical efficiency analysis at present and the multi-step estimation procedure extended by technical efficiency determinants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of this model based on the multi-step estimation with the inclusion of technical efficiency determinants on this type of specialization in the EU. The results show that the overall technical efficiency achieves the mean value of 68% and is relatively dense around the mean. The persistent inefficiency poses a greater problem for dairy production and varies considerably across European regions compared to the transient part. Based on the assessment of the development of transient efficiency, it is evident that it is influenced by the situation on the dairy market, in particular by the milk crises. The most effective conversion of inputs to outputs is achieved in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Belgium and is least burdened with institutional and structural rigidities. The results show that transient efficiency is positively influenced by paid labour share, rented land share, level of modernization and level of off-farm activities and negatively by the level of subsidies on livestock. The positive effect of the economies of size on persistent efficiency is not proved. However, specialization, despite the higher vulnerability of specialized farms to price shocks, affects persistent efficiency positively. Localization of farms in LFAs, as expected, has a negative impact on persistent technical efficiency.
- ItemDeterminants of the Selection of Travel Agencies on Polish Tourist Services Market(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Mazurek-Kusiak, Anna; Ekonomická fakultaThe aim of the paper is to present differences regarding the sources of searching for information about the travel agency, the determinants which the respondents follow when purchasing tourist events in a given travel agency and the main purposes of the journey, taking into account the respondents’ place of residence. The research used the method of a diagnostic survey using the direct questionnaire technique. The research was carried out in 2017 in various regions of Poland among residents using off-line services of travel agencies (tourism organizers). A five-point Likert scale was used to measure attitudes. The size of the research sample was based on the size of the adult population of Poland. A layered selection was used, in which respondents were selected on the basis of availability, taking into account the criteria related to adulthood, gender and age. Statistica 13.1 PL was used for statistical calculations. The discriminant function analysis was used. The tourist services market is a very variable and difficult to predict market. Research of the author of the paper indicates that for people living in villages and small towns the most important thing is the recommendation of a travel agency by friends, a well-known brand to which tourists are convinced and a price. For people from medium-sized cities, location of travel agency is very important, and the inhabitants of large cities pay particular attention to the rich offer of travel agencies and adjustment of the tourist event to individual needs of clients. The least important is the equipment and decoration of the office.
- ItemDoes Working Women’s Causes Innovation: An Untouched Reality?(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Jun, Wen; Jamil, Ihsan; Mughal, Bushra; Waheed, Junaid; Hussain, Hadi; Ekonomická fakultaWorking women play a vital role in all fields of lifestyle and are the pillars of society. Women’s workforce is the key to economic boom, innovation, research and development, growth and prosperity in modern societies. Globally, governments spend billions of dollars to promote the workforce, to enhance their country’s economy and innovation. This research aims to contribute to the knowledge on innovation by working women globally and to investigate how working women affect the process of innovation, using the number of patents and trademarks as innovation indicators. The empirical study adopted a two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation and generalized method of moments (GMM) with and without robust standard errors. Panel data of 136 countries for the period 1996–2016 was used. The results of this study show that working women positively and statistically significantly explained the patent and trademark, which is a proxy for innovation with other control variables (per capita income, education, research and development, technology, article, industry, and foreign direct investment). Overall, the findings show that working women have a positive effect on innovation – they exert a positive and significant effect on patents and trademarks. The regression results based on GMM and system GMM (SGMM) show how working women influence trademarks and patents. Specifically, the GMM reveals that the regression coefficients of patent and trademark positively affect innovation, with all variables being positive at the 1% level, indicating that the current level of patent and trademark is positive. This implies that working women have favourable economic participation in innovation. This study contributes to the cross-over of knowledge on innovation and working women and reduces the existing scarcity of information on the subject.
- ItemE-commerce Development in Europe: A Panel Data Analysis 2003–2017(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Ortiz, Alma Lucero; Rodríguez, José Carlos; Gómez, Mario; Ekonomická fakultaThe Internet is a networking infrastructure that allows people’s communication throughout the world, transcending time and space limits. Nowadays, the Internet has changed the way of doing business, leading to a digital economy. Indeed, e-commerce has emerged as commercial transactions conducted over the Internet, which has become a source of economic growth for countries. In this sense, the research question conducting this research is as follows: what are the main variables that have affected the development of e-commerce in European countries from 2003 to 2017? In so doing, panel data econometric methods are used in this research. The tests of cross-section dependence (Pesaran test), unit root (Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran and Shin tests), cointegration (Kao and Fisher-Johansen tests), and heterogeneous causality (Hurlin and Dumitrescu test) are applied. In this regard, the results show that the variables in this research are characterized by a transversal dependence, and that they are integrated of order one. Furthermore, there is evidence that the variables are cointegrated, suggesting that there is a long-term relationship equilibrium between these variables. In addition, there is a bidirectional causality relationship between R&D spending (RD) and mobile phone penetration (MPP). Also, there is a unidirectional relationship from the development of e-commerce (EC) to RD and from per capita disposable income (PI) to RD. Besides, results suggest a positive and significant effect of MPP, RD, and PI on the EC in European developed countries. Therefore, these results show that the CE of the developed countries of Europe could be promoted through the improvement of the MPP, DR and IP.
- ItemEffects of High-speed Rail Construction on the Evolution of Industrial Agglomeration: Evidence from Three Great Bay Areas in China(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Fang, Lei; Zhang, Xuewei; Feng, Zihua; Cao, Ce; Ekonomická fakultaHigh-speed rail is an important transportation infrastructure that can promote regional economic growth and adjust industrial layout. To explore the impact of high-speed rail construction on the industrial spatial layout of China’s Bay Area, the effects of high-speed rail construction on industrial spatial layout of the Circum-Bohai Great Bay Area, the Circum-Yangtze Estuary Great Bay Area, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in China were analyzed by using DID (difference-in-differences) model and quantile treatment effect based on the panel data obtained from 2005 to 2016. Results demonstrate that high-speed rail construction signifi cantly affects industrial spatial layout of urban areas. Due to high-speed rail construction, manufacturing and real estate industries in the Circum-Bohai Great Bay Area expand greatly and show a signifi cant diffusion effect. This diffusion promotes agglomeration of wholesale and retail, real estate, transportation, warehousing, and post industries in small cities. High-speed rail construction exhibits an agglomeration effect on fi nancial industry in the Circum-Yangtze Estuary Great Bay Area. High- speed rail construction facilitates clustering of manufacturing, fi nancial, and transportation industries in small cities. The impact of high-speed rail construction on manufacturing, accommodation and catering, fi nancial, transportation, warehousing, and post industries in Guangdong–Hong Kong– Macao Greater Bay Area shows a diffusion effect. In sum, high-speed rail construction causes an evolution of industrial agglomeration in three great bay areas in China. The conclusion provides decision references for optimization of industrial spatial layout in great bay areas.
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