Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Factors Affecting Age At First Birth In Peninsular Malaysia, M. Jayasutha

Student Works (2000-2009)

The main aim of this study is to examine the changes in age at first birth among Malaysian women, based on data from the 1994/95 Malaysian Population and Family Survey. Trends and patterns of age at first birth across cohorts are analyzed by using selected socio-demographic variables. Pronounced differentials in age at first birth can be observed across women's educational level and premarital work experience. Age at first birth is lowest among the Malays, those with no schooling and living in rural areas, as well as those who did not work prior to marriage. Much of the differentials in age …

Factors Affecting Academic Performance Of Upper Secondary School Students In Selected Subjects, S. Vikaneswari

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study explores the various factors that affect academic performance of upper secondary schools students in three subjects namely Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Mathematics at the SPM examinations. The purpose of the study is to examine the performance of students in the three subjects and investigate the factors affecting academic performance of students in these subjects. The data for this study was obtained from the survey conducted by University of Malaya in 1989 (Chew et al., 1995) The findings of this study show that prior achievement (SRP subject grades) exert the greatest influence on performance of students in the SPM …

Socio-Economic Determinants Of Childbearing In Peninsular Malaysia, K.T. Chan

Student Works (2000-2009)

The present study describes and examines trends and differentials in cumulative fertility according to seven socio-economic factors based on data availability and findings from past studies. Data show that fertility is still on the declining trend among Malaysian women. The salient findings of the study reveal that fertility differentials in terms of number of children ever born persist between the following population subgroups: Malays and non-Malays; rural and urban; East region and other regions. The high fertility among Malays is related to delayed termination in childbearing compared to other ethnic groups. Among the non-Malays, the fertility rate of Indian women …

The Response Of Bank Lending To Interest Rate Changes : The Case Of Malaysia, Cheong Guan Tee

Student Works (2000-2009)

This research paper is to examine the response of aggregate commercial bank lending to money market interest rate changes for the case of Malaysia. The study is based on quarterly data for the period from the first quarter of 1990 to the second quarter of 2000. The results show that the negative one-month and three-month money market interest rate shocks have negative effects on the aggregate commercial bank lending. On the other hand, the positive one-month and three-month money market interest rate shocks have positive effect on the aggregate commercial bank lending. This paper also finds evidence that the response …

The Effects Of Narrow Money On The Malaysian Economy, Shu Hui Wong

Student Works (2000-2009)

The research of the effects of narrow money in the economy has been often and extensively done over the years. These include using Quantitative Theory of Money model and testing various types of monetary aggregates such as from narrow money to broad money to attest the relationship of money with the economic variables. Money has evolved from the form of barter trade to gold and to fiat money over the centuries. Today, in a modern world and advanced technology, the form of payments that has further enhanced the convenience of household, has transformed the society into a cashless society. Cashless …

Garch Models For Interest Rates : The Case Of Klibor And Libor, Lee Suan Chuah

Student Works (2000-2009)

Rail passenger service is an important part of Malaysia's public transport system where Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) is the only sole provider of intercity rail passenger services in Peninsular Malaysia. For years, there has been a decline in the number of intercity train passengers. This paper attempts to evaluate the factors, which determine the demand for rail passenger services. Binary logit models were built based on the data collected from the train passenger survey and bus passenger survey that were conducted across the Peninsular whereby the socioeconomic and demographic variables were coded into dummy variables so that these variables …

Total Factor Productivity Growth In Malaysia (1971-1999), Jenny Yu Chin Chua

Student Works (2000-2009)

This paper contributes to the debate concerning the sources of growth of newly industrializing East Asian economies, of which Malaysia is an example. It provides an empirical analysis of total factor productivity (TFP) in Malaysia for the period of 1971- 1999. This paper finds that the TFP growth is estimated to be around 2% per annum over the last thirty year, somewhat higher than the previous estimates for four Asian Tigers but remain a small fraction of the actual GDP per worker growth. The variables found to have significant influence on TFP growth in Malaysia during 1971-1999 are related to …

The Impact Of Foreign Direct Investment On Manufacturing Growth In Malaysia, Ah Hoon Lee

Student Works (2000-2009)

It is generally perceived that FDI (foreign direct investment) plays an important role in economic development especially in the industrialisation process in Malaysia. The extent of FDI's contribution to manufacturing growth remains uncertain. By using econometric models, this study attempts to analyse the impact of FDI on manufacturing output, manufacturing exports, manufacturing imports and manufacturing employment generation. The empirical results showed that the impact of FDI on manufacturing output growth is not as critical as expected. However, a positive link emerges where an increase in FDI flows will increase the output growth in the next period. The study revealed that …

Identifying The Ncaa Tournament "Dance Card", B. Jay Coleman, Allen K. Lynch

Management Faculty Publications

The NCAA Basketball Tournament selection committee annually selects the Division I men's teams that should receive at-large bids to the national championship tournament. Although its deliberations are shrouded in secrecy, the committee is supposed to consider a litany of team-performance statistics, many of which outsiders can reasonably estimate. Using a probit analysis on objective team data from 1994 through 1999, we developed an equation that accurately classified nearly 90 percent of 249 "bubble" teams during that time frame and over 85 percent for the 2000 tournament. Given the NCAA Tournament's nickname of the big dance, the equation is effectively the …

Differential Effects Of Incentive Motivators On Work Performance, Alexander D. Stajkovic, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In this field experiment, we first compared the performance effects of money systematically administered through the organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod.) model and routine pay for performance and then compared the effects of O.B. Mod.- administered money, social recognition, and performance feedback. The money intervention based on the O.B. Mod. outperformed routine pay for performance (performance increase = 37% vs. 11%) and also had stronger effects on performance than social recognition (24%) and performance feedback (20%).

Olg (Overlapping Generations Model) Simulations Of Social Security In Malaysia, Bee Bee Ong

Student Works (2000-2009)

This paper develops and simulates an Overlapping Generations Model (OLG) to investigate the macroeconomic impact of social security. We compare the simulation results of the OLG model with and without social security. Calibrated simulations of both the OLG models with and without social security yield steady states path for macroeconomic variables such as capital stock, productivity output, savings, wages, real interest rates and consumption. When social security contribution rates increase, the path of macroeconomic variables will also change accordingly. Thus, employee social security tax reductions will have an impact on the economy. When the rate of population growth changes continuously, …

A Model To Evaluate The Effect Of Organizational Adaptation, Holly A. H. Handley, Alexander H. Levis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

When an organization’s output declines due to either internal changes or changes in its external environment, it needs to adapt. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different adaptation strategies on organizational per- formance, an organizational model composed of individual models of a five stage interacting decision maker was designed using an object oriented design approach and implemented as a Colored Petri net. The concept of entropy is used to calculate the total activity value, a surrogate for decision maker workload, based on the functional partition and the adaptation strategy being implemented. The individual decision maker’s total activity is monitored, …

Factors Affecting The Success Of Information Systems Projects, Iain Martin

Theses : Honours

This thesis looks at how accurately project managers can pre-predict what problems may arise during an Information Systems project they are about to commence based on their experience of previous projects. The second part investigates what actions a project manager is likely to take to expedite a troubled project. Both of these questions are investigated and it is found that while project managers can confidently predict which problems could arise, and how to take actions to rectify such actions when they occur, these problems still arise.

A Sensitivity Analysis Of The Premiums For A Permanent Health Insurance (Phi) Model, Ben D. Rickayzen

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper presents an analysis of the parameters used in a multi-state model for permanent health insurance (PHI). The model is a simplification of that used in the United Kingdom. To avoid using duration dependent probabilities, the model splits the sick state into several sub-states to act as a proxy for duration spent in a particular state. This enables a Markov approach to be adopted. Lapses are incorporated within the model, and the net premium for a particular policy is tested for sensitivity to the various parameters used, including their interaction with the lapse rate. One of our conclusions is …

Fitting Loss Distributions In The Presence Of Rating Variables, Farrokh Guiahi

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper focuses on issues and methodologies for fitting alternative statistical models-parametric probability distributions-to samples of insurance loss data. The interactions of loss distributions, deductibles, policy limits, and rating variables in the context of fitting distributions to losses are discussed. Fitted loss distributions serve an important function in pricing insurance products. The methodology developed in this paper is applied to a sample of insurance loss data that has the lognormal as the underlying loss distribution.

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 9 (2001), Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

(The complete issue, including) ARTICLES

Analyzing Management Fees of Pension Funds: A Case Study of Mexico • Tapen Sinha 5

Premium Earning Patterns for Multi-Year Policies with Aggregate Deductibles • Thomas Struppeck 45

Exponential Bonus-Malus Systems Integrating A Priori Risk Classification • Lluis Benmidez, Michel Denuit, and Jan Dhaene 67

Fitting Loss Distributions in the Presence of Rating Variables • Farrokh Guiahi 97

Linear Empirical Bayes Estimation of Survival Probabilities with Partial Data • Mostafa Mashayekhi 131

Controlling the Solvency Interaction Among a Group of Insurance Companies • Alexandros Zimbidis and Steven Haberman 151

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Premiums …

Leadership In Complex Organizations, Russ Marion, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This paper asks how complexity theory informs the role of leadership in organizations. Complexity theory is a science of complexly interacting systems; it explores the nature of interaction and adaptation in such systems and how they influence such things as emergence, innovation, and fitness. We argue that complexity theory focuses leadership efforts on behaviors that enable organizational effectiveness, as opposed to determining or guiding effectiveness. Complexity science broadens conceptualizations of leadership from perspectives that are heavily invested in psychology and social psychology (e.g., human relations models) to include processes for managing dynamic systems and interconnectivity. We develop a definition of …

Leader–Member Exchange And Its Dimensions: Effects Of Self-Effort And Other’S Effort On Relationship Quality, John Maslyn, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Two hundred thirty-two manager-subordinate dyads provided data on the effort expended toward the development of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships, how such effort related to expectations about relationship quality, and intentions to exert future effort toward relationship development. For both managers and subordinates, higher quality LMX relationships were reported and expectations were met when the other member of the dyad put forth effort into relationship development. One’s own higher effort coupled with lower effort by the other was associated with a lower quality LMX relationship. Examination of the 4 dimensions of LMX (R. C. Liden & J. M. Maslyn, 1998) revealed …

Fisheries Research Report No. 123 - Review Of Productivity Levels Of Western Australian Coastal And Estuarine Waters For Mariculture Planning Purposes, Alan Pearce, Stuart Helleren, Mark Marinelli, Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Research Reports

The measurement of chlorophyll-a (a simple estimate of phytoplankton biomass) is often used as an indicator of water quality. Chlorophyll measurements are relatively sparse for most of the Western Australian continental shelf, although there are areas such as the Perth metropolitan coastal zone, Wilson Inlet and the Albany harbours where some intensive studies have been undertaken.

This review of both published and unpublished chlorophyll concentrations in Western Australian waters has shown a high degree of variability in space (both horizontally and vertically) and time, and statistics on the seasonal distribution of chlorophyll have been derived for those regions with sufficient …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 8, Nos. 1 And 2 (2000) -- Masthead & Contents, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Contents

Editorial Policy: Topics suitable for this journal include AIDS, annuity products, asset-liability matching, cash-flow testing, casualty rate making, credibility theory, credit insurance, disability insurance, expense analysis, experience studies, FASB issues, financial reporting, group insurance, health insurance, individual risk taking, insurance regulations, international issues, investments, liability insurance, loss reserves, marketing, pensions, pricing issues, product development, reinsurance, reserving issues, risk-based capital, risk theory, social insurance, solvency issues, taxation, valuation issues, and workers' compensation

Review Process

Editor - Colin Ramsay, University of Nebraska

Associate Editors: Robert Brown, University of Waterloo ○ Cecil Bykerk, Mutual of Omaha ○ Ruy Cardoso, …

New Beef Zone - The Potential For Beef And Cattle Industry Expansion In The Western Australian Wheatbelt, Alan Peggs, Andrew Quinn, Jason Kelly

Animal production and livestock published reports

Agriculture Western Australia (WA) recently completed a comprehensive analysis of the Western Australian beef and cattle industry entitled, “Rising Above the Herd” (Quin and Manners 1999). A key finding was the need to determine areas where store cattle could be produced competitively in the future. This was in the light of beef production in existing areas such as the South West and western South Coast being “squeezed” out by competition from alternative enterprises. This analysis has been prepared at the request of Agriculture WA to determine the potential for the Wheatbelt to produce store cattle competitively.

The study:

• embraces a …

Commercial Irrigation And Nutrition Practices For Strawberries In Western Australia, D. Phillips, D. Gatter, T. Calder, D. Pitman

Horticulture research reports

Irrigation practices employed by five commercial strawberry growers on sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain near Perth Western Australia were monitored for two consecutive seasons, 1995 and 1996 during the Spring production period.

Nutritional practices for the same grower group plus one Albany grower were monitored by plant, soil and sap analysis at 14 day intervals throughout the 1996 season.

Irrigation records showed that market quality strawberries could be produced at this time of year (August to December in Perth) on soils with very poor water retention properties with an average crop factor(E Pan) for the season of 0.7 …

Call Center Benchmarking: How Good Is, Jon Anton, David Gustin

Purdue University Press Books

Executives are beginning to recognize the potential of the call center as a significant revenue generator, perhaps one of the surest investments they can make in enhancing and creating customer value and bottom-line profits. Return on investments made in customer accessibility is seldom less than 100% in the first year, and frequently even more if customer lifetime value is included in the equation. Herein lies the challenge and the primary reason to benchmark your call center metrics against not only the best-in-the-world, but also your most direct competitors, i.e., best-in-class.

Corporate Diversification And The Effects Of Firm Characteristics On Diversification Modes: United States, European And Japanese Firm Behavior, Somkiat Mansumitrchai

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Many studies have examined corporate diversification (Porter, 1987; Ramanujam and Varadarajan, 1989; Markides and Williamson, 1994; Markides, 1995). A classical study of diversification transactions of 33 U.S. industrial firms during 1950–1986 by Porter (1987) provided historical background on U.S. leading firms during four decades. Porter (1987) found that U.S. large industrial firms were more active in acquisitions than other diversification modes such as joint ventures and startups. His study also shows that U.S. industrial firms divested many business units they had acquired, indicating unsuccessful diversification strategy.

I extended Porter's (1987) study to investigate the diversification behavior of the same U.S. …

Factors Affecting Learning Effectiveness In International Joint Ventures (Ijv): An Empirical Analysis Of Indian Ijvs, Sameer P. Vaidya

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Increasing globalization of the business environment has prompted companies to form cross-border alliances. The need to form joint ventures is evident from the increase in the number of international joint ventures (IJV) in the US as well as in other nations. Researchers are also attempting to identify relationships that foster longevity in IJVs. This study contributes to the research in the field of IJVs by examining issues relating to the learning effectiveness of IJVs. Research (Harrigan, 1985; Kogut, 1998; Beamish, 1994) has shown that there are three main approaches for joint venture formation, which are transaction cost approach, strategic behavior …

An International Cross-Cultural Study Of The Role Of Chief Informational Officers In Healthcare, Wallace Saunders

Faculty Dissertations

The introduction and utilization of Information Systems (IS) in the hospital environment has had a significant and lasting impact on the practice of medicine. The development of this dissertation will attempt to explore a widely overlooked area: The comparison of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Aspects of CIO experiences relating to assumed roles, CIO challenges, skills, frustrations, success, failure, leadership, management, involvement and perceptions about the role of Information Technology (IT) in healthcare are discussed with a comparative global model. This study investigates the managerial roles of the Chief Information Officer based on …

Modeling Corporate Bond Default Risk: A Multiple Time Series Approach, Wai-Sum Chan

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

A multiple time series approach is used to forecast the short-term u.s. corporate bond default level. These time series have two auxiliary economic variables: U.S. price inflation and U.S. GNP growth rate. Actual U.S. data from the turn of the century to the present are used to estimate the parameters of multivariate time series model. Diagnostic checks are performed to examine adequacy of the model. The model's forecast for the aggregate U.S. bond default level in 2000-2001 are 0.42% and 0.56%, respectively, while the forecast for the speculative-grade default rate in 2000 is 3.6%, which is more pessimistic than some …

Life Contingencies With Stochastic Discounting Using Moving Average Models, Steven Haberman, Russell Gerrard, Dimitrios Velmachos

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper offers simplified procedures for calculating moments of functions in life contingencies when the random force of interest is modeled using an unconditional moving average process of order q, MA(q). It extends the MA(l) model that has been used for stochastic discounting. Using the more general MA(q) model allows actuaries to better capture the auto correlation between successive interest rates in a time series.

Concentration In The Property And Liability Insurance Market By Line Of Insurance, Edward Nissan, Regina Caveny

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper uses an National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 1995 data set to examine the concentration of property and liability insurance by line of insurance in the U.S. The primary measure of concentration used is the Herfindahl index. The largest 100 affiliates are divided into three largest sets of 20, 30, and 50. We find that the homeowners line is the most concentrated line and commercial auto physical damage is the least concentrated line, with the top 20 affiliates commanding the largest between-set and within-set contributions.

Risk Sources In A Life Annuity Portfolio: Decomposition And Measurement Tools, Mariarosaria Coppola, Emilia Di Lorenzo, Marilena Sibillo

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

The paper considers a model for a homogeneous portfolio of whole life annuities immediate. The aim is to study two risk factors: the investment risk and the insurance risk. A stochastic model of the rate of return is used to study these risk factors. Measures of the insurance risk and the investment risk for the entire portfolio are suggested. The problem of the longevity risk is presented, and its consequences with different projections of the mortality tables are analyzed. The model is applied to some concrete cases, and several illustrations show the importance of the two components of the riskiness …