Banks In Taiwan Research Articles

Estimating nuclear DNA content within 50 species of the genus Phalaenopsis Blume (Orchidaceae)

Estimation of the genome size of Phalaenopsis species is important because this orchid is employed in various research areas including variety improvement and studies of molecular genetics. In this research, the ovary tissue of the orchid flower before pollination was used to estimate the nuclear DNA content (2C value) by flow cytometry for 50 species of four subgenera with eight sections of the genus Phalaenopsis (2n=2x=38). Measurements were taken by repeated sampling of the fresh flowers collected from several germplasm banks in Taiwan. The 2C values of 50 species ranged from 2.77pg in P. philippinensis to 17.47pg in P. lobbii and varied at different degrees within each subgenus/section. The nuclear DNA contents of species in sections Phalaenopsis and Fuscatae were homogenous without significant difference while those in sections Zebrinae and Amboinenses were highly variable. Subgenera Parishianae and Aphyllae and two sections (Esmeralda and Deliciosae) of subgenus Phalaenopsis showed higher mean 2C values than those of other sections. Intraspecific variations in 2C values were observed in some species. The information provided by the present research on genome size of Phalaenopsis species together with their geographic distribution and studies on molecular phylogeny would give further insight to plant systematics of this genus. At the same time, it would be helpful to orchid breeders to increase the efficiency of their improvement programs.

Effects of Gender and Personality Traits of Front-Desk Employees on Customers' Assessment of Service Quality: Evidence from Islamic Banks in the UAE

This paper examined the effects of front-desk employees’ personality traits and their gender on customers’ assessment of Islamic banks' service quality in the United Arab Emirates. We used a sample of 104 front-desk employees and 454 customers. The Mini-Markers instrument was used to assess personality traits and the SERVPERF instrument to collect data on service quality for a pair-matching sample design. We used regression analysis to determine the relationship between the five factors of personality of front-desk employees, their gender, and the overall bank service quality as well as each of its dimensions. The paper provided evidence indicating that personality traits do not have their own independent effects on customers’ perceptions of Islamic banks' service quality. Although Lin, Chui and Hsieh (2001) found supporting results for such linkages when they studied service quality in four service sectors (not including banks) in Taiwan, we concluded that these effects may be dependent on other factors such as culture, research design, or industry characteristics. However, employees’ gender was found to have significant effects on the empathy dimension of service quality. The originality of this paper lies in its attempt to link personality traits of front-desk employees of banks to customers’ perceptions of service quality in the UAE. It is the first study that uses the Mini-Markers and SERVPERF together in the UAE to achieve its purpose. Its value lies in its contribution to the settlement of the debate about possible linkages between employees’ personality traits and service quality perceptions.

The role of person and organizational variables in the three component model of occupational commitment

AbstractWe add to the small number of studies that have used the Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993) three component model to better understand occupational commitment. A series of demographic (age, education), dispositional (emotional intelligence), and organizational variables (human resources practices and perceived organizational support) were examined for their relationship to occupational commitment. Our relatively small set of variables, from 431 debt‐collection employees and their supervisors at 34 banks in Taiwan, accounted for substantial variance in each of the commitment facets. In the context of the entire set of variables, perceived organizational support was the strongest predictor across all three forms of occupational commitment. Other variables (e.g., age, emotional intelligence) were of predictive value for a subset of the components only. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Locus of control, socialization, and organizational identification

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate factors that influence employees' organizational identification. Focusing on the banking industry in Taiwan, this study aims to examine how locus of control and organizational socialization affect employees' organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachThe author borrows and modifies scales from the literature on locus of control, organizational socialization, and organizational identification to create a questionnaire that was translated into Chinese and distributed to bankers in Taiwan. The author analyzes reliability of the scales and performs regression analysis on hypothesized model relationships.FindingsSignificant positive relationships are found between locus of control and organizational socialization, locus of control and organizational identification, and organizational socialization and organizational identification. Organizational socialization has mediating influences on locus of control and organizational identification.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is a starting point in developing theory related to the relationships among locus of control, organizational socialization, and organizational identification. The research is based on data from Taiwan banking employees only and the sample was small (even though results were significant).Originality/valueThe research empirically demonstrates that locus of control influences organizational socialization and identification.

Measuring cost efficiency in presence of heteroskedasticity: The case of the banking industry in Taiwan

We measure cost efficiency of commercial banks in Taiwan using annual data for the 1996–2011 period. Following Caudill et al. (1995), and Caudill and Ford (1993), we develop a generalized dynamic model that accounts for heteroskedasticity in the cost inefficiency component of the error term in the stochastic frontier (SF) model and adopt a single-step approach (e.g., Battese and Coelli, 1995; Wang and Schmidt, 2002) to circumvent the problems associated with the two-step estimation procedure used by prior studies. We show that the results based on the heteroskedastic stochastic frontier (HSF) model combined with the single-step estimation approach sharply contrast with that of the traditional ‘two-step’ approach. These are important findings because they point to the limitations of previous studies on cost efficiency that use a two-step estimation approach. Our findings suggest that asset size, loan quality, and bank equity-to-asset ratio have significant negative impact on cost efficiency of banks. Government-owned banks in Taiwan are more likely to be cost efficient than privately owned banks. Macroeconomic environmental factors such as money supply and foreign exchange reserve ratio are likely to influence the cost efficiency of banking industry in Taiwan.

A comparison of operating performance management between Taiwan banks and foreign banks based on the Meta-Hybrid DEA model

This study uses a sample of 48 commercial banks in Taiwan for the period 2008 to 2010 to compare the operating efficiency between 30 domestic banks and 18 foreign banks. Due to differences in cultural sentiments, values, and business philosophies, this paper employs the Meta-Hybrid DEA model to construct the group frontier and to calculate technology gap ratios (TGR) as inter-group objective indicators, which are then applied to compare the performance across the two groups of banks.The empirical results show that: 1) the risk factor – the proportion of the total amount of overdue loans to total loans – affects the value of firms' technical efficiency. 2) From the standard deviation of the three-year average TGR between domestic and foreign banks, domestic banks reach 0.19802, which is much higher than foreign banks' 0.00388. This represents that there are great differences in average group efficiency and the technology gap ratio between foreign banks and domestic banks. 3) The operating performance of foreign banks is significantly better than domestic banks.

An examination of the cost efficiency of banks in Taiwan and China using the metafrontier cost function

Using the stochastic metafrontier framework of Battese et al. (J Prod Anal 21:91–103, 2004), this study proposes to compare and measure the cost efficiency and cost frontier gap between the banking industry in Taiwan and China. It further identifies environmental variables that determine bank’s cost frontier gap between two countries. Data on 69 sample banks for years 2005–2009 are used in the empirical analysis and inference. The empirical results show that Taiwanese banks have in general the superior cost frontier of production, but inferior cost efficiency of operation than Chinese banks. Private banks in Taiwan have the best cost frontier, whereas foreign banks in China are most cost efficient among all banks in Taiwan and China. The empirical results also reveal that the majority of Taiwanese banks are undersized and that most banks in China are oversized. Finally, the regression results show that the financial market structure, institutional environment, and political development are significant determinants of the cost gap between the cost frontiers of banks in Taiwan and China. Therefore, programs related to changes directed toward a better bank production environment can be initiated to improve the cost technologies of banks in both Taiwan and China.

Evaluating the performance of banking under risk regulations: a slacks‐based Data Envelopment Analysis assessment framework

AbstractDespite increasing deregulation and globalization in financial markets worldwide, banking is still one of the most regulated industries in many countries. The contribution of the present article is to introduce a slacks‐based Data Envelopment Analysis assessment framework for assessing bank efficiency and soundness in a risk regulation setting, which is missing from the banking performance literature. Two main sub‐processes within the service flow of a typical bank are considered – the primary banking business for making profit and dealing with the compliance requirements of risk regulations. A Data Envelopment Analysis model is applied to measure the performance of the two sub‐processes, that is, profit‐making efficiency and risk‐controlling efficiency. The research framework and models are applied to an empirical study of the banking sector in Taiwan covering the period 2007 – 2010. We demonstrate how to use the empirical results to monitor the efficiency status for individual banks from 1 year to another, providing an early warning for those with low efficiency. Our empirical results show that there is considerable potential for efficiency improvement in Taiwan's banking industry, and the room for risk‐controlling efficiency improvement is even larger. The two efficiency estimates are positively correlated with each other, and both have been improved year by year. However, an economic recession can lower efficiency estimates.

The analysis of bank business performance and market risk—Applying Fuzzy DEA

In the fast changing financial circumstances of nowadays, in avoiding the crisis of closing down, financial institutions are concerned about the efficiency and risk strictly in the meantime. Therefore, efficiency and risk management are goals for a financial institution administrator. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parameter approach to evaluate the performance of DMU's efficiency and the variables used in the DEA are all accurate values. However, when the input or output variables are fuzzy, the performance of DMUs must proceed by the Fuzzy-DEA. On the basis of risk uncertainty, this research plans to apply the expanding model of Fuzzy Slack-Based Measurement (Fuzzy SBM). The efficiency scores estimated by Fuzzy SBM model are subordinate to functional form, which provides efficiency value region in different degrees of confidence, conforms to the characteristic of risk anticipation, and estimates the management achievement of Taiwan banking under market risk.

The impact of bank’s human capital on organizational performance: How innovation influences performance

This study extends the literature by integrating the resource-based view and innovation theory to examine how human capital in banks affects innovative capability, and in turn, organizational performance. The case study is structured on the qualitative research of eight commercial banks in Taiwan. The results revealed that the influence of firms’ human capital on innovative capability is positive. This study also found the main elements of firms’ human capital to include not only knowledge, skills, and abilities, but also leaders’ vision, open-mindedness, execution, imitation ability, and functional diversity. The results also demonstrate that innovative capability is incremental among commercial banks and that innovative capability may mediate the relationship between firms’ human capital and organizational performance.

On summer stratification and tidal mixing in the Taiwan Strait

On continental shelves, a front that separates the sea into well-mixed and stratified zones is usually formed in warm seasons due to spatial variations of tidal mixing. In this paper, using eight years of in situ hydrographic observations, satellite images of sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration, and results of a tidal model, we investigate summer stratification in the Taiwan Strait and its dependence on tidal mixing, upwelling, and river diluted water plumes. In most regions of the strait the dominant role of tidal mixing in determining the thermohaline structure is confirmed by the correlation between the two; there are some regions, however, where thermohaline structure varies in different ways owing to significant influences of upwelling and river diluted water plumes. The well-mixed regions are mainly distributed on the Taiwan Bank and in the offshore regions off the Dongshan Island, Nanao Island, and Pingtan Island, while the northern and central Taiwan Strait and the region south of the Taiwan Bank are stratified. The critical Simpson-Hunter parameter for the region is estimated to be 1.78.

Exploration into Banks’ Herding on Industrial Loans in Taiwan

The study extends Sias’s (2004) method of analysing institutional investors’ inter-temporal herding in securities to examine whether the herding effect among banks in industrial lending exists in Taiwan, determine the reasons for herding among these banks, and examine whether their herding behavior differs across bullish and bearish periods and bank types. The study results demonstrate that the cascades among banks in Taiwan primarily result from their herding and that habit loans are not the primary factor in banks’ herding behaviors. Because banks are more likely to engage in herding behavior in lending to large-capitalization industries, their behaviors may stem from investigative herding. Moreover, our results show that banks’ cascades result primarily from their herding, which does not differ across bullish and bearish periods. Meanwhile, their herding behaviors are more significant for middle- and large-capitalization industries in bullish periods. The study also finds that private banks are more likely to follow the same type of bank classification, whereas public banks are more likely to follow a different type. Commercial banks are more likely to follow the same type of bank class, whereas SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) banks are more likely to follow a different type. This finding is consistent with reputation herding by commercial banks in Taiwan. Next, the study finds that banks outside the Taiwanese financial holding system are more likely to engage in a different type of herding, which may be evidence of characteristic herding among banks outside the financial holding system that follow those within the financial holding system. Finally, larger banks are more likely to follow banks of the same type, whereas smaller banks are more likely to follow different types of banks.

Do Mergers Improve the Efficiency of Banks in Taiwan?: Evidence From Stochastic Frontier Approach

Banking consolidation is a global trend, but in Taiwan, after the failure of the Second Financial Reform, it does not have a clear policy for bank mergers. This paper investigates whether mergers influence the cost efficiency of banks in Taiwan, and our results suggest that the government should utilize market mechanism to encourage FHC or large banks’ mergers. We use the method of stochastic frontier approach (SFA) to investigate the uncertain relationship between merger and the cost efficiency of Taiwanese banks. Based on Battese and Coelli (1995), we use maximum likelihood estimation method to estimate the stochastic cost efficiency model and the inefficient model simultaneously. We find that, for Taiwanese banks, technology efficiency increases with time by lowering operation cost; cost efficiency decreases right after merger, and has to wait for three years to regain efficiency. The larger banks and FHC banks benefit more from cost savings than smaller banks.

The impact of fair‐value‐accounting on the relevance of capital adequacy ratios

PurposeThis study aims to empirically investigate whether the adoption of fair‐value‐accounting decreases the relevance of banks' capital adequacy ratios (CARs) in explaining insolvency risks. Additionally, how the disclosure quality affects the superiority of fair‐value‐based CARs over cost‐based CARs is also explored.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from Taiwan banks from 2004 to 2010, the following tests are conducted. First, the insolvency risk is regressed on the reported CAR, along with the related interaction with the adoption of TFAS No. 34 to test the weakened relevance of CARs during the post‐TFAS No. 34 periods. Second, the relative relevance of fair‐value‐based CARs and cost‐based CARs is assessed using Vuong's Z‐statistic. Lastly, observations are partitioned into two groups – banks of higher and lower disclosure quality – to investigate whether fair‐value‐based CARs is superior (inferior) to cost‐based CARs for banks with higher (lower) disclosure quality.FindingsFirst, adopting TFAS No. 34 reduces the relevance of CARs in explaining banks' insolvency risks. Second, fair‐value‐based CARs are superior to cost‐based ones in relation to insolvency risks only for banks of higher disclosure quality.Originality/valueThis study is the first to fill the empirical gap by demonstrating that the ability of CARs to explain the insolvency risk is adversely influenced by the adoption of fair value accounting. In particular, the results shed some light on the move toward fair‐value accounting, and may be interpreted that adopting fair‐value reporting is not flawless, drawing attention to the potential information loss in abandoning historical‐cost‐based regimes. Moreover, because the application of fair‐value accounting in the Taiwan banking industry is fairly similar to that of international or US GAAP, these results also yield insights into other standard‐setters.

Characteristics of the First Human Milk Bank in Taiwan

The benefits of feeding human milk to infants, even in prematurity, have been well documented. Well-organized donor milk processing has made the milk bank a good source of nutrition for premature or sick infants if their own mother's milk is not sufficient or suitable. The Taipei City Hospital Milk Bank was established in 2005 and is the first nonprofit human milk bank to operate in Taiwan. The milk bank has adopted standards of practice laid down by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America and United Kingdom Association for Milk Banking. The clinical characteristics of the eligible milk donors, the recipients, and the donor milk were reviewed retrospectively. In the past 6 years, 816 eligible donors donated a total or 13,900 L (mean 17.03 L/donor) of breast milk. The mean age of these donors was 31.3 years, and 79.7% of them had college education. Most had term delivery (91.2%), with mean birth weight of their babies being 3120 g; 68.9% of the donors were primiparas. A total of 551 infants had received bank milk, with these indications: prematurity (65.4%), malabsorption (7.6%), feeding intolerance (7.2%), maternal illness (5.1%) and post-surgery (4.6%). The pass rate of raw donor milk was around 72.1%. The most common reasons to discard raw milk were Gram-negative rods contamination (72.8%) and ≥10 colony-forming units/mL of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (62.3%). Only 0.63% of donor milk post pasteurization showed bacterial growth. Proper management and operation of a human milk bank can support breastfeeding, and provide a safe alternative to artificial formula for feeding preterm or ill infants in Taiwan. Sustainability of the milk bank needs more propagation and financial support by health authorities.

Stability of submarine slopes in the northern South China Sea: a numerical approach

Submarine landslides occur frequently on most continental margins. They are effective mechanisms of sediment transfer but also a geological hazard to seafloor installations. In this paper, submarine slope stability is evaluated using a 2D limit equilibrium method. Considerations of slope, sediment, and triggering force on the factor of safety (FOS) were calculated in drained and undrained (I broken vertical bar=0) cases. Results show that submarine slopes are stable when the slope is 13A degrees with earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.5 g; whereas with a weak layer, a PGA of 0.2 g could trigger instability at slopes > 10A degrees, and > 3A degrees for PGA of 0.5 g. The northern slope of the South China Sea is geomorphologically stable under static conditions. However, because of the possibility of high PGA at the eastern margin of the South China Sea, submarine slides are likely on the Taiwan Bank slope and eastern part of the Dongsha slope. Therefore, submarine slides recognized in seismic profiles on the Taiwan Bank slope would be triggered by an earthquake, the most important factor for triggering submarine slides on the northern slope of the South China Sea. Considering the distribution of PGA, we consider the northern slope of the South China Sea to be stable, excluding the Taiwan Bank slope, which is tectonically active.

Can Protégés be Successfully Socialized Without Socialized Mentors?

Using social cognitive career theory as a theoretical foundation, we examined the relationship between mentor and protégé organizational socialization as well as the mediating role of career, psychosocial, and role-modeling support received by protégés. We also examined the moderating role of mentorship formality in the relationship between mentor socialization and the receipt of career, psychosocial, and role-modeling support. Using survey data collected from 209 ongoing mentoring dyads from five banks in Taiwan, regression results indicated that mentor socialization was positively related to career functions and role modeling that protégés received, as well as protégé socialization. Career support partially mediated the relationship between mentor socialization and protégé socialization. Mentorship formality moderated the relationship between mentor socialization and psychosocial support, suggesting that the positive relationship between mentor socialization and psychosocial functions only bears out in informal mentoring relationships. We offer a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Financial Determinants of Bank Performance in Taiwan

As the consolidation of financial institutions is one of the highlights in recent financial territory, we examine whether banks being subordinated under the financial holding company (FHCs) outperform to independent banks in Taiwan, covering 15 FHCs banks and 18 independent banks in our sample for the period from 2005 to 2010. Using the CAMEL approach, we also investigate empirically further the financial determinants of banks’ performance regarding FHCs banks and independent banks respectively, and examine whether the financial determinants of banks’ performance differ before and after the financial crisis. Results show that ROA is strongly related to certain CAMEL ratios, such as the total capital ratio, loan loss reserve/gross loans, the burden ratio, and net interest income divided by total assets. Moreover, the positive significant capital adequacy ratio in the post-crisis period in our sample is mainly driven by subordinated banks. Finally, asset quality factor has explaining power for the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods, meaning prevention safety net built predominantly in refraining from external shocks.

Dynamic modeling of the development of the DRAM industry in Taiwan

After nearly 30 years of development, Taiwan's DRAM industry has become the third largest in the world with a production value approaching US$4 billion in 2009. However, with the rapidly changing market business cycle during the last few years and the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, Taiwan's DRAM industry has found itself thrown into a crisis management scenario. In fact, the development of Taiwan's DRAM industry is a complex and dynamic process. Taiwan's government, banks, DRAM manufacturers and technical partners play important roles in the long-term accumulation of capital, technology and capacity. In this study, we used system dynamics to explore the system structure for the development of Taiwan's DRAM industry. Our simulation indicates that the effect of the government policy of direct investment in the aftermath of the financial crisis cannot effectively help the long-term development of Taiwan's DRAM industry.

Explaining Bank Efficiency Differences Between China and Taiwan by Meta-Frontier Cost Function

The purpose of this paper is to employ the Meta-Frontier Cost Function to compare the efficiencies of banks in China and Taiwan over the period 2003–2009. Different from previous literature using loans and securities as the output variables in evaluating banking efficiency, we propose two new variables: interest income on loans and nonperforming loans, to identify whether the banks are both cost and profit efficient and to control the quality of loans. Evidence is found that the average cost efficiency of China's banks leads the Taiwanese banks with a significant gap. Some policy implications are provided accordingly.