Mahidol University International College

About: Mahidol University International College is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tourism & Corporate governance. The organization has 240 authors who have published 485 publications receiving 6095 citations.

Unknown Territory – How SMEs Manage Trust While Doing Business Internationally: Cases from 18 Small and Medium Sized Swiss Enterprises

Abstract: The decision to enter a new international business venture often depends on the level of trust between the potential business partners. The level of trust can also pose challenges at the beginning of any new business relationship, especially international ones, as partners have little or no experience of each other. This research explores whether having trust in one’s business partner is a mandatory precondition for Small and Medium Sized Swiss Enterprises (SMEs) to undertake international business opportunities (ex-ante trust). The research also considers if the SMEs would rather follow an effectual approach, in which trust formation is an ongoing process, being built ex-post after contracts are signed (ex-post trust). The research looks at the procedures Swiss SMEs implement to examine the trustworthiness of their potential new business partners, in the early stages of the formation of international business partnerships. Eighteen in-depth interviews were conducted with Swiss SMEs that have engaged in international operations. Results show that Swiss SMEs do not act opportunistically, but instead rely on detailed consideration to ascertain whether a potential partner is the right match, and whether the potential partner is trustworthy, by implementing systematic and objective methods prior to entering a contractual agreement as an assurance of ex-ante trust.

Gendered Filipino Migration in Bangkok: A Narrative

Abstract: A look at the historical development of every migration pattern allows one to understand and appreciate the fact that migration, over the years, has taken some contours intertwining itself with gender. It is interesting to note that in the older models of migration, the "invisibility" of discussions that involved women was very much felt (See Willis & Yeoh, 2000; Pessar, 1986; Nash, 1986; Morokvasic, 1984; Bodnar, Weber, & Simon, 1982). As feminist theories that developed from 1980s through 1990s came to regard gender as a "social construction," this study looks into how such views impinge on immigration as a constitutive element of the human dynamics, social, and institutional infrastructures. In this vein, this investigation looks at gendered migration within the context of Filipino migrant work with regard to their access to social, religious, economic, and political networks in their intra-Asia migration in Thailand. To allow a comprehensive way of weaving gendered strands into migration, this paper chooses from among the main models of migratory processes (Castles, 2002) and attempts to illustrate the specific matrix within which gender is woven vis-a-vis migration flows, practices, construction of meanings, and forging of relationships, among others. In building the nexus of gendered migration, this paper adapts the framework proposed by Monica Boyd and Elizabeth Grieco (2003) and particularly examines the lives of Filipino informants through their life narratives. Following Boyd and Grieco, this study sections the discussion into three stages migrants typically experience, namely, "The Pre-Migration Stage," "Gender and the Transition across State Boundaries," and "Gender and the Post-Migration Stage" (2003). In using Boyd and Grieco’s (2003) framework, the author seeks to explore how migration serves as a conduit to a change of status of the migrants, positioning gender within the analytical fabric of migration studies as "analysis remains within the traditional explanatory approach".

The Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Evidence from the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)

Abstract: Motivated by agency theory, we explore the effect of corporate governance quality on corporate social responsibility (CSR), using the governance standards provided by the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Our evidence reveals that firms with more effective governance make significantly less investments in CSR. It appears that managers tend to over-invest in CSR and are forced to reduce CSR investments when corporate governance is more effective. In particular, an improvement in governance quality by one standard deviation translates into a decline in CSR investments by 7.16%. Our fixed-effects analysis also shows that, within firms, when governance quality improves over time, CSR investments decline significantly. Using the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as an exogenous shock that improves the quality of corporate governance, we demonstrate that high-quality governance is not merely associated with, but rather brings about lower CSR investments.

The effect of religious piety on managerial entrenchment: evidence from entrenched boards of directors

Abstract: Prior research shows that religious piety is linked to honesty and risk-aversion. Religious piety alleviates the agency conflict by lessening the motivation for managers to exploit shareholders. Because of its role in mitigating the agency conflict, we argue that religious piety influences corporate governance arrangements. We exploit the variation in religious piety across U.S. counties and show that religious piety significantly influences the probability that a firm has an entrenched (staggered) board of directors. In particular, firms located in an area with stronger religious piety are significantly less likely to have a staggered board. This negative effect, however, is significant only when the degree of religiosity is higher than a certain threshold. Further analysis reveals that our results are unlikely confounded by endogeneity. Our results are especially interesting as they demonstrate that non-financial attributes, such as religious piety, has a significant influence on one of the most...

General Rules of Thai Private Law

Abstract: The term private law as distinguished from public law is not defined by Thai statute law. Justinian’s definition publicum ius est quod ad statum rei Romanae spectat, privatum quod ad singulorum utilitatem pertinet, still indicates the line of cleavage. It should be remembered, however, that there are cases where public bodies exercise private rights as property owners or as employers of labour and that such rights, though exercised for the public benefit, are regulated by private law. The Thai Civil and Commercial Code and the other enactments referred to in this treatise deal with private law only, but there are matters on the borderline to which attention will be called in their several proper places.