How 'Provident' is the Provident Fund Savings in India : An Analysis

The paper analyses the pension and provident fund savings in India over a period of fifteen years from 1998-2013. The year 1999 was the 'International year of old persons'. The Government of India alsoformed Project OASIS to look into the aspect of old age savings and suggest reforms to the existingsystem of pension and provident fund. The New Pension System for government servants wasintroduced in 2004 and extended to general public in 2009. The earlier system prevalent since 1952 relied exclusively on investment in government bonds and securities. It arouses natural curiosity toknow whether the public looked only for security of their savings and showed no regard for returns ontheir meagre savings. This paper analyses these issues and understands that with reforms in theprovident and pension fund system, it is possible to achieve better returns. At the same time, inflationcontrolling efforts need to be carried on while encouraging people to save more.
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The Relationship between Fiscal Deficit and Inflation in India: A Cointegration Analysis

Maintaining price stability is an important macroeconomic goal for sustainability of economic growth. Fiscal deficit has come to be widely regarded as the key player in determining inflation dynamics. Theoretical insights on inflation, however, give a contrasting view on the inflationarytendencies of fiscal deficit. The fiscal theory of price level suggests that persistent budget deficits canresult in inflation, while the monetarists consider inflation to be a monetary phenomenon. Thestructural economists attribute rising prices to the changes in demand and supply constraints while Ricardian Equivalence Hypothesis views fiscal deficit and inflation to be independent of each other.In light of these competing theoretical views on the factors affecting inflation, this study empiricallyexamines the equilibrium relationship between fiscal deficit, money supply, exchange rate andinflation using Indian annual data for the period 1970-71 to 2014-15. The econometric frameworkused for the analysis is the Johansen cointegration technique, which tests both the existence and thenumber of cointegrating vectors. Furthermore, for testing the short-run causality, Granger Causalitytests have been employed. The results show that there exists a long-run relationship between fiscaldeficit, money supply, exchange rate volatility and inflation. Granger Causality tests do not confirmthe causality running from fiscal deficit to inflation. This implies that the fiscal theory of the price leveldoes not find empirical support in the Indian case. Given these findings, the efficacy of fiscal deficit asan instrument of price stabilisation in the short-run is questioned.
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Derivative Trading in Emerging Markets: A Survey

No doubt in recent past there has been over whelming use of derivatives in advanced economies but itsuse in emerging economies has also accelerated, especially after global financial crises. However, derivatives operate under different conditions in emerging markets. In this survey, we have analyzedthe literature on derivatives use in emerging economies to see if its role in these economies is any different from that in advanced countries. We have focused on issues that have attracted attention inlast four years with respect to use of derivatives such as price discovery, risk management andhedging, price stabilization, market efficiency and market structures.
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Intraregional Trade within SAARC Nations-A Review

In recent years the South Asian region has emerged as the fastest growing region in the world. However, intraregional trade has lagged behind the region's deepening engagement in global trade with the effects of geopolitics and a legacy of mistrust leaving a mark on integration efforts. The current study focuses on SAARC economies to examine the impact of trade agreements on the basis ofdata for fifteen years i.e. from 2000 to 2015. The emphasis is on understanding the level ofintraregional trade, issues, and challenges of the region and in conclusion, policy measures have been suggested to improve the integration of the region.
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An Empirical Study of Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Sector

Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards his organisation and its values. To sustain in this highly competitive environment, unexceptionable levelof performance of workers is possible only when workforce reveals tenacious commitment towards their errands. A major problem that banks in India will face, once information and technology implementation reaches its optimum level, is staff retention. They need to train their existing staff to function effectively in the new environment and once the requisite skills are acquired by employees,they may have trouble in retaining the staff. It is in this context that the present study provides ananalysis of factors that appear to be relevant in the context of employee engagement in the Indianbanking industry. The important factors emerging from the primary survey of bank employees in Delhi are compensation and career growth, rewards and recognition and seniors support factors.
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Online Brand Building: Lessons from Top Brands

The purpose of the present conceptual paper is to identify the elements of online brand building, basedon a literature review and mini case studies of successful brands. It is based on a thorough analytical review of literature and an extensive web-based search. The available literature on online brand building presents many different ideas about the domain. The study aims at delineating the concept ofonline brand building. It finds that brand-building efforts need to be aligned with the changing technology and provides a basis for the formulation and implementation of online branding strategies.
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Consequences of Salesforce Commitment: A Review Based Article

Organisational profit is largely contingent on salesforce commitment. Salesforce commitment has adeep impact on salespeople as well as sales organisation. This paper makes a modest attempt toidentify the important consequences of salesforce commitment based on research studies over aperiod of three decades (1984-2013). The study brings out salesforce commitment as an importantvariable through its multiple effects on salesforce characteristics, salesforce performance and salesorganisation effectiveness. Implications and directions for future research are also indicated.
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Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations

Corporate Governance Practices and Stakeholders Perception: A Study of Indian Companies
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Brand Equity Perception: A Study of Indian Companies

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Book Review

Special Economic Zones in India: Challenges and Prospects Author: Nidheesh K.B.
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