Mahendra Reddy

Economic cost of human capital loss from Fiji: Implications for sustainable development

Small island nations in the South Pacific are facing a serious problem of loss of human capital. The loss of skilled and qualified personnel from the small pool is causing a major setback in terms of providing the technical expertise to forge ahead with reform programs that these economies are undertaking. Fijis policymakers are increasingly confronting this issue, because the nation has experienced a massive outflow of skilled labor following the political instability in 1987. While there is an outflow of skilled labor, the country is also losing a large amount of financial capital. The extent of the outflow has yet to be measured due to lack of a methodology. This study advances a methodology to measure the loss to the economy arising out of human capital loss in a small island economy.

Analyzing Wage Differential by Gender Using an Earnings Function Approach Further Evidence from a Small Developing Economy

This study uses the primary data from Fiji to examine if gender differential with respect to wages exists and if education plays an important role in the prevalence of the wage gap in general. The results of the study indicate that the inconsistency in wages is affected by both education and gender variables. This high disparity in wages based on gender raises serious questions about the governments ability to meet the MDG targets as far as the reduction of gender inequality is concerned.

Branding of Fiji's bottled water: edging into sustainable consumption.

Small developing economies are struggling to achieve the economic growth rates required to provide a decent standard of living to their population. For them to survive in an increasingly competitive global economy, they will have to differentiate their products by targeting issues which the consumers in the global market are quite responsive to. In this paper, we argue that Fiji bottled water exporters have successively marketed their products by exploiting the sustainable dimension of consumption, given the widespread concern for it in high-income countries. We argue that the branding of these products has been in relation to health, environment and lifestyle issues. We further demonstrate that the sustainable consumption dimension of branding has been enhanced thanks to the remoteness and exoticised small-island nature of Fiji.

Empirical modelling of bank market exclusion

Driven by higher profit incentives, banks’ marketing strategies have tended increasingly to exclude sections of the retail market on socio‐economic lines. Ironically, these strategies are now seen to have profitability and social responsibility implications. Little previous attempt has been made to quantify the relationship between bank service access and the determinants that act as deterrents, to improve general understanding of the extent of exclusionary influence of each determinant and the relevant implications. This study examines quantified relationships using the Probit model and data collected through primary research from a developing economy in the Asia Pacific region. Results show that bank‐driven pricing strategies may have an overriding effect on other factors. The analysis demonstrates that profits may be increased, socio‐economic exclusionary effects reduced and social image improved by voluntarily reconsidering pricing and other bank‐driven exclusionary strategies.

How demographic differences influence customer satisfaction with the public service delivery in Fiji

This study has used quantitative modelling to examine how respondent specific factors could affect customers service satisfaction determine the quality of service they receive. Results reveal that in terms of poor services, Government Health services are given the lowest rating. Other government services, transportation sector and service stations are also rated as poor services providers. Interestingly, attributes such as cost efficiency, gender and ethnic discrimination, security and availability of parking space are the key factors that affect customer satisfaction. The advanced probit model analysis reveals that the age, gender and ethnicity may also factor into the equation of service delivery.