The Effect of Political Influence and Corporate Transparency on Firm Performance： Empirical Evidence From Indonesian Listed Companies

The paper aims to examine the effect of political influence on corporate transparency, and performance of Indonesian listed companies, Seventy-three large public firms from hundred of the largest companies in Indonesia were selected as the sample. Data for corporate transparency are collected from annual reports for the years 2005-2007. Corporate transparency is indexed by the amount of information disclosed in company＇s annual report. The disclosure index reporting model developed in the current research is based on the Annual Report Award （ARA, an award given annually to Indonesian listed and non-listed companies）, and firm performance is measured using two indicators： ROA （return on assets） and Tobin-Q. The political influence variable is proxied by two indicators： government ownership and the existence of politicians in Board of Directors （BOD）. Results demonstrate that contrary to the hypothesis, government ownership （political influence） has positive relation to corporate transparency, as well as to ROA （firm performance）. Results also support the hypothesis that transparency act as a mediating variable for the relationship between political influence and firm performance. However, when political influence is pmxied by existence of politicians in BOD and fm＇n performance proxied by Tobin-Q, data seems to give support to the hypotheses proposed. The discussion and implications of the findings and suggestions for future research arc discussed.

Between Two Cultures ： Civil Service Reform in Thailand and Indonesia

In many Asian countries, public administration is in the process of considerable change and reform. Citizens in these countries have demanded faster, better, and cheaper public service. They have also demanded for more effective and efficient government. In order to meet these demands, the nation has to change its public management into more democratic, efficient, and citizen-oriented government. A civil service reform is needed in those countries with respect to their own social cultures.

The Rise of the Far Right in Europe and the Refugee Crisis

The rise of the far right in Europe has captured the attention of the international community in recent years. Its specific features are: an unprecedentedly strong influence, an obvious trend towards the moderate line, horizontal collaboration to expand its reach, and a very adept use of social media networks. The refugee crisis has given the far right an historical opportunity. The rise has also had a profound effect on European politics; it has deepened the political divide inside EU member states, and shaken up the traditional political values and the foundation of the union.The rise of the far right will likely not change Europe's political landscape, but problems of EU governance over its handling of the refugee crisis cannot be ignored.

Deep into US-Russia Contention in the Middle East

Since the end of the Cold War, the power comparison between the United States and Russia in the Middle East has been"strong US, weak Russia". But since sending troops into Syria on September 30 of 2015,Russia has taken a forceful position of involvement in the Middle East and achieved fruitful results, not only boosting its military presence in the Middle East, but also greatly increasing its political influence. Russia is now an important external force influencing political changes in the Middle East.Since taking office as US president, Donald Trump has changed the policy of strategic contraction pursued by his predecessor Barack Obama in the Middle East, taking a proactive rather than a stiff approach to further intensify contention with Russia in a bid to reshape and consolidate its position as a top dog in the Middle East. US-Russia contention has led to new geopolitical divisions and realignment as well as profound and complicated changes in geopolitical structure in the Middle East, thus perpetuating US-Russia contention, as the two countries will lock themselves in fierce contention over regional dominance on both military and political battlegrounds.

Hispanic Women＇s Presence in the Actual U.S. Congress

The Hispanic population of the United States has become, in recent times, into a powerful electoral force whose vote is historically oriented towards the Democratic Party of the incumbent US President Barack H. Obama. Obviously, this growing electoral strength is reflected into its political presence in the American life that has been accomplished with their numeric inclusion in the US Congress. Although in the recent decades several studies have arisen on the status of the Hispanic community in the United States from both sides of the Atlantic, these have been primarily focused on casuistic, demographic, developmental or educational aspects. But only a few of them, if any, has focused exclusively on the numerical and symbolical representation of the community in the political arena, and more specifically into the main legislative body of the country, the US Congress. And therein it lays the purpose of this article. We intend to investigate not only the historical presence of Hispanic legislators in Congress but also and especially their political influence in the current U.S. Congress. Finally, and prior to the conclusions drawn throughout the paper, we will analyze the political influence of the Hispanic congresswomen in the current 114th Congress. As we will be breaking down, this group has been changing gradually from a poor oppressed minority into one of the most dynamic groups of the country, introduced at all levels of government.

German Labor Sports Movement in Slovakia and Its Orientation in Period 1918-1938

This is a study of German Labor Sport organizations and unions in Slovakia in the time parameters area 1918-1938 German workers living in Slovakia started to found their own union after 1918. They got a strong support from similar organizations of German workers living in Sudety. The coordinating role was played by the German Socio-Democratic party in Slovakia. The major concentration of these unions was in Bratislava and Eastern Slovakia. Concerning their specialized field, they can be divided into tourism-practising, physical and sport ones However, the union activities were strongly influenced by political parties. Activities of every union were regional and therefore a strong mutual isolation existed

The Political and Social Influences of the West ‘Us’ in the Arab World ‘Others’

Western influence is the upshot of two centuries of Western dominance.Their position of power has undermined the prerogatives of many nations,which is evident in the West pushing certain political and cultural ideals.Their privileged and powerful political and cultural status and the superiority of their civilization led them to view the rest of the world as‘Others’,being politically,and culturally inferior.This is what made the West identify the policy and the economy in the world and impose the liberal democracy and the Western social and cultural patterns on‘others’,rendering them as parameters for civilization and political development.In this paper,we will focus on the influence of the West‘Us’on the Arab world‘Others’and the political and social effects it has had in the region.The current study is twofold.Firstly,we will look at the recent development of the Arab world in current events,which are largely driven by Western interference in the region.The second factor is the erosion of the Arab heritage amid the wide adoption of Western cultures,and its social and political impact.

The Role and Influence of the Orthodoxy in Russian Politics

The Orthodoxy has been in existence in Russia for more than 1000years and has fully merged itself into the nation,creating a strongsense of religious culture.During the long years of the reigns by differ-ent regimes from the Czarist Russia to the Soviet Union and then to thenew Russia,the religion went through the process of ups and downs inits development.Having once played a very important role in the

Hokkien Merchants and the Kian Teik Tong： Economic and Political Influence in Nineteenth- Century Penang and Its Region

This article explores nineteenth-century Penang＇s Hokkkien merchants and their secret society or hui-the Klan Teik Tong diande Tang）--which had a variety of roles and an extensive network. It contextualizes the merchants＇ secret society as a transnational socioeconomic and political organization rather than as an overseas Chinese criminal group in the wider Penang area. By recovering Klan Teik Tong and its network, it can be shown how these merchants secured and mobilized labour, capital, and allies in a way that cut across linguistic, ethnic, class and state boundaries in order to establish control of coolies and the lucrative opium, tin, and rice businesses, in order to exert political influence in the colonial and indigenous milieus of the nineteenth-century Penang region. They established a social contract through their Klan Teik Tong relief activities and initiation rituals, and thus were able to recruit thousands of members who were mainly labourers. With such a substantial social force, the merchants launched organized violence against their rivals to attain dominance in opium revenue farming and tin mining businesses in Penang, Krabi, and Perak. The widespread and strategic location of the Klan Teik Tong in Burma also enabled the same merchants to monopolize the Penang-Burma rice trade. The versatility of the Klan Teik Tong＇s functions allowed them to operate as an alternative political order vis-a-vis the colonial and indigenous powers. This arrangement allowed the Hokkien merchants to gain significant political clout in confronting the Siamese and Dutch authorities.

闽商与建德堂在19世纪槟城及周边地区的经济与政治影响力（英文）

本文探索了19世纪槟城的闽籍商人和他们的秘密结社(即"会")——建德堂。当时,建德堂掌控着一个功能多种多样的巨大网络。本文将其视为一个大槟城地区的跨国社会经济及政治组织,而非所谓的海外华人犯罪团伙。通过对其网络的复原,本文展示了闽籍商人如何保证并组织劳力和资本,并为了建立对劳工、利润丰厚的鸦片、锡矿和大米生意的控制而进行跨语言、跨民族、跨阶层、跨行政区的合作,最终实现对19世纪槟城地区的殖民政府及本地政治力量的影响。建德堂建立了一种基于救济活动和入会仪式的社会契约,从而召集起大量身份以劳工为主的会员。借助建德堂强大的社会力量,闽商团体向竞争对手发起了有组织的暴力行动,以取得槟城、甲米、霹雳等地鸦片种植业和锡矿业的优势地位。建德堂在缅甸的广泛传播和优越位置,同样使得这些人垄断了槟城和缅甸之间的大米生意。和殖民政府与本地政治力量相比,建德堂功能上的灵活性使之成为一种替代性的政治秩序,让闽籍商人在面对暹罗及荷兰政府时有了举足轻重的政治影响力。