Public Opinion Research Relating To The Financial Services Sector

Describes and presents findings of a public opinion study whose objectives included: describing the current and evolving attitudes of the Canadian public on a variety of issues relating to the financial services industry; examining Canadians' interaction with the financial services sector; and understanding the interrelatedness of many of the issues and how they are shaping public attitudes. Findings are based on data from a telephone survey of 1,800 representatives from the general public, and a series of focus groups and triads with telephone survey participants. Issues examined include levels of satisfaction with different elements of the financial services sector, levels of trust and confidence in the sector, the image of banks, competition, mergers, Canadian control of the sector, industry practices, and issues relating to technology and privacy. The appendix includes a copy of the survey instrument along with a tabulation of the results.

Twenty-four news networks, a plethora of newspapers and magazines, vibrant news-talk radio, and the ubiquitous Internet highlight our society as information-driven. With such a steady stream of hard facts mixed with publicised opinions, the mainstream population has an opinion on everything. Most anyone seems itching to argue their side of an issue, making once private beliefs fodder for general consumption. A staple of any medium's content is a regular public opinion poll on whatever hot topic strikes the editor's fancy. From the significant to the mundane, public opinion permeates society. Accordingly, politicians have taken note of these opinions and adopted stands and values that put them in tune with public sentiment. An understanding of the nature of public opinion, therefore, is paramount in today's world. This book assembles and presents a carefully chosen bibliography on public opinion in its many forms. The collection of references makes for a valuable resource in studying and researching the critical issue of public opinion. Easy access to these pieces of literature are then provided with author, title, and subject indexes.

This paper is based on a survey of the chief financial officers (CFOs) of 37 of Canada's largest corporations and a subsequent small focus group of selected CFOs who were asked to expand on some of the survey responses. It outlines the views of CFOs on their banking relationships, explores how these CFOs view the performance of Canadian banks both at home and abroad, and examines whether these views lead them to have strong feelings about the current ownership structure of Canadian banks. The appendix includes the survey questions along with tabulated survey results.

Canadian society has changed dramatically since 1960. This work captures the scope and range of these changes through a systematic documentation of seventy-eight social trends. The introduction summarizes and locates the major waves of change. The authors then document each trend in relation to eighteen thematic groups that include age, community, women, labour, management, stratification, social relations, the state, mobilizing institutions, social forces, ideologies, households, lifestyle, leisure, education, integration, and attitudes and values. In contrast to many recent works and journalistic reports, Recent Social Trends in Canada concentrates on the trajectory of change rather than on current events. It provides a longitudinal context in which unfolding events can be interpreted in a broader historical and international context. Comparable volumes in the McGill-Queen's Comparative Charting of Social Change series describe similar tendencies in the United States, Quebec, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, and Bulgaria, making it possible to situate the Canadian experience in a global context.

Public procurement law is a necessary component of the single market because it attempts to regulate the public markets of Member States and represents a key priority for the European Union. This Research Handbook makes a major contribution to the understanding of the current EU public procurement regime, its interface with the law of the internal market and the pivotal role that this will play in the delivery of the European 2020 Growth Strategy.

This book provides invaluable insights to one of the most difficult areas of European integration. Public procurement represents an instrument of policy choice for governments and its regulation interacts with a variety of policies, including the promotion of competition, employment, social policy, and environmental protection. The author vividly elaborates on the in-built flexibility of the newly enacted rules and provides a codified analysis of their interpretation by the EU judiciary. Finally, considerable debate is dedicated to future dimensions of public procurement regulation in the form of public private partnerships and concessions.

IBSS is the essential tool for librarians, university departments, research institutions and any public or private institution whose work requires access to up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge of the social sciences

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: Based on the findings of the correlation analysis described in chapter 7.1, factors of influence and variables statistically not related to financial B2C e-commerce can now be distinguished. While the focus of this part of the analysis lies on factors showing significant correlation coefficients in relation to the research topic, this does not mean that the non-correlated factors are not of importance or somewhat connected. The statistical measurements may not be suitable for this type of analysis, survey results may be misleading or the situation will have changed in the last two years after the investigation. On the other hand, the observed correlations do not necessarily equal a causal relationship and the high complex matter can not be explained by single variables as influence factors. The conducted correlation analysis only serves as an indicator for potential influence factors or accelerators and has to be carefully evaluated. Keeping these considerations in mind, the statistical analysis within the scope of this masters dissertation will support the following conclusions and interpretations. First of all, computer usage and skills as well as internet usage and skills need to be on a high level in a country to facilitate financial B2C e-commerce. Residents of countries with higher levels for the subject of examination will probably already have gained adequate skills, as indicated by a medium strong negative relation to computer courses taken in the last three months and other online activities such as online information search and online banking positively correlated. While online banking is partially included in the variable e_comm representing financial B2C e-commerce through customer s usage of online financial services, this particular result may not be totally conclusive. However, it seems logical that consumers with good computer and internet skills also spending a lot of time with advanced activities on the internet may also engage in financial B2C e-commerce. This assumption narrows down the target group and excludes a certain clientele from online product offers of financial institutions - banks will need to adapt their web portals accordingly, set up initiatives improving computer and web skills of their consumers and meet their consumers on the internet, e.g. with advertising while they are using search engines. Practical evidence supporting these interpretations can be found in several examples of [...]