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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | VALENTOVA Marie |
| Abstract: | This paper uses European Values Study (EVS) data from 1999 and 2008 to examine the evolution of gender role attitudes in Luxembourg. The paper focuses on three aspects of the attitudinal changes. First, it analyses whether the gender role beliefs measured by three scores (childcare, homemaking and economic aspects) have changed during the past decade. Second, it examines whether these changes have equally touched men and women of different age categories. Third, it analysis whether the gender gap in attitudes towards gender roles diminishes over time. The outcomes of the analysis reveal that during the past ten years Luxembourg’s residents have become significantly less traditional regarding gender role attitudes, mainly when it comes to attitudes towards the consequences of female employment on children and the economic aspects of the gender roles. Young women are the strongest supporters of the more egalitarian division of labour between the sexes, while young men lag behind their female counterparts. This gender gap appears to persist especially in case of attitudes towards homemaking. |
| Keywords: | attitudes; gender roles; sex gap; EVS |
| JEL: | D63 Z13 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-02&r=hme |
| By: | Günseli Berik and Ebru Kongar |
| Abstract: | The U.S. economic crisis and recession of 2007-2009 accelerated the convergence of women’s and men’s employment rates as men experienced disproportionate job losses and women’s entry into the labor force gathered pace. Using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003-2010, this study examines whether the narrowing gap in paid work over this period was mirrored in unpaid work, personal care and leisure time. We find that the gender gap in unpaid work followed a U-pattern, narrowing during the recession but widening afterwards. Through segregation analysis we trace this U-pattern to the slow erosion of gender segregation in housework and through a standard decomposition analysis of time use by employment status we show that this pattern was mainly driven by movement towards gender equitable unpaid hours of women and men with the same employment status. In addition, over the business cycle gender inequality in leisure time increased. |
| Keywords: | J16, J22, J64 JEL Classification: Economics of Gender, Unemployment, Time Use, Economic Crises |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uta:papers:2011_16&r=hme |
| By: | Marletto, Gerardo |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on institutional and evolutionary economics and contributes to an approach to environmental policy which diverges from mainstream prescriptions. The 'socio-technical system' is the core concept: this is a complex made of co-evolving institutions, technologies, markets and actors that fulfils an overall societal need (such as housing, production, mobility, etc.). A systemic and dynamic analysis of those structural changes which are needed to create more sustainable socio-technical systems is provided; actors – and their ability to influence politics and policy – are explicitly taken into consideration. Unsustainable socio-technical systems feature a relevant resistance to change, because they are embedded in the very structure of our society and because of the conservative action of dominant stakeholders; this is why no environmental policy will be effective unless it aims at 'unlocking' our societies from their dominance. But also a constructive side of environmental policy is needed in order to establish new and more sustainable socio-technical systems; consistently, environmental policy is viewed as a combination of actions that can trigger, make viable and align those institutional, technological and economic changes which are needed to reach sustainability. Again, actors (for change) are at the heart of this vision of environmental policy: as subject, because the creation of new and sustainable socio-technical systems is made possible by (coalitions of) actors for change; as object, because environmental policy – to be effective – must actively support the empowerment, legitimation and social networking of such coalitions. A ‘chicken and egg’ problem remains: who comes first? Actors for change advocating policies for sustainability or policies for sustainability supporting actors for change? |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy; Economic dynamics; Institutional economics; Evolutionary economics; Socio-technical systems |
| JEL: | B52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36441&r=hme |
| By: | Robert; Claudia Klaerding |
| Abstract: | Economic geographers have recently been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm of evolutionary economic geography. The paper aims at advancing theoretical economic geography by reviewing its core critique and proposed solutions, particularly that of integrating the perspective of a geographical political economy. Although we sympathize with the identified shortcomings of an evolutionary economic geography we criticise the alternative approach for being too narrow and reductionist. In contrast, a relational economic perspective is argued to theorize the core weaknesses of EEG, namely power, social agency and particularly the interrelatedness of influences on different scales, more comprehensively. By combining evolutionary and relational approaches in certain respects we, furthermore, plead for an advancement of theoretical economic geography by engaged pluralism. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary economic geography, sympathetic critique, relational perspective, engaged pluralism |
| JEL: | R11 N94 O14 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1202&r=hme |
| By: | Doan, Tinh |
| Abstract: | Understanding the degree and evolution of competition across industries is an important step towards understanding the impact of economic reform and competition on economic growth in Vietnam during the economic transition. In this paper, the author investigates the evolution of competition in Vietnam during the economic transition using the price-cost margin (PCM) or mark-up that has been widely applied in the economic literature and the profit elasticity (PE) recently developed by Boone in his paper Competition (2000). This paper provides the first empirical study of intensity and evolution of competition across selected industries in Vietnam in the last decade using firm-level data from the Vietnam Enterprise Census (VEC) conducted annually since 2000 by the Vietnam General Statistical Office (GSO). -- |
| Keywords: | Competition,industry,economic transition,Vietnam |
| JEL: | D40 L5 L11 P20 P30 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201212&r=hme |
| By: | Iliadi, Fotoula; Mariolis, Theodore; Soklis, George; Tsoulfidis, Lefteris |
| Abstract: | This paper tests Bienenfeld’s polynomial approximation of production prices using data from ten symmetric input-output tables of five European economies. The empirical results show that the quadratic formula works extremely well and its accuracy is connected to the actual distribution of the eigenvalues of the matrices of vertically integrated technical coefficients. |
| Keywords: | Bienenfeld’s approximation; Damping ratio; Eigenvalue distribution; Empirical evidence; Production prices |
| JEL: | B51 D46 D57 C67 E11 |
| Date: | 2012–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36282&r=hme |
| By: | Braak, A.M. ter (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | Private labels have witnessed considerable growth in grocery retailing. While existing academic studies have provided valuable insights concerning the evolution of private labels, several issues remain largely unexplored. First, in the face of these large private-label volumes, private-label production opportunities arise. Due to increased private-label competition, national-brand manufacturers increasingly pursue a dual-branding strategy and engage in private-label production next to their national-brand activities. In chapter two of this dissertation, a major motivation for national-brand manufacturers to engage in private-label production, namely whether it creates retailer goodwill, is investigated. It shows that private-label production is indeed rewarded: national-brand manufacturers involved in private-label production for a discounter have a higher likelihood of obtaining national-brand shelf presence at that discounter. The third chapter focuses on one of the main reasons why retailers push private labels, i.e. because they generate high margins, and considers how a retailer’s private-label margins vary within categories. It demonstrates that a retailer’s private-label margins depend on the nature of the private-label supplier-retailer relationship, that they differ across quality tiers and package sizes, and that they are affected by a supplier’s extent of national-brand focus next to its private-label production for the retailer. Finally, this dissertation concentrates on the recent premium private-label trend. Even though premium private labels are seen as “one of the hottest trends in retailing,” retailers are selective in picking their battles with top-quality national brands and do not feel the need to extend their standard private label with a premium private label in every category. The fourth chapter provides insight into why retailers offer premium private labels in some categories, but not in others. The research presented in this dissertation is among the first to empirically investigate the phenomenon of private-label production, and to shed light on the recent trend of premium private labels. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:tilbur:urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-5242207&r=hme |
| By: | Hüschelrath, Kai; Veith, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Although the pricing dynamics of hardcore cartels have been studied intensively from a theoretical perspective, empirical evidence is still rare. We combine publicly available data with a unique private data set of about 340,000 market transactions from 36 smaller and larger customers of German cement producers to study the pricing dynamics during and after the breakdown of a German cement cartel. We find that, first, after the breakdown of the cartel, cartel members reduce net prices to a far larger extent than gross prices and that, second, noncartel members slip under the price umbrella of the cartel to increase profits. Our results have important implications for both the design of screening tools to detect cartels as part of public enforcement and the calculation of damages as part of private enforcement of competition law. -- |
| Keywords: | antitrust policy,cartels,umbrella pricing,net prices,cement,screening,damages |
| JEL: | L41 L61 K21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11067&r=hme |
| By: | Samuel Jaramillo González |
| Abstract: | La renovación de la interpretación de Marx de la sociedad capitalista pasa por el rescate y desarrollo de su Teoría del Valor. La corriente conocida como Teoría del Valor Trabajo Abstracto, o New Interpretation, se propone hacer esto y para ello parte de precisar que el valor es una categoría que se forma en la interacción entre la producción y la circulación (y no solamente en la producción, como la concepción ricardiana). La Teoría del Valor trasciende lo que es una Teoría de los Precios, pero requiere de esta pieza de análisis que por lo pronto esta poco desarrollada. Este texto se propone contribuir en la empresa de construir una teoría de los precios compatible con la teoría del valor trabajo abstracto, y aborda esta tarea en un esquema de economía mercantil simple. |
| Date: | 2011–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:009301&r=hme |
| By: | Pavlina R. Tcherneva |
| Abstract: | This paper augments the basic Post-Keynesian markup model to examine the effects of different fiscal policies on prices and income distribution. This is an approach a la Hyman P. Minsky, who argued that in the modern era, government is both "a blessing and a curse," since it stabilizes profits and output by imparting an inflationary bias to the economy, but without stabilizing the economy at or near full employment. To build on these insights, the paper considers several distinct functions of government: 1) government as an income provider, 2) as an employer, and 3) as a buyer of goods and services. The inflationary and distributional effects of each of these fiscal policies differ considerably. First, the paper examines the effects of income transfers to individuals and firms (in the form of unemployment insurance and investment subsidies, respectively). Next, it considers government as an employer of workers (direct job creation) and as a buyer of goods and services (indirect job creation). Finally, it modifies the basic theoretical model to incorporate fiscal policy a la Minsky and John Maynard Keynes, where the government ensures full employment through direct job creation of all of the unemployed unable to find private sector work, irrespective of the phase of the business cycle. The paper specifically models Minsky's proposal for government as the employer of last resort (ELR), but the findings would apply to any universal direct job creation plan of similar design. The paper derives a fundamental price equation for a full-employment economy with government. The model presents a "price rule" for government spending that ensures that the ELR is not a source of inflation. Indeed, the fundamental equation illustrates that in the presence of such a price rule, at full employment inflationary effects are observed from sources other than the public sector employment program. |
| Keywords: | Minsky; Kalecki Model; Alternative Fiscal Polices; Income Transfers; Investment Subsidies; Direct Job Creation; Employer of Last Resort; Inflation; Income Distribution |
| JEL: | E12 E24 E25 E31 E62 H11 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_706&r=hme |
| By: | Taupin, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | Le travail institutionnel de maintien n’a été que rarement étudié dans les analyses néoinstitutionnelles. Nous proposons d’instruire cette notion grâce à l’étude empirique de la notation de crédit. L’industrie de la notation de crédit est le lieu d’un paradoxe qui tient à l’opposition entre la vigoureuse résistance dont elle fait la preuve alors qu’elle est dans le même temps fortement critiquée. En nous basant sur l’approche des économies de la grandeur de Boltanski et Thévenot, nous procédons à l’analyse du travail institutionnel de justification réalisé par les acteurs lors des consultations publiques menées par la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) américaine au cours de la décennie 2000-2010. Une étude qualitative de 340 commentaires a été réalisée à l’aide d’un codage assisté par le logiciel NVivo. L’analyse indique que les controverses ont permis la réaffirmation des principes de légitimité en vigueur, empêchant en pratique toute modification du statu quo. Lors de cette période, nous distinguons un premier travail de maintien résidant en une confirmation simple de l’existant, et un processus de maintien plus complexe et dynamique au cours duquel des logiques multiples sont agencées d’une manière entraînant la réaffirmation des principes de légitimité en vigueur et le rejet de toute logique étrangère au compromis en place. Le paradoxe de la notation de crédit précédemment établi doit donc être reconsidéré : la contestation de la notation nourrit précisément le maintien institutionnel dans l’industrie. Dans sa stabilité, il faut donc ici concevoir l’institution comme étant indissociable de sa contestation. |
| Abstract: | The work of maintaining institutions has been barely studied by neo-institutional analysis. We propose to enrich this notion thanks to the empirical study of credit rating. The credit rating industry is characterized by a paradox that lies in the opposition between the permanence that comes with this phenomenon while it is strongly criticized. Based on the approach of Boltanski and Thévenot’s economies of worth, we carry out an analysis of the institutional work of justification performed by the actors at the time of the public consultations led by the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the 2000-2010 crisis of justification. A qualitative analysis of 340 comments was conducted using NVivo software. The analysis indicates that the controversies permitted a reaffirmation of the established legitimacy principles, impeding any actual modification of the status quo. During the considered period, we distinguish between a first work of maintenance, lying on a simple confirmation of what actually is, and a process of maintenance much more complex and dynamic, in which various logics are put together in a way that leads to the reaffirmation of the effective legitimacy principles and to the rejection of any logic not involved in the compromise. The previously enounced paradox of credit rating shall therefore be reconsidered: the contestation of rating is precisely fueling the institutional maintenance in the industry. In its stability, the institution is to be conceived here as inseparable from its contestation. |
| Keywords: | institutional maintenance; institutional work; credit rating industry; economies of worth; maintien institutionnel; travail institutionnel; justification; notation de crédit; économies de la grandeur; |
| JEL: | M1 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/8004&r=hme |
| By: | Nicodemo, Catia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Nicolini, Rosella (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the existence of hiring criteria associated with the degree of social connections between skill and low-skill workers. We provide evidence about to what extent managers rely on their social connections in recruiting low-skill workers rather than on random matching. As one unique feature we follow an approach for a posted wage setting that reflects the main features of the Spanish labor market. By working with sub-samples of high and low-skill workers we are able to assess that the recruitment of low-skill immigrants quite often follows a referral strategy and we identify interesting irregularities across the ethnic groups. As a common feature, referral hiring is usually influences by the ethnicity of the manager and the relative proportion of immigrants within the firm. Under these perspectives, our study outlines new insights to evaluate the future perspectives of the Spanish labor market. |
| Keywords: | ethnicity, hiring strategies, social networks |
| JEL: | J15 J21 J24 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6312&r=hme |
| By: | Pol Antràs; Davin Chor; Thibault Fally; Russell Hillberry |
| Abstract: | We propose two distinct approaches to the measurement of industry upstreamness (or average distance from final use) and show that they yield an equivalent measure. Furthermore, we provide two additional interpretations of this measure, one of them related to the concept of forward linkages in Input-Output analysis. On the empirical side, we construct this measure for 426 industries using the 2002 US Input-Output Tables. We also verify the stability of upstreamness across countries in the OECD STAN database, albeit with a more aggregated industry classification. Finally, we present an application that explores the determinants of the average upstreamness of exports at the country level using trade flows for 2002. |
| JEL: | F10 F14 L16 L23 O14 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17819&r=hme |
| By: | Geoffrey Miller |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the topic of private regulation and enforcement for internationally active financial services firms. The paper documents the following types of regulation and enforcement that involve significant private input: house rules, contracts, internal compliance, management-based regulation, private standard-setting bodies, cartels, and private litigation. The paper assesses these systems or modalities along the dimensions of effectiveness, legitimacy, quality, and enforcement. The paper suggests that the following factors (among others) will contribute to determining the pattern of private/public interaction in a given regulatory context: (1) minimization of transactions costs; (2) access to information; (3) expertise; (4) political power of the regulated industry; (5) contests over regulatory turf; (6) regulatory budget constraints, and (7) history or path-dependence. The topic of financial private regulation and enforcement concerns the activities of private firms in the financial sector which are involved in cross-border activities – Citigroup, Bank of America, HSBC, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, RBS, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, HBOS, Société Générale, Banco Santander, American Express, Nomura, and so on. For convenience of reference, I will refer to this type of organization as an internationally active financial services firm (IAFSF). This paper will categorize different types of private regulation and enforcement applicable to IAFSFs and then will offer some tentative thoughts about the underlying forces that may determine the phenomena under observation, with special reference to the HiiL Concept Paper, The Added Value of Private Regulation in an Internationalised World? Towards a Model of the Legitimacy, Effectiveness, Enforcement and Quality of Private Regulation. The principal subject of investigation will be the activities of IAFSFs under U.S. law, but attention will be given to international standards and regulations as well. |
| Date: | 2011–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0294&r=hme |
| By: | Bresser Pereira, Luiz Carlos |
| Abstract: | Unlike the methodological sciences such as mathematics and decision theory, which use the hypothetical-deductive method and may be fully expressed in complex mathematical models because their only truth criterion is logical consistency, the substantive sciences have as their truth criterion the correspondence to reality, adopt an empirical-deductive method, and are supposed to generalize from and often unreliable regularities and tendencies. Given this assumption, it is very difficult for economists to predict economic behavior, particularly major financial crises. |
| Date: | 2012–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:306&r=hme |
| By: | Lepore, Amedeo |
| Abstract: | Business history, while not clearly established or widely recognized, is an open framework that can include in addition to issues related to the evolving economy, business, market and business, other areas of institutional, cultural and social, related to contemporary events resulting from the long process of industrialization. The first industrial revolution began in the late eighteenth century, the next highest industrial processing of the second half of the nineteenth century, the mass industrialization of the twentieth century and the new post-Fordist landscape of the twenty-first century are the historical landmarks that anchor the activities of a phenomenon that has accompanied the various stages of development of the world economy and, over time characterized by the primacy of capitalist production Buoyancy. Not to deny that in earlier times there have been significant events or structures and there were also areas of significant value to the business history, but want to say that the central focus for the growth of this area is the spread of the capitalist system within industry, agriculture, services, accounting and finance. In summary, business history is an essential element, in terms of quality, for understanding the economic fabric of a country, consistently dynamic and comparative. |
| Keywords: | Business History; Traditional methods of study; New methodologies for research; Open Innovation; Long Tail; |
| JEL: | N8 N01 N00 |
| Date: | 2012–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36490&r=hme |
| By: | Tiwari, Rajnish; Herstatt, Cornelius |
| Abstract: | Securing access to lead markets is generally regarded as a key driver for the increasing globalization of innovation since these are considered to be early indicators for emerging customer needs. Such markets, therefore, offer a good chance of uncertainty reduction for in the innovation process of firms. Lead markets are generally defined in terms of product segments within national boundaries and are thought to exist in economies with high per capita income, highly sophisticated markets and high international visibility. We argue that there is increasing evidence of lead market tendencies in certain emerging economies, e.g. India. Both domestic and foreign-owned firms there, in recent years, have produced several internationally acclaimed frugal innovations such as the Tata Nano or GE's handheld ECG machine Mac400. Using several examples we demonstrate that India seems to have emerged as a global hub for low-cost, frugal innovations. In this paper, we seek to crystallize the role of lead markets in globalization of R&D and identify the need for an update/extension to better reflect the changed ground realities. On the basis of emerging evidence we propose that sustained economic growth, voluminous markets, strong domestic technological capabilities, presence of foreign-owned R&D, and favorable government policies may be able to offset some of the disadvantages rooted in traditional deficiencies. Engaging a developing country lead market may be useful for firms in securing better access to markets at the bottom of the economic pyramid worldwide. -- |
| Keywords: | globalization of innovation,lead markets,internationalization of R&D,frugal innovations,bottom of the pyramid |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuhtim:61&r=hme |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper by applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ranks Economics journals in the field of Accounting, Banking and Finance. By using one composite input and one composite output the paper ranks 57 journals. In addition for the first time three different quality ranking reports have been incorporated to the DEA modelling problem in order to classify the journals into four categories (‘A’ to ‘D’). The results reveal that the journals with the highest rankings in the field are Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. |
| Keywords: | Rankings; Economics Journals; Accounting Journals; Banking Journals; Finance Journals; Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | C14 C02 A10 G00 A11 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36166&r=hme |
| By: | Gallini, Nancy |
| Abstract: | The paper examines technology agreements and the standards process from which they emerge when members supply inputs to the alliance while simultaneously competing with it. Under this overlapping ownership structure, pool members are horizontally related. I show that strategic complementarity between the downstream products owned by a member and those arising from the collaboration is sufficient for a pool to be pro-competitive. Although patent pools are more efficient than uncoordinated pricing, consumers are better off if an outside firm rather than a pool member owns the non-pool competing product. Antitrust rules facilitating efficient IP agreements under overlapping ownership and their implications for the direction of technological change are derived. |
| Keywords: | Patent Pools, Intellectual Property, Antitrust Policy |
| Date: | 2012–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:bricol:nancy_gallini-2012-5&r=hme |
| By: | Hüschelrath, Kai; Veith, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Cartel detection is usually viewed as a key task of either competition authorities or compliance officials in firms with an elevated risk of cartelization. We argue that customers of hard core cartels can have both incentives and possibilities to detect such agreements on their own initiative through the use of market-specific data sets. We apply a unique data set of about 340,000 market transactions from 36 smaller and larger customers of German cement producers and show that a price screen would have allowed particularly larger customers to detect the upstream cement cartel before the competition authority. The results not only suggest that monitoring procurement markets through screening tools has the potential of substantial cost reductions - thereby improving the competitive position of the respective user firms - but also allow the conclusion that competition authorities should view customers of potentially cartelized industries as important allies in their endeavour to fight hard core cartels. -- |
| Keywords: | business economics,procurement,antitrust policy,cartels,detection,screening |
| JEL: | D24 L41 L61 M11 M21 K21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11066&r=hme |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | By estimating the production frontier with the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) we rank the ‘Diamond Core’ economic journals as has been presented by Diamond (1989). By using one composite input and one composite output the paper ranks 27 core economics journals. For the first time a study attempts to rank the 27 journals by using data from SCOPUS database for the time period of 1996-2010. In addition for the first time three different quality ranking reports are incorporated in the DEA modelling problem in order to classify the journals into four categories (‘A’ to ‘D’). The results reveal that from the 27 ‘core’ economics journals the five journals with the highest rankings are Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Literature, Review of Economic Studies and American Economic Review. In addition it appears that the journals’ impact factor derived from SSCI database reflects their ranking position. |
| Keywords: | Rankings; Economics Journals; Diamond’s core Journals; Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | C14 C02 A10 A11 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36589&r=hme |
| By: | Gilles Laferté |
| Abstract: | French rural worlds have been historicized over the last thirty years. This paper presents a research approach that attempts to reconcile cultural history and social history. Recent studies of regionalism in France have drawn extensively on the constructivist model of the nation and have sought to denaturalize its representations. But in articulating this history of representations with the economic uses made of them -and particularly the specialization of the French economy in luxury markets- it is best to eschew the routine phraseology of ?identity? and prefer the combination of ?social image? and ?affiliation?. This provides a better understanding of how discourse and social structures interlock. Social spheres gravitating around regionalism in the inter-war years were very much interdependent. The nineteenth-century model that portrayed luxury goods as aristocratic was superseded by a model in which luxury products conveyed traditionalist values. The shift in the balance of power in the wine market away from winemerchants and toward vineyard owners can be understood only in the light of the political and cultural networks that vineyard owners managed to develop. |
| Keywords: | Wine, Folklore, Regionalism, Terroir, Rural Sociology, Ethnology of France |
| JEL: | Z1 |
| Date: | 2012–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ceo:wpaper:34&r=hme |
| By: | Paugam, Luc |
| Abstract: | Le goodwill est, par nature, un objet complexe en ce qu’il englobe deux perspectives : la première est économique – il s’agit de la valeur présente des profits économiques espérés – la seconde est comptable – excès du prix payé par un acquéreur sur la juste valeur des actifs nets acquis. Ces deux acceptions du goodwill étant imbriquées, nous les analysons en décomposant le goodwill comptable – surpaiement, goodwill généré en interne (GGI) et synergies externes. Notre analyse fait émerger, d’une part, des questions de valorisation du goodwill économique, et de l’autre, des enjeux de reporting du goodwill comptable. Sur la première question, nous avançons une proposition sur les fondements de la mesure du GGI : un modèle alternatif de valorisation, de nature combinatoire, fondé sur la théorie des capacités (Choquet, 1953) et relaxant le postulat standard d’additivité, est testé sur un échantillon d’entreprises cotées américaines. Les performances de ce modèle non-additif s’avèrent supérieures à celles du modèle additif d’Ohlson (1995). Sur la question du reporting, nous analysons l’impact sur le coût des capitaux propres de l’information comptable communiquée au titre des tests de dépréciation du goodwill (IAS 36, FAS 142). Une association négative est établie entre information pertinente et engagement de transparence, et coût du capital. Nous examinons les déterminants et les conséquences de la communication de la valorisation initiale du goodwill et de l’affectation du prix d’acquisition (IFRS 3, FAS 141). L’identification des immatériels réduit l’asymétrie informationnelle entre managers et investisseurs et les erreurs de valorisation de ces derniers. |
| Abstract: | The goodwill is, by nature, complex since this notion encompasses two realities: the first is an economic concept – the expected present value of economic profits – the second is an accounting aggregate – the excess of the acquirer’s purchase price over the fair values of the target’s net assets. As these two concepts overlap, we clarify these notions by disaggregating the accounting goodwill between overpayment, internally generated goodwill (IGG) and external synergies. Our contribution relates to both the valuation of economic goodwill and the analysis of accounting goodwill. With regard to the first subject, we propose a new method to explain the creation and measure the value of IGG. The method is based on the idea that firm value is affected by interactions between assets used in combination to conduct business. Based on Choquet (1953) capacities, i.e. non-additive aggregation operators, we explain the creation of IGG, and demonstrate from a sample of U.S. listed firms that this model over-performs the traditional additive Ohlson (1995)-type model on accuracy in forecasting enterprise value. Regarding the second subject, we examine the effects on the equity cost of capital implied by goodwill impairment disclosures. We document a negative association between the relevant information disclosed and commitment to transparency, and the cost of capital. We also investigate the economic consequences of purchase price allocation disclosures (IFRS 3, FAS 141) on bid-ask spreads as well as on cumulated abnormal returns. We provide evidence that firms disclosing more about purchase price allocation reduce their bid-ask spread and investors’ valuation errors. |
| Keywords: | Synergy; Accounting Valuation Model; Impairment Test; Cost of Capital; Business Combination; Intangible Assets; Goodwill; Synergies; Modèle de valorisation comptable; Test de dépréciation; Coût du capital; Regroupements d’entreprises; Actifs incorporels; |
| JEL: | L14 M41 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/8007&r=hme |
| By: | Havranek, Tomas (Czech National Bank, Charles University, Prague); Irsova, Zuzana (Charles University, Prague); Janda, Karel (University of California, Berkeley, University ofIowa. Research Institute of Agricultural Economics and CERGEEI, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | One of the most frequently examined statistical relationships in energy economics has been the price elasticity of gasoline demand. We conduct a quantitative survey of the estimates of elasticity reported for various countries around the world. Our meta-analysis indicates that the literature suffers from publication selection bias: insignificant or positive estimates of the price elasticity are rarely reported, although implausibly large negative estimates are reported regularly. In consequence, the aver- age published estimates of both short- and long-run elasticities are exaggerated twofold. Using mixed effects multilevel meta-regression, we show that after correction for publication bias the average long-run elasticity reaches -0:31 and the average short-run elasticity only -0:09. |
| Keywords: | gasoline demand, price elasticity, meta-analysis, publication selection bias |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:are:cudare:1118&r=hme |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper by applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ranks for the first time Economics journals in the field of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Resource. Specifically, by using one composite input and one composite output the paper ranks 32 journals. In addition for the first time three different quality ranking reports have been incorporated to the DEA modelling problem in order to classify the journals into four categories (‘A’ to ‘D’). The results reveal that the journals with the highest rankings in the field are Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Land Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Energy Journal, Resource and Energy Economics, Environment and Planning A, Ecological Economics and European Review of Agricultural Economics. |
| Keywords: | Journals Rankings; Agricultural Economics; Environmental Economics; Natural Resource Economics; Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | Q00 C14 C02 A10 A11 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36233&r=hme |
| By: | Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | A small proportion of high growth firms create the majority of all new jobs. For policymakers, it is important to know (1) the obstacles faced by high growth firms are and (2) the obstacles faced by firms with the potential to achieve high growth, but which are yet to achieve this. This investigates these issues using the UK Small Business Survey. It highlights six areas where high growth firms experience problems: obtaining finance, cash flow, recruiting staff, skill shortages, managerial skills and the availability and cost of premises. Potential high growth firms argue that cash flow, recruiting, the availability and cost of premises and managerial skills are important. They also argue that competition is a significant obstacle to their growth, perhaps implying their business strategy is problematic. |
| Keywords: | High growth firms; Barriers; gazelles; SMEs; Firm growth |
| JEL: | L0 D21 L2 L10 |
| Date: | 2011–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36396&r=hme |
| By: | Paolo Maggioni |
| Abstract: | In this paper I have analysed the development of company law from 1720 through to 1857. During this long period of time, company law assumed the characteristics it has now. At the starting point, company law stood with incorporation granted by the Crown or Parliament on one side and partnership regulated by common law on the other. The development of the modern corporation needed the definition of what were the problems connected to the fact that a firm is run in association and what is the legal framework that allows to solve efficiently with the lowest costs these problems. In this paper I show that the introduction of limited liability gets its meaning from the exact definition of many other aspects of company life, such as bankruptcy procedures, directors’ power and responsibility, shareholders rights, publicity regime for company acts. Accordingly it’s shown that the introduction of the limited liability regime can’t be studied in isolation and it was just the last step in a complex development process. |
| Keywords: | Corporation and Securities Law |
| JEL: | K22 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpol:1116&r=hme |
| By: | T. Kirk White; Jerome P. Reiter; Amil Petrin |
| Abstract: | Within-industry differences in measured plant-level productivity are large. A large literature has been devoted to explaining these differences. In the U.S. Census Bureau's manufacturing data, the Bureau imputes for missing values using methods known to result in underestimation of variability and potential bias in multivariate inferences. We present an alternative strategy for handling the missing data based on multiple imputation via sequences of classification and regression trees. We use our imputations and the Bureau's imputations to estimate within-industry productivity dispersions. The results suggest that there may be more within-industry productivity dispersion than previous research has indicated. |
| JEL: | C80 L11 L60 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17816&r=hme |
| By: | Hackl, Franz; Kummer, Michael E.; Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf; Zulehner, Christine |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of market structure on market performance in the market for consumer electronics. This research is novel, because we exploit product life cycle information to build an instrumental variable for the number of firms in a market, a variable which hitherto had to be treated as exogenous in comparable studies on seller-behavior in e-commerce. We combine data from Austria's largest online site for price comparisons with retail-data on whole sale prices provided by a major hardware producer for consumer electronics. We observe input prices of firms, and all their moves in the entry and the pricing game. Using this information for 80 digital cameras, we generate instrumental variables based on the shops' entry decisions in the past. We find that instrumenting is particularly important for estimating the effect of competition on the markup of the price-leader. -- |
| Keywords: | retailing,product life cycle,market structure,market performance,markup,price dispersion |
| JEL: | L11 L13 L81 D43 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11084&r=hme |