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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | Erwan Gautier (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272); Ronan Le Saout (ENSAE - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - ENSAE ParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Using millions of individual gasoline prices collected at a daily frequency, we examine the speed at which market refined oil prices are transmitted to consumer liquid fuel prices. We find that on average gasoline prices are modified once a week and the distribution of price changes displays a M-shape as predicted by an adjustment cost model. Using a reduced form statedependent pricing model with time-varying random thresholds, we find that the degree of pass through of wholesale prices to retail gasoline prices is on average 0:77 for diesel and 0:67 for petrol. The duration for a shock to be fully transmitted into prices is about 10 days. There is no significant asymmetry in the transmission of wholesale price to retail prices. |
| Keywords: | price stickiness ; adjustment costs ; (S,s) models ; gasoline price. |
| Date: | 2012–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00759095&r=hme |
| By: | Courgeau, Daniel |
| Abstract: | This work examines in depth the methodological relationships that probability and statistics have maintained with the social sciences. It covers both the history of thought and current methods. First, it examines in detail the history of the different paradigms and axioms for probability, from their emergence in the seventeenth century up to the most recent developments of the three major concepts: objective, subjective and logicist probability. It shows the statistical inference they permit, different applications to social sciences and the main problems they encounter. In the other side, from social sciences—particularly population sciences— to probability, it shows the different uses they made of probabilistic concepts during their history, from the seventeenth century, according to their paradigms: cross-sectional, longitudinal, event-history, hierarchical, contextual and multilevel approaches. While the ties may have seemed loose at times, they have more often been very close: some advances in probability were driven by the search for answers to questions raised by the social sciences; conversely, the latter have made progress thanks to advances in probability. This dual approach sheds new light on the historical development of the social sciences, probability and statistics, and on the enduring relevance of their links. It permits also to solve a number of methodological problems encountered all along their history. |
| Keywords: | Probability; Population sciences; Philosophy of science; Social science; |
| JEL: | B0 C0 B30 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:43102&r=hme |
| By: | Pfeifer, Christian (Leuphana University Lueneburg and IZA); Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lueneburg, CESIS) |
| Abstract: | This empirical research note documents the relationship between composition of a firm's workforce (with a special focus on age and gender) and its performance with respect to innovative activities (outlays and employment in research and development (R&D)) for a large representative sample of enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany using unique newly available data. We find that firms with a higher share of older workers have significantly lower proportions of R&D outlays in total revenues and of R&D employment in total employment, whereas firms with a higher share of female employment seem to be more active in R&D. |
| Keywords: | Ageing; firm performance; gender; Germany; innovation; R&D |
| JEL: | D22 D24 J21 J24 L25 |
| Date: | 2012–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0291&r=hme |
| By: | Giulio Buciuni (Dip. di Economia Aziendale, Università di Verona and visiting scholar CGGC Duke University); Giancarlo Corò (Dipartimento di Economia, Università Ca' Foscari, Venezia); Stefano Micelli (Dipartimento di Management, Università Ca’Foscari, Venezia) |
| Abstract: | Manufacturing industries in developed countries have been experiencing profound changes over the last decade. Production of inputs and commodity goods has been increasingly outsourced to emerging countries’ low-wage suppliers, thus nurturing an unprecedented process of ‘global shifts’. Departing from the acknowledgment of this fast-changing scenario, we raised the question of whether operation can still play a role in the economic development of Western industries. While industrial statistics confirmed that the production of standardized products has been largely relocated overseas, the development of a number of case studies in the North Carolina’s and Northeast Italy’s furniture industry outlined that the manufacture of sophisticated, customized goods keeps its roots locally. By using the global value chains (GVCs) approach, we found that in-house or in-cluster control over sourcing and operations represent a strategic activity in the process of product upgrading. Accordingly, we claim that manufacturing can still play a central role in mature industries and pave the path for a next pattern of sustainable development in Western economies. |
| Keywords: | global value chains (GVCs), upgrading, Western industries, manufacturing |
| JEL: | F14 L23 L68 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cme:wpaper:1214&r=hme |
| By: | Ulrich Witt; Georg Schwesinger |
| Abstract: | An evolutionary tool kit is applied in this paper to explain how innate social behavior traits evolved in early human groups. These traits were adapted to the particular production requirements of the group in human phylogeny. They shaped the group members' attitudes towards contributing to the group's goals and towards other group members. We argue that these attitudes are still present in modern humans and leave their "phylogenetic footprints" also in present-day organizational life. We discuss the implications of this hypothesis for problems arising in firm organizations in relation to the coordination and motivation of organization members. |
| Keywords: | evolution, pre-adaptations, group selection, firm organization, organizational behavior, leadership |
| JEL: | B25 D03 D23 D74 M14 |
| Date: | 2012–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2012-17&r=hme |
| By: | Wilko Bolt; David Humphrey |
| Abstract: | The three main measures of competition (HHI, Lerner Index, and H-Statistic) are uncorrelated for U.S. banks. We investigate why this occurs, propose a frontier measure of competition, and apply it to five major bank service lines using data only available since 2008. Fee-based banking services comprise 35% of bank revenues so assessing competition by service line is preferred to using a single measure for traditional activities extended to the entire bank. Academic-based competition measures explain only 1% of HHI variation. HHI merger/acquisition guidelines could be raised since current banking concentration seems unrelated to competition. |
| Keywords: | Competition; banks; frontier analysis |
| JEL: | L11 G21 C21 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:359&r=hme |
| By: | Mogues, Tewodaj |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the determinants of public expenditure policies, by reviewing theories and empirical investigations of what features explain the budget process and how the various attributes of actors—including politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and donors—and of institutions and political and economic governance environments affect the prioritization of public investments. It draws conclusions with regard to the determinants of agricultural public investments. |
| Keywords: | Political economy, Agricultural Investment, Public investment, Governance, budget process, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1216&r=hme |
| By: | Nakano, Makoto; Nguyen, Pascal |
| Abstract: | We analyze the role of board age on firm performance using a large sample of Japanese firms. The results reveal the existence of a significant negative relationship. After controlling for endogeneity using firm size as instrument, the effect of board age is found to be more significant, consistent with the notion that older directors are more likely to retain (relinquish) their positions in strongly (poorly) performing firms. In addition, we show that the performance of younger and high-growth firms is more sensitive to board age, which points to a risk-based explanation. Indeed, it appears that older boards are more reluctant to take risks and particularly to undertake acquisitions. Overall, the results underline the disadvantage of (re)appointing older managers since the latter tend to be more conservative, perhaps because of their shorter decision horizons or greater vested interests. |
| Keywords: | board of directors, top management, decision making, risk aversion, performance |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hcfrwp:2&r=hme |
| By: | Christian Bidard |
| Abstract: | We study the economic mechanism which sustains the substitution of a marginal method for another when demand increases, in the presence of scarce resources. In those Ricardian dynamics, it is shown that the outgoing method is determined by the quantity side of the problem, the incoming method by the value side. That discrepancy explains both the possible failure of the dynamics and the possible occurrence of multiple equilibria. Conditions for existence, uniqueness and the working of the dynamics are stated. A parallel is drawn with the parametric Lemke algorithm used to solve linear complementarity problems. |
| Keywords: | Dynamics, Lemke, rent, Ricardo, scarce resources |
| JEL: | B12 C61 C65 D33 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2012-48&r=hme |
| By: | Pierre Cariou (Euromed Marseille - École de management - Association Euromed Management - Marseille); François-Charles Wolff (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272) |
| Abstract: | Chartering rather than owning a vessel is a recurrent question for liner operators. This article aims at identifying the extent of such chartering practices, the characteristics of vessels chartered and if an impact on liner profitability can be found. To do so, an initial dataset collected in 2009 on 510 liner operators and 5,005 vessels is used. Results from random effect Probit models point out first that chartering rates are not different between small and large operators. Furthermore, findings suggest that chartering of small and young vessels is more common and that chartering rates have increased for companies subject to higher fleet growth from 2007 to 2009. An analysis using a fixed effect Logit model on intra-fleet management of 17 selected liner companies further stresses that larger companies have chartered more small vessels during the last 2 years, a result that may be explain by the need to allocate the financing to new larger vessels. We then study whether the chartering rate and the size of these 17 liner companies have had an influence on their observed profitability in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Our results suggest that those variables impact profitability, but in variable ways over time. |
| Keywords: | Liner shipping, chartering, profitability |
| Date: | 2012–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00760989&r=hme |