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on Investment |
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Issue of 2024‒07‒08
27 papers chosen by |
| By: | Ellora Derenoncourt; David Weil |
| Abstract: | Recent wage growth at the bottom of the earnings distribution in the U.S. has reversed a decades-long trend of widening wage inequality. Numerous state and local minimum wage increases have overtaken an effectively non-binding federal minimum, and robust labor demand in the post-pandemic recovery drove wage growth in the low-wage sector. An increasingly pervasive phenomenon over this same period (2014-2023) is the use of company-wide, voluntary minimum wages (VMWs) by private employers, including some of the largest U.S. retailers. We use anonymized payroll data for thousands of firms collected by a major credit bureau to study the effects of these policies on large retailers’ own wages and employment, as well as spillover effects onto other employers in shared labor markets, variously defined. Using stacked event studies centered around multiple VMW events and a continuous treatment variable defined as the gap between local area wages and the company minimum, we find that VMWs result in sizable wage increases and reductions in turnover at the companies that implemented them. Turning to wages at other companies, including those connected to the large retailer by worker flows, we estimate precise, economically negligible spillover effects. Despite the decline in separations from companies with voluntary minimums, overall hiring rates at connected employers do not decline, consistent with substitutability across new hires. Although voluntary minimum wage policies have affected over 3 million jobs among the largest retailers, their impact on the broader labor market is limited. |
| JEL: | J31 J42 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32546&r= |
| By: | Linton, O. B.; Rau, R.; Baert, P.; Bossaerts, P.; Crowcroft, J.; Evans, G.R.; Ewart, P.; Gay, N.; Kattuman, P.; Scholtes, S.; Sabourian, H.; Smith, R. J. |
| Abstract: | This paper critically evaluates the HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) Data Report for the Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) Review Group at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge 2024), identifying significant methodological flaws and misinterpretations. Our analysis reveals issues such as application of data filters only to the Cambridge sample, inconsistent variable treatment, and erroneous statistical conclusions. The Report suggests EJRA increased job creation rates at Cambridge, but we show Cambridge consistently had lower job creation rates for Established Academic Careers compared to other Russell Group universities, both before and after EJRA implementation in 2011. This suggests that EJRA is not a significant factor driving job creation rates. Since other universities without an EJRA exhibit higher job creation rates, this suggests job creation can be sustained without such a policy. We conclude that the EJRA did not achieve its intended goal of increasing opportunities for young academics and may have exacerbated existing disparities compared to other leading universities. We recommend EJRA be abolished at Cambridge since it does not meet its justified aims and could be viewed as unlawful age discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, Job Creation, Retirement, Treatment Effect, Universities |
| JEL: | C12 C21 C23 J21 J26 J63 J83 |
| Date: | 2024–05–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camjip:2417&r= |
| By: | Linton, O. B.; Rau, R.; Baert, P.; Bossaerts, P.; Crowcroft, J.; Evans, G.R.; Ewart, P.; Gay, N.; Kattuman, P.; Scholtes, S.; Sabourian, H.; Smith, R. J. |
| Abstract: | This paper critically evaluates the HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) Data Report for the Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) Review Group at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge 2024), identifying significant methodological flaws and misinterpretations. Our analysis reveals issues such as application of data filters only to the Cambridge sample, inconsistent variable treatment, and erroneous statistical conclusions. The Report suggests EJRA increased job creation rates at Cambridge, but we show Cambridge consistently had lower job creation rates for Established Academic Careers compared to other Russell Group universities, both before and after EJRA implementation in 2011. This suggests that EJRA is not a significant factor driving job creation rates. Since other universities without an EJRA exhibit higher job creation rates, this suggests job creation can be sustained without such a policy. We conclude that the EJRA did not achieve its intended goal of increasing opportunities for young academics and may have exacerbated existing disparities compared to other leading universities. We recommend EJRA be abolished at Cambridge since it does not meet its justified aims and could be viewed as unlawful age discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, Job Creation, Retirement, Treatment Effect, Universities |
| JEL: | C12 C21 C23 J21 J26 J63 J83 |
| Date: | 2024–05–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2428&r= |
| By: | Barkema, Harry G.; Coyle-Shapiro, Jacqueline A-M.; Le Grand, Eva |
| Abstract: | Prior research has adopted a job-crafting perspective to explain why employees attempt to craft their roles meaningfully (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). We explore this theoretical lens in a new context that is particularly challenging for workers and where it would seem unlikely to apply: poverty. More specifically, we study female teachers in slums in India. We use a mixed-methods approach—first qualitative research, then quantitative research—to contextualize job-crafting theorizing by identifying, conceptualizing, and testing situational challenges and enablers in regard to meaningful work in this context. More specifically, we develop and corroborate new theory suggesting that poverty- and gender-related stressors deplete teachers’ energy and resources, limiting relational job crafting, but that teachers’ identification with the community helps to counteract this challenge, ultimately increasing their social impact. More fundamentally, we show how job-crafting theorizing, contextualized in a poverty setting, helps to explain how social organizations, through their fieldworkers (e.g., female teachers), create social impact. |
| Keywords: | multimethod; research design; research methods; structural equation modeling; analysis; meaning-making at work; task design; job crafting; social construction; managerial and organisational cognition; Advanced ERC grant IATSO |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2024–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:119475&r= |
| By: | Ioramashvili, Carolin; Feldman, Maryann; Guy, Frederick; Iammarino, Simona |
| Abstract: | Small businesses within the digital sector are spread across the USA. However, a significant number of promising small businesses concentrate in major technology hubs, either initially or through relocation. This phenomenon can be attributed to the influential role played by localized markets for financing and acquisition, which is, in turn, driven by the dominant market positions held by major digital platforms. Our research demonstrates a clear pattern of localized acquisition markets, particularly in sectors frequently targeted by the seven largest American digital giants—Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Apple, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Oracle, and Adobe, collectively known as ‘Big Tech’. This localization trend has become more pronounced between 2000 and 2020. Our analysis indicates that the gravitational pull of these acquisition markets poses challenges to local initiatives aimed at fostering digital businesses. These efforts would be more successful if measures were taken to limit the market influence of digital platforms. |
| Keywords: | Big Tech; digital start-ups; acquisitions; monopoly; regional inequality |
| JEL: | R11 R12 F00 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123670&r= |
| By: | De Bromhead, Alan; Kenny, Sean |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs the first estimates of Irish regional GDP over the twentieth century and traces the relative economic performance of Ireland's regions since independence. Using an array of data sources available at a county level, output in Agriculture, Industry and Services in benchmark census years is estimated. Applying a variety of alternative measures, we find a reduction in regional inequality over the period that is similar to the broader European pattern. Regional convergence over the period 1926-1991 was driven by both within-sector convergence in productivity and structural change. Our paper helps to understand the regional dimensions to Irish economic development from the birth of a newly independent state up to the eve of Ireland's growth 'miracle' in the 1990s, when the first official efforts were initiated to construct these figures. Finally, we connect our estimates to these official figures to examine GDP at the level of NUTS regions up to 2021. |
| Keywords: | Regional GDP, Ireland, Economic History, Inequality, Economic Growth |
| JEL: | N34 N94 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:298001&r= |
| By: | Hakan Yilmazkuday (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | Using data on the number of visitors at the store level, this paper attempts to measure the welfare costs of traditional shopping trips for the U.S. census blocks. The investigation is based on an economic model, where individuals living in census blocks decide on which store to shop from based on the shopping-trip costs and idiosyncratic benefits. The welfare gains from removing shopping-trip costs in percentage terms are shown to depend on the weighted average of log distance measures between shopping stores and census blocks. The results show that the welfare gains from removing shopping-trip costs is about 4% for the average census block, with a range between 0.021% and 18% across census blocks that is further connected to their demographic or socioeconomic characteristics, especially their population density. Several practical policy implications follow regarding how shopping-trip costs can be reduced to achieve higher welfare gains. |
| Keywords: | Store-Level Analysis, Census Block Groups, Shopping, Welfare |
| JEL: | L81 R13 R41 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2404&r= |
| By: | Mahdi Ebrahimi Kahou; James Yu; Jesse Perla; Geoff Pleiss |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the alignment of inductive biases in machine learning (ML) with structural models of economic dynamics. Unlike dynamical systems found in physical and life sciences, economics models are often specified by differential equations with a mixture of easy-to-enforce initial conditions and hard-to-enforce infinite horizon boundary conditions (e.g. transversality and no-ponzi-scheme conditions). Traditional methods for enforcing these constraints are computationally expensive and unstable. We investigate algorithms where those infinite horizon constraints are ignored, simply training unregularized kernel machines and neural networks to obey the differential equations. Despite the inherent underspecification of this approach, our findings reveal that the inductive biases of these ML models innately enforce the infinite-horizon conditions necessary for the well-posedness. We theoretically demonstrate that (approximate or exact) min-norm ML solutions to interpolation problems are sufficient conditions for these infinite-horizon boundary conditions in a wide class of problems. We then provide empirical evidence that deep learning and ridgeless kernel methods are not only theoretically sound with respect to economic assumptions, but may even dominate classic algorithms in low to medium dimensions. More importantly, these results give confidence that, despite solving seemingly ill-posed problems, there are reasons to trust the plethora of black-box ML algorithms used by economists to solve previously intractable, high-dimensional dynamical systems -- paving the way for future work on estimation of inverse problems with embedded optimal control problems. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.01898&r= |
| By: | Thomas Graeber; Christopher Roth; Constantin Schesch; Thomas W. Graeber |
| Abstract: | When people exchange ideas, both truths and falsehoods can proliferate. We study the role of explanations for the spread of truths and falsehoods in 15 financial decision tasks. Participants record the reasoning behind each of their answers with incentives for accuracy of their listeners’ responses, providing over 6, 900 unique verbal explanations in total. A separate group of participants either only observe one orator’s choice or additionally listen to the corresponding explanation before making their own choice. Listening to explanations strongly improves aggregate accuracy. This effect is asymmetric: explanations enable the spread of truths, but do not curb the contagion of falsehoods. To study mechanisms, we extract every single argument provided in the explanations alongside a large collection of speech features, revealing the nature of financial reasoning on each topic. Explanations for truths exhibit a significantly richer message space and higher argument quality than explanations for falsehoods. These content differences in the supply of explanations for truths versus falsehoods account for 60% of their asymmetric benefit, whereas orator and receiver characteristics play a minor role. |
| Keywords: | explanations, social learning, speech data, financial knowledge, financial reasoning |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11131&r= |
| By: | Larbi Hasrouri (Université de Poitiers - Faculté de Sciences économiques - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers) |
| Abstract: | The paper is about formalizing contracts within universities, which at the heart of the New Public Management doctrine (Hood, 1995). A literature (Bollecker, 2013, Châtelain et al., 2013, Fabre, 2005) looked into objectives contracts as part of the management control field. We focus the study on the internalization of such contracts in terms of tool of control. The aim of this article is to characterize the internal contracts of objectives and resources (CIOMs ) implemented between university governing chancellorship and the departments and faculties as a control technology within an average university trying to exit from a critical situation. So, our problematic is to analyze to what extent such internalization of objective contracts can be a control tool from the point of view of the departments. Employing a theoretical point of view, we use Adler and Borys's (1996) grid for so-called enabling control in three possible dimensions (facilitating, enabling, guidance), Simons's (1995) conceptual framework of control (interactive versus diagnostic), and the boundary-object framework (Trompette and Winck, 2009, Zeiss and Groenewegen, 2009). Our methodology is based on a textual analysis of the nine ICORs of the studied university and its departments, in addition to interviews with three division directors. The textual analysis results show indeed a certain similarity for three departments. The textual analysis of the ICORs also show that enabling control is the dominant dimension and can be explained, according to the three interviewed faculty directors -whose results of the textual analysis show a strong similarity- by greater self-knowledge during periods of interactive control through dialogue and discussion phases with chancellorship, particularly when departments directors can choose their own indicators for the department during these phases. The facilitating aspect of enabling is mainly explained by the spread of ICOR indicators as close as possible to the teams in the departments. Last, there is a constraigning aspect (Ragaigne et al., 2014) to using ICORs, although there is no prescription for their adoption or deployment. |
| Abstract: | L'article aborde le thème de la contractualisation au sein des universités qui est bien au cœur de la doctrine en Management Public caractérisée par Hood (1995) Une certaine littérature (Bollecker, 2013, Châtelain et al., 2013, Fabre, 2005) s'est intéressée aux contrats d'objectifs dans le champ du contrôle de gestion. Nous nous focalisons sur l'impact de l'internalisation d'une telle contractualisation en termes d'outil de contrôle. Le contexte étudié est celui d'une université de taille moyenne ayant connu une situation critique et dont la gouvernance et la présidence ont mis en place des outils avec pour objectif la sortie de cette situation. Notre problématique est de voir dans quelle mesure une telle internalisation de contrats d'objectifs au sein de l'université étudiée constitue un outil de contrôle. Pour ce faire, l'article vise caractériser les contrats internes d'objectifs et de moyens (CIOM) en tant que technologie de contrôle au sein d'une université moyenne du point de vue des composantes. Sur le plan théorique nous mobilisons la grille conceptuelle de Adler et Borys (1996) sur le contrôle dit capacitant (enabling) selon trois dimensions possibles à laquelle nous ajoutons le cadre conceptuel de Simons (1995) ainsi que celui d'objet-frontière (Trompette and Winck, 2009, Zeiss and Groenewegen, 2009) pour caractériser le rôle du CIOM en termes de dialogue entre les composantes et la présidence de l'université. L'école française des outils de gestion est aussi évoquée pour analyser la philosophie gestionnaire du déploiement des CIOM. La méthodologie est basée sur une analyse textuelle des neuf CIOM entre l'université étudiée et ses composantes à l'aide d'un logiciel ad hoc permettant dans un premier temps de faire émerger des proximités issues de la grille conceptuelle mobilisée. L'étude est complétée dans un second temps par des entretiens auprès de 3 directeurs de composantes dont les résultats de l'analyse textuelle préliminaire montrent une forte proximité. Les principaux résultats de l'analyse textuelle des CIOM montrent qu'un contrôle habilitant prédomine et s'explique selon les entretiens par une meilleure connaissance de soi lors du contrôle interactif, notamment en choisissant ses propres indicateurs pour la composante. La dimension facilitante de l'enabling s'explique principalement par la diffusion des indicateurs du CIOM au plus près des équipes dans les composantes. On retrouve enfin une vertu contraignante (Ragaigne et al., 2014) du CIOM en tant qu'outil sans qu'il y ait prescription toutefois dans son adoption ou son déploiement. |
| Keywords: | Objectives contract, Control, Enabling, Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), Contrat d’objectifs, Contrôle, Analyse qualitative comparée |
| Date: | 2024–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04579798&r= |
| By: | Adam, Brigitte; Baumann, Stefan; Eichfuss, Silas; Eichhorn, Sebastian; Jansen, Hendrik; Kötter, Theo; Rohde, Natascha; Schürholt, Kerstin; Stielike, Jan Matthias; Terfrüchte, Thomas; Wilberz, Johannes |
| Abstract: | Das anhaltende Wachstum der Siedlungs- und Verkehrsfläche gehört zu den noch nicht bewältigten Herausforderungen einer nachhaltigen Stadt- und Raumentwicklung. Zu den negativen Effekten der Flächenneuinanspruchnahme zählen der Verlust von offener Landschaft, Landwirtschaftsflächen und ökologischen Habitaten, die Beeinträchtigung von Ökosystemdienstleistungen sowie steigende Folgekosten für Infrastrukturen und Leistungen der Daseinsvorsorge. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat die Bundesregierung das Ziel formuliert, die Flächeninanspruchnahme bis 2030 auf unter 30 Hektar je Tag und bis 2050 in Übereinstimmung mit der Zielsetzung der Europäischen Kommission auf netto-null zu reduzieren. Zwar wurden in den zurückliegenden Jahren durchaus Erfolge im Flächenschutz erzielt. Der Druck auf den Wohnungsmärkten in den wachsenden Großstädten hat jedoch eine gegenläufige Entwicklung ausgelöst. In jedem Fall sollten die Erfolge nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass bislang lediglich eine Begrenzung des Zuwachses erreicht wurde. Ein Flächenverbrauch von netto-null setzt eine Flächenkreislaufwirtschaft voraus, die nicht nur quantitativ, sondern auch qualitativ neue Wege im Flächenschutz beschreitet. Um auf veränderte Anforderungen an die Siedlungsstruktur und Verkehrsinfrastruktur reagieren zu können, wird es auch künftig nötig sein, Flächen neu in Anspruch zu nehmen. Unter den Bedingungen einer Flächenkreislaufwirtschaft ist dies nur möglich, wenn gleichzeitig an anderer Stelle im identischen Umfang Siedlungs- und Verkehrsflächen an Natur und Landschaft zurückgegeben werden. Eine Flächenkreislaufwirtschaft kann zudem nur Erfolg haben, wenn die Innenentwicklung und hier insbesondere die Wiedernutzbarmachung von Flächen weiter massiv gestärkt wird. |
| Abstract: | The continuing growth of settlement and transport areas is one of the challenges of sustainable urban and spatial development yet to be solved. The negative effects of land take-up include the loss of open landscape, agricultural land and ecological habitats, the impairment of ecosystem services and rising follow-up costs for infrastructures and services of general interest. Against this background, the German government has formulated the goal of reducing land take-up to less than 30 hectares per day by 2030 and, in line with the European Commission's target, to net zero by 2050. In recent years, there have been remarkable successes in land protection. However, the pressure on the housing markets in the growing metropolitan areas has triggered a development in the opposite direction. In any case, the successes should not obscure the fact that so far only a limitation of the growth has been achieved. Net zero land consumption presupposes a circular land economy that breaks new ground in land conservation, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. In order to be able to react to changing demands on settlement structure and transport infrastructure, it will continue to be necessary to use up land in the future. Under the conditions of a circular land economy, this is only possible if, at the same time, settlement and transport areas are returned to nature and landscape in the same size elsewhere. Moreover, a circular land economy can only be successful if brownfield development, and in particular the reuse of land, continues to be massively strengthened. |
| Keywords: | Flächenkreislaufwirtschaft, Innenentwicklung, flächensparendes Bauen, Flächenrückgabe, netto-null, 30 Hektar, Flächenverbrauch, Circular land economy, Inner development, Space-saving construction, Return of land, Net zero, 30 hectares, Land consumption |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:arlpos:297981&r= |
| By: | Kamila Kuziemska-Pawlak; Jakub Mućk |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an extension of the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate (FEER) model that accounts for the trade linkages within the Global Value Chains (GVCs). In the modified FEER framework, both backward and forward linkages are taken into consideration. To demonstrate the empirical relevance of the complex nature of existing trade linkages, the proposed FEER model is applied to analyze exchange rate fluctuations of the selected Central and Eastern European countries against the euro. It is documented that in Czechia, Hungary, and Poland the standard FEER framework predicts rapid appreciation of the equilibrium exchange rate after 2010, which implies deepening undervaluation of the actual real exchange rate towards the end of the analysed period. Instead, when the GVCs' linkages are taken into account in the framework, actual real exchange rates are broadly in line with the fundamental equilibrium exchange rates, and hence the missing real appreciation of the Czech krone, the Hungarian forint and the Polish zloty is to a large extent an equilibrium phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | exchange rate, current account, foreign trade, Global Value Chains |
| JEL: | C32 C33 F12 F31 F32 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2024100&r= |
| By: | Nivala, Annika |
| Keywords: | Business subsidies, Wage subsidies, Firm behavior, Labor demand, Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Business taxation and regulation, H25, H32, J23, J38, M51, fi=Elinkeinopolitiikka|sv=Näringspolitik|en=Industrial and economic policy|, fi=Työmarkkinat|sv=Arbetsmarknad|en=Labour markets|, |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:166&r= |
| By: | Giulia Buccione; Brian G. Knight |
| Abstract: | We investigate the rise of the religious right in the context of the Moral Majority and Jimmy Carter, the first Evangelical President. During Carter's Presidency, the Moral Majority, an Evangelical group headed by televangelist Jerry Falwell, turned against the incumbent Carter, a Democrat, and campaigned for Ronald Reagan, a Republican, in the 1980 Election. To investigate the role of religious groups and leaders in the political persuasion of followers, we first develop a theoretical model in which single-issue religious voters follow better-informed religious leaders when choosing which candidates to support. Using data from county-level voting returns, exit polls, and surveys, we document that Evangelical voters indeed shifted their support from Carter in 1976 to Reagan in 1980. We also provide three pieces of evidence that the Moral Majority played a role in this switching: survey data on Moral Majority campaign issues, exposure to Jerry's Falwell's television ministry, and exposure to state headquarters of the Moral Majority. |
| JEL: | P0 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32551&r= |
| By: | Lisa Moulai (étudiante, IAE Paris Est Créteil - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Paris Est Créteil - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12); Soheila Mansour (étudiante, IAE Paris Est Créteil - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Paris Est Créteil - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12) |
| Abstract: | This poster highlights an innovative method for teaching high-reliability organizational theory using the FlighTeam simulation platform. Developed by IAE Paris-Est, this platform incorporates essential concepts from organizational theory and provides a realistic immersion into risk management and performance scenarios. The poster emphasizes student involvement, the meticulous course structure, and the significant results achieved, showcasing the effectiveness of this ludopedagogical approach. It also considers opportunities for ongoing innovation enhancements in higher education. |
| Abstract: | Cette affiche met en évidence une méthode novatrice pour enseigner la théorie organisationnelle de haute fiabilité en utilisant la plateforme de simulation FlighTeam. Cette plateforme, créée par l'IAE Paris-Est, intègre des concepts essentiels de la théorie des organisations et offre la possibilité de se plonger de manière réaliste dans des scénarios de gestion des risques et de performance. L'affiche souligne l'implication des élèves, la structure minutieuse du cours et les résultats importants obtenus, mettant en évidence l'efficacité de cette méthode ludopédagogique. Il tient également compte des opportunités d'innovation continue améliorées dans le domaine de l'enseignement supérieur. |
| Keywords: | Simulateur, Gestions des risques, Management, Poster presentations, Organisations à haute fiabilité |
| Date: | 2024–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04579431&r= |
| By: | Santana, Roy; Dobhal, Adeet |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the under-explored yet critical role of WTO's regular bodies, particularly focusing on the discussions of "trade concerns" within the Goods Council, its subsidiary bodies, as well as the General Council. These discussions are pivotal for the governance of international trade and are key in resolving trade frictions among WTO Members, going beyond the conventional realms of diplomatic negotiation and legal adjudication. By scrutinizing trade concerns deliberated within these bodies over the past 29 years, this paper provides insights into their indispensable function in enhancing policy transparency, facilitating constructive dialogue on trade measures, and offering a platform for members to voice concerns over the trade practices of others. Our analysis, based on a new methodology that focuses on the number of interventions rather than the number of trade concerns, uncovers a growing trend where Members are increasingly leveraging these discussions to navigate and mitigate trade tensions, even amidst institutional challenges such as the Appellate Body impasse, and illustrates how different groups of Members participate in these bodies. This phenomenon underscores the Goods Council's strategic position within the WTO structure, above the technical bodies and below its most political body, which has enabled it to become a useful barometer for the shifting dynamics of global trade frictions. |
| Keywords: | Economic cooperation, Goods Council, trade concerns, specific trade concerns (STCs), trade disputes, trade frictions, transparency, development, trade diplomacy, WTO governance |
| JEL: | F02 F13 F53 F55 K33 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wtowps:297995&r= |
| By: | Hanane Jenane (UIT - Université Ibn Tofaïl); Fatima Zahra Achour (UIT - Université Ibn Tofaïl) |
| Abstract: | In recent decades, we have witnessed a proliferation of entrepreneurship education programs. In this regard, the university plays a crucial role in developing entrepreneurial skills, creativity, and innovation, thus stimulating students' entrepreneurial spirit. The objective of this article is to study the influence of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurial intention of students at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes. We also take into account the influence of psychological, contextual, and sociocultural factors for understanding their entrepreneurial intention comprehensively. The study of this issue draws on Shapero and Sokol's (1982) social dimensions of entrepreneurship model and Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior. The chosen method involves testing a model of intention inspired by Tounès (2006). Accordingly, we analyze entrepreneurial intention, considering three sets of factors: attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The results indicate that only attitudes toward students' behavior and perceived behavioral control are significant in explaining entrepreneurial intention. |
| Abstract: | Au cours de ces dernières décennies, nous assistons à la démultiplication des formations en entrepreneuriat. En ce sens, l'université joue un rôle déterminant dans le développement des compétences entrepreneuriales, de la créativité et de l'innovation, stimulant ainsi l'esprit d'entreprendre des étudiants. À cet effet, l'objectif de cet article est d'étudier l'influence de la formation en entrepreneuriat sur l'intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants de l'université Moulay Ismail de Meknès. Nous prenons également en compte l'influence des facteurs psychologiques, contextuels et socioculturels pour la compréhension de leur intention entrepreneuriale dans sa globalité. L'étude de cette problématique fait appel au modèle des dimensions sociales de l'entrepreneuriat de Shaperoet Sokol (1982) ainsi qu'à la théorie du comportement planifié d'Ajzen (1991). La méthode retenue consiste au test d'un modèle d'intention inspiré de celui de Tounès (2006). Ainsi, nous analysons l'intention entrepreneuriale en prenant en compte trois ensembles de facteurs : les attitudes associées au comportement, les normes subjectives et les perceptions du contrôle comportemental. Les résultats indiquent que seules les attitudes associées au comportement des étudiants et les perceptions du contrôle comportemental sont déterminantes pour l'explication de l'intention entrepreneuriale. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurial intention, Attitude toward the behavior, Subjective norms, Perceveid Behavioral Control. |
| Date: | 2024–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04575086&r= |
| By: | Francisco González (UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO); José E. Gutiérrez (BANCO DE ESPAÑA); José María Serena (BANCO DE ESPAÑA) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how lending relationships affect firms’ incentives to default, drawing on loan-level data in Spain. We provide new evidence showing that firms first default on loans from less important (“non-main”) banks to preserve their most valuable lending relationships. Our findings also indicate that banks integrate this borrower behavior into their credit risk management because the most important banks within a borrower’s set of lending relationships recognize lower discretionary loan impairments. The results are robust to alternative difference-in-difference (DID) analyses and control for potential bank forbearance, loan characteristics, and a variety of time-varying bank and firm fixed effects. |
| Keywords: | lending relationships, loan default, non-performing loans, loan-loss recognition, forbearance |
| JEL: | G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2420&r= |
| By: | Hackmann, Angelina |
| Abstract: | In recent decades, biodiversity has declined significantly, threatening ecosystem services that are vital to society and the economy. Despite the growing recognition of biodiversity risks, the private sector response remains limited, leaving a significant financing gap. The paper therefore describes marketbased solutions to bridge the financing gap, which can follow a risk assessment approach and an impact-oriented perspective. Key obstacles to mobilising private capital for biodiversity conservation are related to pricing biodiversity due to its local dimension, the lack of standardized metrics for valuation and still insufficient data reporting by companies hindering informed investment decisions. Financing biodiversity projects poses another challenge, mainly due to a mismatch between investor needs and available projects, for example in terms of project timeframes and their additionality. |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, Green Finance, Financing Gap |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewh:296481&r= |
| By: | Frederik von Waldow; Heike Link |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the pass-through rates and their determinants of the temporary German fuel discount in 2022 at its start and its termination. Based on a unique dataset of fuel station characteristics and prices, we employ a Regression Discontinuity in Time (RDiT) methodology to estimate heterogeneous pass-through rates. Our main contribution is to identify the impact of horizontal and vertical market structures on the extent to which taxes are passed on to consumers. While competitive pressure is positively associated with the response of prices to tax changes, we estimate lower pass-through predominantly for more isolated stations with fewer competitors. Furthermore, our results indicate that independence from upstream markets is accompanied by a reduced pass-through of tax changes suggesting the existence of double marginalization. |
| Keywords: | Gasoline prices, local competition, tax pass-through, regression discontinuity in time |
| JEL: | Q48 H22 L13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2086&r= |
| By: | Emmanouil Pikoulis; Ioannis Vardakastanis; Evika Karamagioli; Evangelia Kallimani; Eleni-Panagiota Stoupa |
| Abstract: | This research paper responds to the urgent need for comprehensive national data on the impact of natural disasters and the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities (PWDs) in Greece. Conducted with 1, 006 participants, including PWDs and caregivers, the study employs an online survey to glean insights into their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and perceptions of inclusion in disaster preparedness and management. Filling a significant gap in national data, this marks the first survey undertaken in the aftermath of the pandemic and recent natural disasters in Greece, focusing on disability-inclusive approaches. The study’s results reveal a moderate level of implementation of disaster preparedness measures, but a strong desire for training education and inclusive strategies, indicating a significant opportunity to enhance community readiness. Feedback and recommendations from a focus group of 20 participants, including Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) professionals and PWDs, further enrich the study. The findings aspire to contribute information to update Greek national policies, emphasizing inclusivity as a fundamental aspect of emergency preparedness, particularly amid a polycrisis. The paper addresses the COVID-19 as a health disaster. |
| Keywords: | Disasters, COVID-19 pandemic, People with Disabilities (PWDs), Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Disability inclusive, Greek national policies |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:197&r= |
| By: | Scheufen, Marc |
| Abstract: | Der Austausch von Daten zwischen Unternehmen, das so genannte Data Sharing, ist zentral dafür, die Potenziale von Daten für Unternehmen zu heben. Der Grund für die Zurückhaltung beim Teilen von Daten bei deutschen Unternehmen ist dabei vor allem die Wahrnehmung rechtlicher Hemmnisse. Verschiedene Lösungskonzepte könnten bei der Überwindung dieser Hemmnisse helfen. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwkkur:297234&r= |
| By: | Cantoni, Davide; Heizlsperger, Louis-Jonas; Yang, David Y.; Yuchtman, Noam; Zhang, Y. Jane |
| Abstract: | Which fundamental traits are associated with individuals’ participation in antiauthoritarian protests? We conduct a series of surveys eliciting participation in Hong Kong’s antiauthoritarian movement, covering a period that included protests ranging from tens of thousands to over one million participants. For a sample of university students, we construct a comprehensive profile of fundamental economic preferences: risk and time preferences plausibly affecting an individual’s costs of protest participation; social preferences affecting the benefits. We also elicit other fundamental traits: personality, cognitive abilities, and socioeconomic background. We document several facts about protest participants: (i) fundamental economic preferences, particularly risk tolerance and pro-social preferences, are the strongest predictors of protest participation; (ii) the strongest predictors are the same for modest and massive protests, with larger effects for massive protests; (iii) participation in massive protests is not driven by marginal types, but rather by inframarginal types; (iv) both the distribution of fundamental preferences and their relationship with protest participation are very similar between university students and the broader population; and, (v) willingness to respond honestly to sensitive survey questions is high and stable over the entire sample period. Our findings suggest that economic preferences be considered alongside class background and personality as deeply determined traits driving protest participation and can inform the development of dynamic models of protest movements. |
| Keywords: | political movements; protests; preferences; European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n. 716837). |
| JEL: | D74 D91 |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:114905&r= |
| By: | Fernando García Martínez (Banco de España); Matías Pacce (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | The increase in electricity prices, which peaked in August 2022, has affected the various activities carried out in the Spanish electricity sector differently. This paper analyses the impact of this increase on the sector, distinguishing between electric power companies and electricity retailers, paying special attention to their operating profit and, particularly, to the influence of aspects such as (i) the incidence of forward contracts with a fixed price, (ii) asymmetric exposure to price increases in wholesale electricity markets, or (iii) belonging to vertically integrated groups, in the case of electricity retailers. The effect on the sector of the measures rolled out by the authorities to mitigate the impact of higher electricity costs on households and companies in Spain is also analysed. Of note among these measures are the Iberian Exception (a mechanism to cap the cost of the gas used in electricity generation) and the temporary deduction of the so-called excess remuneration arising from higher gas prices. Lastly, this paper studies the impact of the extraordinary temporary levy that energy companies must pay on net turnover for 2022 and 2023. |
| Keywords: | energy, electricity markets, electricity prices, generation costs |
| JEL: | E31 Q41 Q43 L94 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2316e&r= |
| By: | Asma Chiha (IMEC - IMEC - KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University); Thibault Degrande (IMEC - IMEC - KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University); Sofie Verbrugge (IMEC - IMEC - KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University); Didier Colle (IMEC - IMEC - KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University); George Avdikos (Eight Bells Ltd); Walter Aigner (HiTec Vienna); Benoit Denis (CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information - DRT (CEA) - Direction de Recherche Technologique (CEA) - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives); David Garcia-Roger (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València = Universitad Politecnica de Valencia = Polytechnic University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present a techno-economic analysis of providing a Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) use case, namely Cooperative Lane Merging (CLM), in a cross-border environment. Multiple network deployment scenarios are proposed to provide Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) connectivity with respect to PC5 Mode 4 – enabled RSUs. Total cost of Ownership (TCO) model together with four revenue models are developed to assess the viability of providing CCAM services in the studied settings. Results show that the higher the number of simultaneous connected cars, the higher the TCO of the required deployment needs to be to meet the defined KPIs and especially for the green field deployment with no existing fibre cable or electricity facilities. Another important insight from this analysis is that only with a high fleet penetration rate of connected vehicles, a viable business case can be achieved. |
| Keywords: | Cooperative Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM), Cooperative Lane Merging (CLM), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), Road Side Unit (RSU), Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Techno-economic analysis, 5G Networks, Cellular-Vehicle to everything (C-V2X), Cross-Border, Revenue models |
| Date: | 2022–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:cea-04571250&r= |
| By: | Lawrence J. Jin; Cameron Peng |
| Abstract: | We build a model of the law of small numbers (LSN)—the incorrect belief that even small samples represent the properties of the underlying population—to study its implications for trading behavior and asset prices. In our model, a belief in the LSN induces investors to expect short-term price trends to revert and long-term price trends to persist. As a result, asset prices exhibit short-term momentum and long-term reversals. The model can reconcile the coexistence of the disposition effect and return extrapolation. In addition, it makes new predictions about investor behavior, including return patterns before purchases and sales, a weakened disposition effect for long-term holdings, doubling down in buying, a positive correlation between doubling down and the disposition effect, and heterogeneous selling propensities to past returns. By testing these predictions using account-level transaction data, we show that the LSN provides a parsimonious way of understanding a variety of puzzles about investor behavior. |
| JEL: | G0 G02 G11 G12 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32519&r= |
| By: | Fernando Acebes; David Curto; Juan de Anton; Felix Villafanez |
| Abstract: | Risk management is a fundamental discipline in project management, which includes, among others, quantitative risk analysis. Throughout several years of teaching, we have observed difficulties in students performing Monte Carlo Simulation within the quantitative analysis of risks. This article aims to present MCSimulRisk as a teaching tool that allows students to perform Monte Carlo simulation and apply it to projects of any complexity simply and intuitively. This tool allows for incorporating any uncertainty identified in the project into the model. |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2405.20688&r= |