Land-use changes, forest/soil conditions and carbon sequestration dynamics: A bio-economic model at watershed level in Nepal

A dynamic bio-economic model has been used at watershed level in Nepal to analyze the land-use changes, forest and soil conditions and their resultant impacts on carbon (C) sequestration. Planning horizon of the model extends over a period of 25 years. The objective function is maximization of the sum of discounted net income flows from agriculture, livestock and forestry productions; imputed value of leisure and labour hiring out activities subject to annual constraints on land, labour and capital availability along with the fulfilment of minimum cash and consumption requirements. The seven scenarios analyzed by the model are: business as usual (BAU), reduction in population growth rate from 2 to 1.5% p.a., increased prices of major crops by 10 and 20%, reduction in emigration of active labour force from the watershed from the current rate of 20–15 and 10%, and increase in discount rate from 5 to 10%. The results indicate that reduced labour emigration rates and increase in the prices of major crops lead to expansion of cultivated area and shift from one land use to the others. Land clearing becomes more severe with decline in labour emigration rate. Up to 10% increase in the prices of agricultural crops does not have noticeable effect on total land clearing. Increase in discount rate leads to less land clearing, more biomass harvesting and higher net C sequestration as compared to the BAU scenario. Assuming a C price of 10 USD per MgC and 5% discount rate, the net present value of C sequestration for the first 25 years is estimated at 1.83 mill USD in the BAU scenario, varying from 0.16 mill USD to 2.26 mill USD, as respectively the lowest and highest values for the seven scenarios analysed. A reduction in population growth and maintenance of current rate of off-farm employment are suggested for slowing down the expansion of cultivated land area, and thereby reducing the forest/soil degradation and C emissions. This in turn would enhance the income potential from C sequestration.     

Quelques inégalités sur les fonctions monotones

Abstract

Dans les lignes qui suivent nous allons donner quelques suppléments à la “note sur quelques inégalites et formules d'approximation” de ce journal. 1 En partant de l'inégalité bien connue de Hölder-Jensen sur les fonctions convexes nous allons — à l'aide de la définition de convexité que j'avais introduit dans le mémoir cité — trouver une inégalité ayant une relation étroite avec la formule de moyenne de Weierstrass 2, où f(t) et ? (t) sont deux fonctions continues, la fonction ? (t) étant décroissante lorsque x crîlt de a à b.     

Effects of time pressure,type of shopping,and store attributes on consumers’ satisfaction with grocery shopping

The aim of this study is to investigate whether satisfaction with grocery stores is affected by type of grocery shopping in conjunction with time pressure, and which attributes are important for satisfaction. Fictitious grocery stores are constructed according to a fractional factorial design by varying access, price level, supply quality/range, and service quality. In an Internet survey, 1023 Swedish consumers rated satisfaction with major vs. fill-in shopping imagining they were under high or low time pressure. The results showed that satisfaction is higher for fill-in shopping than major shopping, that time pressure has no effect on satisfaction, and that price level, service quality, and product quality/range are more important for satisfaction with major shopping, whereas access is more important for satisfaction with fill-in shopping. It is also found that the importance of attributes for satisfaction depends on type of shopping more than on individual characteristics.     

The economics of the Syrian refugee crisis in neighbouring countries: The case of Lebanon

In this article, we investigate the effects of a massive displacement of workers from a war‐torn economy on the economy of a neighbouring country. Applying a general equilibrium approach to the Lebanese economy, we explore effects from various components of the crisis on the labour market, the production apparatus and macroeconomic indicators. Along with previous literature, our findings suggest limited or no adverse effects on high‐skilled native workers, but a negative impact on the most vulnerable Lebanese workers. When aid takes the form of investment subsidies, significantly better growth and labour market prospects arise, recalling the necessity of complementing humanitarian aid with development aid to succeed in achieving long‐term objectives. This may however not be politically viable in a context where refugees are considered as temporary.     

IQ and corporate insiders’ decisions to time insider and outsider trading

We examine how corporate insiders’ cognitive ability (IQ) affects their decisions to time insider and outsider trading before abnormal stock price changes. Our analysis of archival data on male corporate insiders in Sweden shows they are less prone to time their insider selling and to sell in larger amounts, before abnormal stock price declines as IQ increases. We also find that insiders with a higher IQ are better at timing their outsider buying. Taken together, our results show that corporate insiders’ IQ affects their trading decisions differently, depending on whether they are trading in their insider or outsider stocks.     

In search of corporate governance in franchising

Abstract

A firm’s governance structure and business model might explain the firm’s failure or success. Franchising is a business model that has not received much attention within the corporate governance (CG) literature even though it obviously brings several unique CG challenges. Therefore, we review articles at the interface of CG and franchising. We identify and thematize the literature in four focus areas, each with a different relationship to CG: 1) traditional CG, 2) governance challenges unique to franchising, 3) governance modes, and 4) contracts. We find that the literature largely ignores the traditional view of CG when examining many aspects of franchising. We also find that the franchising literature covers governance topics when discussing governance modes, which provides a basis for developing CG theories. Altogether, our findings open a promising avenue for future research that incorporates CG into studies of franchising.     

A resource-based view of the firm

The paper explores the usefulness of analysing firms from the resource side rather than from the product side. In analogy to entry barriers and growth-share matrices, the concepts of resource position barrier and resource-product matrices are suggested. These tools are then used to highlight the new strategic options which naturally emerge from the resource perspective.     

Betrachtungen über den effektiven Zinsfuss bei Anleihen

Der Umstand dass der effektive Zinsfuss einer Anleihe, die im Laufe von n Jahren (Terminen) zurückgezahlt werden soll, im Allgemeinen durch eine Gleichung n:ten Grades bestimmt ist, hat bekanntlich zu der Anwendung einer ganzen Reihe von verschiedenen Näherungsmethoden zur Feststellung dieses Zinsfusses geführt. Indessen ist die Litteratur über die Frage eigentlich recht sparsam, und man hat den Eindruck dass vielleicht jeder Finanzmathematiker, der sich mit diesen Fragen effektiv beschäftigt, allmählich sein eigenes Verfahren. ausarbeitet, und dass man sich scheuht die Hülfsmittel — die man in dieser Weise anwendet, und die wohl immer recht einfach oder sogar rein empirisch sind — zu veröffentlichen; und daran tut man vielleicht nicht ganz recht. So kennt der Verfasser dieser Zeilen schon verschiedene solche einfache Methoden oder Hülfsmittel anderer Finanzmathematiker, die nicht veroffentlicht worden sind, und ebenso hat er auch selbst seit vielen Jahren verschiedene andere mehr oder wenig empirische Methoden dieser Art benutzt, von denen unten die eine etwas naher erörtert werden soll.     

Trade integration and the EU economic membership criteria

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the European Union (EU)'s economic membership criteria for the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) and Cyprus (the Candidate Countries) are fulfilled. To this end, I examine the actual and potential levels of trade between the Candidate Countries and the EU countries using the gravity model. The results show a high degree of trade integration between all Candidate Countries and the EU, indicating that the Candidate Countries would not face any serious difficulties in coping with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term. The European Commission, however, suggested the contrary for some of the Candidate Countries in its opinions of 1997.     

Biotechnology Firms in Sweden

The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of the strategies that biotechnology firms in Sweden implement, how they manage to keep their competence ahead and how they finance their research. Their main factor of success is the ability to rapidly identify the latest research findings from academia and turn them into commerciable technology. The collaboration with academia is thus an important part of the networking strategy of the biotechnology firms in Sweden. Outsourcing parts of their activities keeps the firms flexible, which is necessary in this high risk business.Whether a firm chooses an intermediary or integrating position is not found to be correlated to age or size. It is instead heavily influenced by the strategies of large pharmaceutical companies, the nature of the firms' core technology, expectations of investors and the overall access of capital. The private capital market in Sweden has undergone a change during the last years. New marketplaces for young, innovative firms have been created in Sweden and their existence is most likely one reason for the increasing presence of venture capitalists in the country. That, in turn, increases the opportunities for new firms within biotechnology to develop in Sweden.