Bargaining Coalitions in the WTO Agricultural Negotiations

This paper aims to understand the structural features of bargaining coalitions in the Doha Round of the WTO. We provide an empirical assessment of the preferences of each negotiating actor considering general economics indicators, development levels, structure of agricultural sectors and trade policies. Bargaining coalitions are analysed by grouping countries using a cluster analysis procedure. The clusters are compared with existing coalitions in order to assess their degree of internal homogeneity as well as their common interests. Such a comparison allows the identification of possible ‘defectors’, i.e. countries that, according to their economic conditions and policies, seem to be relatively less committed to the positions of the coalition they join. In addition, the ex‐post analysis of the counterfactual coalitions sheds light on the ‘distance’ between different coalitions as well as between individual countries and the best alternative group available. Empirical results confirm our research hypothesis: clusters of structurally homogeneous countries well represent existing bargaining coalitions. In particular, the G‐20 shows a high degree of internal coherence, which, in our framework, may provide a clue to the ‘sustainability’ of this coalition and to its relevance in the Doha Round negotiations.     

Introduction: A New Architecture or New System? A Survey of International Monetary Reform in the 1990s

The international monetary system (IMS) is a macroeconomic concept that encompasses the foreign exchange-rate regulation, the capital movement system, and all “the rules of the game” for the adjustment of international payment imbalances. The international financial architecture (IFA) is, in contrast, a microeconomic concept and should not be considered synonymous with the IMS. The IFA is one element of the IMS. The current set of international monetary arrangements has been frequently called a “nonsystem.” Today there are two missing pillars in the reform efforts: a framework for managing the interdependence among the macroeconomic policies of the global powers (the United States, Europe, and Japan) and the market-oriented approach to the financing of the IMF.     

Hardened Budgets and Enterprise Restructuring: Theory and an Application to Romania

We identify the presence of soft budgets and analyze their impact on enterprise restructuring in Romania over the initial transition period. A simple analytical framework is developed to show that hardened budget constraints foster rationalization of costs but not new investment. The latter requires availability of external financing. The model emphasizes the importance of the credibility of hardened budgets and the empirical findings are consistent with its predictions. Using a sample of over 4000 Romanian enterprises from 1992 to 1995, we show that hardened budget constraints induce labor shedding. However, there is no evidence of new investments. J. Comp. Econ., December 2001, 29(4), pp. 749–763. University of Sienna, Central European University, and CEPR; and World Bank and CEPR. © 2001 Elsevier ScienceJournal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: G32, G34.     

Testing for a break in trend when the order of integration is unknown

Harvey, Leybourne and Taylor [Harvey, D.I., Leybourne, S.J., Taylor, A.M.R. 2009. Simple, robust and powerful tests of the breaking trend hypothesis. Econometric Theory 25, 995–1029] develop a test for the presence of a broken linear trend at an unknown point in the sample whose size is asymptotically robust as to whether the (unknown) order of integration of the data is either zero or one. This test is not size controlled, however, when this order assumes fractional values; its asymptotic size can be either zero or one in such cases. In this paper we suggest a new test, based on a sup-Wald statistic, which is asymptotically size-robust across fractional values of the order of integration (including zero or one). We examine the asymptotic power of the test under a local trend break alternative. The finite sample properties of the test are also investigated.     

Habit formation and indeterminacy in overlapping generations models

I introduce habit formation into an otherwise standard overlapping generations economy with pure exchange populated by three-period-lived agents. Habits are modeled in such a way that current consumption increases the marginal utility of future consumption. With logarithmic utility functions, I demonstrate that habit formation gives rise to stable monetary steady states in economies with hump-shaped endowment profiles and reasonably high discount factors. Intuitively, habits imply adjacent complementarity in consumption, which in turn explains why income effects are sufficiently strong in spite of the logarithmic utility. The three-period horizon further strengthens the income effect.     

Temporal mixture ensemble models for probabilistic forecasting of intraday cryptocurrency volume

Decisions in Economics and Finance - We study the problem of the intraday short-term volume forecasting in cryptocurrency multi-markets. The predictions are built by using transaction and order...     

Opting Out,Collective Contracts and Labour Flexibility: Firm-Level Evidence for The Italian Case

This article analyses the role of deviations from higher level collective agreements adopted in firm-level bargaining to regain higher labour mobility, net positive employment effects and a resurgence of labour productivity. Using Italian firm-level data, after performing preliminary pooled ordinary least squares and fixed effects estimates, we adopt a difference-in-difference approach combined with a propensity score matching. All the estimations show that opting out clauses notably increases both hiring and separations, but without significant variations in terms of net employment. In addition, no significant labour productivity gains are obtained. The only significant change concerns the increase in the share of temporary workers.     

International Development Strategies of Luxury-goods Players in China

The aim of this paper is to study and analyse the intemationalisation strategies chosen by the main luxury-goods players in the Chinese market, demonstrating the business intemationalisation processes. The research questions are： ttow luxury companies have developed distribution strategies in the Chinese markets？ What are the main formats of distribution for the Chinese markets？ Are there any differences in the internationalization process between the main players of the luxury markets and the smaller ones？ The methodology is based on the analysis on multiple-case ~.nalysis on a sample of luxury-goods companies and identifies and compares the different strategies used by the players analysed. The research process starts from identifying and selecting the most well-known companies operating in the luxury branded sector, which have established a presence in the Chinese market with their own brand, collecting secondary data for the selected companies （website, corporate profile, articles on websites and in trade magazines and interviews with the management）, analysing the data collected and interpreting the main results to have emerged from the research. The main findings and conclusions are that the route to development in the Chinese market taken by the players in the luxury-goods sector, historically undertaken by delocalising production operations, has in recent years begun to accelerate with new forms in play, principally linked to distribution. The Chinese market tbr luxury brands is ever more an outlet market rather than a production hub. The ability to create brand awareness will become a key factor for successful consolidation of the competitive position in this market, an operation that can only be performed through distribution. Moreover, Chinese high-end consumers are becoming ever more demanding, seeking out an ever more sophisticated shopping experience. Just as happening in other markets, opening directly operated stores is a strategic choice for reaching and convincing end-consumers, sinc     

Customers’ judgments and misjudgments of corporate responsibility communication: A cross‐country investigation of the effects on confidence and trust within the banking sector

Customers’ judgment of corporate responsibility (CR) communication and the effect on confidence and trust as interlinked paradigms are intriguing areas of investigation from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. This research aims to clarify the nature of effective CR communication toward customers by identifying situations of over‐ and undercommunication of CR that might cause misjudgments and therefore lower the level of confidence among customers. The study also provides insights to better explain the link between confidence and trust related to customers’ perceptions of CR communication and compares different judgments and misjudgments regarding the banking industries in Italy and the United Kingdom. The study adopts real and fictitious bank case studies to conduct focus groups investigations of 160 millennial customers’ perceptions of CR communication and how it affects their level of confidence. The findings highlight the role of trust in making independent judgments on CR communications. Some similarities and slight differences in the impact of CR communication on confidence emerge between the countries and greatly depend on the customers’ level of trust in real banks and the influence of the industry effect characterizing the banking sector. This study provides fertile ground for future research into the implementation of a more effective and balanced CR communication strategy to increase customers’ confidence and into the understanding of which communication drivers, apparently independent of CR, affect trust in the long term.     

When legacy carriers converge with low-cost carriers: Exploring the fusion of European airline business models through a case-based analysis

The paper makes uses of cognitive mappings developed from personal interviews with a number of European airline executives to examine the differences in managerial attitudes of low-cost and transitional carriers. In particular it explores the extent to which there is a convergence of views regarding the ways various airline models will develop in the future.