A Test for Hysteresis in International Trade

The article suggests a new test for strong hysteresis, that is, at the macro level, in international trade. The variables that capture the effects of hysteresis are based on a theoretical model with calibrations using a state–space model to determine the parameters for each point in time. These variables are then applied to a cointegration test with breaks, where it is possible to verify whether the hysteresis effect is essential in determining the long‐term equilibrium.     

Informality in an economy with active labour courts

Job regulations and the justice branch interfere on several aspects of labour contracts. We build a model which explores the role of labour courts on the wage distribution in both formal and informal sectors. We obtain that the presence of active labour courts produces a negative relation between the wage gap and the productivity of the worker, a regularity documented in the empirical literature. Active labour courts also reduce informality of unskilled workers but do not have an impact on informality of skilled workers. Some elements and implications of our model are tested using Brazilian data.     

Environmental motivations behind individuals’ energy efficiency investments and daily energy-saving behaviour: evidence from Germany,the Netherlands and Belgium

The impact of environmental motivations on the individual’s decisions regarding investments in energy efficiency and the adoption of energy-saving habits are analysed on the basis of a representative online survey carried out in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Various energy efficiency investments and daily energy-saving activities are considered. Accounting for endogeneity in the basic estimation model, in particular regarding energy conservation activities, the subject’s experience with extreme weather events are used as an instrument for environmental motivations. This study provides empirical evidence that individual energy efficiency investments are generally driven by environmental motivations. Additionally, for the Dutch and the German sub-samples environmental motivations positively affect daily energy-saving activities. The findings suggest that policy programmes aimed at raising environmental awareness and forming pro-environmental motivations can lead to an increase in energy efficiency investments and daily energy-saving activities.     

Ownership,Access, and Sequential Investment

We extend the property‐rights framework to allow for a separation of the ownership rights of access and veto and for sequential investment. Parties investing first do so before contracting is feasible. It is possible, however, that parties investing second can share (at least some of) their investment costs. Along with this cost‐sharing effect, the incentive to invest is affected by a strategic effect generated by sequential investment. Together these effects can overturn some of the predictions of the property‐rights literature. For example, the most inclusive ownership structure might not be optimal, even if all investments are complementary.     

Strategic alliances,organizational learning,and competitive advantage: The HRM agenda

In the context of strategic alliances that involve competitive collaboration, the competitive advantage of a firm can be protected only through its capability to accumulate invisible assets by a carefully planned and executed process of organizational learning. As this process is embedded in people, many of the necessary capabilities are closely linked to HRM strategies and practice. The article advocates that the transformation of the HR system to support the process of organizational learning is the key strategic task facing the HR function in firms engaged in international cooperative ventures.     

International Petty Trading: Changing Practices in Trans–Carpathian Ukraine

The opening of borders in eastern Europe, accompanied by partial re–regulation and institutionalization of markets, created exceptional conditions for arbitrage in the form of cross–border trading. Whilst there is evidence that this is in decline in Central Eastern Europe, because of developments in the formal retail sector and convergence in trading and consumption, it persists as a significant alternative economic site in many other parts of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This article explores three main aspects of cross–border trading in Trans–Carpathian Ukraine, a region at the frontier between ‘colliding’ economic systems. The article has three main objectives. First, it examines the roles of gatekeepers and operators, and their embeddedness in local economic and political systems. Secondly, based on a survey of 150 Ukrainian traders, it explores the socio–economic backgrounds and practices of the traders, especially gender differences, their modes of trading and capital accumulation. These are partly interpreted in terms of the uneven legacy of capital and social networks dating from the state socialist period. Thirdly, it considers the changing organizational forms of trading, especially a shift from petty cross–border trading to global sourcing of merchandise. L’ouverture des frontières en Europe de l’Est, associée à une re–régulation partielle et une institutionnalisation des marchés, a créé des conditions exceptionnelles pour l’arbitrage dans les opérations transfrontalières. Si cette forme de négoce s’avère en déclin dans les pays d’Europe centrale–orientale – le secteur officiel du détail s’étant développé, et commerce et consommation ayant convergé– elle demeure une place de repli économique importante pour bien d’autres parties d’Europe de l’Est et de l’ex–Union soviétique. Cet article étudie trois aspects dominants du commerce transfrontalier en Transcarpatie (Ukraine), région aux confins de systèmes économiques `qui s’entrechoquent’. Ce travail poursuit trois objectifs. Il examine d’abord les rôles des garde–barrières et opérateurs, ainsi que leurs imbrications dans les systèmes économiques et politiques locaux. Ensuite, à partir d’une enquÁte sur 150 négociants ukrainiens, il explore les pratiques et milieux socio–économiques de ces derniers, notamment les différences par sexe, ainsi que leurs modalités de commerce et d’accumulation de capital; une interprétation partielle est donnée à partir de l’inégal héritage des réseaux sociaux et de capitaux datant de l’ère socialiste. Enfin, il s’intéresse aux formes évolutives d’organisation commerciale, en particulier au passage d’un petit commerce transfrontalier à un approvisionnement de marchandises à l’échelon mondial.