Targeting Rules for an Open Economy

This study extends the formal analysis of inflation targeting monetary policy using the standard New Keynesian framework to a small open economy by adding inflation and output persistence as well as a direct exchange rate channel to domestic inflation. We find that output variability is lower under CPI inflation targeting than under domestic inflation targeting. However, CPI inflation results in higher variability of the real exchange rate than domestic inflation targeting. Output and the nominal interest rate are less volatile under flexible inflation targeting than under almost-strict inflation targeting. We also find that almost-strict domestic inflation targeting cannot completely insulate domestic inflation from foreign shocks due to a direct exchange rate channel. The model is calibrated to Canadian data.     

Measuring childhood materialism: Refining and validating Schor's Consumer Involvement Scale

This paper examines the measurement of childhood materialism using Schor's ( 2004 ) Consumer Involvement Scale. Schor treated consumer involvement empirically as a unidimensional construct, though she suggested that conceptually it may be multidimensional. Using confirmatory factor analysis procedures on data collected from children in the U.S. and U.K., the psychometric superiority of a three‐factor structure is established, comprising dissatisfaction, consumer orientation, and brand awareness components. Additional analyses demonstrate distinct associations between each of these components and other constructs, including self‐esteem, outside school activities, and child–parent relations. The scale's generalizability across boys and girls is also confirmed. The results suggest that Schor's Consumer Involvement Scale will be useful for researchers interested in studying the important topic of materialism in children. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fixed-to-mobile call substitution and telephony market definition in Korea

An appropriate market definition is critical in most antitrust cases. In practice, antitrust authorities define economic markets in a deterministic manner with little concern about the risk involved in defining markets incorrectly. In contrast, this article proposes a probabilistic market definition method by which antitrust authorities can establish a statistical confidence level for their intended market-definition judgments. As an application, we examine the likelihood that the fixed-line and mobile telephony services in Korea can compete in the same economic market. Combining critical loss analysis with a hierarchical Bayes model for stated preference data, we find some evidence for the separation of the fixed-line and mobile telephony markets in present-day Korea. After discussing certain possible regulation biases for market definition, we predict that the two markets will converge in the near future as the mobile price premium continues to decrease.     

Does Reputation Contribute to Reducing Organizational Errors? A Learning Approach

In this study I examine the effect of a firm's reputation for product quality on its effort in learning to reduce its product defect rate. Theoretical ideas on the motivation of learning associated with social aspiration levels and the self-serving bias combined with social categorization suggest that poor quality reputation firms are more likely than their counterparts with a good reputation to attend to potential product defects and consequently reduce their defect rate. However, a stream of research on the motivation of learning stemming from historical aspiration levels and slack search leads to a different argument: a reputation for good quality is more likely to provide firms with a motivation to avoid product defects. I build upon these two competing arguments and hypothesize that stronger motives for learning exist in situations where firms have either a weak or strong reputation for product quality. My study of product recalls in the US automotive industry highlights an inverted U-shaped relationship, indicating the liability of an intermediate reputation in reducing product defects.     

Asymmetric Effects of Money on Inflation: Evidence from Korean Data

New Keynesian macroeconomic models predict that monetary shocks have asymmetric effects on inflation, i.e., inflation responds more to positive monetary shocks than to negative shocks (Asymmetry Hypothesis A), and that the asymmetry is positively associated with movements in average inflation (Asymmetry Hypothesis B). Korean data are shown to provide little support for Asymmetry Hypothesis A and strong support for Asymmetry Hypothesis B. [O53, E12]     

高校非生物专业开设生物课探索

高等院校人才的培养需要综合素质的提高,让大学生掌握一些现代生物学基础知识和实验技术是非常必要的。本文阐述了在非生物类专业全面开展生物学基础教育的重要意义,介绍了目前高校在非生物类专业开设的生物学课程的现状,并提出了一些建议和措施。     

The impact of capital market competition on relationship banking: Evidence from the Japanese experience

Disagreement exists about the potential effects of changes in competition on relationship lending. Boot and Thakor (2000) predict that an increase in capital market competition should lead to a reduction in relationship lending; however, Dinç (2000) predicts that greater capital market competition should increase relationship lending. Thus far, data limitations have precluded empirical tests of these competing hypotheses. In this study, we use a unique data set drawn from the deregulation of the Japanese financial system. Our findings show that increased capital market competition is associated with reduced relationship lending. However, the effect differs according to the maturity of the loans; increased capital market competition is associated with reduced long-term, but greater short-term, relationship lending.     

Long-Run Elasticities of the Demand for Money in Korea:Evidence from Cointegration Analysis

Most recent studies have employed the cointegration technique to investigate the long-run stability of the demand for money. This study considers the case of Korea. It is shown that in the long-run while Ml monetary aggregate is cointegrated with income, interest rate, and the exchange rate, M2 is not. However, results from error correction models reveal that both Ml and M2 have short-run relationship with their determinants. [E41]     

Time-Series Support for Balassa's Productivity-Bias Hypothesis: Evidence from Korea

In this paper we use the Johansen and Juselius cointegration technique and quarterly data over the period 1979–1993 to test the productivity-bias hypothesis between Korea and four of its major trading partners (Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The results show that in all four cases the deviation of purchasing-power parity (PPP) from the equilibrium exchange rate has a long-run relationship with the productivity ratios, supporting the notion that as Korea becomes relatively more productive, the Korean won appreciates in real terms.