Sequential estimate for linear regression models with uncertain number of effective variables

As a result of novel data collection technologies, it is now common to encounter data in which the number of explanatory variables collected is large, while the number of variables that actually contribute to the model remains small. Thus, a method that can identify those variables with impact on the model without inferring other noneffective ones will make analysis much more efficient. Many methods are proposed to resolve the model selection problems under such circumstances, however, it is still unknown how large a sample size is sufficient to identify those “effective” variables. In this paper, we apply sequential sampling method so that the effective variables can be identified efficiently, and the sampling is stopped as soon as the “effective” variables are identified and their corresponding regression coefficients are estimated with satisfactory accuracy, which is new to sequential estimation. Both fixed and adaptive designs are considered. The asymptotic properties of estimates of the number of effective variables and their coefficients are established, and the proposed sequential estimation procedure is shown to be asymptotically optimal. Simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed estimation method, and a diabetes data set is used as an example.     

Perceptions of Change in Business Relationships and Networks

Our research deals with the role of actors in change in business relationships and networks. In this study, we explore how cognitive elaboration of experience of a relationship affects the relationship development. The link between behaviors and cognitive elaborations has been the object of recent research in marketing, but little attention has been given to the issue of cognition and behaviors when actors interact in business relationships. Given the role of relationships and their dynamics for the development of business networks, we believe that the issue deserves more attention. Also, compared to the interest in the space dimension of business networks, i.e., network pictures, perceptions of time have been under-investigated. We report findings from 84 bilateral interviews with managers involved as customers or suppliers in 21 relationships with ICT Security at two points in time. We collected their interpretations and reinterpretations of past developments, outcomes, and desired outcomes of the relationships in which they were involved. Our data suggest that the link between managers' cognitive elaborations and relationship dynamics is less direct than commonly assumed. We argue that evolution of a relationship cannot be explained by individual interpretations of the parties involved in the relationship; a preliminary finding is that actors' intentions appear more to shape the interpretations, rather than the contrary.     

Wage inequality and the labor market impact of economic transformation: Croatia, 1970–2008

In this paper, we examine wage inequality and wage differentials in Croatia from 1970 to 2008 using two long aggregate time series on the distribution of income. We focus especially on changing income inequality related to educational and vocational attainment, changing income inequality within those groups, and how these two components of inequality were affected by the economic transformation from socialism to capitalism. We find that income inequality between groups rose moderately post-transformation, while overall inequality increased more sharply. This finding is consistent with a growing importance of individual rather than group productivity in labor market compensation, a change broadly consistent with the economic transformation of the Croatian labor market.     

The Status of Lobbying in Croatia

The positions of lobbying and the lobbyist, well established in developed democratic societies, are far less clear in transitional countries. The aim of this paper is to present the current status of lobbying in Croatia through a discussion of its reputation in the media, citizens’ attitudes and the perceptions of business sector representatives. For that purpose, three groups of research results are presented. (1) In order to characterize the reputation of lobbying in the media, the results of a quantitative content analysis of information published in daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and on Internet portals are given. (2) To understand the attitudes of citizens to lobbying, the views of the young are considered. (3) Finally, to define perceptions of lobbying in the public sector and business, the results of a survey conducted among 50 employees in government institutions and 50 in the enterprise sector are presented and analyzed.     

Relating in business networks: Innovation in practice

Few studies have looked at the innovation process in the early stages of new business ventures in the context of business networks. Reporting on eight years of development of a new venture, we examine how the development of initial business relationships in an ever-changing business network affects technological innovation. We conclude that technological innovation is contingent on the development of business relationships that are a critical mechanism permitting a new venture not only to access but also to produce knowledge essential for innovating. For management this implies the need to strike a judicious balance between internal focus and closure to produce novel solutions and external focus and openness to experiment in business relationships.     

Policy evaluation as science: a critical assessment

During theh last few years policy evaluation has become an important area of research. Urban and regional policies have been subjected to more detailed scrutiny than ever before. Yet the gowing body of evaluative research remains isolated from many wider debates in the social and economic sciences. This can be attributed partly to the predilection for scientific methods, caused by the apparent certainty and objectivity they confer. This orientatioin is reflected in the tendency to separate evaluation from the policy process; the narrow perspective of many evaluative studies; the emphasis on quantification; the mechanical approach to analysis; and the inattention paid to undestanding causal processes.     

Senior expatriate leadership's effects on innovation and the role of cultural intelligence

We propose that senior expatriates’ visionary–transformational leadership influences the rate of innovation adoption in the organizations or units they head, but cultural intelligence moderates this relationship. Our hypotheses were tested with data from 153 senior expatriate managers and 695 subordinates from companies in all 27 countries of the European Union. We found a direct influence of senior expatriates’ visionary–transformational leadership on the rate of innovation adoption. Cultural intelligence moderates the effect of senior expatriates’ leadership on organizational innovation, but not on product-market innovation. Implications for academic research and business practice are discussed.     

STABILITY OF THE UTILITY MAXIMIZATION PROBLEM WITH RANDOM ENDOWMENT IN INCOMPLETE MARKETS

We perform a stability analysis for the utility maximization problem in a general semimartingale model where both liquid and illiquid assets (random endowments) are present. Small misspecifications of preferences (as modeled via expected utility), as well as views of the world or the market model (as modeled via subjective probabilities) are considered. Simple sufficient conditions are given for the problem to be well posed, in the sense that the optimal wealth and the marginal utility‐based prices are continuous functionals of preferences and probabilistic views.     

Spatial Aspects of ICT Development in Russia

The paper investigates the potentials of ICT in Russia for tackling the challenges of huge territory, strong regional disparities, segmentation of economic space and over-centralisation by Moscow. The Internet currently imposes a definite regional discrimination in Russia based on complex criteria, which are not limited to household incomes. After initial polarisation in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Internet use is now concentrated in a dozen Russian regions, marking a shift to polycentric polarisation, but Internet service activities remain concentrated in Western Russia. A new wave of centrifugal trends is starting thanks to offshore outsourcing in software development, in which Russia is preferred to China and India.