Informative advertising by heterogeneous firms

This paper introduces a model to analyze the role of the cost of information dissemination in large markets where firms have varying degrees of intrinsic efficiency reflected in their marginal costs. Firms enter a market and discover how efficient they are. Those firms with high enough efficiency stay, others exit. Remaining firms then compete to attract consumers by disseminating information about their existence and their prices using a common advertising technology. The properties of the model’s equilibrium are analyzed. The model is then used to study the effect of the cost of information dissemination on the competitiveness of the market and key industry aggregates, such as price distribution and the distribution of firm value.     

Are “Nearly Exogenous Instruments” reliable?

We show that when instruments are nearly exogenous, the two stage least squares t-statistic unpredictably over-rejects or under-rejects the null hypothesis that the endogenous regressor is insignificant and Anderson–Rubin test over-rejects the null. We prove that in the limit these tests are no longer nuisance parameter free.     

Taylor Rule in Practice: Evidence from Turkey

This paper estimates the backward-looking and forward-looking monetary policy reaction functions of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) by considering the post-crisis period from August 2001 to September 2006, with a special emphasis on inflation targeting. Policies which the CBRT applied are analyzed according to the Taylor rule. The empirical results indicate that the CBRT followed the Taylor rule in its interest setting behaviour. In forward-looking models, the response coefficient of inflation and the output gap is greater than that of backward-looking models. The results of forward-looking models reflect, the policies conducted in Turkey. In the post-crisis period, expected inflation has been the main reaction variable for the CBRT. This suggests that monetary policy over the post-crisis period was not accommodating increases in expected inflation. The main conclusion is that ‘Taylor rule’ based monetary policies were effective in inflation targeting in Turkey.

Effects of Demographic Characteristics of Logistics Firms on Their Performance and Job Satisfaction of Their Employees

This study investigates the effects of demographic factors of the logistics firms＇ employees （gender, age, education level, experience level, and department） on their job satisfaction and the effects of demographic factors of the logistics firms （company type, capital nature, and company experience level） on their performance of logistics activities about information technologies, interior relationship, and transportation based on the scale developed by the same authors and the sample of 39 logistics firms selected randomly in the city of Mersin and Adana in Turkey. According to findings, none of the demographic factors of the employees does aft~ct their job satisfaction. In terms of the demographic factors of the logistics firms, their experience level in the field is found to be significant in their logistics activities about information technology. In general, as the firm＇s experience increases, they perform better on information technology.     

Academic leadership and commercial activities at research institutes: German evidence

This paper focuses on entrepreneurship by academic leaders. With the use of patents, inventions, and spin‐offs to measure commercialization, and directors, research group leaders, and business owners as academic leaders, results, using a sample of more than 2,500 German researchers, show differences across academic leaders and commercialization. Findings for spin‐offs are different from those for patents and inventions. Academic leaders in sciences were more likely to commercialize. Doctoral degrees helped patents by business owners and spin‐offs by group leaders, whereas female business owners and female group leaders faced challenges patenting and inventing, respectively. For business owners, age increased the likelihood of patenting but lowered spin‐offs.     

An analysis of snow options for ski resort establishments

This study proposes a pricing method for put options on snow level for tourism establishments operating in Palandoken ski resort in the east of Turkey. In the calculation of put prices historical densities and Edgeworth adjusted densities methods together with Alaton, Djehiche, and Stillberger (2002) method have been applied. The findings show that there may be significant differences in the prices calculated by the three different methods, hence enabling both parties, i.e. buyers and sellers, with bases in the negotiation process. As the study is primarily aimed at providing a framework for pricing put options on snow levels in general, it is expected that it would be of use not only for this particular ski resort but also for various ski resorts in the world.     

Urban sprawl factors in the surface water resource basins of Istanbul

This paper presents the reasons for uncontrolled land-use changes in the water resource basins of Istanbul. These changes are evaluated with a Geographical Information System (GIS), using four Landsat (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005) satellite images. Additional spatial information about capital improvement projects (highways and the Bosporus bridges), industrial land-use decisions, land ownership, and jurisdictional boundaries is also utilized. We observe that the most critical land-use changes have occurred in places with higher accessibility, mostly in close proximity to the metropolitan city center. The literature describes large public capital improvement projects (primarily the Trans European Motorway – TEM) as the primary reason for a trend of illegal occupation of public lands; however, the TEM should not be considered as the sole reason. This study explores other possible causes for these illegal developments in the water resource basins, grouped into three broad dimensions physical, socio–economic–political, and legal. Finally, we put forward possible policy suggestions for the preservation of the limited surface water resource basins in Istanbul.     

Interactions between tourism and financial sector development: evidence from Turkey

This article aims to examine the interactions between tourism growth and financial development in Turkey, which is a top tourist destination and has developed a well-functioning financial system over the last decade. The results confirm a long-term association between tourism development and financial development; foreign direct investments and foreign trade also impact this interaction. According to the results, tourism expansion in Turkey is mainly influenced by financial markets. The results also reveal that in Turkey, changes in tourism volume precede changes in financial volume. Thus, the major finding of this study is that tourism development and financial development in Turkey have a long-term and reinforcing interaction.