Is socially responsible investment useful in Mexico? A multi-factor and ex-ante review

The present paper continues the firsts reviews made to socially responsible investment in Mexico. We extended these reviews by using a non-parametric multivariate equality test, along with a multi-factor market cap model, and a Monte Carlo simulation. Our results show that the IPCS index, the IPCcomp and the IPC have a statistically equal mean-variance performance, suggesting that this sort of investment style (SRI) is a good substitute of the broad market investment style in the long term. Among the causes of this finding is the fact that the IPCS and the IPCcomp indexes have almost the same large and small cap stock concentration and the IPC index (a large-cap one) is not as diversified and mean-variance efficient as the former.     

Can Investors Identify Managerial Discretion in Corporate Social Responsibility Practices? The Moderate Role of Investor Protection

This paper analyses investors’ ability to identify if managers use corporate social responsibility as an entrenchment practice to conceal the risk of dismissal associated with managerial discretion and if this detection is determined by the level of investor protection orientation. Results based on an international database of 1949 companies show that investors and markets do not identify managerial entrenchment based on the promotion of sustainable practices, except when such entrenchment is developed by companies located in countries with strong investor protection. In these countries, investors identify and penalise such companies with lower financial performance.     

Maximum entropy: a stochastic frontier approach for electricity distribution regulation

The literature on incentive-based regulation in the electricity sector indicates that the size of this sector in a country constrains the choice of frontier methods as well as the model specification itself to measure economic efficiency of regulated firms. The aim of this study is to propose a stochastic frontier approach with maximum entropy estimation, which is designed to extract information from limited and noisy data with minimal statements on the data generation process. Stochastic frontier analysis with generalized maximum entropy and data envelopment analysis—the latter one has been widely used by national regulators—are applied to a cross-section data on thirteen European electricity distribution companies. Technical efficiency scores and rankings of the distribution companies generated by both approaches are sensitive to model specification. Nevertheless, the stochastic frontier analysis with generalized maximum entropy results indicate that technical efficiency scores have similar distributional properties and these scores as well as the rankings of the companies are not very sensitive to the prior information. In general, the same electricity distribution companies are found to be in the highest and lowest efficient groups, reflecting weak sensitivity to the prior information considered in the estimation procedure.

     

Power politics and the expansion of US exports, 1879–1938

In this article, we present quantitative evidence for the first time of the effect of US power politics on the expansion of its export market from the late nineteenth century to the eve of the Second World War. Like other empires, US imperial policy was expressed through annexation, gunboat policies, and asymmetrical trade agreements. We find that US exports to territories that became colonies or protectorates and those involved in other US military interventions grew more than three times faster between 1880–5 and 1934–8 than in the rest of the world. Our most relevant contribution to this discussion relies on a new geographically extensive database with information on bilateral trade flows, market size, trade costs, and variables that capture US political and military power. We first estimate a gravity equation to see the relationship between our power politics variables and US exports. Then, we present causal evidence of the role played by the colonies and protectorates in the expansion of US exports through an event study and the estimation of a generalized difference-in-differences model.     

Spend as I say,not as I do: Children,families and household consumption in different socio‐economic contexts

This article aims at contributing to a body of work about children and families by exploring the importance of socio‐economic context and social capital for understanding the ways in which money is perceived, obtained and used by children. Alleged contrasts in terms of money management, consumption priorities and postponement of gratification, especially among middle and working classes, have already been debated. It seems thus relevant to investigate if these presumable contrasts apply to children and why. Do children from different socio‐economic contexts reveal the traits that have been attributed to their households? To this end, a mixed methods research project was developed involving 245 children attending different primary schools in Portugal—one private school targeted at upper class children and one state‐sponsored school located in a working‐class area. The results revealed significant differences by school and household typology.     

Promotion and Coevolutionary Dynamics in Contemporary Capitalism

We characterize the dynamics of contemporary capitalist societies as emerging from the coevolution of five different subsystems: the intimate realm of individuals, the market, the state, civil society, and nature. We highlight a specific coevolution mechanism between some of these subsystems, which we call promotion. The insights from this coevolution approach are twofold. On one hand, from the ontological and heuristic perspectives, we argue that our proposal opens the possibility for constructing a general, interpretative framework in evolutionary economics. On the other hand, from a theoretical-explanatory perspective, we detect certain coevolution paths that may engender global pathologies in capitalist societies. We also suggest that future research may explore some normative implications of this approach, as well as alternative methodological strategies to develop it.     

The motivations,institutions and organization of university-industry collaborations in the Netherlands

This study builds on the economics and organization literatures to explore whether and how institutions and organizational structure complement or substitute each other to create specific spaces of alignment where specific individual actors’ motivations co-exist. Focusing on university-industry collaborations, the study examines whether and how different axes of alignment of university and industry motivations are integrated in projects with specific technological objectives and organizational structures, benefitting from the presence of specific institutions designed to facilitate collaboration. Empirically, the study relies on in-depth data on 30 university-industry collaborations in the Netherlands, and provides preliminary evidence that the technological objective and organizational structure of collaboration are malleable variables allowing the integration of both partners’ objectives and expectations. Different institutional incentives for university-industry collaboration favor specific axes of alignment of motivations and certain types of collaborative projects’ design. Hence, our exploratory results suggest that specific organizational and technological structures tend to prevail in the presence of specific institutions.     

How to Attract an Audience at a Conference: Paper,Person or Place?

We analyze the drivers of audience size and the number of questions asked in parallel sessions at the annual conference of the German Economics Association. We find that the location of the presentation is at least as important for the number of academics attending a talk as the combined effect of the person presenting and the paper presented. Being a presenter in a late morning session on the second day of a conference, close to the place where coffee is served, significantly increases the size of the audience. When it comes to asking questions, location becomes less important, but smaller rooms lead to more questions being asked. Younger researchers and very senior researchers attract more questions and comments. There are also interesting gender effects. Women attend research sessions more diligently than men, but seem to ask fewer questions than men. Men are less likely to attend presentations on health, education, welfare and development economics than women. Our findings suggest that strategic scheduling of sessions could ensure better participation at conferences. Moreover, different behaviors of men and women at conferences might also contribute to the lack of women in senior scientist positions.     

Economic burden of hospital malnutrition and the cost–benefit of supplemental parenteral nutrition in critically ill patients in Latin America

Abstract

Aim: Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) is a prevalent condition that significantly increases the risk of adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients, particularly those with critical illness. Limited data is available on the economic burden of DRM and the cost–benefit of nutrition therapy in high-risk populations in Latin America. The aims of the present study were to estimate the economic burden of DRM and evaluate the cost–benefit of supplemental parenteral nutrition (SPN) in critically ill patients who fail to receive adequate nutrient intake from enteral nutrition (EN) in Latin America.

Methods: Country-specific cost and prevalence data from eight Latin American countries and clinical data from studies evaluating outcomes in patients with DRM were used to estimate the costs associated with DRM in public hospitals. A deterministic decision model based on clinical outcomes from a randomized controlled study and country-specific cost data were developed to examine the cost–benefit of administering SPN to critically ill adults who fail to reach ≥60% of the calculated energy target with EN.

Results: The estimated annual economic burden of DRM in public hospitals in Latin America is $10.19 billion (range, $8.44 billion–$11.72 billion). Critically ill patients account for a disproportionate share of the costs, with a 6.5-fold higher average cost per patient compared with those in the ward ($5488.35 vs. $839.76). Model-derived estimates for clinical outcomes and resource utilization showed that administration of SPN to critically ill patients who fail to receive the targeted energy delivery with EN would result in an annual cost reduction of $10.2 million compared with continued administration of EN alone.

Limitations: The cost calculation was limited to the average daily cost of stay and antibiotic use. The costs associated with other common complications of DRM, such as prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation or more frequent readmission, are unknown.

Conclusions: DRM imposes a substantial economic burden on Latin American countries, with critically ill patients accounting for a disproportionate share of costs. Cost–benefit analysis suggests that both improved clinical outcomes and significant cost savings can be achieved through the adoption of SPN as a therapeutic strategy in critically ill patients who fail to receive adequate nutrient intake from EN.     

International experiences in whole of government financial reporting: lesson-drawing for Spain

This article focuses on whole of government accounts from a comparative perspective and identifies key lessons for Spain and other European countries with a continental accounting system. The authors examine the issues involved in whole of government financial reporting in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and North America. They conclude that whole public sector consolidated accounts are not currently feasible in Spain and that consolidation should start at each level of government.