Market interconnection and wages

We show that wage behavior as well as the skilled–unskilled wage gap depend on elasticity of import demand. Although, our analysis is in the spirit of the Stolper–Samuelson theorem, factor intensity plays no role in our results.     

Social Reporting by Companies Listed on the Alternative Investment Market

While the existing literature focuses on the disclosure of social information mainly by large companies, this paper concentrates on the disclosure of social information by small- and medium-sized companies (SME) listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the U.K. The paper investigates the prevalent view that SMEs are unlikely to report social information due to their financial constraints and the perception that they have very little social conduct on which to report. Our overall evidence illustrates that, contrary to this view, SMEs report social information regardless of their financial constraints, most likely in the same manner as large companies do, because they realise the significance of social reporting in establishing and retaining their corporate reputation.     

Singapore and the New Regionalism: Bilateral Trade Linkages with Japan and the US

Free Trade Areas (FTAs) have recently become an integral part of Singapore trade policy. This paper discusses the reasons behind Singapore's recent embracement of ‘new regionalism’ with particular reference to the proposals to form FTAs with Japan and the US. The paper goes on to examine various aspects of Singapore's trade linkages with the two economic superpowers in some detail. Popular discussion of FTAs gives one the appearance that such a trade policy is entirely benign. The paper sounds a cautionary note, highlighting some reasons to be concerned with Singapore's recent embracement of the ‘new regionalism’.     

Effect of land-use change on soil fertility characteristics within water-stable aggregates of two cultivated soils in northern Iran

Forest and pastureland soils in highland of northern Iran are being seriously degraded and destructed due to extensive agricultural activities. These land use changes are usually accompanied by decreasing in concentrations of soil organic carbon and nutrients and also deterioration of soil structure in these regions. However, studies on concentration of nutrients and carbohydrates in soils suggest that the location of nutrients within aggregates of each size should be determined. This study was to evaluate the nutrient elements and carbohydrate distributions within water-stable aggregates (WSA) of virgin forest and pasture lands under different land uses in Alborz maintain range, northern Iran. In September 2006, soil samples were collected from depths of 0–20 cm in Typic Haploxerolls soils. The overall pattern indicated that the mean weight diameter (MWD) and WSA were greater in the virgin pasture and forest soils compared with the adjacent cultivated (ex-forest and ex-pasture) soils and aggregates of >1.0 mm size were dominant in the virgin soils, whereas the cultivated soils comprised aggregates of the size ≤0.5 mm. Distribution of organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbohydrates within the WSA showed preferential enrichment of these parameters in the macroaggregate fraction (4.75–1.0 mm) for the virgin soils and microaggregate fraction (>0.25 mm) for the exposed soils. Cultivation decreased the concentration of carbohydrates by 23.6% and 20.6% in ex-forest and ex-pasture lands, respectively. Average distribution of total exchangeable bases within WSA showed that the cultivation of forest and pasture soils significantly led to reduce in these nutrient in the 4.75–2.0 mm fraction and increase in concentration of these exchangeable cations in <0.25 mm fractions. In general, results indicated that cultivation significantly led to 71% and 6% reductions in total exchangeable bases within the 4.75–2.0 and <0.25 mm aggregate fraction, respectively, for virgin soil. Since smaller aggregates are preferentially removed by erosion, this study emphasizes the need for sustainable soil management practices that they will minimize nutrient loss when forest or pastures lands are converted to croplands.     

Malnutrition in the shadow of economic growth

We formulate the consumption and wealth accumulation behavior for low‐income agents who are concerned with their relative income with respect to a reference group. Using a dynamic consumption and saving model, we show the conditions under which low‐income and status‐seeking individuals accumulate more wealth and consume less of a nutritious good than the levels in the absence of status‐seeking behavior. Our results suggest that malnutrition and economic growth may go hand in hand in developing economies.     

Islamic Religious Atmosphere and Audit Pricing: Evidence from Iran

This study examines whether the Islamic religious atmosphere of local communities influences audit pricing. We use a comprehensive survey conducted by Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to measure the Islamic religious atmosphere. Using a sample of 1,204 observations from firms listed in Iran's capital market, we find that firms located in regions with a strong Islamic religious atmosphere pay significantly lower audit fees. Furthermore, the study reveals that family ownership (auditor size) strengthens (weakens) the aforementioned relationship. However, we did not find a significant moderating role for the local community's social capital. We contribute to the ethics literature by providing a better understanding of the economic consequences of the religious atmosphere and offering policy, practical, and educational implications.     

Officers’ fiduciary duties and acquisition outcomes

Using a Delaware case law that recognized officers’ distinct fiduciary duties for the first time in 2009, I examine the effect of officers' fiduciary duties (OFDs) on corporate acquisitions. I find that firms with entrenched officers prior to 2009 experienced increased announcement-period abnormal stock returns, mainly because their acquisitions created more synergies and reduced officers’ incentives to preserve control. These firms increased liability insurance premium expenditures, but reduced value-decreasing acquisition frequencies. Furthermore, the effect of OFDs is more pronounced in firms where officers are not directors, have wealth risk, face less product market competition, are insulated from the market for corporate control, or are able to avoid board monitoring. Overall, OFDs are a critical corporate governance mechanism that works in tandem with other disciplinary mechanisms.     

Designing Green Entrepreneurship Model in Sustainable Development Consistent with the Performance of Tehran Industrial Towns

The purpose of this paper design a green entrepreneurship model in sustainable development path consistent with the performance of industrial towns in Tehran (center of IRAN). The population was the active small/medium enterprises (SMEs) with full capacity in industrial towns of Tehran, which were about 3000 active units, accounting for 20% of the companies in Tehran industrial towns. Sample size was obtained as 514, which was used in calculations. The results showed that green entrepreneurship mediates the effect of green innovation, organizational culture, competitive advantage, and social-environmental responsibility of company on the financial performance of company. There was no mediating role concerning the effect of state laws and regulations on company’s financial performance. Additionally, market turbulence moderates effect of green entrepreneurship on organization financial performance, but financial shocks do not modulate the effect of green entrepreneurship on organization finance.     

Oil prices,growth, and remittance outflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council

How does a decline in oil prices and its impacts on growth affect remittance outflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? This paper carries out an empirical analysis of the relationship between oil prices, oil‐ and non‐oil GDP, and remittances outflows from the GCC. The findings of our paper are three folds. First, we find that non‐oil GDP is a key determinant of remittance outflows and that oil GDP is a significant driver of non‐oil GDP in the GCC only in the long term. Second, we document that historically oil prices and remittances tend to broadly move in the same direction but that remittances have been much less volatile than oil prices. An analysis of the past large oil price declines shows that remittance flows to major remittance recipients in Mashreq, Pakistan, and Yemen fell only modestly following large declines in oil prices and recovered quickly in line with oil prices. Finally, we estimate the elasticity of remittance outflows with respect to non‐oil GDP in the GCC using various techniques. Estimates of short‐term elasticity vary between 0.5 and 0.8, while estimates of long‐term elasticity vary between 0.6 and 1.1. We find that construction and government services are two non‐oil GDP components that are strongly associated with remittance outflows.