R&D,Innovation and Knowledge Spillovers: A Reappraisal of Bottazzi and Peri (2007) in the Presence of Cross‐Sectional Dependence

Bottazzi and Peri (Economic Journal 2007; 117 : 486–511) show the existence of a cointegrating relationship between the domestic stock of knowledge, domestic R&D and the international knowledge stock for a panel of OECD countries and interpret it as evidence supporting the semi‐endogenous versus the endogenous growth theory. We replicate the baseline specification of their study and we show that main results are robust to the use of a different estimation strategy (Bai et al., Journal of Econometrics 2009; 149 : 82–99) that duly takes into account cross‐sectional correlation: interestingly, in this case we also find a larger role for knowledge spillovers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Price cap regulation and the ratchet effect: a generalized index approach

In this study we estimate a variable cost function on a panel of English and Welsh Water and Sewerage companies, observed over two full regulatory periods (1995–2004). The main aim of the paper is to investigate the presence of a ratchet effect in the cost cutting activity associated with the price cap regulatory regime. By applying the Generalized Index of Technical Change approach suggested by Baltagi and Griffin (J Polit Econ 96(1):20–41, (1988)), we provide some empirical evidence consistent with the existence of regulatory cycles. In particular, firms’ cost cutting activity tends to increase in the early phase of the regulatory cycle, while it weakens as the price review approaches. D24, L51, L95.     

The Determinants of Technology Adoption in Italian Manufacturing Industries

The adoption of new technologies in Italian manufacturing industries is analysed using data for 13,334 firms selected from the 1990–92 Community Innovation Survey. The determinants of technology adoption are analysed in an econometric framework (logit model) which is a general test of different theoretical explanations of technological diffusion. We particularly refer to the rank, epidemic and information effects which significantly affect the use of new technology in Italian manufacturing industries. We use a set of explanatory variables which enables us to set up a well specified empirical model and to use odds ratios to determine the effect of their changes on the adoption probability, thus giving a more precise picture of the determinants of technology adoption.     

Cash holdings and SME performance in Europe: the role of firm-specific and macroeconomic moderators

Small Business Economics - For the first time, this paper examines the way in which cash holdings affect firm operating performance in a wide sample of European small and medium-sized enterprises...     

Mean-Variance Hedging for Stochastic Volatility Models

In this paper we discuss the tractability of stochastic volatility models for pricing and hedging options with the mean-variance hedging approach. We characterize the variance-optimal measure as the solution of an equation between Doléans exponentials; explicit examples include both models where volatility solves a diffusion equation and models where it follows a jump process. We further discuss the closedness of the space of strategies.     

A Personal Construct Psychology Based Investigation Into A Product Service System For Renting Pushchairs To Consumers

This paper explores how consumers construe a product service system (PSS) for the supply of pushchairs. A PSS is a system of products, services, networks of actors and supporting infrastructure designed to be more sustainable than traditional business models. PSSs face an implementation challenge in consumer markets, and this case based research explores some reasons for this. The study applies personal construct psychology (in particular, the repertory grid technique), which has not previously been used in relation to researching PSSs. Results suggest that a PSS might be difficult to implement in relation to pushchairs. Renting pre‐used equipment may meet resistance because of a perceived risk that acquisition by this means might endanger infants. Participants in the study construed buying new products from specialist infant product shops as being the best way of acquiring them. Accordingly, PSS providers may, for instance, have to implement certified quality assurance processes in order to reassure consumers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Pitfalls in the modeling of labor market flows: a reappraisal

ABSTRACT

We discuss the relevance of the internationally adopted methodology for modelling labour market flows and comparing labour market flexibility. This is based on a two-state labour market model that neglects inactivity and uses aggregate stock data to derive transition rates. Traditionally, the results suggest that continental European labour markets are inflexible and unable to adjust quickly to aggregate demand or supply shocks compared with their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. This evidence has driven us to gain a better understanding of the relevance of such a modelling approach and critically discuss its main methodological hypothesis. We relax its assumptions by including inactivity and by using flow data for the period 2010–2017. We compare the results thus obtained with transition rates derived using a three-state labour market model for France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. These countries represent the institutional settings of continental Europe on the one hand and Anglo-Saxon nations on the other. The implied transition rates are much higher, even in continental Europe, when inactivity is considered, thus suggesting that conclusions derived using an incomplete representation of the labour market are misleading. Inactivity therefore plays a crucial role and its inclusion provides a more exhaustive picture of labour mobility.