Expectations and regime robustness in price formation: evidence from vector autoregressive models and recursive methods

The forward-looking linear quadratic adjustment cost (LQAC) model has received attention when modelling prices. Empirical evidence supporting the model seems, however, ambiguous. We find that the LQAC-model is severely at odds with price data for Norwegian machinery exports also when the pure forward-looking rule is augmented by additional lags of the targeted variable. A conditional equilibrium correction (EqCM) model explains the export price behaviour more accurately. Our findings may rule out a large class of expectations based models and not just the particular LQAC-model in the formation of export prices. We also demonstrate that the EqCM-model performs well post-sample despite that monetary policy in Norway has changed from a fixed to a floating exchange rate regime following a recent introduction of inflation targeting. This regime robustness shows that the Lucas critique lacks force empirically in our case.     

Property Rights and Natural Resource Conservation. A Bio-Economic Model with Numerical Illustrations from the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem

This study develops a model for wildlifemigrating seasonally between a conservationarea and a neighbouring area. When beingoutside the conservation area, harvesting takesplace by a group of small-scale farmers. Thelocal people have two motives for harvesting;to get rid of ``problem' animals as roamingwildlife destroys crops and agriculturalproducts, and hunting for meat and trophies.Depending on the specification of the propertyrights, the harvesting is legal or illegal. Itis demonstrated that it is far from clear whichof the two property rights regimes that givesthe highest wildlife abundance. Hence, contraryto what is argued for in the literature,handing the property rights over to the localpeople means not automatically more wildlifeand a more ``sustainable' resource utilization.The reason lies in the nuisance motive forharvesting. The exploitation under the twodifferent property rights regimes areillustrated by numerical calculations with datathat fits reasonable well with the exploitationof the wildebeest population in theSerengeti-Mara ecosystem.     

A taxonomy of ecopreneurship in small manufacturing firms: A multidimensional cluster analysis

This study presents a multidimensional taxonomy of “ecopreneurship” for small manufacturing firms. Based on a cluster analysis of 312 Swedish firms, four distinct clusters are identified: pioneers, green dumpers, overlookers, and recyclers. These clusters are compared regarding their level of entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. Based on the results, and because of the resource constraints associated with small firms, managers of such companies are advised to examine the economic consequences of specific environmental business practices and to adopt a less aggregated approach to ecopreneurship. This study illustrates the usefulness of a multidimensional scale when researching environmental behaviors and is a response to the lack of an empirically based classification of ecopreneurship configurations.     

Technology management view of conversion from defence to civil production: experiences from southern california

This paper examines from a technology management perspective the prospects for conversion within the US military industrial complex from defence to civil production. After the introduction, the second section establishes a theoretical framework for the analysis, and the concept of conversion is critically examined. This section concludes, among other things, that firms can be perceived as a function of their core skills and their strategic alliances. In the next section, US defence production is discussed from a technology management perspective. Then there is an examination of three firms strategies to develop a competitive advantage in civil commercial markets: edploitation of the defence technological base; organizational and institutional changes; initiatives to affect the socio-economic framework. The success criteria for coping with reduced defence spending are established at frim, individual, local and national levels, and the firms performance with respect to these success criteria are evaluated. A major conclusion is that elements of industrial restructuring constitute an essential—although not sufficient—part of a successful transition to an economy less devoted to defence.     

Productivity Measurement in Manufacturing and the Expenditure Approach

This paper studies conversion factors based on the expenditure approach and evaluates the appropriateness for international comparisons of output levels in manufacturing. We apply a consistency check based on the insight that relative productivity levels should be invariant to the choice of base year. Consequently, convergence parameters and dispersion of productivity across countries should also be unaffected by this choice. The results are disappointing: relative measures of productivity depend heavily of the choice of base year and change systematically as the base years roll forward. The conclusion is insensitive to the applied method for developing conversion factors. The implication is that we cannot measure relative productivity levels in manufacturing across countries using the expenditure approach.     

The Reduction of a Self-Sufficient People to Poverty and Welfare Dependence: An Analysis of the Causes of Cherokee Indian Underdevelopment

A bstract . This investigation of American Indian underdevelopment is based on historical data on the Cherokee people which demonstrate how a self-sufficient people have been reduced to their present state of poverty and welfare dependence. Colonialism and the imposition of White control over Native institutions undermined the Cherokees' ability to innovate effectively. This hypothesis is substantiated by similar experiences of other tribes, as well as those of different indigenous groups , such as Alaska Natives , who have been more successful in preserving their traditional cultures.     

Hybrid Choice Models: Progress and Challenges

We discuss the development of predictive choice models that go beyond the random utility model in its narrowest formulation. Such approaches incorporate several elements of cognitive process that have been identified as important to the choice process, including strong dependence on history and context, perception formation, and latent constraints. A flexible and practical hybrid choice model is presented that integrates many types of discrete choice modeling methods, draws on different types of data, and allows for flexible disturbances and explicit modeling of latent psychological explanatory variables, heterogeneity, and latent segmentation. Both progress and challenges related to the development of the hybrid choice model are presented.     

Introduction

We look at the growth experience of 25 transition countries over the 25 years since the dissolution of the USSR. The initial collapse in income was much more severe in 12 former Soviet Union countries (FSU12) than in the 10 transition countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 (EU10). In 2015, FSU12 income levels were further behind EU10 than they were at the start of transition, despite more rapid growth in the last 15 years. Compared to predictions from a parsimonious growth model, the region as a whole is ‘normal’ in terms of growth performance since the 2000s. However, the FSU12 over-perform and the EU10 under-perform relative to model predictions for the last 15 years.