Determinants of Consumer Preferences for Honey in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Honey is one of the important non-timber forest products consumed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and, as such, an important source of income for many households. However, poor knowledge of buyers’ preferences in the marketing of honey presents a major challenge to the profitability of the honey enterprises. The research presented in this article identifies key consumer characteristics that influence the preferences of honey consumers in the DRC. The primary data source used in this analysis is drawn from a survey of 214 consumers. Results show that consumers who are married and have reached at least the level of secondary education have a strong preference for local forest and savannah honey. Those between the ages of 30 and 50 do not prefer honey from beekeeping, but would rather have it imported. We conclude that segmentation of the honey market and increasing consumer awareness must go in tandem in order to develop a good marketing strategy.     

Searching for empirical linkages between demographic structure and economic growth

Demographic structure could affect economic growth through many channels. However, little is known about how demographic structure affects economic growth since no study has examined an extensive collection of channels through which demographic structure could affect economic growth in a single context. This paper overcomes this limitation by examining 45 potential mediating variables between demographic structure and economic growth. A causal search algorithm is used to identify channels through which demographic structure affects economic growth. Our results suggest that demographic structure affects economic growth differently between developed and developing countries. For developed countries, we find that an increase in the share of middle-aged workers has a positive effect on economic growth through institutions, investment and education channels. On the other hand, an increase in the share of the senior population has a negative effect on economic growth through institutions and investment channels. For developing countries, we find (but with weak evidence) that an increase in the share of young workers has a negative effect on economic growth through investment, financial market development and trade channels.     

The impact of temporary uses on property prices: the example of food trucks

Food trucks represent a temporary use of vacant or underutilised land. They have been assumed to increase the livability, vibrancy and attractiveness of a neighbourhood. However, no previous study has investigated whether this effect is reflected in property prices within the surrounding neighbourhood. We investigate the impact of a food truck pod on the values of single-family homes nearby. Using a quasi-experimental design, transaction data from Portland, Oregon and a difference-in-difference specification of a spatial regression model, we find that food trucks actually represent a negative externality, and that proximity of a home to food trucks is penalised by homebuyers. The closer a home is to the food trucks, the lower is the sales price. Explanations for this effect include increased parking shortages and trash issues in a neighbourhood due to food truck visitors.     

民营资本的进入对我国风电产业发展的影响——基于断点回归的分析

为克服单差法存在变量内生性，倍差法对于控制组的严格要求往往无法得到满足，故文中采用断点回归的分析方法，在无对照组的情形下，对我国风电产业2012~2015年的资产总计、主营业务收入以及发明专利数月度数据进行实证研究，探究民营资本的进入对我国风电产业的影响。实证结果表明，从短期看，民营资本的进入对我国风电产业规模与技术效率具有统计上的显著正面作用，具有一定的经济意义；另外，这一机制的推行对产业创新产生了显著的负面作用。     

RIDGE ESTIMATORS FOR PROBIT REGRESSION: WITH AN APPLICATION TO LABOUR MARKET DATA

In this paper we propose ridge regression estimators for probit models since the commonly applied maximum likelihood (ML) method is sensitive to multicollinearity. An extensive Monte Carlo study is conducted where the performance of the ML method and the probit ridge regression (PRR) is investigated when the data are collinear. In the simulation study we evaluate a number of methods of estimating the ridge parameter k that have recently been developed for use in linear regression analysis. The results from the simulation study show that there is at least one group of the estimators of k that regularly has a lower mean squared error than the ML method for all different situations that have been evaluated. Finally, we show the benefit of the new method using the classical Dehejia and Wahba dataset which is based on a labour market experiment.     

Robust influence diagnostics for generalized linear models with continuous responses

This article introduces two parametric robust diagnostic methods for detecting influential observations in the setting of generalized linear models with continuous responses. The legitimacy of the two proposed methods requires no knowledge of the true underlying distributions so long as their second moments exist. The performance of the two proposed influence diagnostic tools is investigated through limited simulation studies and the analyses of an illustration.     

How do “gatekeepers” affect credit risk?

This study investigates the relationship between auditor tenure and credit default swap (CDS) spreads of U.S. firms based on quantile regression. After allowing for common determinants of CDS spreads, auditor tenure exerts both statistically and economically significant additional impacts on the CDS market. Furthermore, there are differential effects of common CDS spread determinants and auditor tenure. While common determinants of CDS spreads (e.g., leverage, volatility, risk free rate, credit ratings, and earnings) have monotonically increasing impacts when CDS spreads (and their changes) are increasingly higher, auditor tenure primarily has the impact when CDS spreads are of low or median levels for less risky firms.     

对江苏省电力负荷进行回归预测

本文主要根据2001-2011年江苏省用电量样本数据,建立了江苏省电力负荷与人均GDP、工业化以及人口数之间的多元回归预测方程,并预测了江苏省2014-2020年总用电量数据,在此基础上提出了相应的建议。     

How can investors build a better portfolio in small open economies? Evidence from Asia’s Four Little Dragons

This study investigates the role of hedging and portfolio design among stocks, exchange rates, and gold in small open economies (SOEs) from 4 January 2000 to 31 March 2020. We adopt the trivariate dynamic conditional correlation-fractionally integrated asymmetric power ARCH model and unconditional quantile regression model, and our findings show that the hedging role of the U.S. dollar (USD) and gold against stocks differs under regular and extreme market conditions. The USD can act as a powerful hedge asset for stocks in regular market periods. Moreover, during the global financial crisis and COVID-19 outbreak, the safe-haven effect of gold becomes stronger for almost all stocks, whereas the USD can serve as a strong safe haven against stock markets of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore when stock returns are extremely low. In terms of portfolio designing, we find that adding the USD and gold to portfolios improves their hedging effectiveness, and the optimally weighted stock-USD-gold portfolio is the best portfolio strategy, irrespective of referring to return or risk.     

重庆市乡村旅游资源空间特征及其与乡村振兴关系研究

[目的]探究重庆市乡村旅游资源的结构类型和空间特征,分析乡村旅游资源数量与乡村振兴之间的关系,对重庆市乡村旅游产业发展和促进乡村振兴具有指导意义。[方法]文章利用GIS技术定量分析重庆市乡村旅游资源的空间分布特征,通过空间分布模型探究乡村旅游资源空间分布的聚集程度,利用地理联系率探析人口规模和经济发展水平与乡村旅游资源分布的配合度。采用回归模型从整体上对重庆市乡村旅游资源数量与乡村振兴的关系进行分析,利用Pearson相关系数对不同经济发展区域关系进行研究,试图得到乡村旅游资源数量与乡村振兴的辩证关系。[结果]重庆市乡村旅游资源具有4种类型,农事体验类所占的比重最大,达到43.46%,乡村文化类所占比重最低为2.30%。乡村旅游空间布局特征结果表明重庆市4种乡村旅游类型在空间上的分布存在较大的区域差异,都呈现集中分布, 4种类型的景点与人口和经济的配合度较高。回归分析结果表明,乡村旅游资源数量与休闲农业和乡村旅游接待人次、农村卫生厕所普及率、村综合性文化服务中心覆盖率、县级以上文明村和乡镇占比和农村居民人均纯收入之间存在均衡关系。Pearson相关性分析结果表明除休闲农业和乡村旅游接待人次外,乡村旅游资源数量仅与农村居民人均纯收入之间存在低度相关性,不同经济区相关系数差异较大。[结论]综合以上研究结果,乡村旅游资源的空间分布特征既受当地经济发展的影响,同时又促进当地经济的发展,表明重庆市乡村旅游资源对乡村振兴具有一定的促进作用。建议在今后的发展中应拓展乡村旅游类型,提高乡村文化类景点的数量和比重,促进重庆市乡村旅游产业的均衡发展,实现不同经济区乡村经济的协调发展。