Store attributes leading customer satisfaction with unplanned purchases

Understanding which specific factors of retail stores’ offering affect unplanned buyers’ satisfaction may be of great interest to store managers as they could set ad hoc strategies to target these consumers and establish long-term, profitable relationships with them. Satisfied unplanned buyers could indeed return to the store where they purchased their unplanned item(s) and/or positively talk about it with other customers. Nevertheless, we still know very little about such factors. To close this gap, this research gathered survey data on consumers’ store satisfaction and perceptions of store attributes in Spain during two time periods: in 2008, when the crisis was barely noticed by Spanish consumers, and five years later, when consumers were experiencing this economic situation. The results obtained evidence how grocery retailers can respond to customers’ awareness of the crisis by providing some managerial recommendations for bolstering satisfaction in consumer segments with diverse levels of unplanned buying behavior.     

Efficient budget balancing cartel equilibria with imperfect monitoring

Summary We modify the infinitely repeated Cournot game with imperfect monitoring of Green and Porter (1984) and Abreu, Pearce and Stacchetti (1986) to include heterogenous products and the possibility of balanced budget side payments (Holmström 1982). It is shown that a transfer mechanism which induces the efficient outcome exists under a reasonable technical assumption in contrast to the preceding authors. Intuitively, the existence of an observable random price vector rather than a single price makes it possible to identify likely defectors, eliminating the need for collective punishments.This paper is based on the last chapter of Demougin's dissertation at the University of Western Ontario.     

A RE‐EXAMINATION OF REAL INTEREST PARITY IN CEECs USING ‘OLD’ AND ‘NEW’ SECOND‐GENERATION PANEL UNIT ROOT TESTS

This study applies ‘old’ and ‘new’ second‐generation panel unit root tests to check the validity of the long‐run real interest rate parity (RIP) hypothesis for ten Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) with respect to the Euro area and an average of the CEECs’ real interest rates. When the ‘new’ panel unit root tests are carried out relative to the Euro area rate as reference, we confirm the results of previous studies that support the RIP hypothesis, and the results of the ‘old’ tests used as a benchmark. Nevertheless, when the ‘new’ tests are performed using the average of the CEECs’ rate as reference, our results are mitigated, revealing that the hypothesis of CEECs’ interest rates convergence cannot be taken for granted. From a robustness analysis perspective, our findings indicate that the RIP hypothesis for CEECs should be considered with caution, because the RIP hypothesis is sensitive to the retained reference rate for computing the real interest rate differential, and also to the retained countries in the sample.     

What Are the Characteristics That Explain Hospital Quality? A Longitudinal Pridit Approach

Health outcomes vary substantially between high‐ and low‐quality institutions, meaning the difference between life and death in some cases. The prior literature has identified a number of variables that can be used to determine hospital quality, but methodologies for combining variables into an overall measure of hospital quality are not well developed. This analysis builds on the prior investigation of hospital quality by evaluating a method originally developed for the detection of health‐care fraud, Pridit, in the context of determining hospital quality. We developed a theoretical model to justify the application of Pridit to the hospital quality setting and then applied the Pridit method to a national, multiyear data set on U.S. hospital quality variables and outcomes. The results demonstrate how the Pridit method can be used predictively, in order to predict future health outcomes based on currently available quality measures. These results inform the use of Pridit, and other unsupervised learning methods, in fraud detection and other settings where valid and reliable outcomes variables are difficult to obtain. The empirical results obtained in this study may also be of use to health insurers and policymakers who aim to improve quality in the hospital setting.     

Aus Hartz IV wird Bürgergeld — nur alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen?

In this article, we discuss reform elements of “Hartz IV”. This includes, on the one hand, merging unemployment benefits with housing benefits and the additional child benefits (Kinderzuschlag) and, on the other hand, reducing disincentives which prevent the recipients from earning higher incomes. Employment incentives can be improved if the effective marginal transfer withdrawal rate is reduced and, at the same time, the preferential treatment of “mini jobs” is reduced. In addition, the eligibility criteria should be simplified. This could reduce the rate of non-takeup and thus hidden poverty. One criticism of such a reform of Hartz IV is that it would increase the number of transfer recipients. However, this is not an economically sensible outcome in a reform effort. What is important is the disposable income of transfer recipients affected and that the design of the transfer withdrawal does not create lock-in effects.

     

Akaike's Information Criterion,Cp and Estimators of Loss for Elliptically Symmetric Distributions

In this article, we develop a modern perspective on Akaike's information criterion and Mallows's C_p for model selection, and propose generalisations to spherically and elliptically symmetric distributions. Despite the differences in their respective motivation, C_p and Akaike's information criterion are equivalent in the special case of Gaussian linear regression. In this case, they are also equivalent to a third criterion, an unbiased estimator of the quadratic prediction loss, derived from loss estimation theory. We then show that the form of the unbiased estimator of the quadratic prediction loss under a Gaussian assumption still holds under a more general distributional assumption, the family of spherically symmetric distributions. One of the features of our results is that our criterion does not rely on the specificity of the distribution, but only on its spherical symmetry. The same kind of criterion can be derived for a family of elliptically contoured distribution, which allows correlations, when considering the invariant loss. More specifically, the unbiasedness property is relative to a distribution associated to the original density.     

Price Subsidies Versus Public Provision

The paper investigates whether price subsidization or public provision of a private good, x, is the more efficient redistributional instrument in addition to an optimal nonlinear income tax. The identity of high and low skill individuals is assumed to be private information generating a self-selection constraint. If the high skill person's consumption of x is sufficiently large relative to that of the low skill person, public provision is the better scheme. With the opposite situation the price subsidy may be the preferred instrument. The paper also characterizes the mixed scheme where all the instruments are used optimally. The mixed scheme can be degenerate with only public provision being used in addition to the income tax. At an optimum where both instruments are used, good x is subsidized, the low skill person is supplementing and the high skill person is forced to overconsume.     

Rules of proof,courts, and incentives

We analyze the design of legal principles and procedures for court decision making in civil litigation. The objective is the provision of incentives for potential tort‐feasors to exert care when evidence is imperfect and may be distorted by the parties. Efficiency is consistent with courts adjudicating on the basis of the preponderance of evidence standard together with common law exclusionary rules. Inefficient equilibria may nevertheless also arise under these rules. Burden of proof guidelines are then useful as a coordination device. Alternatively, guidelines are unnecessary if courts are allowed a more active or inquisitorial role in contrast to that of passive adjudicator.     

Earnings mobility in Spain: the role of job mobility and contractual arrangements

This paper analyses the relationship between earnings mobility, job mobility and changes in the contractual arrangement in Spain using a sample of Spanish workers aged 16–60 years extracted from the European Community Household Panel Survey (ECHP 1995–2001). Overall, earnings mobility remains mostly unchanged over time, although clear differences, both in terms of levels and trends, can be perceived among different types of workers. Results show that, in general, job mobility contributes to increase earnings mobility. Switching into permanent contract are associated with the highest probability of upgrading among those workers who remain with the same employer. In contrast, the highest risk of downgrading among stayers appears when changing from permanent to temporary. An analysis on low pay/no low pay transitions reveals that job mobility always increases the probability of moving from low pay to better-paid jobs among females. For males, in contrast, this occurs only when they were initially employed on a temporary basis. Furthermore, for females it is found that either switching into permanent contract while staying with the same employer, or changing employer while being employed on a permanent basis yield a higher chance of upgrading than staying with the same employer with a permanent contract.