Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence

This paper empirically investigates the development of cross-country differences in energy- and labour productivity. The analysis is performed at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries, covering the period 1970–1997. A σ-convergence analysis reveals that the development over time of the cross-country variation in productivity performance differs across sectors as well as across different levels of aggregation. Both patterns of convergence as well as divergence are found. Cross-country variation of productivity levels is typically larger for energy than for labour. A β-convergence analysis provides support for the hypothesis that in most sectors lagging countries tend to catch up with technological leaders, in particular in terms of energy productivity. Moreover, the results show that convergence is conditional, meaning that productivity levels converge to country-specific steady states. Energy prices and wages are shown to positively affect energy- and labour-productivity growth, respectively. We also find evidence for the importance of economies of scale, whereas the investment share, openness and specialization play only a modest role in explaining cross-country variation in energy- and labour-productivity growth.      

On the properties of high-order non-monetary measures for risks

This paper investigates how welfare losses for facing high-order risk increases change when the risk environment of the decision maker is altered. To that aim, we define the nth-order utility premium as a measure of pain associated with facing the passage of one risk to a more severe one and we examine some of its properties. Changes in risk are expressed through the concept of stochastic dominance of order n. The paper investigates more particularly welfare changes of merging increases in risk, first ignoring background risks, then taking them into account. Merging increases in risk may be beneficial or not, depending on whether background risks are considered and how. The paper also provides conditions on individual preferences for superadditivity of the nth-order utility premium. The results confirm the importance and usefulness of two analytical concepts: mixed risk aversion and risk apportionment.     

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF 'MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES'

Questionnaire data were obtained from 128 managers representing all levels and functions of a large manufacturer. Variables describing the superior/subordinate relationship were related to respondent's perceptions of the values of management by objectives using correlational methods. These relationships were then moderated using personality and situational characteristics of the respondents.
The involvement of the boss is generally related to positive orientations     

Migrant Remittances Provide Resilience Against Disasters in Africa

How responsive are migrant remittances to various disasters, both natural and human-made? Would remittances be affected by systemic financial crises, such as the 2008–09 financial crisis, or more recent crises affecting the Eurozone? Using panel data on 23 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1980 to 2007, we find that remittances are slow to respond to natural disasters, unresponsive to outbreaks of conflict, and will slowly decline following a systemic financial crisis. This suggests that, given its stability, remittances are sources of resilience in SSA.     

Trust and economic growth: a robustness analysis

This paper analyses the robustness of results on the relationshipbetween growth and trust previously derived by Knack and Keefer(1997) and Zak and Knack (2001) along several dimensions, acknowledgingthe complexity of the concept of robustness. Our results showthat the Knack and Keefer results are only limitedly robust,whereas the results found by Zak and Knack are highly robustin terms of significance of the estimated coefficients and reasonablyrobust in terms of the estimated effect size. The improvementin robustness is caused by the inclusion of countries with relativelylow scores on trust (most notably, the Philippines and Peru).Overall, our results point at a relatively important role fortrust. However, the answer to the question how large this payoffactually is depends on the set of conditioning variables controlledfor in the regression analysis and—to an even larger extent—onthe underlying sample.     

Macroeconomic Consequences of Outsourcing: An Analysis of Growth, Welfare, and Product Variety

Outsourcing of non-core activities is nowadays a common business strategy. Declining transaction and transportation costs caused by the advent of Information and Communication Technology are a potentially important driving force behind this development. This paper provides a theoretical framework for analysing a firm's incentive to follow such a strategy of outsourcing and its consequences for macroeconomic variables like growth and product variety. We divide production activities into core and non-core activities. Non-core activities can be performed within the firm or can be mediated by the market. We derive conditions under which outsourcing occurs, and under which outsourcing is socially desirable. These conditions do not necessarily coincide. Outsourcing may hence be a profitable strategy for firms, while it is socially suboptimal. Crucial parameters in the model are the relative scale of core versus non-core activities, management costs, transaction costs and love for variety of consumers.     

A conditional version of working's model

Working's (1943) model is shown to imply conditional Engel curves of the Working form when the income elasticity of demand for the group of goods as a whole is about unity.     

Die ökonomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption

Korruption ist ein weltumspannendes Ph?nomen, das—wie die jüngsten F?lle bei BMW, Infineon, Siemens und Volkswagen deutlich machen—auch in Deutschland aktuell ist. Wie ?u?ert sich Korruption, welche Folgen hat sie für die Volkwirtschaft, und wie l?sst sie sich bek?mpfen? Robert Vehrkamp behandelt die ?konomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption, Johann Graf Lambsdorff und Mathias Nell die Reformma?nahmen, die für ihre wirksame Bek?mpfung erforderlich sind.