CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION: WHAT HAS PAST DECADE'S EMPIRICAL RESEARCH TAUGHT US? A SURVEY

Corruption has fierce impacts on economic and societal development and is subject to a vast range of institutional, jurisdictional, societal, and economic conditions. It is this paper's aim to provide a reassessment and a comprehensive state ‐ of ‐ the ‐ art survey of existing literature on corruption and its causes and effects. A particularly strong focus is put on presenting and discussing insights resulting from empirical research and contrasting recent with older findings.     

Estimation and model adequacy checking for multivariate seasonal autoregressive time series models with periodically varying parameters

We introduce a class of multivariate seasonal time series models with periodically varying parameters, abbreviated by the acronym SPVAR. The model is suitable for multivariate data, and combines a periodic autoregressive structure and a multiplicative seasonal time series model. The stationarity conditions (in the periodic sense) and the theoretical autocovariance functions of SPVAR stochastic processes are derived. Estimation and checking stages are considered. The asymptotic normal distribution of the least squares estimators of the model parameters is established, and the asymptotic distributions of the residual autocovariance and autocorrelation matrices in the class of SPVAR time series models are obtained. In order to check model adequacy, portmanteau test statistics are considered and their asymptotic distributions are studied. A simulation study is briefly discussed to investigate the finite-sample properties of the proposed test statistics. The methodology is illustrated with a bivariate quarterly data set on travelers entering in to Canada.     

Incumbents’ defense strategies: a comparison of deterrence and shakeout strategy based on evolutionary game theory

This paper addresses the question of how an established firm can successfully defend its market against current and future competitors. Previous studies on this issue are surprisingly scarce and typically concentrate on only a single generic defense strategy. Thus, little is known about the degree and the manner in which different generic defense strategies, such as a deterrence strategy (pursued before competitor market entry) and a shakeout strategy (pursued after competitor market entry), differ in effectiveness and efficiency and about the corresponding role of product and market conditions. As these strategies tend to be costly, an established firm must decide which of these strategies to focus its scarce resources on. Drawing on evolutionary game theory and an empirical calibration and validation study, this paper seeks to fill these research gaps. While both strategies turn out to be viable options for market defense, the authors find that in general, a shakeout strategy tends to be superior to a deterrence strategy. However, the authors also identify product and market conditions under which an established firm is better off focusing on a deterrence strategy. In methodological respects, the paper contributes to the marketing discipline by introducing evolutionary game theory, which has not been used previously for analyzing marketing issues, as well as an evolutionary approach to research on market defense.     

Global identification of the dynamic shock-error model

The paper gives (necessary and sufficient) conditions for the global identifiability of dynamic regression models with errors in the variables. The conditions are simple counting rules combining the order parameters of a model. They are counterparts of conditions previously established for local identifiability in a series of papers.     

CROSS‐SECTIONAL DEPENDENCE AND SPILLOVERS IN SPACE AND TIME: WHERE SPATIAL ECONOMETRICS AND GLOBAL VAR MODELS MEET

To enhance the measurement of economic and financial spillovers, we bring together the spatial and global vector autoregressive (GVAR) classes of econometric models by providing a detailed methodological review where they meet in terms of structure, interpretation, and estimation. We discuss the structure of connectivity (weight) matrices used by these models and its implications for estimation. To anchor our work within the dynamic literature on spillovers, we define a general yet measurable concept of spillovers. We formalize it analytically through the indirect effects used in the spatial literature and impulse responses used in the GVAR literature. Finally, we propose a practical step‐by‐step approach for applied researchers who need to account for the existence and strength of cross‐sectional dependence in the data. This approach aims to support the selection of the appropriate modeling and estimation method and of choices that represent empirical spillovers in a clear and interpretable form.     

A Crook is a Crook … But is He Still a Crook Abroad? On the Effect of Immigration on Destination‐Country Corruption

This paper analyzes the impact of migration on destination‐country corruption levels. Capitalizing on a comprehensive dataset consisting of annual immigration stocks of OECD countries from 207 countries of origin for the period 1984–2008, we explore different channels through which corruption might migrate. We employ different estimation methods using fixed effects and Tobit regressions in order to validate our findings. Moreover, we also address the issue of endogeneity by using the Difference‐Generalized Method of Moments estimator. Independent of the econometric methodology, we consistently find that while general migration has an insignificant effect on the destination country's corruption level, immigration from corruption‐ridden origin countries boosts corruption in the destination country. Our findings provide a more profound understanding of the socioeconomic implications associated with migration flows.     

Zur Theorie der Selekttafeln

Die Untersuchung der Sterblichkeit einer Bevölkerung zeigt, dass die Sterblichkeitsfunktionen (Sterbenswahrseheinlichkeit, Erlebenswahrscheinlichkeit, Sterblichkeitsintensität u. a. m.) nur von einer Veränderlichen, dem Alter abhängen. Im Gegensatz hiezu zeigen bekanntlich die Sterblichkeitsuntersuchungen, die an versicherten Personen vorgenommen wurden, eine Abhängigkeit der Sterblichkeitsfunktionen von zwei Parametern, dem Alter und der seit Versicherungsbeginn abgelaufenen Dauer. Diese Untersuchungen lehren, dass die Sterblichkeit der Neueingetretenen weitaus geringer ist als die Sterblichkeit von Personen, die bereits längere Zeit hindurch versichert sind und dass die Sterblichkeit der Neueingetretenen erst im Laufe einiger Jahre dieses Mass erreicht. Quantitativ wird diese Abhängigkeit der Sterblichkeit von der seit Versicherungsbeginn abgelaufenen Dauer durch die Selektionstafeln beschrieben, als Erklärung für diese Erscheinung wird teils die Auslese der Versicherungsgesellschaften, teils die Selbstauslese der Versicherten angeführt.     

Identification of the dynamic shock-error model with autocorrelated errors

The paper gives (necessary and sufficient) conditions for the local identifiability of dynamic regression models with autocorrelated errors in the variables. The conditions are simple counting rules combining the order parameters of a model and directly generalize the results of Maravall and Aigner. A new method of identification is presented allowing a compact derivation of the results.