Participatory planning of industrial R&D activities

This paper summarizes and comments on the methodology actually employed in participatory planning of R&D activities for the iron and steel industry in Turkey. Through an organized collaboration with more than a hundred managers, engineers, experts, and planners: (1) technical, managerial, financial, and social problems that are obstacles to the achievement of predetermined goals for the industry are identified and defined; (2) these problems are formulated as R&D candidate projects; and (3) a set of R&D candidate projects are selected for implementation in the 1980s.     

An estimation model for replicating the rankings of the world competitiveness report

The World Competitiveness Report (WCR), a report annually produced by the Institute for Management Development, which is based in Switzerland, is a study that rates and ranks the competitiveness of a certain group of nations (OECD countries plus some newly emerging economies) and is a widely quoted report in the international media, especially by government and public leaders. Although some ideas as to the methodology used in the rating and ranking of countries are given, the details are not provided in the WCRs. Therefore, the methodology used in the WCRs is in large part unknown to the public.An intelligent use of the WCR requires a rather sound understanding of the methodology by its potential users; politicians, company executives, and public policy makers. The objective of this paper is to uncover and understand the methodology of the WCR through exact replications of its rankings at all levels of aggregation. An estimation model based on mathematical programming is used to replicate the WCR rankings.     

The appreciative democratic voice of DEA: A case of faculty academic performance evaluation

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is in fact more than just being an instrument for measuring the relative efficiencies of a group of decision making units (DMU). DEA models are also means of expressing appreciative democratic voices of DMUs. This paper proposes a methodology for allocating premium points to a group of professors using three models sequentially: (1) a DEA model for appreciative academic self-evaluation, (2) a DEA model for appreciative academic cross-evaluation, and (3) a Non-DEA model for academic rating of professors for the purpose of premium allocations. The premium results, called DEA results, are then compared with the premium points “nurtured” by the Dean, called N bonus points. After comparing DEA results and N bonus points, the Dean reassessed his initial bonus points and provided new ones – called DEA-N decisions. The experience indicates that judgmental decisions (Dean's evaluations) can be enhanced by making use of formal models (DEA and Non-DEA models). Moreover, the appreciative and democratic voices of professors are virtually embedded in the DEA models.     

The National Economic Benefits of Food Imports: The Case of U.S. Imports of Hass Avocados From Mexico

Imports of food products are often seen primarily as a threat to domestic producers while the broader economic impacts are ignored. Research on rapidly growing U.S. avocado imports has focused on the consequences for the U.S. avocado industry. This study conducts an economic impact analysis to measure the level and industry distribution of any benefits of U.S. imports of avocados from Mexico that may accrue to the U.S. national economy. We find that the US$1.5 billion in U.S. imports of Mexican avocados in 2015 had a positive and statistically significant effect on the U.S. economy in that year. Every dollar of avocado imports from Mexico in 2015 generated US$2.31 in U.S. output, US$1.41 in U.S. GDP, and US$0.79 in U.S. labor income. About 12.3 jobs were generated per US$1 million of imports. A separate econometric analysis corroborates the result. We conclude that imports of Mexican avocados are pro-growth for the U.S. economy.     

Generic Promotion of Sorghum for Food and Industrial Uses

Abstract

Globally, over half of all sorghum is used for human consumption. Yet sorghum is largely unknown as a food in the United States and other developed countries. Recently, the U.S. demand for sorghum as a gluten-free, non-GMO input to food products has been growing. At the same time, the use of sorghum for food and industrial uses is being promoted by the producer-financed United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP). How much of that growth can be attributed to the USCP promotion? Has the investment been profitable for sorghum producers? This study finds that USCP promotion programs have resulted in a 4% increase in the sales value of sorghum for that purpose and a 1% increase in total sorghum farm revenue. The farm level benefit-cost ratio is estimated at between 5.8 and 7.1 in terms of producer profit per dollar spent on promotion.     

Measuring the effects of advertising on green industry sales: a generalized propensity score approach

This article estimates the effects of advertising expenditures on annual gross sales of green industry firms using a quasi-experimental framework. In order to account for potential selection bias, a generalized propensity score and a dose-response function are used to estimate advertising treatment effects. The method used allows us to investigate the relationship between the dose (advertising expenditures) and the response (firm sales). We use data from the National Green Industry Surveys of 2009 and 2014 to conduct the analysis. To further investigate potential heterogeneous advertising effects of the size of the firms, we separate the sample into small firms and large firms, according to their annual gross sales. The results indicate that the magnitude and shape of the response function depend on the size of the firm. For small firms, increasing advertising spending yields to higher sales within a range of advertising spending. Beyond this range, advertising spending increases do not impact sales any more. Thus, small firms’ management should carefully monitor advertising input. For large firms, on the other hand, the current evidence does not support a positive relationship between advertising spending and sales since the marginal treatment effect is insignificant almost over the entire range of adverting spending.     

U.S. National Economic Contribution of Generic Food and Agricultural Product Advertising

Agricultural promotion groups (APGs) promote the economic welfare of agricultural producers by financing generic advertising and promotion activities intended to expand demand for their commodities in hopes that the benefits will more than cover the cost. A review of the most recent evaluations of 27 major U.S. APG generic advertising and promotion programs conducted by many different researchers using widely different techniques concludes that that those programs have effectively enhanced the profits of their respective stakeholders and generated high rates of returns to the dollars invested in those programs. Importantly, this study finds that the success of those programs in supporting and growing their respective sectors of agriculture has spilled over to the general economy. The programs have created an important multiplier effect through the economy. In the process, jobs have been created; income has been generated; and economic growth has occurred.     

Offshore Financial Centres in the Caribbean: Prospects in a New Environment

This paper reviews the development of offshore financial activities in the English‐speaking Caribbean islands and takes stock of the size of these sectors today, and analyses the future prospects. A number of Caribbean jurisdictions are market leaders in the offshore products they offer and have identified the growth of this sector as a development strategy. Established centres in the Bahamas, Barbados and Cayman Islands have managed to become global players and have generated sizeable gains in employment and income. However, in view of the heightened concerns by the international community about money laundering and more recently, terrorist financing, the costs of compliance and risks to countries of having or establishing offshore sectors have risen considerably. This is particularly relevant to the newer entrants, with significant regulatory differences from international standards. The paper assesses the risks, benefits and costs of compliance with international best practices for established and newer offshore jurisdictions. The paper asks the questions whether offshore jurisdictions constitute a sustainable development strategy and concludes that for nascent jurisdictions, the gains are very small.