WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WILLINGNESS OF COMPANIES TO INVEST AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS? EVIDENCE FROM LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES

In this article we investigate the changes in corporate investment dynamics in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Using firm-level data from six Latin American countries from 2002 to 2015, we show that firms are less constrained and have greater ability to invest after the crisis. However, the willingness of firms to invest optimally is reduced. This is supported by strong evidence that during the postcrisis period investment–cash flow sensitivity disappears, investment-q sensitivity increases, and the estimated speeds of adjustment for target investment decrease. Moreover, after the crisis, firms notably increase their efforts to attain optimal cash and leverage levels. Our analysis implies that firms may not always be willing to invest optimally. The willingness to invest optimally appears to be time variant and moves together with the dynamics of cash and leverage policies, albeit in opposite directions.     

The Chilean Anti-cartel Experience: Accomplishments and Challenges

Review of Industrial Organization - We evaluate the Chilean law and enforcement record in the area of cartels. We identify the high probability of cartel detection, severe sanctions for detected...     

Energy efficiency and household behavior: the rebound effect in the residential sector

This article investigates the rebound effect in residential heating, using a sample of 563,000 households in the Netherlands. Using instrumental variable and fixed‐effects approaches, we address potential endogeneity concerns. The results show a rebound effect of 26.7% among homeowners, and 41.3% among tenants. We corroborate the findings through a quasiexperimental analysis, using a large retrofit subsidy program. We also document significant heterogeneity in the rebound effect, determined by household wealth and income, and the actual energy use intensity. The findings in this article confirm the important role of household behavior in determining the outcomes of energy efficiency improvement programs.     

Perceived justice and post-recovery satisfaction in banking service failures: Do commitment types matter?

Based on the notion that the types of customer commitment to a service provider may have diverse reasons and effects on the customer’s perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, this study aims to investigate the different buffering effects of calculative and affective commitments on the perceived justice and post-recovery satisfaction (PRS) relationship. Multiple and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted based on survey data collected from 284 households who experienced service failure in the banking sector. Results revealed that while affective commitment moderates the effects of procedural and interactional justice, calculative commitment increases the impact of distributive and procedural justice on PRS.     

WHO BENEFITS FROM JOB CORPS? A DISTRIBUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AN ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAM

Using recently developed econometric techniques to estimate quantile treatment effects (QTE) and experimental data, we examine the impact of Job Corps on earnings distribution. Our results indicate a great deal of heterogeneity in the effects of Job Corps. The QTEs show an increasing pattern along the earnings distribution, with much more pronounced differences at the upper quantiles for males, whites, and ages 20–24. Moreover, we find the QTEs to be very small at quantiles below the median for males, ages 16–17 and 18–19, and non‐resident students. We propose strong economic conditions and skill hypotheses to explain the heterogeneity observed over the earnings distribution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accounting Policies in the Extractive Industry: A Global and a Turkish Perspective

This paper investigates the influence of accounting standards on financial reporting for companies in the extractive industry. In Turkey, listed firms have prepared their financial reports according to the International Accounting Standards and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) since 2005, as has the European Union. The aim of this study is to determine the degree of compliance with IFRS 6, comparing global and Turkish extractive entities. We find that the entities reporting in accordance with IFRS 6 in Turkey are more likely to fail to declare their accounting policies, whereas global companies are more likely to be compliant with IFRS 6.     

On the persistence of income shocks over the life cycle: Evidence,theory, and implications

How does the persistence of earnings change over the life cycle? Do workers at different ages face the same variance of idiosyncratic earnings shocks? This paper proposes a novel specification for residual earnings that allows for an age profile in the persistence and variance of labor income shocks. We show that the statistical model is identified, and we estimate it using Panel Study of Income Dynamics data. We find that shocks to earnings are only moderately persistent (around 0.75) for young workers. Persistence rises with age, up to unity, until midway through life. The variance of persistent shocks exhibits a U-shaped profile over the life cycle (with a minimum of 0.01 and a maximum of 0.05). These results suggest that the standard specification in the literature (with age-invariant persistence and variance) cannot capture the earnings dynamics of young workers. We also argue that a calibrated job turnover model can account for these nonflat profiles. The key idea is that workers sort into better jobs and settle down as they age; in turn, magnitudes of wage growth rates decline, thereby decreasing the variance of shocks. Furthermore, the decline in job mobility results in higher persistence. Finally, we investigate the implications of age profiles for consumption–savings behavior. The welfare cost of idiosyncratic risk implied by the age-dependent income process is up to 1.6 percent of lifetime consumption lower compared with its age-invariant counterpart. This difference is mostly due to a higher degree of consumption insurance for young workers, for whom persistence is moderate. These results suggest that age profiles of persistence and variances should be taken into account when calibrating life-cycle models.     

Managerial incentives and corporate leverage: evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper investigates the effect of managerial incentives and corporate governance on capital structure using a large sample of UK firms during the period 1999–2004. The analysis revolves around the view that managerial incentives are important in determining a firm's leverage. However, we argue that the exact impact of these incentives on leverage is likely to be determined by firm‐specific governance characteristics. To conduct our investigation, we construct a simple corporate governance measure using detailed ownership and governance information. We present evidence of a significant non‐monotonic relationship between executive ownership and leverage. There is also strong evidence suggesting that corporate governance practices have a significant impact on leverage. More importantly, the results reveal that the nature of the relation between executive ownership and leverage depends on the firm's corporate governance structure.     

Monetary union and the Maastricht inflation criterion: The accession countries*

We model an accession country facing a Maastricht‐type inflation criterion that specifies an inflation ceiling. In addition to deciding whether or not to satisfy this criterion, the country must decide how much costly economic reform to undertake. If the country puts enough weight on the future that it can credibly meet the inflation criterion no matter what the ceiling is, then the inflation criterion benefits the country but lowers reform. If the country puts less weight on the future, then a criterion with a properly chosen inflation ceiling can increase reform. We derive the inflation ceilings that maximize the country's welfare and its reform.