Machine learning,artificial neural networks and social research

Quality & Quantity - Machine learning (ML), and particularly algorithms based on artificial neural networks (ANNs), constitute a field of research lying at the intersection of different...     

Bankruptcy delay and firms’ dynamics

Small Business Economics - The present paper explores the link between bankruptcy law and firms’ dynamics, focusing on Italy as a case study. Relying on a previous literature dealing with the...     

On the determinants of data breaches: A cointegration analysis

Decisions in Economics and Finance - Cyber risks and particularly data breaches constitute one of the new frontiers of risk modeling for insurers across the world. We use the cointegration...     

Taking Actively Advantage of MNCs’ Presence

In this paper, not only do we posit that the presence of a multinational corporation may entail significant benefits for the host economy and local firms’ performance, but also that these benefits can be actively sought and dynamically reinforced by local firms through the development of intense, embedded customer–supplier relationships. Building on the relational view, we argue that this may happen through the commitment of resources to relation-specific investments. Our hypotheses find support in a sample of SMEs suppliers of ST Microelectronics, the fourth largest producer of microelectronic components in the world. We show that by making relation-specific investments, local firms can grow quantitatively and qualitatively, improve their innovativeness, and acquire new clients.     

How limiting deceptive practices harms consumers

There are two competing sellers of an experience good, one offers high quality, one low. The low‐quality seller can engage in deceptive advertising, potentially fooling a buyer into thinking the product is better than it is. Although deceptive advertising might seem to harm the buyer, we show that he could be better off when the low‐quality seller can engage in deceptive advertising than not. We characterize the optimal deterrence rule that a regulatory agency seeking to punish deceptive practices should adopt. We show that greater protection against deceptive practices does not necessarily improve the buyer welfare.     

The food neophobia scale and young adults’ intention to eat insect products

In the coming years, the new EU Regulation on Novel Food is likely to facilitate the development of a niche market for insects and insect‐based ingredients in many European countries. In this research, the aim is to explore the relationship between willingness to try (WTT) and behavior of eating insects, where the independent variables are food neophobia, sensory property expectations, and previous consumption. In total, 88 Italian participants took part in the study. The food neophobia scale (FNS) was constructed using 9 of the 10 items from the original FNS, and a Structural Equation Modeling approach was used to test the research hypotheses. The results show that males are more open to trying insects than females, and food neophobia is negatively correlated with the willingness to eat insects. Findings also indicate that the first exposure to insects positively increases consumers’ sensory property expectations. Intention to try is a strong predictor of the behavior of eating insects. People who scored lower on the FNS were more likely to try (intention) and consequently eat insects (behavior). These findings enhance knowledge about factors which could lead to lower levels of negative prejudice and greater willingness to taste edible insects among Western consumers. Finally, some marketing implications are discussed, like the need of information campaigns to emphasize positive sensory attributes of edible insects to increase the WTT this unfamiliar food.     

Narrow Replication of ‘A Spatio‐Temporal Model of House Prices in the Usa’ Using R

I narrowly replicate Holly et al.'s (Journal of Econometrics 2010; 158 (1): 160–173) analysis of the housing market in the USA, using the open source R software instead of the original ad hoc GAUSS routines. Their main findings are confirmed and most results are matched exactly. Attention is given to providing a self‐contained and fully reproducible analysis, exclusively using user‐level features available in the public domain. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.