The development trinity: How regional integration impacts growth,inequality and poverty

Developing countries today have become more active participants in regional trade agreements. This raises questions about how the benefits of integration are distributed, and the extent to which lower‐income countries are able to capture development gains. Historically, such impacts have been difficult to identify with precision. This paper seeks to address this gap by empirically analysing the impact of regional integration on development, particularly the effects on growth and welfare. Using both bilateral and regional integration measures, we show that the ability to capture gains from integration varies across developing country regional groups, with developing Asia benefiting on par with developed countries. The findings in the paper indicate that trade and trade policy play an important role in reducing inequality and poverty in developing countries. It also shows that regionalism can function as a channel to make multilateralism a more adept way of addressing national challenges.     

The Effects of Compensation Structures and Monetary Rewards on Managers’ Decisions to Blow the Whistle

Recent research indicates that compensation structure can be used by firms to discourage their employees from whistleblowing. We extend the ethics literature by examining how compensation structures and financial rewards work together to influence managers’ decisions to blow the whistle. Results from an experiment indicate that compensation with restricted stock, relative to stock payments that lack restrictions, can enhance the likelihood that managers will blow the whistle when large rewards are available. However, restricted stock can also threaten the effectiveness of whistleblowing systems without the presence of large financial rewards for whistleblowing. Thus, the large potential rewards for whistleblowing enacted by the Dodd–Frank Act appear timely as firms are moving toward compensation agreements that include greater proportions of restricted stock.     

Are Asian least developed countries sidelined in advanced manufacturing production networks?

The production of parts for high‐technology final products can play an important role in advancing economic development. This appears a particularly attractive outcome for least developed countries (LDCs). But due to data constraints, analysis has been based largely on middle‐income economies. We seek to address this gap by using proxy data to explore the position of Asian LDCs in electronics and automotive production. Our analysis shows that there has been a surprising amount of LDC trade activity in these sectors over the past decade. In addition, a group of LDCs has succeeded in what appears to be successful engagement with these production networks. We discuss the forms of participation we observe and ask whether they might enable countries to attain development outcomes that might otherwise be out of reach.     

Reflection and professional identity development in design education

Design thinking positions designers as the drivers of the design space yet academic discourse is largely silent on the topic of professional identity development in design. Professional identity, or the dynamic narratives that individuals construct and maintain to integrate their personal qualities with professional responsibilities, has not been widely addressed in design education either. The study investigated the use of reflective writing in an introductory design course to help students explore and interpret their design beliefs, experiences, and self-awareness in support of professional identity development work. The results indicate that authorial presence, analysis, and narrative quality are common qualities in reflective responses, but emotion is notably lacking from student writing. Students were highly reflective in relation to a general experience with uncertainty and were least reflective when discussing ideation processes. Implications for design education and related research are analysed and discussed.     

Impact of Same-Sex Harassment and Gender-Role Stereotypes on Title VII Protection for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Employees

When victimized in the workplace, gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) employees often find themselves without recourse as Title VII does not recognize sexual orientation to be a protected class. We suggest that recent court decisions that have expanded Title VII to protect individuals from discrimination based upon violations of gender norms can be used to provide a basis for protection of GLB individuals under this statute. Using a review of the role of gender norms in the workplace as well as an analysis of recent court decisions and the Congressional debates on the Federal Marriage Amendment as well as the wording of the Defense of Marriage Act [Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Pub. L. 104-199, Stat. 2419 (September 21, 1996)], this paper provides the theoretical background and conceptual argument (but does not attempt to make the legal argument) to suggest that same-sex harassment and discrimination are considered violations of societal gender norms and should therefore be protected under the expanded coverage of Title VII.     

Technology mining for small firms: Knowledge prospecting for competitive advantage

Successful small businesses effectively use outside information. High tech small firms are designed to be flexible and innovative. They are often built upon a successful innovative product. These organizations are challenged to remain innovative in a fast-paced competitive environment. However, they face constraints due to the costs associated with the development of continuous innovation. This paper presents technology mining as a method to aid small firms in remaining knowledgeable about innovative ideas. In doing so, the authors present findings from a small high tech company whose issues are typical of other small high tech firms. Areas for improvement and recommendations to address those areas are also presented for review and further reflection.     

Episodes of Exuberance in Housing Markets: In Search of the Smoking Gun

In this paper, we examine changes in the time series properties of three widely used housing market indicators (real house prices, price-to-income ratios, and price-to-rent ratios) for a large set of countries to detect episodes of explosive dynamics. Dating such episodes of exuberance in housing markets provides a timeline as well as empirical content to the narrative connecting housing exuberance to the global 2008 ?09 recession. For our empirical analysis, we employ two recursive univariate unit root tests recently developed by Phillips and Yu (International Economic Review 52(1):201–226, 2011) and Phillips et al. (2015). We also propose a novel extension of the test developed by Phillips et al. (2015) to a panel setting in order to exploit the large cross-sectional dimension of our international dataset. Statistically significant periods of exuberance are found in most countries. Moreover, we find strong evidence of the emergence of an unprecedented period of exuberance in the early 2000s that eventually collapsed around 2006 ?07, preceding the 2008 ?09 global recession. We examine whether macro and financial variables help to predict (in-sample) episodes of exuberance in housing markets. Long-term interest rates, credit growth and global economic conditions are found to be among the best predictors. We conclude that global factors (partly) explain the synchronization of exuberance episodes that we detect in the data in the 2000s.     

Assessing the trade impacts of the ASEAN + 6 FTA for Lao PDR

Using an unbalanced panel dataset of bilateral exports from 1992 to 2009, we assess the potential trade impacts of the expansion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ASEAN + 3 and ASEAN + 6 on the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It is found that bilateral exports are positively related to overall bilateral country size and similarity in country size but inversely related to the factor endowment differences, transportation costs, and import tariffs. Simulation results show that the formation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) between ASEAN and the Plus‐6 economies (the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea in East Asia; and the other three economies of Australia, India, and New Zealand) could increase bilateral trade between the Lao PDR and ASEAN + 6 by US$1 billion, and ASEAN + 3 by US$981 million. Nonetheless, the trade balance of the Lao PDR is likely to worsen in both the ASEAN + 3 and ASEAN + 6 PTAs because they stimulate more imports than exports.