On Vind’s theorem for an economy with atoms and infinitely many commodities

We extend Vind’s classical theorem on the measure of blocking coalitions valid in finite dimensional atomless economies (see Vind (1972)), to include the possibility of infinitely many commodities as well as the presence of atoms. The commodity space is assumed to be an ordered Banach space which has possibly the empty positive cone. The lack of interior points is compensated by an additional assumption of a cone of arbitrage that allows us to use Lyapunov’s convexity theorem in its weak form. The measure space of agents involves both negligible and non negligible traders. The extension is proved in the general class of Aubin coalitions for which a suitable version of Grodal’s result (Grodal (1972)) is also formulated. Our results wish to point out the relevance of cone conditions dealing with blocking coalitions of arbitrary measure or weight.     

Debreu’s coefficient of resource utilization, the Solow residual, and TFP: the connection by Leontief preferences

Debreu’s coefficient of resource utilization is freed from individual data requirements. The procedure is shown to be equivalent to the imposition of Leontief preferences. The rate of growth of the modified Debreu coefficient and the Solow residual are shown to add up to TFP growth. This decomposition is the neoclassical counterpart to the frontier analytic decomposition of productivity growth into technical change and efficiency change. The terms can now be broken down by sector as well as by factor input.

Generic impossibility of Arrow’s impossibility theorem

Our major objective is to show that if there are infinitely many alternatives and society can be decomposed into the sum of two non-negligible coalitions, the set of all Arrovian collective choice rules that satisfy the ultrafilter property (its set of decisive coalitions form an ultrafilter), is nowhere dense in the set of all Arrovian collective choice rules. This result entails that (1) almost all Arrovian collective choice rules are non-dictatorial and (2) in any neighborhood of a dictatorial Arrovian collective choice rule, a nondictatorial Arrovian collective choice rule can be found, i.e., the property of admitting a dictator is not a locally stable property for Arrovian collective choice rules in the sense that the property does not withstand a small perturbation.     

Cyclically monotone equilibrium problems and Ekeland’s principle

We study the existence of equilibria and approximate equilibria avoiding any assumption of convexity both for the domain and for the bifunction. Our approach is based on the concept of cyclic monotonicity for bifunctions. First, we exploit this notion to obtain an Ekeland’s variational principle for bifunctions which leads to the existence of approximate solutions of the so-called Minty equilibrium problem. Then, we prove the existence of equilibria in compact and noncompact settings. We introduce a new notion as a key tool for deriving a Minty’s lemma avoiding the use of convexity.     

On the distribution of the desirability index using Harrington’s desirability function

The concept of desirability is a means for complexity reduction of multivariate quality optimization. This paper provides a theoretical breakthrough regarding desirability indices, which application fields were formerly limited primarily by the lack of its distribution. Focussed are the distributions of Harrington’s desirability functions and different types of the desirability index.     

Kalai and Muller’s possibility theorem: a simplified integer programming version

We provide a respecification of an integer programming characterization of Arrovian social welfare functions introduced by Sethuraman et al. (Math Oper Res 28:309–326, 2003). By exploiting this respecification, we give a new and simpler proof of Theorem 2 in Kalai and Muller (J Econ Theory 16:457–469, 1977).     

Modeling and simulation of the quality’s entropy

The aim of the present study is to define quality entropy as well as to illustrate some of its properties. The simulation of the mathematical model for quality entropy shall be performed by means of specialized software for mathematical problem simulation, such as Microsoft Excel that we have employed for this particular study. Our aim is to prove that quality entropy may be expanded to the notions of Markov source of quality and Bernoulli source of quality, by analogy with the Markov and Bernoulli sources employed in information theory. Likewise, the present study delineates some aspects regarding tolerance to quality entropy. The subject of entropy and its application of the management of quality has been approached by other authors as well (Dinu and Vod?, Revista Calitatea-acces la succes, anul 8(4): 60–61, 2007; Dinu, Revista Calitatea-acces la succes, anul 8(5): 62–63, 2007; Georgescu-Roegen, Legea Entropiei ?i Procesul Economic, 1979; Stamatiu, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Quality, Reability and Maintainabilty, 2000; Stamatiu, Proceeding of the 18th International Conference on Quality, Reliability and Maintainability, 2002). Through our transdisciplinary approach, we would like to contribute to the development of this subject.     

Behavior patterns of investment strategies under Roy’s safety-first principle

The safety-first principle is a natural motivational factor in decision making, and is closely related to certain popular heuristics such as satisficing. We provide a systematic analysis of optimal portfolio choice under Roy’s safety-first principle by examining and comparing the behavior patterns of three popular investment strategies: the optimal constant-rebalanced portfolio, dynamic-rebalanced portfolio and buy-and-hold strategies. Our results indicate the importance of a match between the investment strategy, the investment goal, and the investment horizon. We also develop a geometric approach to investigate the relationships among the safety-first, expected utility, and mean-variance models and offer an explanation for the long-standing debate concerning different patterns of time-diversification effects.     

Growth of born globals: the role of the entrepreneur’s personal factors and venture capital

This paper examines to what extent the human capital of entrepreneurs and the receipt of venture capital (VC) financing affect the growth of born globals (BGs). The study analyzes a sample of 242 BGs resulting from a survey on high-tech start-ups operating in the ICT and electronics sectors, located in different countries throughout the world. A multivariate explorative analysis controlling for the endogenous nature of VC is conducted. The results indicate that the experience of the entrepreneur in having previously established another entrepreneurial firm positively affects the growth of BGs. A negative effect is associated with the presence of heterogeneity in the management team in terms of education background. With regard to the linkage between financial capital and growth, it is found that both VC financing and the number of founders (a proxy for the availability internal capital) positively influence the growth of BGs.     

On the determinant of bank loan contracts: The roles of borrowers’ ownership and board structures

Given the worldwide economic importance of bank loan financing, we empirically investigate the roles of borrowers’ ownership and board structure in bank loan terms through a comprehensive dataset, which includes the complete history of individual bank loan contracts for firms publicly listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). We find that firms with smaller deviation in shareholder voting and cash flow rights, larger non-retail shareholding, fewer shares pledged by the board of directors, independent directors, and firms without dual boards are more likely to borrow from banks at lower spread. In addition, good governance practices are also associated with larger loan size or longer loan period, suggesting that banks take into account borrowers’ governance practices when designing loan contracts. This fact is consistent with the agency cost and information risk explanations of Bhojraj and Sengupta (2003). Furthermore, this study uncovers that the beneficial effect of good governance practices on bank loan contracting is more pronounced in borrowers with high leverage and poor rating, which implies that the monitoring role of governance is more crucial in risky firms. Our findings are robust to the various characteristics of firms and loans.     

Letter to the Editor: ‘On Quantile-based Asymmetric Family of Distributions: Properties and Inference’

We show that the family of asymmetric distributions studied in a recent publication in the International Statistical Review is equivalent to the family of two-piece distributions. Moreover, we show that the location-scale asymmetric family proposed in that publication is non-identifiable (overparameterised), and it coincides with the family of two-piece distributions after removing the redundant parameters.     

Aggression and Bullying in the Workplace: It’s the Position of the Perpetrator that Influences Employees’ Reactions and Sanctioning Ratings

While research has identified the causes and consequences of workplace aggression and bullying, little research has examined the factors that shape employee responses to aggression and bullying. In the present paper two studies are conducted in a healthcare setting to determine the factors that shape perceptions of aggression and bullying and how those perceptions subsequently influence employee reactions and sanctioning ratings. Empowerment, well-being, and communication satisfaction are examined to determine their moderating influence on reactions and sanctioning ratings to the incidents of aggression and bullying. The findings indicate that perpetrator type influences perceptions of aggression, that employees address incidents of aggression differently than incidents of bullying, and that empowerment and well-being moderate the relationship between perceptions of aggression and bullying and the subsequent reactions and sanctioning recommendations employees make.     

On the linearity of the wage–profit relation in a Sraffa’s model: a mathematical summing-up

This paper sums up in a common analytical structure the main results, scattered in economic literature, concerning the linearity between rate of profit and real wage in a simple Sraffa’s model. The paper is mainly based on previous results of one of the two authors and on results of Miyao (Int Econ Rev 18:151–162, 1977) and Schefold (Zeitschrift für angewandte Mathematik und Physik 27:873–875, 1976a; Zeitschrift für National?konomie 36:21–48, 1976b).     

Dynamic interaction of risk–return trade-offs between oil market and China’s stock market: An analysis from the risk preferences perspective

The risk–return trade-off refers to the compensation required by investors for bearing risks, which can be viewed as the risk preference of investors in a market. The current study investigates the dynamic interdependence of risk–return trade-offs between China’s stock market and the crude oil market from the perspective of risk preference of investors, which is designed to explore the transmission process of investors’ risk preference in both markets. Specifically, this study applies the time-varying parameter GARCH-M model, namely TVP-GARCH-M model, to characterize the time-dependent risk–return trade-offs (investors’ risk preferences) in the crude oil and China’s stock markets, then examines their relationship through Granger causality tests. Results show that a variation in risk preferences of the oil market investors can dramatically cause a variation in risk preferences of the Chinese stock market investors, while the risk preference of investors in the Chinese stock market does not lead to that in the crude oil market, which is in accordance with expectations. The dynamic effect of investors’ risk appetite in the crude oil market is further examined by the TVP-VAR model. The findings of this work suggest that there generally exists a positive impact of investors’ risk preference in the oil market and that the effect is time-varying to a greater degree during the short and medium term. Moreover, responses of the Chinese stock market investors’ risk preference were more significant during the 2008 financial crisis. Additionally, the empirical results remain robust when applying alternative crude oil prices and China’s stock prices.     

On the nearness of record values to order statistics from Pitman’s measure of closeness

In the two-sample prediction problem, record values from the present sample may be used as predictors of order statistics from a future sample. In this paper, we investigate the nearness of record statistics (upper and lower) to order statistics from a location-scale family of distributions in the sense of Pitman closeness and discuss the corresponding monotonicity properties. We then determine the closest record value to a specific order statistic from a future sample. Even though in general it depends on the parent distribution, exact and explicit expressions are derived for the required probabilities in the case of exponential and uniform distributions, and some computational results are presented as well. Finally, we consider the mean squared error criterion and examine the corresponding results in the exponential case.     

On the exact distribution of the Fisher-Behren’-Welch statistic

Summary For testing the significance of the difference between the unknown means of two normal populations having different unknown variances, we have the known Fisher-Behren’s-Welch test statistic. Several expressions for the distribution of this test statistic are available, and this paper is yet another attempt in the same direction. However, the expression given here appears to be, perhaps, more elegant and straight-forward than the ones available at present.     

On the advantages of economically designed the Hotelling’s T2 control chart with variable sample sizes and sampling intervals

Faraz and Parsian (Statistical Paper, 47: 569–593, 2006) have shown that the double warning lines (DWL) scheme detects process shifts more quickly than the other variable ratio sampling schemes such as variable sample sizes (VSS), variable sampling intervals (VSI) and variable sample sizes and sampling intervals (VSSVSI). In this paper, the DWLT²control chart for monitoring the process mean vector is economically designed. The cost model proposed by Costa and Rahim (Journal of Applied Statistics, 28: 875–885, 2001) is used here and is minimized through a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. Then the effects of the model parameters on the chart parameters and resulting operating loss is studied and finally a comparison between all possible variable ratio sampling (VRS) schemes are made to choose the best option economically.