The influence of cultural distance on the volatility of the international stock market

Along with the development of cultural dimensions and cultural distance, the influence of cultural variables on the stock market is attracting more and more attention. In this study, we propose an improved gravity model to examine the relationship between culture and the volatility of the international stock market. Firstly, based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, a model of the impact of cultural dimensions on the volatility of the national stock market is presented. Secondly, cultural distance is incorporated into the extended gravity model. Then, models of the impact of cultural distance on fluctuations in the international stock market and on foreign securities investment are proposed. Finally, the results of case studies using samples of national stock market indices indicate that different cultural dimensions have different influences on the volatility of national stock markets. The smaller the cultural distance between countries, the more similar the level of volatility in those countries' stock markets. Greater cultural similarity promotes increased securities investment between countries.     

Revisiting the role of migrant social networks as determinants of international migration flows

This note revisits the role of migrant social networks (MSNs) as determinants of bilateral migration flows. We do so using two alternative databases, covering about 190 world countries for the period 1960–2000. In line with previous estimates, we consistently find a significant, positive, impact of MSNs at destination. We also find that such an impact decreases very slowly as the year when MSNs are observed is farther back in the past. We also find that geographical distance is becoming less and less important over time but significantly explains the absence of a migration corridor only when MSNs at destination have very small sizes.     

Corruption in space: A closer look at the world's subnations

Corruption levels differ not only between but also within countries. In this paper we analyze spatial interdependencies in corruption levels for a large sample of 1232 subnational regions from 81 countries. Based on a spatial autoregressive model, which controls for country-fixed effects and corrects for spatial autocorrelation in the error term, we find that a subnational region's corruption level is positively correlated with neighboring subnational regions' corruption levels. Extending the core model and allowing for heterogeneous spatial effects, we find that most spillovers among subnational regions occur within national borders. Moreover, in particular high income subnational regions and subnational regions with relative low corruption levels tend to spill in space. This is due to their high degree of connectivity in terms of economic, sociocultural and political exchange with other subnational regions. Our estimation results underline the importance to consider not only a subnational region's own characteristics, but also spatial interdependencies when implementing efficient anti-corruption policies at the local level.     

Goodness-of-fit techniques for count data models: an application to the demand for dental care in Spain

This paper compares the practical performance of alternative goodness-of-fit techniques for count data models in the context of a study of the determinants of demand for dental care in Spain. We apply alternative goodness-of-fit techniques to different specifications. In particular, we implement recently proposed specification tests which are consistent in the direction of general nonparametric alternatives. The analysis suggests that a negative binomial model is an appropriate specification for dental care demand. Dental health and income are identified as important predictors of individuals' behavior. First version received: April 2000/Final version received: March 2001     

Patient as center of the health care universe: a closer look at patient-centered care

We need to consider how the health care system should revolve around the patient, rather than the patient rotating around the hospital. Considering a patient-centric point of view when implementing and optimizing the use of health information technology (HIT) provides new perspectives on the meaning of "integrated" health care. ot only do we need to give patients the opportunities to participate as true partners in their health care, we must convince them why this partnership makes sense. We should not be naive and believe all patients want this involvement in their care today and are ready to do all their health care transactions electronically. But considering and using these practices are important steps in the health care reform journey to improve quality and decrease cost. Many patients will benefit by our working with them to demystify the health care experience through patient-centric practices and the use of HIT.     

Civil war and economic growth: the case for a closer look at forms of mobilization

This paper explores the idea that the lack of robust evidence on the growth impact of civil war could partially be a consequence of considering civil war as a unified conceptual category, regardless of the ordinate of group identity invoked in mobilizing for war. To do so, we distinguish explicitly between episodes of internal conflict where contestants mobilized along the lines of ethnicity and ones where mobilization occurred along other markers of group identity. Using alternative definitions of civil war and System GMM estimation to address the endogeneity of conflict and per capita income, we obtain a negative contemporaneous impact of non-ethnic civil war on economic growth over the period 1975–2005. By contrast, the impact of ethnic war is statistically insignificant.     

On the estimation and forecasting of international migration: how relevant is heterogeneity across countries?

This paper performs a comparative analysis of estimation as well as of out-of-sample forecasting results of more than 20 estimators common in the panel data literature using the data on migration to Germany from 18 source countries in the period 1967–2001. Our results suggest that the choice of an estimation procedure has a substantial impact on the parameter estimates of the migration function. Out-of-sample forecasting results indicate the following: (1) the standard fixed effects estimators clearly outperforms the pooled OLS estimator, (2) both the fixed effects estimators and the hierarchical Bayes estimator exhibit the superior forecast performance, (3) the fixed effects estimators outperform GMM and other instrumental variables estimators, (4) forecasting performance of heterogenous estimators is mediocre in our data set.     

Import to invest: Impact of cultural goods on cross-border mergers and acquisitions

Existing studies have demonstrated the necessities of formal institutions and negativity of cultural distance in international investments. Surprisingly, China’s exponential increase of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and its low-quality institutions and distinct cultural norms contradict these studies. This paper aims to tackle this puzzle by examining the role of cultural imports in cross-border M&As. Our empirical evidence suggests that the trade of cultural goods significantly increases the volume and realized economic gains of M&As from importing to exporting countries. Our results are robust to alternative measures and an instrumental variable approach. On exploring potential channels, we find that imported cultural goods could drive cultural convergence between countries and also mitigate the adverse effect of cultural distance on merger outcomes. We further show that cultural imports could help firms in overcoming contractual barriers at target countries. This paper provides practical implications for cross-border investments in the current world with intensified cultural conflicts.     

京津冀产学协同创新绩效影响因素分析——基于多维邻近性视角

产学协同创新是区域协同发展的内在动力,多维邻近性作为创新主体获取外部知识的关键因素,对协同创新绩效有重要影响.文章基于多维邻近性视角,采用京津冀28个高校和492家企业2009—2018年在中国国家知识产权局共同联合申请并授权的发明专利数据,运用负二项回归模型进行了实证分析.研究结果表明:①地理邻近性对产学创新主体间的协同创新绩效具有显著促进作用;②制度邻近性对产学主体协同创新具有积极正向作用;③技术邻近性对产学协同创新绩效具有显著倒U型作用;④技术邻近性与地理邻近性的交互作用会对京津冀产学协同创新绩效产生显著负向影响;⑤技术邻近性与制度邻近性的交互作用对京津冀产学协同创新绩效产生显著负向影响;⑥地理邻近性与制度邻近性的交互作用对京津冀产学协同创新绩效产生正向作用但不显著.因此,京津冀应加大交通运输基础设施和通信网络投资,加强企业自主技术创新能力建设,加快完善制度和市场一体化政策的实施和管理,发挥多维邻近性对协同创新绩效的交互作用,实现科技创新资源优化聚集,形成京津冀协同创新共同体.     

A look into the future of wireless mobile communication technologies

The number of wireless mobile communication service subscribers reached 4.6 billion worldwide in 2009, and mobile revenues are expected to be over US$1 trillion around 2012 according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). A significant number of studies have been made to forecast the growing market and evaluate the new generation technology, the ‘beyond 3rd generation’ (B3G). However, there is no study that forecasts when any of these new technologies will be commercialised. This paper presents a technical framework for forecasting the commercialisation timeline of B3G technologies and provides insight on technology trajectories from 1G to 4G. The results show that a combination of technical parameters can explain heterogeneous wireless mobile communication technologies. Three parameters selected include channel bandwidth, channel bit rate and data capacity for technical framework.     

A naturalistic approach to the theory of the firm: The role of cooperation and cultural evolution

One reason why firms exist, this paper argues, is because they are suitable organizations within which cooperative production systems based on human social predispositions can evolve. In addition, we show how an entrepreneur, given these predispositions, can shape human behavior within a firm. To illustrate these processes, we will present a model that depicts how the biased transmission of cultural contents via social learning processes within the firm influence employees’ behavior and the performance of the firm. These biases can be traced back to evolved social predispositions. Humans lived in tribal scale social systems based on significant amounts of intra- and even intergroup cooperation for tens if not a few hundred thousand years before the first complex societies arose. Firms rest upon the social psychology originally evolved for tribal life. We also relate our conclusions to empirical evidence on the performance and size of different kinds of organizations. Modern organizations have functions rather different from ancient tribes, leading to friction between our social predispositions and organization goals. Firms that manage to reduce this friction will tend to function better.     

Foreign direct investment: the role of institutional and cultural determinants

Using panel data for 29 source and 65 host countries in the period 1995–2009, we examine the determinants of bilateral FDI stocks, focusing on institutional and cultural factors. The results reveal that institutional and cultural distance is important and that FDI has a predominantly regional aspect. FDI to developing countries is positively affected by better institutions in the host country, while foreign investors prefer to invest in developed countries that are more corrupt and politically unstable compared to home. The results indicate that foreign investors prefer to invest in countries with less diverse societies than their own.     

On the determinants of trade in services: evidence from the MENA region

This article examines the determinants of aggregate flows of service trade in MENA countries using an adapted version of the gravity model and a panel data set covering the 2000 to 2009 period for 21 countries and 10 sectors. A new determinant of trade performance is introduced: the number of bound commitments undertaken by a sector in the WTO as well as the availability of those commitments by mode of supply. The results show that being a WTO member boosts trade in services. In addition, the number of bound commitments increases exports, imports and trade in services. This positive and significant effect remains robust even after controlling for several econometric issues, namely, the selection bias related to the WTO membership and the endogeneity of commitments.¹1. We are grateful to the editor Mark Taylor and two anonymous referees for providing valuable comments and suggestions. We would also like to thank the participants to the ERF 18th Annual Conference and to the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Middle East Economic Association (MEEA). This work benefited from the financial support of Economics Research Forum (ERF). It does not reflect the Forum’s opinion.     

Reforms that keep you at home: The effects of economic transition on migration

Theory asserts that individuals’ migration decisions depend more on their expectations about future income levels than on their current income levels. We find that the implementation of market-oriented reforms in post-communist countries, by forming positive economic prospects, has reduced emigration as predicted by theory. Our estimates show that migration flows are highly responsive to reforms supporting private enterprises and financial services, which provide individuals with strong signals about their future prospects. We show that reforms that improve the management of infrastructure services have no link with migration patterns, which may be an important lesson for government policy.     

Reopening the convergence debate: A new look at cross-country growth empirics

There are two sources of inconsistency in existing cross-country empirical work on growth: correlated individual effects and endogenous explanatory variables. We estimate a variety of cross-country growth regressions using a generalized method of moments estimator that eliminates both problems. In one application, we find that per capita incomes converge to their steady-state levels at a rate of approximately 10 percent per year. This result stands in sharp contrast to the current consensus, which places the convergence rate at 2 percent. We discuss the theoretical implications of this finding. In another application, we perform a test of the Solow model. Again, contrary to prior reults, we reject both the standard and the augmented version of the model.     

A new look at the benefits of diversification: lessons from Central America

Recent trends of export diversification in Central America may lower foreign exchange earnings instability there. Four countries–Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala–are analysed across a twenty-year period. The paper uses United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics to explain why Costa Rica and Honduras have enjoyed greater earnings stability in recent years, despite the fact that Honduras has not greatly diversified its export products and markets. Despite the growth of new agricultural and manufacturing goods, traditional primary products still dominate the countries' export portfolios. Specific products within each of the four broad product category groups contribute to the varied country outcomes. Summary statistics from the United Nations (panel) data suggest newer agricultural exports have not stabilized Guatemalan and Salvadoran export earnings, while Honduras has enjoyed relatively stable banana export revenues and Costa Rica has benefited from the smooth flow of microelectronic products. Further panel data regression analysis shows country size and intangible country effects also explain parts of the detrended earnings deviation in addition to product base and level of diversification.     

Non-linearity in the determinants of capital structure: evidence from UK firms

We demonstrate that, by exploiting more fully the distribution of leverage, conditional quantile regression methods yield new insights into the choice of leverage ratio. For UK listed companies we find that not only is the estimated effect of the explanatory variables different at different quantiles of the distribution, but also that the effect of a variable changes sign between low leveraged and high leveraged firms.      

中国OFDI的区位决定因素——基于地理距离与文化距离的检验

中国对外直接投资(OFDI)呈明显的洲际分布不均衡特征。首先运用2003—2010年中国对40个国家(地区)OFDI的面板数据,并且引入交叉项变量进行总体检验,结果表明:地理距离和文化距离均与OFDI呈负向关系,并通过双边贸易额等因素产生传导作用。然后依据地理距离均值对样本数据进行分组检验,发现当地理距离较小时,地理距离与OFDI负向关系不变,但是随着地理距离的增大,其对OFDI的影响转而呈现正向关系。同理,文化距离分组检验也验证了门槛效应的存在,即当文化距离增大时,文化距离对OFDI的影响愈不明显,但能通过贸易间接阻碍OFDI。基于此,中国OFDI在集中于地理距离与文化距离较小的周边国家和地区的同时,应通过各种正式与非正式的贸易与文化交流,削弱文化距离对中国OFDI的间接阻碍作用,完善中国OFDI的空间格局。