Disequilibrium econometrics: 25 years later*

The author concludes that disequilibrium econometrics, as it developed more than 20 years ago, is not suitable for policy analysis. Various new opportunities are outlined that can put this area on the research agenda again.     

An analysis of UK franchise contracting 1989–1999

This paper examines UK franchise contracts over the period 1989–1999. Franchising is modelled as comprising three main variables, contract length, royalty rate and initial franchise fee. Up to now most authors have concentrated on the latter two variables, but with the data in this paper it is possible to assess the characteristics that impact on all three. Further, our analysis looks at what affects the probability of contract change. We take account of the limited dependent variable nature of the data and exploit sectoral heterogeneity. Our main findings are that the focus of attention on ‘aggregate’ variables is inappropriate and that contract length appears to be an important aspect of the franchise contract which is theoretically obvious, but until now has not been empirically tested. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Returns to Skills and the Distribution of Wages: Spain 1995–2010

In contrast to the pattern observed in other developed countries, the Spanish wage distribution compressed between 1995 and 2006 and became more disperse afterwards, so that in 2010 wage inequality was roughly similar to 1995. In this paper, we analyze the role of supply and demand factors when accounting for these facts. We start by decomposing observed wage changes into changes in the composition of the labour force and changes in the returns of workers' and jobs' characteristics. The results indicate that the compression of the wage distribution between 1995 and 2006 is largely explained by changes in returns, and particularly, by a decrease in the returns to education. We show that both the increase in the supply of high‐skilled workers and the increasing weight of low‐skilled occupations are related to the decreasing trend in the skill premium over this period. In contrast, the widening of the wage distribution after 2006 is largely explained by an increase in the relative demand for high‐skilled workers generating an increase in the school premium.     

Interregional inequalities in Israel, 1948–1995: divergence or convergence?

A model is proposed which explains the spatial distribution of different income groups in terms of the relation between the cost of living in a particular geographic area and the income of its inhabitants. The applicability of this model to spatial inequalities in Israel is investigated, using data from five subsequent censuses of population and housing. The analysis indicates that changes in the spatial variation of various indicators of development do not follow a uniform pattern: the extent of interregional disparity differs with the indicator selected for measuring it. Furthermore, whereas development in the central part of Israel has tended to become more uniform over time, the country's peripheral regions have become more polarized. Several strategies are proposed for reducing the extent of interregional disparities.     

House Price Dynamics in Mumbai, 1989–1995

The objective of this paper is to study the importance of price index methodology to analyzing intra-metropolitan house price variations in Mumbai. Two hedonic regression-based approaches – cross section and explicit time variable – are compared. The results indicate conclusively that the former is better than the latter. This paper also contributes to the literature on intra-metropolitan house price variations by explaining them based on urban development, population and employment patterns in Mumbai.     

Employees' entrepreneurial contributions to firms in Russia, 1995–2004

This article examines how employee self‐reported entrepreneurial contributions evolved in firms operating in Russia in 1995–2004 and whether changes can be explained by Akerlof's theory of implicit gift exchange in labour contracts. We find that these contributions were indeed influenced by wage premia and shifting work norms, declining by about a half during the period and with a particularly marked fall in contributions by manual workers. The trend was found among foreign‐owned, private Russian‐owned and state‐owned companies. Akerlof's model therefore helps explain Russian workers' changing behaviour.     

A quantitative and qualitative analysis of sexual harassment claims 1995–2005

This article explores the organisational and legal context in which parties involved in claims relating to sexual harassment operate, and presents an analysis of the population of sexual harassment cases heard by Employment Tribunals between 1995 and 2005.     

Measuring the impact of work reorganization on firm performance: evidence from French manufacturing, 1995–1999

In this paper, we apply the method of selective matching to estimate the causal effect of organizational changes on employment, stock of capital, value added, and factor productivity. Derived from a panel of 2404 French manufacturing firms in 1997, our estimates show that work reorganization improves firm performance overall through a more efficient use of labor and capital, without requiring any increase in the factors of production.     

Network effects with quality change: an empirical analysis of the Japanese mobile telecommunications market, 1995–2001

This study assesses the role of network effects under rapid quality change in the Japanese mobile telecommunications market by utilizing a simple framework based on a discrete choice model of product differentiation. The results indicate the existence of network effects in the Japanese mobile telecommunications market during the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, changes in the value of mobile telecommunications services mainly depend on quality changes; the contribution of network effects is negligible. Additionally, over time, network effects make a diminishing contribution to improving consumers' valuations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Making inferences about the polarization,welfare and poverty of nations: a study of 101 countries 1970–1995

Stochastic Dominance techniques are adapted and employed to study the extent and progress of Polarization, Welfare and Poverty of 101 nations over the period 1970–1995. The adaptations provide methods of comparing mass relocation by evaluating various degrees of right and left separation between distributions. The results reveal that, whilst welfare increased and then diminished and poverty diminished and then increased, polarization between rich and poor countries continued unabated throughout the period emphasizing the distinction between polarization and inequality. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.