The external validity of giving in the dictator game

We investigate the external validity of giving in the dictator game by using the misdirected letter technique in a within-subject design. First, subjects participated in standard dictator games (double blind) conducted in labs in two different studies. Second, after four to five weeks (study 1) or two years (study 2), we delivered prepared letters to the same subjects. The envelopes and the contents of the letters were designed to create the impression that they were misdirected by the mail delivery service. The letters contained 10 Euros (20 Swiss Francs in study 2) corresponding to the endowment of the in-lab experiments. We observe in both studies that subjects who showed other-regarding behavior in the lab returned the misdirected letters more often than subjects giving nothing, suggesting that in-lab behavior is related to behavior in the field.     

State lottery in the lab: an experiment in external validity

Experimental Economics - In this study, we conduct a laboratory experiment in which the subjects make choices between real-world lottery tickets typically purchased by lottery customers. In this...     

Assessing fiscal episodes

In an OCDE panel, for the period 1970–2010, we assess the effects of fiscal consolidation episodes, with four different definitions. Our results reveal that lower final government consumption increases private consumption in three out of the four approaches, when a fiscal consolidation occurs, and the debt ratio is above the cross-country average. The magnitude of these coefficients is higher for countries with lower debt levels, implying more successful consolidations associated with reduced crowding-out effects. There is some evidence of non-Keynesian effects for both private consumption and private investment, and the effects of social transfers on private investment tend to be negative, both in the short and long run. In a financial crisis, such effects are also more prone to happen. Finally, raising long-term interest rates reduces per capita private investment.     

Assessing market dominance

We propose a new measure to assess market dominance. Contrary to concentration measures such as the Herfindahl–Hirschman index that characterizes the concentration of an industry, our dominance measure suggests an approach that classifies when an individual firm has a dominant position. In our measure, the criterion for dominance is relaxed as the intensity of existing competition increases or as entry barriers are lowered. We apply the dominance measure to a number of well-known competition cases.     

企业生态系统健康诊断探析

企业要在激烈的竞争中生存和发展,必须构建或加入健康的企业生态系统.企业生态系统的健康主要从对环境的适应能力、复原能力、协同能力、信息共享能力和创新能力来衡量.论文通过分析影响企业生态系统健康的因素,从功能、平衡、价值增值和创新能力等方面探讨了企业生态系统健康的诊断方法.     

External validity of a framed field experiment

Results obtained from a value elicitation experiment are used to predict the sales of a new grocery product. While the experimental results correspond well with actual retail sales, there is a tendency for subjects to exhibit more pro-social behavior in the framed field experiment than in the naturally occurring market.     

Umbrella branding and external certification

In a market environment with random detection of product quality, a firm can employ umbrella branding as a strategy to convince consumers of the high quality of its products. Alternatively, a firm can rely on external certification of the quality of one or both of its products. We characterize equilibria in which umbrella branding fully or partially substitutes for external certification. We also show that the potential to signal quality is improved if consumers condition their beliefs on the source of information, namely whether information comes from external certification or from random detection.     

ERP平衡计分卡模型

平衡计分卡作为一种战略管理工具,能有效评价ERP战略绩效。本文针对企业实施ERP的特点,以平衡计分卡原理为基础,采用层次分析法,构建ERP平衡计分卡模型,并以企业实施ERP为例,采用Expert Choice软件分析了ERP平衡计分卡的应用。     

Assessing Macroeconomic Vulnerability in Central Europe

The Central European transition-accession countries Have experienced several periods of macroeconomic vulnerability since the end of output declines in the early 1990s. Some notable periods, which resulted in a necessity to implement extensive stabilisation measures, are March 1995 in Hungary, May 1997 in the Czech Republic and September 1998 in the Slovak Republic. This article shows that the standard early warning indicators provided useful information on macroeconomic vulnerability prior to the crises in Central Europe, although this information had been mainly indicative; that is, early warning indicators would not have allowed one to predict the crises and their timing. However, the growing gap between current account deficit and foreign direct investment (FDI) in all the countries analysed did provide clear early warning of subsequent economic turbulence.     

Energy price shocks and external balances

This paper studies the impact of a wide set of energy price shocks on external balances using a two‐country framework comprising multiple sectors and endogenous energy production with convex costs. The paper disentangles different demand and supply shocks in the energy market through their distinct impact on external balances. It provides a theoretical confirmation of Kilian et al. (2009) and a theoretical foundation to the determining role of the non‐energy trade balance in the transmission of energy price shocks. The presence of durables also highlights the immediate channel through which energy prices impact the non‐energy trade balance.     

Acknowledgement of external reviewers for 2000

Editorial Board

Acknowledgement of external reviewers for 2000     

Currency unions and Irish external trade

Ireland has participated in two currency unions–a bilateral union with the UK that lasted until 1979 and as a founder member of European Monetary Union (EMU) that began in 1999. This article investigates whether currency unions have influenced Irish trade patterns.     

Cyclicality of taxes and external debt

In their work, Vegh and Vuletin have shown that statutory tax rates are acyclical in developed economies and procyclical in developing ones. This article extends their analysis by checking the interaction of statutory tax rates with countries’ external public debt. In general, we found that the value added tax rates are changed procyclically in both developed and developing countries (i.e. taxes are raised in bad times and reduced in good times). However, when the external debt is high, in the developing countries the procyclicality increases, while the opposite result holds for developed economies. This pattern occurs mainly in times of recession, when the need for loans is the highest. Although we found that there was a reduction in procyclicality after the 2000s, these findings pose a challenge to policy-makers, who should think of ways of dealing with lack of foreign funds in difficult times.