Does forced solidarity hamper investment in small and micro enterprises?

Summary: Previous research has shown that small firms in poor countries achieve high marginal returns to capital but show low reinvestment rates. We investigate whether transfers motivated by risk sharing and forced redistribution can explain this pattern and may therefore hamper private sector development. The idea is that the more redistribution distorts the fairness of insurance, the more potentially successful entrepreneurs may be hindered to undertake profitable investments. The empirical results based on a sample of small firms operating in Burkina Faso support the main propositions of this paper.     

Does different NPD project’s characteristics lead to the establishment of different NPD networks? A knowledge perspective

In today’s highly competitive and globalised marketplace, firms need more and more to develop new knowledge and capabilities to leave behind their competitors, thus gaining market share. Knowledge is fundamental for success because a firm that knows more, often develops more sustainable competitive advantage. Networks, like those oriented to New Product Development, seem to be valuable means of learning, as firms could not achieve alone the same results, or at least not as quickly. Through this integrative systematic review, we are interested in understanding whether different New Product Development projects correspond to different New Product Development networks in terms of knowledge exchanged among the partners involved. Our results highlight the presence of four types of New Product Development networks deriving from the combination of the degree of innovation characterising the project and its mode of development. Implications and future research are also proposed.     

Proximity,networking and knowledge production in Europe: What lessons for innovation policy?

This paper aims at investigating the role of different types of proximity on the technological activity of a region within the context of a knowledge production function, where R&D expenditure and human capital are the main internal inputs. We thus assess to what extent the creation of new ideas in a certain region is enhanced by knowledge flows coming from proximate regions. In particular, we examine in detail different kinds of proximity by combining the usual geographical dimension with the institutional, technological, social and organizational proximity. The analysis is implemented for an ample dataset referring to 276 regions in 29 European countries (EU27 plus Norway, Switzerland) over the last decade. Results show that human capital and R&D are clearly essential for innovative activity with the former being much more effective in driving the production of knowledge. As for the proximity and network effects, we find that technological proximity outperforms the geographic one, whilst a limited role is played by social and organizational networks. As a result, the first policy message is that European regions still need to focus on policies aimed at increasing the endowments of well-educated labour force and therefore their knowledge base. Furthermore, we need innovation policies based on each region's specific innovation potential, due to the existing differences in geographical, cognitive, institutional, social and organizational structures and networks.     

Why does monetary policy respond to the real exchange rate in small open economies? A Bayesian perspective

To estimate how monetary policy works in small open economies, we build a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that incorporates the basic features of these economies. We conclude that the monetary policy in a group of small open economies (including Australia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and New Zealand) is rather similar to that observed in closed economies. Our results also indicate, however, that there are strong differences due to the shocks from the international financial markets (mainly risk premium shocks). These differences explain most of the variability of the real exchange rate, which has important reallocation effects in the short run. Our results are consistent with an old idea from the Mundell–Fleming model: namely, a real depreciation to confront a risk premium shock is expansive or procyclical, in contradiction to the predictions of the balance sheet effect, the J curve effect, and the introduction of working capital into RBC models. In line with this last result, we have strong evidence that only in one of the five countries analyzed in this study does not intervene the real exchange rate, the case of New Zealand.     

Does belief in objective morality lead to coercion? An analysis of the arguments of Kelsen and Buchanan

Two leading scholars of the 20th century – Hans Kelsen and James Buchanan – both suggested that belief in an objective morality entails a disparaging attitude towards political and individual freedom. The main point was similar: Why let people decide for themselves, whether in politics or ordinary life, if what is objectively right is known? This paper presents their arguments and evaluates them, both by specifying three conditions that need to be met for the arguments to hold (the objective morality must be believed to be known, a belief in a known morality must entail a motivation to see it followed and the content of the known morality must not block coercion) and by relating them to recent experimental research (which nevertheless provides some empirical support).     

Does site-of-care for oncology infusion therapy influence treatment patterns,cost, and quality in the United States?

Background: The increase in hospital acquisition of community oncology clinics in the US has led to a shift in the site-of-care (SOC) for infusion therapy from the physician office (PO) to the hospital outpatient (HO) setting.

Objective: To investigate differences by SOC in treatment patterns, quality, and cost among patients with cancer undergoing first-line infusion therapy.

Research design and methods: This retrospective analysis identified adult patients from Humana medical claims who initiated infusion therapy from 2008–2012 for five common cancer types in which infusion therapy is likely, including early stage breast cancer; metastatic breast, lung, and colorectal cancers; and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Differences by SOC in first-line treatment patterns and quality of care at end-of-life, defined as infusions or hospitalizations 30 days prior to death, were evaluated using Wilcoxon-Rank Sum and Chi-square tests where appropriate. Differences in cost by SOC were evaluated using risk-adjusted generalized linear models.

Main outcome measures: Treatment patterns, quality of care at end of life, healthcare costs.

Results: There were differences in duration of therapy and number of infusions for some therapy regimens by SOC, in which patients in the HO had shorter duration of therapy and fewer infusions. There were no differences in quality of care at end-of-life by SOC. Total healthcare costs were 15% higher among patients in HO ($55,965) compared with PO ($48,439), p?<?.0001.

Limitations: Analyses was restricted to a claims-based population of cancer patients within a health plan.

Conclusion: This study, in an older, predominantly Medicare Advantage oncology cohort, found differences by SOC in treatment patterns and cost, but not quality. Where differences were found, patients receiving care in the HO had shorter duration of therapy and fewer infusions for specific treatment regimens, but higher healthcare costs than those treated in a PO.     

Does possessing an installed base induce a proprietary software producer to act aggressively or mildly in pricing and intrinsic quality provision?

This paper investigates competition between open-source software (OSS) and proprietary software (PS) which possesses an installed base. We find that an increase in PS installed base does not necessarily induce the PS producer to increase price or reduce intrinsic quality. Specifically, if OSS is weakly (moderately) compatible with PS, then an increase in PS installed base induces the PS producer to invest less (more) in intrinsic quality. Regarding the price of PS, if OSS is highly compatible with PS possessing a large installed base, then an increase in installed base induces the PS producer to sell products for a lower price.     

What and How Long Does It Take to Get Tenure? The Case of Economics and Business Administration in Austria,Germany and Switzerland

Abstract. This paper investigates the determinants of tenure decisions in Germany, Austria and the German‐speaking part of Switzerland for professorships in economics, business administration and related fields. Our dataset comprises candidates who were awarded tenure as well as those who were eligible but were not tenured. We show that business candidates have a higher probability of being tenured than economists. Youth, marital status and publications matter; gender and children do not. The market for first appointments in economics relies much more on publication performance than the market for business administration.     

A critique of the paper by Kanabar,R. and Simmons,P. (2016), ‘To defer or not to defer? UK state pension and work decisions in a lifecycle model’, Applied Economics, 48, 58, 5699-5716

We suggest corrections to the paper by Kanabar and Simmons and provide analyses for deriving the internal rate of return arising from a UK state pension deferral decision and for an actuarially fair deferral scheme.