Market structure and performance in intellectual property: The case of copyright collectives

Copyright collectives are associations to whom authors transfer copyrights for purposes of exploitation. These collectives grant licenses for the use of works in their repertory, they negotiate and collect royalties which they distribute to their members and they take legal actions against those who infringe the copyrights to which they hold title. This paper investigates the consequences of the formation of collectives on the number of copyrighted works produced and circulation of these works in the framework of a model of joint production. Welfare issues are also addressed.     

Foreign dependence of individual stock prices: The role of aggregate product market developments

In this paper, we analyze the role of aggregate variables in the transmission from international stock price developments to individual domestic stock prices in a small open stock market. In particular, a theoretical and econometric model is used to determine whether international aggregate product market developments explain observed differences in foreign dependence among individual Belgian stocks. The results suggest that, except for the stocks of some internationally oriented companies, expected international production is not the most important explanatory variable and that an estimation model of aggregate fundamentals explains only part of individual stock price adjustments.     

Input Hedging,Output Hedging,and Market Power

We argue that commodity input hedging is different from commodity output hedging. Output hedging can be detrimental to “sector play.” Furthermore, firms with market power that hedge outputs have incentives to over‐produce and distort market prices. In rational markets, such hedging will be expensive and we expect to see a negative relationship between hedging and market power in “output industries” but not in “input industries.” We test these predictions on a sample of S&P500 firms from 2001 to 2005. Our results support both hypotheses. Placebo tests show that the same empirical regularities do not apply to currency hedging. Finally, our empirical framework, which differentiates between hedging inputs and hedging outputs, can also help in reconciling conflicting results in prior studies.     

Financial distress and non‐executive director compensation: Evidence from state‐owned enterprises in South Africa post King III

Using a sample of South African state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), we examine the pre‐ and post‐period impact of King III on non‐executive director (NED) compensation with emphasis on financially distressed SOEs. This paper adopts a difference‐in‐differences analysis technique with repeated measures as the basis for testing the hypotheses. The revised Altman Z‐score model which incorporates features unique to emerging markets is used to measure financial distress. Our findings indicate that SOEs that adopted King III will increase NED compensation when the firm has a positive performance and will severely penalize NED when the firm faces financial distress. This study highlights the importance of well‐crafted corporate governance policies. It further sheds light on the importance of King III and how its implementation may prove vital for the success of an enterprise.     

SALCUSTOR: A Multidimensional Scale for Salespersons’ Customer Orientation and Implications for Customer-Oriented Selling: Empirical Evidence From India

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have highlighted the limitations in the applicability of the selling-versus-customer orientation scale as a measure of a salesperson's customer orientation. Therefore, few scholars call for new research on identifying the underlying dimensions of customer-oriented selling and for developing a new scale. This study provides a new conceptualization of a salesperson's customer orientation and develops and validates a multidimensional scale to measure it. This scale, SALCUSTOR, uses multiple samples of data from salespersons from India. SALCUSTOR assesses the degree to which a salesperson (a) provides relevant and correct information to his/her customers, (b) understands and learns the underlying needs of the customers, and (c) maintains relationships with customers and thinks about their long-term benefits. We establish the reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of SALCUSTOR. Managers can use SALCUSTOR to identify specific gaps in the three dimensions of customer-oriented selling behaviors of the salespersons, using appropriate intervention strategies.     

Battling the informal settlement challenge through sustainable city framework: experiences and lessons from Harare,Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

This study examines the efficacy of adopting the sustainable city framework as an urban planning agenda with a view to addressing the dilemma of informal settlements in Harare, Zimbabwe. Data were collected through document review which was triangulated with key informant interviews. Thematic and content analysis was then used to analyse the data. The results of the study show that informal settlements in Harare are a result of a multiplicity of factors which include political economy, uncoordinated planning, invasion of land by land barons and inappropriate planning ideologies. The planning approaches to address informal settlements also tends to be too harsh at times when evictions are used though there are some instances where it is commendable-regularisation by UDC. The study recommends the adoption of planning approaches that conform to the local realities in Harare as well as considering the sustainable cities framework.     

The ATO Longitudinal Information Files (ALife): A New Resource for Retirement Policy Research

The Australian Taxation Office release of annual longitudinally linked individual tax and superannuation records, known as the ATO Longitudinal Information Files (ALife), opens up opportunities for new research. In this study, we provide an overview of ALife, focusing on its use for retirement income research. To this end, we provide the first longitudinal estimates of superannuation outcomes for 1-year birth cohorts. Results show marked increase in disparity of super balances in the lead-up to retirement as those in the top quartile ramp-up their contributions, possibly to take advantage of the favourable tax treatment of superannuation income in retirement years.     

China's impact on South African trade and inflation

There has been much controversy about the impact of Chinese growth on the rest of the world. It is generally accepted that China has a dampening effect on global inflation through the supply of cheap products. On the other hand, imports from China could displace domestic production and hence have adverse effects on economic growth and employment. Thus, the question of whether a country benefits from trading with China is a country-specific issue. The results in this paper indicate that limited short-term costs have resulted from the strengthening of trade relations between South Africa and China. As far as inflation is concerned, the paper does not find convincing empirical evidence at the aggregate level for inflation in China leading to domestic price changes. At the disaggregate level, however, there appear to be stronger sector-specific linkages between prices in China and South Africa.     

Probabilistic causality

Necessity and Sufficiency are two of the most important concepts in science. Indeed, they are the basis for establishing causal relationships between factors, variables, etc.