Shareholder bonding in financial mutuals: An exploratory study of the relative effects of altruism and agency

It is argued that cooperatives allow for the increased use of more informal methods of control than those found in non-cooperative organizations. The extent to which these informal controls can be utilized may depend on the strength of shareholder bonding, the determinants of which are, inter alia, peer group pressure and altruism. Peculiar cooperative organizational arrangements might be associated with differential agency costs, however formal recognition of the role of altruism in economic behaviour provides a direct alternative to agency theory.     

The Economics of Software Development by Pair Programmers

Evidence suggests that pair programmers–two programmers working collaboratively on the same design, algorithm, code, or test–perform substantially better than the two would working alone. Improved quality, teamwork, communication, knowledge management, and morale have been among the reported benefits of pair programming. This paper presents a comparative economic evaluation that strengthens the case for pair programming. The evaluation builds on the quantitative results of an empirical study conducted at the University of Utah. The evaluation is performed by interpreting these findings in the context of two different, idealized models of value realization. In the first model, consistent with the traditional waterfall process of software development, code produced by a development team is deployed in a single increment; its value is not realized until the full project completion. In the second model, consistent with agile software development processes such as Extreme Programming, code is produced and delivered in small increments; thus its value is realized in an equally incremental fashion. Under both models, our analysis demonstrates a distinct economic advantage of pair programmers over solo programmers. Based on these preliminary results, we recommend that organizations engaged in software development consider adopting pair programming as a practice that could improve their bottom line. To be able to perform quantitative analyses, several simplifying assumptions had to be made regarding alternative models of software development, the costs and benefits associated with these models, and how these costs and benefits are recognized. The implications of these assumptions are addressed in the paper.     

The use of digital footprints in the US mortgage market

We study the rise of digital footprint (DF) users in the U.S. residential mortgage market. The proportion of lenders that use a borrower's DF has witnessed remarkable growth from 6% in 2013 to 34% in 2018 in a short span – according to our analysis. We show that the use of DFs can significantly reduce a lender's overall risk and that the use of DFs can result in considerable societal benefits, by reducing the overall discriminatory forces. In sum, we provide evidence that the informational advantage associated with using a borrower's DF far outweighs that of existing traditional lending methods.     

Behind the ‘creative destruction’ of human diets: An analysis of the structure and market dynamics of the ultra-processed food manufacturing industry and implications for public health

A global transition towards diets increasingly dominated by ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has occurred in recent decades to the detriment of public health and the environment. This study aimed to examine long-term trends in the structure and market dynamics of the global UPF manufacturing industry as part of broader efforts to understand the drivers of this transition. Using diverse methods, metrics and data sources, we examined several dimensions (e.g., industry concentration and profitability) according to an adapted structure–conduct–performance model. We found that the global UPF manufacturing industry has evolved to become a major component of global food systems, with its longstanding dominant corporations becoming some of the system's largest accumulators of profit and distributors of capital. It follows that reversing the global UPF dietary transition will require structural and regulatory changes to ensure that population diets, and food systems more broadly, are not subordinated to the interests of powerful for-profit business corporations.     

Clustering and compatibility between tourism attractions

Cumulative attraction or compatibility is a powerful factor in locational decisions of retail outlets, but it has received little attention in the tourism literature. Existing studies largely ignore the impact of spatial and thematic clustering on compatibility between tourism businesses. This research questions whether and how spatial and thematic clustering are related to tourist movements between visitor attractions. The study in Cornwall, England, is based on in‐depth interviews with tourist attraction managers and key informants, complemented by a survey of 435 tourists. It provides insights into the relationship between the nature of the tourism product, spatial clustering and tourism behaviour. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of labor market interventions on reducing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper evaluates whether different labor market policy interventions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been effective in reducing its adverse impacts. We construct a database covering 165 countries and 39 labor market interventions grouped into four pillars: stimulating the economy and jobs (pillar 1); supporting enterprises, employment, and incomes (pillar 2); protecting workers (pillar 3); and social dialogue (pillar 4). The results revealed that measures taken under pillars 1, 2, and 3 have reduced the impacts of the pandemic on economic growth; measures under pillar 4 were significantly associated with reducing its impacts on employment and those under pillar 2 with reducing its impacts on working hours.