Endogenous Growth and Publicly Funded Knowledge Accumulation

We investigate a centrally planned, infinite horizon, single good economy in which new knowledge is generated in a separate R&D sector with government subsidy. The rate of growth of new ideas is assumed to be linear in the amount of labor devoted to R&D. Perpetual growth in per capita output and consumption is sustained by the spillover effects of knowledge creation. Using an isoelastic social welfare function and a general production function, the unique balanced growth path is characterized and the conditions for balanced growth to take place derived. In analyzing standard balanced growth, we demonstrate that so long as physical capital and knowledge grow at some arbitrarily constant rates along an optimal time path, the two rates must necessarily be equal. Using a Cobb–Douglas production function, the dynamic evolution of the economy is explicitly described in closed form for each state and control variables. In particular, it is shown that the economy either (i) attains the balanced growth path from the initial time, or (ii) converges monotonically to the balanced growth path. An asymptotic balanced growth path along which labor input in manufacturing tends to zero in the long run is ruled out by the tranversality condition on knowledge.     

Intrinsic motivations, self-esteem, and luxury goods consumption

Despite the dramatic growth of the luxury market over the past two decades, luxury consumer research remains fragmentary and scant. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigates consumers' intrinsic motivations for purchasing luxury goods. Data were collected from 587 consumers and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that consumers who are primarily intrinsically motivated tend to purchase luxury products for superior quality and self-directed pleasure. The findings also demonstrate that self-esteem, an important concept in psychology and consumer behavior but rarely studied in luxury research, relates strongly to self-directed pleasure.     

“Informing” technologies and the World Bank

The current study examines how the World Bank uses an assemblage of information generation and reporting practices, bounded by accounting/financial expertises, to attempt to influence the practices associated with administering education in Latin America. Starting from the premise that these “informing” technologies make the objects of governance knowable in terms of accounting and financial expertises, we consider how accounting practices embedded within lending agreements enable, translate and regulate behaviour. Focusing on the institutional field(s) of basic education, the study offers an in-depth analysis of 15 World Bank loan agreements from across the region, plus 25 interviews with field participants from a single Latin American country. We examine how the World Bank lending agreements install a variety of informing technologies across a network of agents in Latin America. We propose that such agreements can be viewed as technologies of governance in that they diffuse financial technologies to distant fields, re-structure the habitus of these fields, and serve to reaffirm the expertise of the Bank within these fields. In this way, the World Bank increases its legitimacy with other potential borrower countries and ensures its continuing influence.     

Credible Carbon Policy

The paper sets out the credibility problem in carbon policy,provides a number of examples of non-credibility in recent energypolicy, and identifies the costs of failing to address it. Thetime inconsistency of carbon policy—arising because ofmultiple objectives, the irreversibility of energy investments,and the scope for ex-post reneging on ex-ante commitments toset policy instruments, such as carbon taxes or emission permits,at appropriate levels—is set in a conceptual framework.Analogies with monetary policy are drawn, and a solution tothe time-inconsistency problem is proposed through the establishmentof an energy/carbon agency.     

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL DEBT

The treatment of debt in conventional economic theory is considered and compared with recent writings on the economics of self-control and cognitive dissonance. The paper considers factors influencing the level of debt, conditional on debt being greater than zero and goes on to report a multivariate analysis of a sample of individuals in this position. The data comes from the case records of money advisers in Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABS) in Staffordshire. The amount of debt is found to be correlated with indicators of life cycle and a measure of the exercise of self-control.     

Subjective fit with organizational culture: an investigation of moderating effects in the work stressor-employee adjustment relationship

Occupational stress has been a concern for human resource managers in light of research investigating the work stressor-employee adjustment relationship. This research has consistently demonstrated many negative effects between stressors in the workplace and employee adjustment. A considerable amount of literature also describes potential moderators of this relationship. Subjective fit with organizational culture has been established as a significant predictor of employee job-related attitudes; however, research has neglected investigation of the potential moderating effect of subjective fit in the work stressor-employee adjustment process. It was predicted that perceptions of subjective fit with the organization's values and goals would mitigate the negative effect of work stressors on employee adjustment in an employee sample from three organizations (N = 256). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed support for the stress-buffering effects of high subjective fit in the prediction of physical symptoms, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Budget impact of pasireotide for the treatment of Cushing’s disease,a rare endocrine disorder associated with considerable comorbidities

Objectives:

Cushing’s disease (CD) is a rare condition with a prevalence of roughly 39 cases per million in the general population. Healthcare costs are substantial for CD patients with either untreated or inadequately controlled disease. This study assesses the 3-year budget impact of pasireotide on a US managed care health plan following pasireotide (Signifor) availability.

Methods:

Two scenarios were evaluated to understand the differences in costs associated with the introduction of pasireotide. The first scenario evaluates the budget impact of pasireotide from the perspective of an entire health plan (total budget impact) and the second from the perspective of the pharmacy budget (pharmacy budget impact). Both scenarios evaluate the annual incremental budget impact with and without pasireotide. Scenario 1 includes costs for medical procedures, drug therapies, monitoring, surgical complications, comorbidities for patients with controlled or uncontrolled CD, and adverse events. Procedures include transsphenoidal surgery, bilateral adrenalectomy, radiotherapy and radiosurgery. Drugs include pasireotide (indicated for CD), mifepristone (indicated to control hyperglycemia secondary to hypercortisolism in patients with Cushing’s syndrome) as well as several off-label treatments (ketoconazole, cabergoline, mitotane). Scenario 2 considers costs solely from the perspective of a health plan pharmacy. Costs are in $2013.

Results:

The estimated total budget impact is $0.0115 per-member per-month (PMPM) in the first year following FDA approval, $0.0184 in the second year, and $0.0194 in the third year. Introduction of pasireotide is expected to increase the pharmacy budget by $0.0257 PMPM in the first year, $0.0363 in the second year, and $0.0360 in the third year.

Limitations:

Model inputs rely on the small body of literature available for Cushing’s disease.

Conclusions:

Cushing’s disease is severe disease with debilitating comorbidities and substantial healthcare costs when untreated or inadequately controlled. The inclusion of pasireotide in a health plan formulary appears to have only a small impact on the total health plan or pharmacy budget.     

Index Future Trading and Spot Market Volatility in Frontier Markets: Evidence from Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange

Asia-Pacific Financial Markets - This study investigates the impact of index futures trading on the spot market volatility for Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE). The data used in this study are...