MNEs and corruption: the impact of national institutions and subsidiary strategy

We argue that the pressure MNE subsidiaries face to engage in corrupt practices in their host country varies positively with the institutionalization of corrupt practices in both host and home country environments. We further argue that the relationship between an MNE's home country environment and the pressure it faces in the host country is moderated by its localization strategy. Results suggest a positive relationship between the host country corruption environment and the pressure subsidiaries face to engage in bribery locally. Mixed results emerged concerning MNEs from home countries participating in the OECD Convention for Combating Bribery. Results concerning the impact of the home country corruption environment are best viewed in light of significant moderating effects. When MNEs did not have local partners, firms from less corrupt home countries reported less pressure to engage in corrupt practices locally; however, the presence of local partners eliminated this relationship. Results will help managers understand the pressures their firm is likely to face when operating in corrupt host country environments, and also offer guidance concerning how the firm might reduce its exposure to those local institutional pressures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Significant Is Sub‐Saharan Africa's Demographic Dividend for Its Future Growth and Poverty Reduction?

Sub‐Saharan Africa will be undergoing substantial demographic changes over the next 15 years with the rising working‐age share of its population. The opportunity of African countries to convert these changes into demographic dividends for growth and poverty reduction will depend on several factors. The outlook will likely be good if African countries can continue the gains already made under better institutions and policies, particularly those affecting the productivity of labor, such as educational outcomes. If African countries can continue to build on the hard‐won development gains, the demographic dividend could account for 11–15% of gross domestic product (GDP) volume growth by 2030, while accounting for 40–60 million fewer poor in 2030. The gains can become more substantial with better educational outcomes that allow African countries to catch up to other developing countries. If the skill share of Africa's labor supply doubles because of improvements in educational attainment, from 25 to about 50% between 2011 and 2030, then the demographic dividends can expand the regional economy additionally by 22% by 2030 relative to the base case and reduce poverty by an additional 51 million people.     

Interregional Migration and Thresholds: Evidence from Spain

We analyse the effects of labour market factors on interregional migration in Spain for the period 1988–2010. A basic theoretical framework is developed, suggesting that the effect of labour market variables on migration varies, depending on a certain threshold. The model implications are tested using a new approach based on the presence of endogenous thresholds. We show that Spanish interregional migration can be explained by labour market variables when the labour market conditions at the source region are unfavourable relative to those of the host region. We test the results for several migrant characteristics, such as citizenship, the age range, and return migration.

Migration inter-régionale et seuils - résultats de la recherche en Espagne     

Before ‘Independence’ Arrived: Interdependence in Energy Relations between Lithuania and Russia

This paper analyses energy relations concerning natural gas between Lithuania and Russia. Contrary to the existing literature, which stresses Lithuanian energy dependence, this paper argues that there had been interdependence between the two countries even before Lithuania underwent diversification at the end of 2014. The paper develops an analytical framework that examines: (a) physical energy relations, (b) the dominance of the energy agenda in mutual relations, and (c) the influence of the European Union. The analysis shows that while Lithuania was dependent on Russian supplies of natural gas, Russia was also dependent on Lithuania as a transit country of gas to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave. Although Russia has shown a much higher willingness to employ an energy weapon than Lithuania, its efforts to exercise pressure on Lithuania have been negatively affected by the Baltic state’s position as a transit country. The European Union has played a crucial role as its pre-accession requirements and internal energy market rules have significantly influenced the energy relationship between the two countries.     

Incidence,effects, dynamics and routes out of overqualification in Europe: a comprehensive analysis distinguishing by employment status

This study aims to improve our understanding of overqualification by incorporating distinctions in employment status (i.e. self-employed workers, private employees and public employees) in the analysis of the incidence, effects, dynamics and routes out of overqualification. To this end, we apply discrete choice – ordered and nonordered – and count models to the data obtained from the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15. Our results indicate that the incidence of overqualification varies by employment status, where self-employed workers report the lowest occurrence. Furthermore, this analysis suggests that overqualification is a permanent phenomenon and demonstrates that successful pathways out of overqualification differ by employment status. The implications of these results for education and labour market policies are also discussed.     

An application of co-word analysis and bibliometric maps for detecting the most highlighting themes in the consumer behaviour research from a longitudinal perspective

This article presents an application of a bibliometric and visual study of the research carried out on a social science subfield, concretely the consumer behaviour research (CBR), from a longitudinal perspective (period 1966–2008). The study combines performance analysis and science mapping for detecting and visualizing conceptual subdomains. Quantitative and qualitative measures are used in order to identify the most prominent themes. Quantitative data are used to put together very related concepts (themes or clusters of topics), while qualitative indicators (as those based on citations) are used to measure the quality and/or impact of the detected themes. The study also uses bibliometric maps to show in a visual way the associations between the main concepts treated by the CBR community. The maps provide insight into the structure of the CBR, visualize the division of the field into several subfields, and indicate the relationships between these subfields. Co-word analysis is the bibliometric technique used to identify the main themes. All this allows us to quantify and visualize the thematic evolution of the CBR. It also helps to both experts and novices to understand the current state of the art of the CBR and to predict where future research could lead.     

Single currency and fiscal performance: the early Euro Area in perspective

We examine how exchange rate regimes affect fiscal discipline by investigating European countries as they transitioned from flexible to fully fixed exchange rates under the Euro. We apply the synthetic control method to estimate, for each Eurozone country, its counterfactual budget stance under flexible rates. Our evidence strongly suggests that fixing exchange rates negatively impacted negatively fiscal discipline. However, effects were not homogeneous, as they were mediated by political factors. For example, countries where policymakers faced a longer political horizon and operated within a more cohesive political environment, managed to perform better in terms of fiscal discipline.     

Field Experiments in a Course on Behavioral Economics: Nudging Students Around Campus

In experiential education, the student learns through experience by observing a concept or phenomenon and applying this knowledge in a real-world context. A research project conducted by undergraduate students at a U.S. private liberal arts college is described in this article. The project provided opportunity for students to think about their decision-making processes, compare them to existing literature, and apply this knowledge in examining their own hypotheses through primary data collection on campus. While the research design's simplicity ensured that the project could be completed in time for a final grade and sacrificed lecture material in favor of feedback opportunities, this behavioral field experiment was a rewarding experience because of students’ enthusiasm and their ability to defend and think critically of their own ideas.     

The poor outside the lamplight: on the prevalence of poverty among population groups not included in household surveys

Poverty rate calculations are often based on household surveys that exclude some of the groups most vulnerable to poverty such as the homeless. This paper documents the nature of the excluded groups and the quantitative importance of their omission for the Czech Republic. Our study combines European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for 2011 with information from the 2011 Population Census. Our preferred estimate indicates an increase in the poverty rate by almost one percentage point. The paper contributes to accurately identifying the most vulnerable members of the society, which is essential for setting effective social policies.     

Do People Accurately Anticipate Sanctions?

We provide lab data from four different games that allow us to study whether people have accurate expectations regarding monetary sanctions (punishment/reward) and nonmonetary sanctions (disapproval/approval). Although the strength of the sanction is always predicted with some error (particularly in the case of monetary sanctions), we observe that (i) most subjects anticipate correctly the sign of the average sanction, (ii) expectations covary with sanctions, (iii) the average expectation is very often not significantly different than the average actual sanction, and (iv) the errors exhibit no systematic bias, except in those situations where rewards are frequent. In this line, we find some evidence that punishment is better anticipated than rewards.