Third-Degree Price Discrimination: Apology not Necessary _ Comment

In this comment, we note that the analysis in Lopez and Molina (2010) is subject to a number of mistakes and various unjustifiable assumptions.     

Second-order analysis of inhomogeneous spatio-temporal point process data

Second-order methods provide a natural starting point for the analysis of spatial point process data. In this note we extend to the spatio-temporal setting a method proposed by B addeley   et al. [ Statistica Neerlandica (2000) Vol. 54, pp. 329–350 ] for inhomogeneous spatial point process data, and apply the resulting estimator to data on the spatio-temporal distribution of human Campylobacter infections in an area of north-west England.     

Actual share repurchases,timing and liquidity

Research on the impact of open market share repurchases has been hindered by the lack of data available on actual share repurchases in many countries, including the US. Using a previously unused database containing detailed information on 36,848 repurchases made by 352 French firms, we show that corporate share repurchases have a significant adverse effect on liquidity as measured by bid–ask spread or depth. Our results also indicate that share repurchases largely reflect contrarian trading rather than managerial timing ability.     

Microfinance and households access to credit: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

Evidence on microfinance services these days ironically shows a great preference for savings products rather than credit products by households. For some authors, this phenomenon is explained by the fact that microfinance products, and especially loans, from formal microfinance institutions do not fit the households demand. This paper first presents evidence on the observed phenomenon in the Ivorian microfinance sector. Second, it analyses the Ivorian credit market so as to understand the determinants of the choice for credits from formal sources versus informal sources. The results reveal the size of the loan, agricultural purpose, the geographical area where households live and ethnicity as factors influencing the choice for formal sources.     

El efecto Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson El caso de México

This paper discusses the Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson (HBS) effect in Mexico during the period 1970-2009. In so doing, we use an econometric model that incorporates structural changes. The results achieved in this research suggest that the HBS effect does not hold in the case of Mexico and the United States during this period, and thus it was not statistically corroborated that the different rates of productivity growth in the tradable and non tradable goods between these countries affected the real exchange rate.     

THE SEARCH FOR THE COST OF PRODUCTION, 1914-30

The Agriculture Act 1920, provided for British fanners from the the the autumn of 1921 guaranteed minimum prices for wheat and oats which were to be adjusted year by year in accordance with changes in ‘the cost of production’ from those recorded for the base year 1919. In preparation for this task, the agricultural departments of the United Kingdom established an Agricultural Costings Committee under a director and deputy director at Whitehall, and with 26 costings officers among the farmers in the counties. And here begins the official research into agricultural economics in this country, as distinct from the academic. For although the Agriculture Act 1920 was repealed in 1921 just before it came into force and the Costings Committee was disbanded at the same time, the collection and analysis of farming costs was soon revived by the institution of the advisory economics service. The present paper describes the events which led up to the Agricultural Costings Committee and the continuing search for ‘the cost of production’ by the agricultural economists in the early days of the advisory service.     

THE MECHANISATION OF BRITISH FARMING, 1910–1945

Both tractors and milking machines were available to British farmers from the early 19OO's, but the mechanisation of field work and of dairy farming was not general until the 1950's. This paper discusses the technical difficulties of early forms of farm machinery, and the reorganisation of farm work which was required to use the machinery efficiently. Tractors were at first adopted for heavy work, thus easing the pressure on, and increasing the efficiency of, the horses. It was not until after the second world war that tractors and their implements became sufficiently reliable and versatile to supplant horses in all farm operations and to change an important constraint upon the structure of farms and the methods of working them.     

Localisation of Japanese subsidiaries in Southeast Asia

The success story of Japanese firms, both in their home country and their overseas subsidiaries, has been the focus of comparative management research in the 1970s and early 1980s. Several scholars attributed the impressive productivity gains in Japanese industries to the basic principles of Japanese management. Further, they advocated the adoption of these principles by American and European businesses to solve employee morale and productivity problems. However, in recent years, the validity of the “happy worker” hypothesis in explaining the effectiveness of Japanese management has been seriously questioned. In fact, the results of several empirical studies indicate that Japanese firms are facing manpower management problems both at home and in their overseas subsidiaries. The main purpose of this article is to identify and discuss the Japanese management problems of overseas subsidiaries, based on several empirical studies of Japanese overseas subsidiaries undertaken by the authors of this article and other scholars during the last 17 years (1968 to 1985). These studies are:

Localisation Problems of Japanese Subsidiaries Overseas: A Comparative Study in Southeast-Asian Countries.

A comparative study of American, Japanese and local firms in Taiwan.

A comparative study of American, European and Japanese multinationals' subsidiaries in Brazil, Peru, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

A comparative study of American, German, and Japanese multinations in the United States, Western European countries, Australia, and Japan.

A comparative study of upper-level Japanese and American managers of subsidiaries of Japanese firms in the United States.

A comparative study of subsidiaries of American and Japanese multinationals in Singapore.

An intensive case study of a Japanese subsidiary in Australia.

     

Feedback trading in exchange-rate markets: Evidence from within and across economic blocks

This paper examines the pattern of autocorrelation of exchange rates in the EU, ASEAN, and NAFTA. We find no feedback trading within blocks among developed financial markets’ currencies, but it exists for less developed financial markets. Across blocks, no feedback trading is found. ASEAN currencies are an exception on both counts. When present, feedback trading is a destabilizing factor, and it takes place during rising volatility. Finally, the prevalence of negative feedback trading suggests that, in spite of the recent addition of new players into the market, such as mutual funds and hedge funds, the foreign exchange market is mainly influenced by informed players and/or central banks which intervene to protect their currencies.