Workers' Views of the Impact of Trade on Jobs

This article uses new data to examine how workers' perceptions of the impact of trade on jobs like theirs are related to economic variables representing their career paths, job characteristics, and local labor market conditions. We find that only 17 percent of workers think trade creates jobs. And even fewer workers (4–7 percent) in any industry think trade has created better jobs. We find that workers' perceptions do not reflect their job characteristics or the movability of their jobs. Their perceptions of trade primarily reflect local labor market conditions (hiring and separation rates) and education. The determinants of workers' perceptions of trade present a different pattern compared with their perceptions of job security.     

A rolling stone gathers no moss: the effect of customers' perceived business model innovativeness on customer value co‐creation behavior and customer satisfaction in the service sector

Both researchers and practitioners have been focusing extensively on business model innovation, as it has shown to positively influence business performance. Although the effect of business model innovativeness on customer behavior might be an important mediator between business model innovation and business performance, it has not yet been analyzed. In line with recent calls to consider the customer side in business model innovation research, our paper addresses this problem by studying the influence of customers' perceived business model innovativeness (CPBMI) on customer satisfaction and customer value co‐creation behavior in the service sector. We, therefore, emphasize customers' perceptions and reactions to business model changes. Relying on data from a large‐scale survey of restaurant customers, we find that perceived value creation innovativeness and value proposition innovativeness positively affect customer satisfaction and customer value co‐creation behavior. In addition, we identify a significant indirect effect of CPBMI on customer satisfaction via customer value co‐creation behavior. Our findings allow deriving concrete implications for both researchers and practitioners.     

Market Power,Industrial Organization and Tradeable Quotas

Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) wereintroduced into the Mid-Atlantic Surf Clam and OceanQuahog fishery to reduce over-capitalization whileconserving clam populations. Because the number ofoperators in the fishery declined drastically sincethe introduction of this policy, there is concernabout its effect on competitiveness. This paperutilizes Bertrand Pricing Models to show thatmonopoly power is absent from the surf clam andocean quahog markets. Concentration ratios, Lorenzcurves and Gini Coefficients estimated for thefishery for periods before and after ITQintroduction support the results of the Bertrand model.     

Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems

This paper explores how organisations balance controlling and enabling uses of management control systems (MCS), and how this balance facilitates the creation of dynamic tensions and unique organisational capabilities. By employing Simons’ (1995) levers of control framework in a case study setting, the paper investigates the challenges faced by senior managers when they use MCS simultaneously to direct and empower. The findings indicate a number of factors – internal consistency, logical progression, historical tendency, dominance, and suppression – that impact the capacity of organisations to balance different uses of MCS. The interactive lever of control also plays a significant role in achieving and sustaining a balance between controlling and enabling uses of MCS, and its impact on the other levers is seen to constitute a unique organisational capability in its own right. The findings from this study offer an elaboration of how dynamic tensions are created through managers’ attempts to balance controlling and enabling uses of MCS.     

FISCAL POLICY AND AGGREGATE CONSUMPTION: NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

In this paper we estimate the marginal rate of substitution between aggregate per-capita consumption and per-capita government expenditure on goods and services using US quarterly data over the period 1953 to 1993. This estimate is an important input to any attempt to assess the overall effectiveness of fiscal policy since it directly affects the size of the fiscal policy multiplier. Other recent consumption studies which incorporate the effects of government expenditure have failed to establish a stable estimate of the marginal rate of substitution. We argue that this failure results from imposing the unrealistic assumption that this parameter is constant. In contrast, we allow the marginal rate of substitution to depend on both the level and composition of government spending.     

Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: the importance of portfolio yield

In this paper, we examine the interaction between social outreach and financial return in microfinance. Running multivariate regression models and using 1,805 observations of microfinance institutions between 2004 and 2013, we find strong evidence suggesting that institutions with more social engagement – in terms of outreach to the poor – earn higher portfolio yields. We also find that measures of outreach are associated with increased operating expenses. As return figures are influenced by both costs and yield, and because both increase to a similar degree with the depth of outreach, these two effects lead to a zero sum result on return measures. This finding could explain why existing studies assessing the interaction between social outreach and different measures of financial performance in microfinance (such as return on assets/equity, operating expenses, operational self-sufficiency) have not produced consistent results.     

A discrete-choice experiment to assess treatment modality preferences of patients with anxiety disorder

Aims: The aim of this study was to elicit the preference of patients with an anxiety disorder regarding treatment modalities. Understanding patients’ preferences could help optimize treatment uptake and adherence to therapeutic interventions.

Materials and methods: A discrete-choice experiment was used to elicit patients’ preferences with regard to four treatment characteristics: waiting time until first treatment, intensity of treatment, face-to-face vs digital treatment, and group size. In 12 choice sets, participants were asked to choose between two treatment alternatives. A random parameters logit model was used to analyse the data.

Results: A total of 126 participants, aged 18?years and older, currently or in the previous year in treatment for an anxiety disorder, completed the survey. Respondents preferred short (over long) waiting times, face-to-face (over digital) treatment, individual (over group) treatment and a treatment intensity of one session per week rather than two sessions per week or one session every two weeks. Waiting time and treatment intensity were substantially less important to patients than level of digitalization and group size. Heterogeneity in preference was significant for each attribute, and sub-group analyses revealed this was partly related to education level and age.

Limitations: The convenience sample over-represented the female and younger population, limiting generalizability. Limited information on background characteristics limited the possibilities to explore preference heterogeneity.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated how different treatment components for anxiety disorders affect patients’ preferences for those treatments. There is significant variation in treatment preferences, even after accounting for age and education. Incorporating patients’ preferences into treatment decisions could potentially lead to improved adherence of treatments for anxiety disorders.     

The importance of sample selection: An instructional resource using U.S. presidential elections

The purpose of this instructional resource is to use a non-auditing situation, predicting the election of the President of the United States, to help students understand the importance of sample selection in drawing inferences about a population. Of particular focus are the importance of understanding the characteristics of the population, using the appropriate sampling unit, the risks of drawing incorrect inferences about a population, and the power and limitations of sampling. These sampling-selection concepts are also applied to a routine auditing task: the confirmation of accounts receivable.