Voucher privatization: implications for macroeconomic policy1

This paper analyses the impact of voucher privatization schemes on the behaviour of households and the consequences for macroeconomic policy. The stylized facts of the voucher privatization scheme are described for the Czech case. The consumption as well as portfolio decision of households during the voucher scheme are modelled within the framework of a consumption function and a system of demand functions for financial assets. The envelope theorem is used to modify the standard Almost Ideal Demand (AID) system. The empirical results are presented. The paper concludes that the interdependence between privatization and macroeconomic stability should be better understood by policy-makers in transitional countries that are going to adopt a similar approach to privatization to that applied in the Czech Republic.     

PVYn and Potato Wart Disease Outbreaks in Prince Edward Island: Policy Response and Analysis

This study analyzed the impact of PVYn and potato wart disease outbreaks in PEI on the potato industry. The two disease outbreaks resulted in loss of the U.S. seed export market to PEI producers. The effects of the disease outbreaks were mitigated through value‐added processing. Price premiums for processed potatoes allowed PEI potato farmers to abandon seed export and helped to sustain financial viability potato production. Policy responses to the two disease outbreaks include (i) development of zones policies, which helped to reopen markets into the United States, and (ii) compensation to producers above the minimum levels required under the federal Seeds Act and Regulations. Implementation of the zones policy had beneficial impacts on the potato industry. In contrast, compensation above minimum requirements may set a costly precedent for future disease outbreaks. Dans la présente étude, nous avons analysé les répercussions des flambées de virus PVYn et de galle variqueuse à l'Î.‐P.‐É. sur l'industrie de la pomme de terre. En raison de ces flambées, les producteurs de l'Î.‐P.‐É. ont perdu le marché d'exportation de la pomme de terre de semence vers les États‐Unis. La transformation à valeur ajoutée a aidéà atténuer les répercussions. Les bonifications reçues pour la pomme de terre transformée ont permis aux producteurs de l'Î.‐P.‐É. d'abandonner le marché d'exportation de la pomme de terre de semence et ont contribuéà maintenir la viabilité financière de cette production. Les réactions politiques à ces deux flambées ont inclus: i) l'élaboration de politiques en fonction des zones qui a favorisé la réouverture des marchés étatsuniens; ii) le versement d'indemnisations supérieures à celles prévues par la Loi sur les semences et le Règlement sur les semences. La mise en vigueur de politiques en fonction des zones a eu des effets bénéfiques sur l'industrie. Toutefois, le versement d'indemnisations supérieures aux exigences minimales pourrait créer un précédent coûteux advenant de futures flambées de maladies.     

The dissent voting behaviour of central bankers: what do we really know?

We examine the determinants of the dissent in central bank boards voting records about monetary policy rates in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, the UK and the US. In contrast to previous studies, we consider 25 different macroeconomic, financial, institutional, psychological or preference-related factors jointly and use Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to formally assess the attendant model uncertainty. We find that the rate of dissent is between 5% and 20% for the examined central banks. Our results suggest that most of the examined regressors, including factors that capture the effects of inflation and output, are not robust determinants of voting dissent. This result suggests that unobserved characteristics of central bankers and different communication strategies drive the dissent, rather than the level of macroeconomic uncertainty.     

Performing Under Pressure: Winning Customers Through Improvisation in Team Selling

The sales presentation is one of the most challenging and dynamic aspect of the sales process. Often-times, the presentation is composed of teams. The purpose of this study is to examine how improvisation manifests itself in the context of the sales team presentation. Utilizing the theoretical foundations of team dynamics and relationships, unplanned behavior, and emotional intelligence, a model of sales team improvisation is developed. A two-phase research design was employed via qualitative in-depth interviews from buyers and sellers followed by a quantitative survey of experienced sales team professionals. Our results find that improvisation impacts the relationship between emotional intelligence and team presentation performance outcomes. Although team selling is common in practice, a dearth of research exists in the sales literature. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on team dynamics and emotion in selling. Additionally, this study is one of the first to specifically investigate improvisation in the high pressure context of sales team presentations.     

Performance Standards and Incentive Pay in Agency Contracts

When the presence of limited liability restricts a principal from imposing monetary fines on an agent in case of poor performance, the principal might use other kinds of punishment threats to deter the agent from shirking. We show that under the optimal contract in this case, the principal sets a performance standard and punishes the agent if the standard is not met, but rewards the agent on a profit-sharing basis if the standard is significantly exceeded. The optimal choice of performance standards for such contracts is discussed. It is shown that punishment threats, although inefficient, often help the principal to discipline the agent.
JEL classification : D 82     

The Value Relevance of Financial Accounting Information in a Transition Economy: The Case of the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

The paper investigates the value relevance of accounting information in the Czech Republic in 1994–2001. Value relevance is understood as the ability of financial statement information to capture or summarise information that affects share values and empirically tested as a statistical association between market values and accounting values. The objective of the study is to investigate the validity of the value relevance methodology by finding an accounting setting where the results of value relevance tests might be predicted unambiguously. If the results of these tests confirm the predicted results, the validity of the value relevance methodology might be assumed. A transition economy represented by the Czech Republic provides such an institutional and accounting setting. It might be assumed that value relevance of accounting information is lower in a transitional economy than in a well-developed market economy. It can also be assumed that the value relevance increases over time as a result of the progress in transition. The results of the study confirm these predicted results and give thus supportive evidence of the validity of the value relevance methodology.     

Evaluating museum websites using a combination of decision-making theories

ABSTRACT

The role of museums is very important in cultural and heritage tourism, and a museum website plays an important role in attracting visitors, both physically and online. Therefore, these websites must be evaluated to ensure that their goals are met. However, the evaluation of a website is complex and is often omitted during the website’s life cycle, despite its importance. To simplify this process, this paper presents a framework for evaluating museum websites. The framework, based on an inspection method, is called the inspection evaluation method (IEM). This method uses criteria proposed by several researchers in a review of the different evaluation experiments for museum websites that have previously used an inspection method. IEM, different from all other methods reviewed, uses a combination of an analytic hierarchy process with a technique for the order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution for combining these criteria. The framework was applied to evaluate and rank the websites of five museums known worldwide. This combination uses the advantages of two multi-criteria decision-making theories and reduces their disadvantages.     

Facebook-to-Facebook: online communication and economic cooperation

Direct face-to-face communication has traditionally been found to be more effective for fostering economic cooperation than any form of indirect, mediated communication. We inquire whether this is still the case since most young adults routinely use texting and online social media to communicate with each other. We find that young adults in our laboratory public goods experiment are just as adept at finding and sustaining cooperative agreements when communicating within a Facebook group and through online chat as they are in person.     

Predicting satisfaction and intentions to use online food delivery: What really makes a difference?

ABSTRACT

Online food delivery (OFD) is no longer a new concept for the majority of Americans. Large food delivery companies make millions in revenues and those numbers are expected to increase. This study was conducted to investigate customer intentions to use OFD services through the evaluation of satisfaction, food quality, and OFD service quality. The OFD service quality was assessed via e-SELFQUAL dimensions, and included perceived control, service convenience, customer service, and service fulfillment. The study determined that food quality, control, customer service, and service fulfillment affect customer satisfaction in online food delivery services. Customer satisfaction showed a strong positive impact on behavioral intentions to use OFD.     

Demand shocks,capacity coordination,and industry performance: lessons from an economic laboratory

Antitrust exemptions granted to businesses under extenuating circumstances are often justified by the argument that they benefit the public by helping producers adjust to otherwise difficult economic circumstances. Such exemptions may allow firms to coordinate their capacities, as was the case of the post‐September 11, 2001, antitrust immunity granted to Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines. We conduct economic laboratory experiments to determine the effects of explicit capacity coordination on oligopoly firms' abilities to adjust to negative demand shocks and on industry prices. The results suggest that capacity coordination speeds the adjustment process, but also has a clear procollusive effect on firm behavior.