Productivity growth of the cities of Jiangsu province,China: a Kaldorian approach

This paper considers the determinants of economic growth of the cities of Jiangsu province, China, adopting a Kaldorian approach. It is found that there is a close correlation between the growth of non-industry and industry (Kaldor’s first law) that provides indirect evidence for the export-base theory. The paper discusses two competing explanations of the foundations of the Verdoorn law (Kaldor’s second law), which, in its simplest form, is the relationship between industrial productivity and output growth. It also considers the static–dynamic Verdoorn law paradox. This arises from the fact that estimating the Verdoorn law in log-levels often gives statistically insignificant estimates of the Verdoorn coefficient while the use of growth rates gives significant values of around one half. The results show that this does not occur when data for the cities are used. A plausible explanation for the paradox is that it results from spatial aggregation bias. It is also found that inter-province urban productivity disparities first increase, but subsequently decrease over the period considered.     

Examining dual accounting systems in Europe

After adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for consolidated financial statements by European-listed companies, a number of European countries still require the use of local standards in the preparation of legal entity financial statements. This study investigates whether this requirement can be explained by a low demand for high-quality financial reporting and an orientation of accounting toward the fulfilment of regulatory needs in these countries. Specifically, using accounting quality as an indicator of the focus of accounting on capital providers' needs, we compare accounting quality between countries permitting and prohibiting the use of IFRS in individual financial statements. Consistent with our expectations, we find that countries requiring the use of local standards in the preparation of legal entity financial statements exhibit a significantly lower level of accounting quality, both prior to and after IFRS adoption. We interpret these results as evidence that these countries have local standards more oriented toward the satisfaction of regulatory needs, rather than investors' needs. Furthermore, since differences in accounting quality persist after the implementation of IFRS, results suggest that firms in these countries face a lower demand for high-quality financial reporting.     

Subsidizing technology: How to succeed

Examining the database of applications to the Regional Government of Valencia's Institute for Small and Medium-sized Industries (Spain) for subsidies to aid technological development in small and medium-sized enterprises, this study seeks to explain the approval or rejection and the success or failure of projects that look to receive state funding. The independent variables in the database are particularly concerned with reliance on path dependence. The variable length of membership of the Institute, the number of previous applications, technology level, or belonging to a particular geographical area relate to the accumulation of experience and correspond to the study hypotheses. The study highlights the importance of accumulated experience and firm path dependence for application approval and success of funded projects.     

The strategic value of CEO external directorate networks: implications for CEO compensation

This study examines the relationship between CEO external directorate networks and CEO compensation. Drawing on previous research showing a link between executives' external networks, firm strategy, and performance, the study argues that executive external networks are strategically valuable to firms; thus, they should be reflected in executive compensation. The study further examines whether firm diversification, with its elevated demand for strategic resources, moderates the relationship between CEO external directorate networks and pay. Hypotheses are tested using a sample of 460 Fortune 1000 firms. Analyses reveal that the rewards to CEO external directorate networks are contingent upon the firm's level of diversification. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the time-varying nature of the debt-growth nexus: evidence from the euro area

This article uses the DCC-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model to investigate the existence of time-varying correlations between public debt and economic growth. To that end, we use annual data from both central and peripheral countries of the euro area for the period 1961–2015. The results suggest that the relationships between these variables are time-varying and that in some countries and for some periods, there is a positive association between them.     

Endogenous Home Bias in Portfolio Diversification and Firms’ Entry

The home bias in portfolios is considered a main puzzle in international macroeconomics. This paper provides a new benchmark for its analysis in a tractable new open economy macroeconomic model, where the home‐biased position is an optimal allocation. An equilibrium model of perfect risk‐sharing is specified, with endogenous portfolios and firm entry. Unlike in previous work, the international portfolio diversification is driven by home bias in capital goods—independently of home bias in consumption when countries are of equal size. The model explains the recent patterns of portfolio allocations in developed economies. Most important, optimal portfolio shares are independent of market dynamics.     

The Impact of Foreign Aid Linked to Infrastructure and Pollution Abatement

This paper studies the macroeconomic effects of foreign aid taking into account environmental quality. We develop a dynamic equilibrium model in which public investments in both infrastructure and pollution abatement can be co‐financed using domestic resources and international aid. We consider untied aid, aid fully tied to either infrastructure or abatement and aid equally tied to both expenditures. We find that when the extent to which agents are affected by environmental problems is taken into account, then, regardless of the chances of substitution between factors, transfers linked to both infrastructure and pollution abatement may be the best welfare‐enhancing alternative.     

INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY IN BRAZIL

This paper proposes a measure of the contribution of unequal opportunities to earnings inequality. Drawing on the distinction between "circumstance" and "effort" variables in John Roemer's work on equality of opportunity, we associate inequality of opportunities with five observed circumstances which lie beyond the control of the individual—father's and mother's education; father's occupation; race; and region of birth. The paper provides a range of estimates of the importance of these opportunity-forming circumstances in accounting for earnings inequality in one of the world's most unequal countries. We also decompose the effect of opportunities into a direct effect on earnings and an indirect component, which works through the "effort" variables. The decomposition is applied to the distribution of male earnings in urban Brazil, in 1996. The five observed circumstances are found to account for between 10 and 37 percent of the Theil index, depending on cohort and allowing for the possibility of biased coefficient estimates due to unobserved correlates. On average, 60 percent of this impact operates through the direct effect on earnings. Parental education is the most important circumstance affecting earnings, but the occupation of the father and race also play a role.     

Do liquidity and idiosyncratic risk matter? Evidence from the European mutual fund market

This paper examines the interaction of idiosyncratic risk, liquidity and return across time in determining fund performance, as well as across investment style portfolios of European mutual funds. This study utilizes a unique data set including returns for equity mutual funds registered in six European countries. Overall, using monthly data, we find that both liquidity and idiosyncratic risk are relevant in determining mutual fund returns. Our results are robust across different model specifications. We show that model specifications up to six factors are useful as these risk factors capture different aspects in the cross-section of mutual funds returns. The evidence regarding mutual funds subgroups is strongly in favor of the significance of liquidity, and idiosyncratic risk to a lesser extent, as risk factors. Even if liquidity and idiosyncratic risk are considered at the same time, one factor is not significantly decreasing the importance of the other factor.     

Statistics for the contact process

A d -dimensional contact process is a simplified model for the spread of an infection on the lattice Z ^d . At any given time t ≥ 0 , certain sites x ∈ Z ^d are infected while the remaining once are healthy. Infected sites recover at constant rate 1, while healthy sites are infected at a rate proportional to the number of infected neighboring sites. The model is parametrized by the proportionality constant λ. If λ is sufficiently small, infection dies out (subcritical process), whereas if λ is sufficiently large infection tends to be permanent (supercritical process).
In this paper we study the estimation problem for the parameter λ of the supercritical contact process starting with a single infected site at the origin. Based on an observation of this process at a single time t , we obtain an estimator for the parameter λ which is consistent and asymptotically normal as t →∞