Consumer motives for buying regional products: the REGIOSCALE

Marketing Letters - Consumers are increasingly turning towards regional products (RP). The Consumer Ethnocentric Scale (CETSCALE) has been widely used to examine consumer motives for buying...     

IS FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR PRIVATE R&D ALWAYS JUSTIFIED? A DISCUSSION BASED ON THE LITERATURE ON GROWTH

Many economists have long held that market failures create a gap between social and private returns to research and development (R&D), thereby limiting private incentives to invest in R&D. However, this common belief that firms significantly underinvest in R&D is increasingly being challenged, leading the rationale behind public support for private R&D to be questioned. In this paper, we attempt to clarify the perspectives of two sources: the theoretical literature on endogenous growth, and its recent developments in integrating a geographical dimension, and the empirical literature that measures the social returns to R&D in relation to the private returns. Ultimately, we are able to clearly distinguish among different types of market failures and compare their relative impact on the gap between the private and social returns to R&D. Two main conclusions are reached. First, systematic firm underinvestment in R&D is not demonstrated. Second, even though instances of underinvestment do occur, they are mainly explained by surplus appropriability problems rather than by knowledge externalities. This suggests the need for a new policy mix that employs more demand‐oriented instruments and is more concentrated on identifying efficient allocations among activities rather than merely increasing global private R&D investment.     

Does the financial analysts' usage of non-financial information influence the analysts' forecast accuracy? Some evidence from the Belgian sell-side financial analyst

This paper examines whether the use of non-financial information by sell-side financial analysts influences the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts. The research findings, based on a survey of Belgian financial analysts, suggest that financial analysts who use more forward-looking information and more internal-structure information offer more accurate forecasts. Furthermore, the listed Belgian firms examined in this study have improved their non-financial information reporting over time. However, neither the frequency nor the quantity of non-financial information mentioned by financial analysts in their reports appears to have increased over time.     

On invariant parametric covariance families

Summary In this note we characterize all linear transformations of random vectors which are invariant for a given parametric covariance family. Two one-dimensional covariance families are discussed in detail.     

The Secondary Market for Life Insurance in the United Kingdom,Germany, and the United States: Comparison and Overview

In this article, we identify key characteristics and implications of the secondary market for life insurance. We examine the oldest secondary market, which is the market in the United Kingdom, the relatively young market in Germany, and the controversial U.S. market. We summarize the available data to describe the current market situation and market potential, which strongly depend on developments in the primary markets and capital markets, as well as on regulatory and legal aspects. Next, we discuss benefits and risks associated with a secondary market, which depend on each market's unique features. The three markets considered in this article are fundamentally different, and the comparative assessment is intended to offer insight into their functioning and key factors.     

Determinants of indian export performance in the 1970s

Zusammenfassung Bestimmungsgründe für die indische Exportt?tigkeit in den 70er Jahren. — In diesem Aufsatz werden verschiedene Hypothesen, welche die indischen Exportleistungen in den 70er Jahren erkl?ren sollen, quantitativ getestet. Es wird ein umfassender Satz von Daten über Exporte, Industrieproduktion und indische und amerikanische Gro\handelspreise — jeweils aggregiert gem?\ der indischen Input-Output-Klassifikationbenutzt, um den Einflu\ finanzieller Anreize, der inl?ndischen Angebots-Nachfrage-Verh?ltnisse sowie infrastrukturbedingter und anderer Angebotsengp?sse auf das indische Exportverhalten zu untersuchen. Jede Hypothese l?\t sich bis zu einem gewissen Grad stützen. Finanziel-le Variable erweisen sich als ziemlich bedeutsam in den exportorientierten arbeitsintensiven Sektoren. In den mehr geschützten kapitalintensiven Sektoren dominieren die heimischen Angebots-Nachfrage-Bedingungen. Au\erdem zeigt sich quer durch alle Industriezweige eine negative Korrelation zwischen dem Exportwachstum und dem Ausma\ rückw?rtiger Verflechtungen mit anderen Wirtschaftsbereichen im allgemeinen und der Abh?ngigkeit von ?ffentlichen Versorgungs- und Transportleistungen im besonderen. Der Artikel schlie\t mit wirtschaftspolitischen Schlu\folgerungen.

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Résumé Déterminants de la performance d’exportation indienne dans les années soixante-dix. — Cet article évalue d’une manière quantitative quelques hypothèses expliquant la performance d’exportation indienne pendant les années soixante-dix. Les auteurs utilisent des données sur les exportations, la production industrielle ainsi que sur les prix de gros indiens et des E.U., qui sont agrégés conformément au système indien de classification ‘input-output’, pour analyser l’influence des stimulants financiers, des balances de l’offre-demande locale, des impasses infrastructurelles et d’autres goulots d’offre sur la conduite indienne d’exportation. Ils trouvent une certaine évidence pour chaque hypothèse. Ce sont les variables financières qui sont importantes pour les secteurs intensifs à main d’∄uvre et orientés vers les exportations. Les conditions de l’offre et de la demande locale dominent dans les secteurs industriels plus protégés et intensifs au capital. De plus, une correlation négative est trouvée au travers des branches manufacturières entre la croissance d’exportation et, en général, la mesure des ?backward linkages? et, plus spécifique, la dépendance des services publiques et de transport. Enfin, les auteurs discutent quelques implications de leurs résultats pour la politique économique.

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Resumen Determinantes del comportamiento de exportación de la India en los a?os 1970. — En este artículo se evalúan cuantitativamente diferentes hip?tesis para explicar el comportamiento de exportación de la India en los a?os 1970. Se utiliza un conjunto de datos ilustrativos sobre exportaciones, producción industrial y precios al por mayor de la India y los EEUU, cada cual agregado en concordancia con el sistema de clasificación de insumoproducto de la India, para analizar la influencia de incentivos financieros, balanzas de oferta-demanda demésticos, y cuellos de botella de infraestructura y otros de oferta sobre el comportamiento de exportación de la India. Se encuentra cierto apoyo para cada hipótesis. Las variables financieras resultan ser de relativa importancia para sectores intensivos en mano de obra y orientados hacia la exportación. Condiciones de oferta-demanda domésticas dominan en los sectores mas protegidos e intensivos en capital. Adicionalmente, se encontró una correlation negativa a través de ramas industrials entre crecimiento de exportación y la magnitud de los entrelazamientos hacia atrás generalmente, y la dependencia de servicios y transporte específicamente. Se discuten algunas implicaciones de los resultados para la adopción de políticas.

     

Price relationships between qualitatively differentiated agricultural products: organic and conventional wheat in Germany

Organic agriculture, which produces commodities that can be qualitatively differentiated from conventional food products, has grown into an important market in many countries. The dynamics of commodity prices in both sectors are partly interdependent, but are also shaped by independent determinants and have rarely been studied. We analyze organic food markets and their interdependencies with conventional markets in the context of wheat markets in Germany, which have been subject to a number of fundamental changes during the last two decades. Based on institutional market characteristics, we suggest a flexible Markov‐switching asymmetric time series model. We find a pronounced temporal sequence of market phases that differ in their asymmetric dynamics and the extent to which the organic price is influenced by the conventional price. Organic wheat prices tend to be increasingly connected to prices of conventional wheat.     

Frühkindliche Essstörungen:Der Kampf ums Essen

H?ufigkeit, Risikofaktoren, Symptome - Wenn Babys und Kleinkinder die Nahrungsaufnahme boykottieren, sind die Eltern zurecht besorgt und suchen Hilfe beim Kinderarzt. Als Risikogruppe gelten insbesondere Frühgeborene. Weshalb gerade sie betroffen sind, wurde in einer Studie in Gie?en untersucht.     

Low price equilibrium in multi-unit auctions: the GSM spectrum auction in Germany

The second–generation (GSM) spectrum auction in Germany is probably the most clear cut example of a low price outcome in a simultaneous ascending-bid multi-unit auction. The present paper gives an account of the events, describes the auction rules and market conditions, and provides a game theoretic explanation of low price equilibrium in simultaneous, ascending-bid multi-unit auctions. In particular, it is shown that in the unique equilibrium that survives iterated elimination of dominated strategies, the efficient allocation is reached at minimum bids.