Resource booms in competitive equilibria with decreasing returns to scale

We are concerned with the effects of a resource boom upon the industries of a trading economy. Such effects have come to be known in the literature as Dutch Disease. We look into related supply-side aspects which appear to be significant if seen from the viewpoint of microeconomic general equilibrium theory under conditions of decreasing returns to scale in production. Several comparative-statics results will be presented for the small-country case where there may also exist nontraded goods. In particular, we argue that in the presence of diseconomies of scale input substitution becomes a crucial issue. We also briefly discuss welfare implications in terms of changes in factor prices and GNP.     

What output-capital ratio to adopt for macroeconomic calibrations?

Regarding the output-capital ratio in heterodox macroeconomic simulation studies, a surprisingly wide range of numerical values can be found. The paper discusses quarterly US data that are publicly available where, in order to capture depreciation, the construction of the capital stock by the perpetual inventory method relies on detailed estimates of its lifetime. Subsequently the paper builds up a capital stock series by alternatively having recourse to the statistics about capital consumption and furthermore determining an initial level by an assumption about the long-term growth of capital. This procedure leads to somewhat different results. In addition, the rates of depreciation and profit are studied that are implied by the two approaches. The paper closes with two numerical proposals for the steady state values of these variables and the output-capital ratio that could be readily employed for macrodynamic modelling, and that are quite different from many of the aforementioned examples.     

A perspective of marketing in central and Eastern Europe

The transition of Central and Eastern Europe toward a market economy affords new opportunities but also new risks to international marketers. Based on the work of the authors in the region, this article presents a perspective of the economic shifts which have taken place in these countries. A review of the available international marketing options is offered and a framework for the evaluation of market entry and marketing mix strategies which accommodate these shifts is developed. Emphasis is placed on the need for marketers to go beyond purely commercial criteria in their decision making, by considering the long-term social and economic repercussions of their actions. 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of process accountability and accounting standard type on auditor usage of a status quo heuristic

There has been considerable discussion about the U.S. reporting standards becoming less rules based, similar to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). One proposed advantage of a change to IFRS is increased comparability across multinational and non-U.S. companies. Additionally, some believe that IFRS afford greater flexibility in its principles, thereby enabling firms’ accounting choices to better reflect the true economic nature of any given transaction (FASB, 2002; SEC, 2003). With fewer rules, both financial statement preparers and auditors would be expected to adjust to having more options with regards to financial reporting. However, some proposed changes leave the option open to implement IFRS (or other principles-based standards) in ways that still follow rules in U.S. GAAP. This paper investigates whether prior year accounting treatments influence the judgment for current year treatments when one way to implement the standard is to follow the prior year treatment. We find that some auditors fixate on prior year scenarios and judgments, even if the current year scenario and applicable accounting standards are different. We find that holding auditors accountable for their decision making process reduces the likelihood of sticking with the prior year treatment most notably when the prior year standards were U.S. GAAP.     

The productivity growth of euro area banks

Journal of Productivity Analysis - We study the performance of the banking system in the Eurozone over the period 2006–2017 as measured by total factor productivity growth (TFPG) and its...