Applications of parameters of shape to statistical distributions

Several new parameters characterizing the shape of statistical distributions are discussed. These parameters have earlier been considered for characterization of the shape of territories. By means of these parameters we describe general spread and spread along the axes, as well as asymmetry, of univariate theoretical and empirical distributions. General formulas for the parameters are given, and the particular formulas for the most of the common theoretical distributions are also listed. Some numerical values are tabulated, to illustrate their usefulness. Affine transformations are considered, and many applications and extensions are hinted upon.     

Clarity of manager roles and performance of R&D multidisciplinary projects in matrix structures

The matrix structure recommends itself as a convenient framework for implementing cross-disciplinary projects. However, this structure tends to generate conflict between project and disciplinary managements. In excess, conflict can reduce performance. The aim of the work described in this paper was to see whether conflict could be controlled by better definition of the respective roles of project and functional managers.
The study was carried out in a large laboratory in Brazil. A group of project managers, responsible for 58 cross-disciplinary projects, quantified their perceptions of the strength of their responsibilities for ten management activities, via a specially devised questionnaire. A Clarity about Responsibilities Index (CRI) was constructed to represent the fraction of these activities each respondent felt responsible for. Project performance was measured according to four criteria, technical, cost, schedule and client satisfaction.
The results show that better technical performance was associated with higher role clarity; no significant association was found with the other performance measures. The author discusses the reasons for these results, the validity of the measures used and the generality of the conclusions.     

Immigration, Labor Market Mobility, and the Earnings of Native-Born Workers

A bstract .   This article seeks to improve on previous estimates of the impact of immigration on native wages by using an occupational segmentation approach that directly controls for regional migration and other shifts in the native-born U.S. labor supply. The U.S. labor market is segmented by occupation in order to determine which, if any, native workers tend to be vulnerable to increased immigrant competition for jobs. The results suggest that native-born workers in the primary sector are the main beneficiaries of increased immigration, while native-born Hispanic females in the secondary sector are the most susceptible to downward wage pressures.     

“Set a Sufficiently Ambitious Budget Target and Let the Automatic Stabilizers Work”. Will it Really Work in the European Monetary Union?

We examine the popular recipe in the title by means of an AD-LM-AS two-country model of the EMU, controlling for asymmetry in demand and supply shocks and in the monetary-policy transmission mechanism. Unless structural symmetry holds and symmetric shock occurs, national automatic stabilizers, even though supplemented with the common monetary policy, cannot deliver optimal stabilization in each economy. Inflation and output gaps are not closed and may be divergent in sign. Considering that a federal system of inter-regional insurance is lacking, the recipe under examination is too optimistic, while serious threat to EMU cohesion may arise. The econometric estimates we present show that existing national fiscal systems work very poorly as for the minimization, after shocks, of the dispersion of national incomes around the EMU average.     

Effects of redistributing policy support on farmers’ technical efficiency

The objective of this article is twofold: first, investigating the relationship between technical efficiency and decoupled direct payments of a sample of Italian farms prior to the application of the 2014–2020 Common Agricultural Policy reform; second, evaluating possible implications of alternative scenarios about distribution of direct payments on technical efficiency. To these aims, a stochastic frontier analysis is adopted. Results indicate that direct payments produce significant effects on technical efficiency in specialized farms, which received higher levels of support. However, effects are contrasting. Moreover, results show that redistribution of policy subsidies may negatively impact on technical efficiency to an extent depending upon the criterion of redistribution applied. Finally, some policy suggestions are given.     

Psychological Meaning of Products and Product Positioning

New product positioning is an issue increasingly being considered by new products managers. An article on this topic by Crawford appeared in this Journal in 1985. Roberto Friedmann and Parker Lessig employ the concept of psychological meaning of products to discuss why and how Crawford's new product positioning typology affects the consumer. They present arguments to show that the psychological meaning of products and Crawford's typology address product positioning from complementary and converging perspectives. They also argue that psychological meaning of products can be a valuable managerial planning tool.     

Exploitation and time

This paper analyses exploitation and class formation in a dynamic context. An intertemporal model of a subsistence economy is set up and, among other results, it is proved that, in an interior equilibrium, Differential Ownership of (Scarce) Productive Assets is an inherent feature of a capitalist economy, while exploitation tends to disappear in the long run. Asset inequality is therefore proved to be a normatively secondary (though causally primary) wrong. It is also argued that these results raise several doubts about the possibility of providing robust micro-foundations to Marxian concepts by means of Walrasian general equilibrium models.     

Do overweight and obesity prevalence rates converge in Europe?

We exploit recently published data to evaluate the long-run evolution of overweight and obesity rates among European economies between 1975 and 2016. We find that overweight rates for both females and males converge in Europe. In particular, the convergence is driven by the nations in the EU. This fact is consistent with food patterns as well as trade, agricultural, and health policies that are common among EU members. Across our model specifications, the steady-state average overweight rate ranges between 60% and 77% for European female individuals and lies above 82% for their male counterparts. Confidence intervals suggest that such gender differences are statistically significant. In the EU, the point estimates of these rates are 62% and 91%, respectively. Obesity prevalence in Europe would reach long-term rates of 39% and 45% for females and males respectively, whereas these rates would be similar in the EU (approximately 28%).