Factors explaining the diffusion of hybrid maize in Latin America and the Caribbean region

If future demand for maize in Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) is to be met from local sources, domestic production must continue to increase. Because further expansion in the area planted to maize is precluded by the limited availability of arable land, future increases in production will have to rely heavily on the spread of productivity‐enhancing hybrid technology. Until now, the diffusion of hybrid maize in LAC has been quite variable. Using data from 18 countries, we investigate factors affecting the hybrid maize diffusion rate. Our findings validate conventional profitability‐based explanations of producer adoption behavior, but they also confirm the importance of supply‐side factors, thereby providing empirical support for the life cycle theory of seed industry development. We conclude that if policy makers in LAC are to accelerate the diffusion of hybrid maize, they will have to ensure an environment in which it is not only profitable for producers to adopt improved germplasm, but also profitable for the seed industry to produce and sell high‐quality seed.     

Double vision: Insights about the origin and interpretation of multiple IRRs

The ability of a project's internal rate of return (IRR) to quantify its economic return has been questioned by many scholars over the past 60 years, most recently by Magni (2010 Magni, C.A. (2010) Average internal rate of return and investment decisions: a new perspective. The Engineering Economist, 55(2), 150–180. [Google Scholar], 2013 Magni, C.A. (2013) The internal rate of return approach and the AIRR paradigm: a refutation and a corroboration. The Engineering Economist, 58(2), 73–111. [Google Scholar]). Although IRR is a plausible—albeit imperfect—measure of a project's economic return when the cash flow stream is conventional, IRR can be an untenable measure of an unconventional project's economic return. The goal of this article is to identify a simple, intuitive explanation of IRR, one that can be applied to any cash flow pattern. To do this, the article shows how a project's IRR systematically changes when it first crosses from the conventional into the unconventional realm (i.e., a small cash outflow is appended to a conventional cash flow stream) and then as it becomes progressively more unconventional. This process reveals that the most robust economic interpretation of IRR—for both conventional and unconventional projects—is that a project's IRRs are external benchmarks that divide the set of all plausible discount rates into positive and negative net present value (NPV) ranges, rather than internally generated returns. Because it can be difficult to estimate a project's cost of capital with precision, this information can help guide the sensitivity analysis of a project.     

Re‐Examining Advances in Occupational Licensing Research: Issues and Policy Implications

Much has changed in the realms of occupational licensing since BJIR last ran a special issue on the subject in 2010. The number of occupations subject to licensing has been growing, the data available to investigate the incidence and effects of licensing have improved immeasurably, and the policy environment surrounding licensing has changed. This issue reflects these changes with eight papers from North America and Europe covering the incidence of licensing, and its effects on wages, inequality, employment, quality of service provision and rent extraction by the organizations who undertake licensing.     

Firm‐specific human capital investments as a signal of general value: Revisiting assumptions about human capital and how it is managed

Research summary : Prior scholarship has assumed that firm‐specific and general human capital can be analyzed separately. This article argues that, in some settings, this is not the case because prior firm‐specific human capital investments can be a market signal of an individual's willingness and ability to make such investments in the future. As such, the willingness and ability to make firm‐specific investments is a type of general human capital that links firm‐specific and general human capital in important ways. The article develops theory about these investments, market signals, and value appropriation. Then, the article examines implications for human resource management and several important questions in the field of strategic management, including theories of the firm and microfoundations of competitive advantage. Managerial summary : While managers don't often use the terms firm‐specific and general skills, they certainly recognize that investments employees make in their skill sets are more or less relevant to a specific firm. For instance, investing in specific relationships within a firm or learning a firm's proprietary software would be considered firm‐specific investments. While such skills may seem relevant only to the particular firm in which they were invested, these investments may also send valuable signals to competing firms that such employees are willing and able to make similar investments elsewhere. Hence, managers should be interested in determining if a potential hire has made prior firm‐specific investments to help them know whether that person might be likely to make such investments in his or her future place of employment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

KwaZulu‐Natal's rural institutional environment: Its impact on local service delivery

This article examines the rural institutional framework in KwaZulu‐Natal as it pertains to local service delivery, and claims that the key component of development is getting the institutional environments right. The article assesses relevant literature and introduces a dual framework linking institutionalist and organisational perspectives. The institutional framework of KwaZulu‐Natal is discussed in terms of its historical development, and a critical analysis of its present configuration is carried out. The article highlights the mismatch between rural development needs and the institutional framework of the province and generates a number of policy proposals in an attempt to correct this problem.     

Trade union mergers and competition in British banking

This article examines union merger discussions in the clearing banks in relation to the model developed by Undy et al. ‘Emphasising the importance of ideological differences and the proposed distribution of power in the negotiations, it argues more stress be placed on internal political factors in explaining merger patterns.     

The Question of Value in Social Marketing

A bstract . Economic theory fails to recognize value in social marketing, it is argued, because these beliefs are widely held: (1) social marketers do not consider consumer needs , (2) they are motivated by social welfare , (3) the price mechanism does not fully operate in the social sphere, (4) there is usually insufficient competition , and (5) social marketing is less effective in market control. Based on quality-of-life (QOL) theory , several normative principles are derived to guide the efforts of social marketers. One, QOL-means have to be determined by relating them to QOL-ends (long term satisfaction). Two, discrepancies between QOI, means potentialities and actualities have to be minimized. And third, social marketing programs designed to minimize those discrepancies have to be developed in such a way as to reduce negative environmental impacts.     

The Investment in Housing As a Forward Market Transaction: Implications for Tenure Choice and Portfolio Selection

A model of tenure choice is presented which treats the benefits and costs of homeownership from a theory of finance perspective. The incremental benefits from homeownership over renting housing services are from two sources: protection against rental price risk (a forward transaction in the housing market) and from a possible capital gain from the eventual sale of a house (substitutes for portfolio investment). The cost of these benefits is higher initial outlay on housing, which reduces the funds available for portfolio investments. The comparative statics of this model is presented. It is shown that rental risk and portfolio risk add to the value of homeownership. Since homeownership is a partial substitute for portfolio investment, it is shown that the lower the covariance between portfolio returns and future home prices the more valuable is homeownership. In the presence of differential borrowing opportunities it is shown that the leverage available to housing significantly increases the value of homeownership.     

REVISED REAL CANADIAN GNP ESTIMATES AND CANADIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH, 1870–1926

Revised Canadian real GNP estimates for the 1870–1926 period, based on the nominal GNP estimates constructed by M. C. Urquhart and on a variety of sector-specific price indexes, are presented below. The construction of this revised real GNP series allows for the creation of real output estimates for the major sectors of the Canadian economy as well as for a new implicit price index series. These revised estimates cast new light on our present understanding of Canadian economic growth and reinforce the view that the Canadian wheat boom probably played an important and positive role in the process of Canadian economic development.