An Annotated Bibliography of Estimation Procedures Useful in Engineering Economy

Standard decision analysis involves the folding-back of decision trees. This paper provides a simpler approach to evaluating decision trees. It is shown that under certain conditions two-stage trees may be evaluated by inspection of the trees and their probability distributions. Examples are presented of practical problems in which this technique is used.     

Comparison of Methods for Evaluation of the Convolution of Two Compound R 1 Distributions

In the present paper we compare four methods for evaluating the convolution of two compound R 1 distributions by counting the numbers of elementary algebraic operations required. Two of the methods are applicable in general, whereas the remaining two are restricted to the case when the two compound distributions have the same severity distribution. This case is discussed separately. We consider in particular the special case when this common severity distribution is concentrated in one, that is, evaluation of the convolution of two R 1 distributions.     

Satisfaction with the Informational Value of Magazine and Television Advertising

Abstract

This survey examines consumer satisfaction with the informational value of magazine and television advertising. Three significant conclusions are indicated by the data: (1) consumers are more satisfied with the informational value of magazine advertising than television advertising; (2) blacks are more satisfied with the informational value of both types of advertising than whites; and (3) middle-income are more satisfied with the informational value of both types of advertising than are low - and high-income.     

Understanding Equity in the Recreation User Fee Context

Equity is a major public concern related to recreation fees on public lands. The purpose of this study was to test a three-dimensional model of equity and to examine the perceptions of equity across demographic segments. Data were collected by a telephone survey with residents (N = 366) of two western states. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-dimensional equity model in a recreation fee context. People tended to support democratic equity more than compensatory equity. Greater support was shown for discounted fees for the elderly and persons with disabilities than for discounts for ethnic minorities, low income people, or large families, suggesting the possibility of two sub-dimensions of the compensatory equity construct. Overall, the results do not support that disadvantaged groups seek discounted fees.     

The relational benefits of personalized communications in an online environment

This research investigates how personalized communications enhance customer‐company relationships, which ultimately produce favourable marketing outcomes. Two factors were manipulated in an online experiment: the perceived effort made by customers to obtain a personalized newsletter (high vs. low) and the level of relevance of the message (high vs. low). The results indicate that perceived effort positively affects calculative commitment (even more so for highly involved customers), while the level of relevance of the message increases affective commitment. In addition, the interaction between perceived effort and message relevance has significant effects on calculative and affective commitment. Finally, affective commitment partially mediates the relationships between relevance and both loyalty and word‐of‐mouth intentions. Managerial implications regarding the best usage of personalized communications are discussed. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

国际制度与新进入国家的相互合法化

通常的观点认为,制度先行者塑造国际制度,新进入国家接受国际制度的塑造。作者对这一理论观点进行了修正,认为新进入国家参与国际制度的过程也是国际制度提高其合法性的一个同步过程:国际制度需要通过容纳新进入国家的关切来提高自身合法性;同时,新进入国家的关切得到容纳要以其接受制度宗旨为前提。双方产生了相互合法化的需要,它们需要同步接纳对方的合理诉求。一方面,国际制度是制度先行者互动形成的规则体系,未能包含更广泛的国家的关切事项,其合法性因而是有限的。另一方面,新进入国家参与国际制度通常需要接受已有制度的基本宗旨,否则它可能不会被接受为新成员。如果双方不能实现相互合法化,那么新进入国家与国际制度的关系将止步不前。而如果双方实现了相互合法化,使新进入国家取得国际制度成员资格成为可能。其结果是,新进入国家取得了为未来制定规则的机会,因而能够对国际制度的未来走向产生持续影响。     

Interest differentials and extreme support for uncovered interest rate parity

This paper addresses two findings from the empirical literature testing uncovered interest parity (UIP): (i) more favorable results when interest differentials (IDs) are large and (ii) instability across samples. Simulations demonstrate that explanations of the results using large IDs based on the hypothesis of a “zone of speculative inactivity” are inconsistent with empirical evidence. Furthermore, it is shown that, if agents forecast IDs based on long-run values, coefficient estimates will be unstable if rates of decay in IDs vary significantly and, for ex post UIP to hold, IDs must decay in absolute value. This is consistent with OECD country data.     

Bilateral trade of cultural goods

International trade flows of cultural goods have grown rapidly over the last decades and their liberalization will be an important issue of future multilateral trade negotiations. In this paper, we focus on bilateral trade in cultural goods and investigate its determinants. Furthermore, we use trade in cultural goods as a proxy for countries’ cultural proximity and study if countries with proximate cultural tastes have more intense bilateral exchanges. Our estimations show a positive and significant influence of cultural flows on overall trade, suggesting that regulations fostering domestic cultural creation might have impacts going beyond what is generally expected.