Are Agricultural and Developable Land Prices Governed by the Same Spatial Rules? The Case of Belgium

In this paper, we test whether farmland and developable land prices are governed by the same determinants (mainly urbanization). We estimate here quasi‐identical econometric equations for both agricultural and developable land markets, instead of the conventional approach of adding variables that capture the urban influence. Using data aggregated at the level of the 589 municipalities of a highly urbanized country (Belgium), we found that the same determinants enter these equations, with slight differences in parameter values: land prices decrease with distance to central business district (developable land: –2.7% per km; farmland: –2.5% per km), and increase with the population of the commune as well as with its demographic growth and with the average income of its inhabitants.     

Bank regulatory capital and liquidity: Evidence from US and European publicly traded banks

The theory of financial intermediation highlights various channels through which capital and liquidity are interrelated. Using a simultaneous equations framework, we investigate the relationship between bank regulatory capital and bank liquidity measured from on-balance sheet positions for European and US publicly traded commercial banks. Previous research studying the determinants of bank capital buffer has neglected the role of liquidity. On the whole, we find that banks decrease their regulatory capital ratios when they face higher illiquidity as defined in the Basel III accords or when they create more liquidity as measured by Berger and Bouwman (2009). However, considering other measures of illiquidity that focus more closely on core deposits in the United States, our results show that small banks strengthen their solvency standards when they are exposed to higher illiquidity. Our empirical investigation supports the need to implement minimum liquidity ratios concomitant to capital ratios, as stressed by the Basel Committee; however, our findings also shed light on the need to further clarify how to define and measure illiquidity and also on how to regulate large banking institutions, which behave differently than smaller ones.     

Child gender and parental borrowing: Evidence from India

Discrimination against girls is well-documented, especially in Asia. We show that women try to level the playing field for their daughters by taking on debt. But wealth asymmetry between mothers and fathers perpetuates gender inequality across generations.     

Information gatekeepers: theory and experimental evidence

We consider a model where two adversaries can spend resources in acquiring public information about the unknown state of the world in order to influence the choice of a decision maker. We characterize the sampling strategies of the adversaries in the equilibrium of the game. We show that as the cost of information acquisition for one adversary increases, that person collects less evidence whereas the other adversary collects more evidence. We then test the results in a controlled laboratory setting. The behavior of subjects is close to the theoretical predictions. Mistakes are relatively infrequent (15%). They occur in both directions, with a higher rate of over-sampling (39%) than under-sampling (8%). The main difference with the theory is the smooth decline in sampling around the theoretical equilibrium. Comparative statics are also consistent with the theory, with adversaries sampling more when their own cost is low and when the other adversary??s cost is high. Finally, there is little evidence of learning over the 40 matches of the experiment.     

Governance and the decision to issue a profit warning

The theoretical concept of agency costs developed by Jensen and Meckling (1976) and Jensen (2005) are used to study the relationship between the quality of a firm's governance and its decision to issue a profit warning (PW) when it is overvalued. Based on a sample of Canadian companies between 2000 and 2004, results were only partially supportive of the hypotheses. The characteristics of the board seem to play only a secondary role in the decision to issue a profit warning when the firm is overvalued. On the other hand, as expected, governance mechanisms that factor in market values to align the interests of managers and directors with those of shareholders are negatively related to the profit warning decision. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Endogenous job specialization

According to some authors, technical change contributes to the explanation of the increase in equilibrium unemployment by making jobs more and more specialized. Here, we assume that firms optimally adapt the specialization of jobs to overall labour market conditions. Using a matching labour market framework, we show that the increase in unemployment can explain the higher specialization of jobs.     

中比贸易的“绿色通道”

作为比利时首任驻华海关专员，6个月前，我刚刚踏上中国这片热土。打那时起，我就在这全新的、令人兴奋的环境中度过了让人备感新奇的日日夜夜。     

Economic impacts of the ASEAN single aviation market: focus on Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar,The Philippines and Vietnam

ABSTRACT

Since 2004, the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has decided to move towards liberalization of air transport inside the region as well as outside by signing multilateral agreements with other countries. In this article, we focus on the economic impact of liberalization. We show that by liberalizing up to the 5th freedom right, given the expectations with respect to tourism development, national GDP is expected to increase yearly from 1% (Cambodia) to 6.1% (The Philippines). Regarding partner states involved in multilateral agreements, the case of China shows that ASEAN airlines might well face possible competition distortions as a result.     

Incentives for cost misrepresentation in supply chains

This paper investigates sequential manufacturer–retailer price determination and channel performance under possible misrepresentation by one member of its privately known cost. To the standard double marginalization game, we add a preliminary stage where the manufacturer (alternately the retailer) announces its privately known constant marginal cost. We prove that the manufacturer has no incentive to misrepresent its cost, and we give respective sufficient conditions on the demand function for the retailer to overreport and to underreport costs. Depending on the shape of the demand function, opportunistic behavior by the retailer may lower or raise the manufacturer’s profit and channel performance.     

Looking into the overlooked: incoming tour operators and early tourism development in Gabon

For a few years, Gabon has demonstrated increasing signs of its willingness to develop tourism. This has led a growing number of individuals and/or companies to seek opportunities and invest in the inbound tourism sector. Yet Gabon still presents high barriers to tourism development, resulting in major constraints upon tourism firms. This paper focuses on the particular example of incoming tour operators (ITOs); ITOs play a role in tourism distribution but have received little attention in the literature. This study seeks to better understand their profiles as well as their marketing and channel behaviours in the Gabonese fledgling tourism industry. Based on semi-structured interviews held in 2011–2012 with 11 ITOs in Gabon, the study outcomes show that ITO marketing and channel behaviours were rational and growth-oriented and were influenced by company profiles, demand requirements and the position of power of ITOs in the distribution channel. The accessibility, comfort and reliability of products/suppliers stood out as key factors in the upstream or downstream channel behaviours of ITOs (selection of suppliers vs. selection of customers). Most respondents considered vertical integration as an appropriate strategy to improve the supply channel.