An Empirical Analysis of Tijuana Water Consumption

This paper examines time series characteristics of water consumption in Tijuana, a large manufacturing center and port city located in Northwestern Mexico. Home to more than 700 maquiladora assembly plants, it is one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in Mexico. That growth places intense demands on the municipal water grid. Because it is located in a semi-arid region, Tijuana also faces supply constraints. Given the nature of the problems faced by water authorities, this research uses time series econometric techniques to analyze monthly information on grid hook-ups and per meter water consumption. Empirical estimation results are fairly satisfactory. Out-of-sample simulation results are mixed and indicate that care should be used if these equations are employed for planning purposes. Lag structures in the equations do, however, suggest several policy implications with respect to drought surcharges and rate hikes.      

A joint model for temperature and natural gas with an application to the US market

Natural gas spot prices and temperatures have been studied in detail in the literature as separate processes. We propose a simple joint model that, in spite of its parsimony, describes accurately many stylized facts of the two time series: in particular we show the role played by a time-delay parameter in order to take into account the impact of temperature forecast in cross-dependency. We discuss in detail a stepwise procedure in order to calibrate model parameters, describing the elementary estimation techniques involved and the statistical accuracy achieved. In the analysis, we focus on the benchmark market in the USA (Henry Hub) and the temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest regions; we observe a negative, statistically significant, gas-temperature correlation in the cold season.     

Configuration and Development of Alliance Portfolios: A Comparison of Same-Sector and Cross-Sector Partnerships

This paper explores the intersection between three processes associated with globalisation. First, the rise of emerging economies like China, Brazil and India, the so-called ‘Rising Powers’, and their potential to define the contours of globalisation, global production arrangements and global governance in the twenty-first century. Second, the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals in the shaping of global trade rules and industrial practices. Third, the significance of small firm clusters as critical sites of industrial competitiveness. Some of the most significant examples of successful, innovative and internationally competitive small firm clusters from the developing world are located in the ‘Rising Powers’ and cluster promotion is a core element of national industrial policy in some of these countries. There is also evidence of engagement by clustered actors with corporate social responsibility goals around labour and environmental impacts. While these three processes have been separately studied there has been no attempt to explore their intersections. This paper addresses this gap through a comparative analysis of secondary data, and a detailed reading of the literature, on CSR and clusters in Brazil, China and India. It assesses the evidence on small firm clusters in the Rising Power economies and considers how these Rising Power clusters engage with CSR goals pertaining to labour, social and environmental standards. It argues for a greater focus on the formal and informal institutional context, termed the ‘social contract’, in explaining divergent experiences and practices observed across these countries. This raises important questions for future academic and policy research on clusters, CSR and the Rising Powers. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda to explore the local and global consequences of the relationship between Rising Power clusters and international labour and environmental standards.     

Carry Trade Returns with Support Vector Machines

This paper proposes a novel approach to directional forecasts for carry trade strategies based on support vector machines (SVMs), a learning algorithm that delivers extremely promising results. Building on recent findings in the literature on carry trade, we condition the SVM on indicators of uncertainty and risk. We show that this provides a dramatic performance improvement in strategy, particularly during periods of financial distress such as the recent financial crises. Disentangling the measures of risk, we show that conditioning the SVM on measures of liquidity risk rather than on market volatility yields the best performance.     

Needed B2B marketing capabilities: Insights from the USA and emerging Latin America

Firms from all parts of the world are expanding operations globally in a turbulent economic context, requiring the understanding of nontraditional markets. Much attention has been focused on China and India, but researchers have neglected Latin America, a region economically as important as Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea. Latin America, as is true of many developed and emerging markets, has a strong presence of industrial ? or business to business (B2B) ? transactions. The configuration and convergence-divergence of marketing capabilities are relevant for the understanding of the globalization phenomenon. This study aims to examine B2B marketing capabilities of firms in Chile, Mexico and Peru (as Latin American countries), seeking conceptual issues in order to comprehend their business perspectives and contribute to the almost nonexistent body of research in this region. How do the results from Latin America compare with the USA? While the study shows directional convergence between Chile and Peru, there also is interesting divergence between all Latin American countries and the USA. The findings offer a portfolio of marketing topics that we believe are worthy of practitioner and academic consideration. We propose a model of convergence-divergence of B2B marketing capabilities across nations and state propositions for hypothesis testing.     

In search of leisure time: An endogenous growth model with leisure services

Starting from the Ladrón‐de Guevara et al.’s framework, we develop a model with an additional sector for the production of leisure services. By introducing consumption of leisure services as a time‐consuming activity, our model generalizes the standard time allocation problem whereby total available time can be allocated between work, education, free time and leisure activities. We analytically characterize the balanced growth paths of the model, particularly in terms of time allocation and growth. Our comparative analysis of different service economies assumed at equilibrium includes the case of an industrial economy without a service sector and the potential multiple equilibria of such an economy.     

Strategic Alignment,Performance, and Value

ABSTRACT

The paper discusses the reaching of superior value based on strategic alignment and the adoption of performance measurement systematics, which are based on multiple and integrated perspectives, using primary data obtained through the survey of companies of high complexity and impact in the Brazilian economy. The operationalization was developed from the adoption of multivariate analysis, which revealed the existence of correlations between the variables studied, reinforcing assumptions about reaching superior value based on the improvement of the mechanisms that support the strategic management dimensions with the backdrop of performance management practices based on the principles of Kaplan and Norton (2001 Kaplan , R. S. , and Norton , D. P. (2001). Organização Orientada para a Estratégia . Rio de Janeiro : Campus. [Google Scholar]) for organizations focused on strategy and the Balanced Scorecard approach. The findings confirm the importance of the association among strategic alignment vectors to reach a superior value and the existence of different clusters of organizations dedicated to reach and support value, mainly through combining the organization's relational capabilities (Soft Skills). The study deepens the discussion on strategic alignment of organizations through the introduction and testing of the Institutional Steering, Performance Maturity, and Balanced Performance constructs.     

Market orientation, knowledge-related resources and firm performance

Based upon new perspectives to explain superior business performance, an integrative conceptual model that links these different explanations of superior performance is presented, highlighting the role of knowledge-related resources as key antecedents of the continuous creation of competitive advantages (Day 1994, Day George S. The capabilities of market-driven organizations. J Mark 1994a, 58 [October]: 37-52., Day George S. Continuous learning about markets. Calif Manage Rev 1994b, 36 [Summer]: 9-31., Hunt and Morgan, 1995, Hunt Shelby D., Morgan Robert M. The comparative advantage theory of competition. J Mark 1995; 59 [April]: 1-15). An empirical test of this conceptual model is conducted with a Chilean sample of publicly traded firms, using structural equations modeling. The results show a significant impact of: market orientation, market sensing and innovativeness (among other knowledge-related resources) on superior performance, thus providing support for the original ideas of Drucker (1954) [Drucker Peter F. The practice of management. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1954.] and Schumpeter (1934), and for the dynamic evolutionary approaches to strategy (Dickson, 1992, Dickson Peter R. Toward a theory of competitive rationality. J Mark 1992; 56: 69-83., Dicskson, 1996, Dickson Peter R. The static and dynamic mechanics of competition: a comment on Hunt and Morgan's comparative advantage theory. J Mark 1996; 60: 102-106.; Hill and Deeds, 1996, Hill C.W., Deeds D.L. The importance of industry structure for the determination of firm profitability: a Neo-Austrian perspective. J Manag Stud 1996; 33: 429-451.).     

TASTE FOR VARIETY,TASTE FOR NOVELTY AND PRICE BEHAVIOUR

In this paper we propose a formulation of preferences that exhibit both love for variety and love for novelty. This enables us to investigate the effects of ageing on imperfect substitutes, as they became progressively old‐fashioned, due to the obsolescence of their aesthetic features. First, we assume that the industry is divided into several submarkets, each dominated by a monopolist producing a variety of a given vintage. We show that prices decrease, and the evolution of demand determines the equilibrium number of varieties at the point where the oldest vintage firm earns zero profits. Second, under a free entry condition assumption, the lifetime horizon of each variety will be characterized by decreasing prices accompanied by increasing demand levels.     

Determinants of Export Diversification Around the World: 1962–2000

Using a large dataset for 79 countries covering the period 1962–2000, this study analyses the main determinants of export diversification (concentration). We explore the role of several factors and we use three different indicators of export concentration. We find robust evidence across specifications and indicators that trade openness induces higher specialisation. In contrast, financial development does not seem to help countries to diversify their exports. Looking at the effects of exchange rates, in some of the results, a negative effect of real exchange rate volatility on export diversification is detected, but no significant effects of exchange rate overvaluation. There is also evidence that human capital accumulation contributes positively to diversify exports and that increasing remoteness tends to reduce export diversification. We also explore the role of terms of trade shocks. Most of the results suggest an interesting interaction between this variable and human capital: improvements in the terms of trade tend to concentrate exports, but this effect is lower for those countries with higher levels of human capital. This evidence suggests that countries with higher education can take advantage of positive terms of trade shocks to increase export diversification.