Changes in services trade barriers in banking and their impact: the case of the ASEAN+3

Although there has been extensive research on the ASEAN+3 countries, which reveals a synchronisation of economic policies, including exchange rate management policies, research on the regional pattern of trade policies in the banking sector is limited. We evaluate the trade barriers in banking and their evolution, using data from three sequential surveys conducted by the World Bank and surveys by other international organisations. We find that the country dispersions in trade‐restricting policies are stable over time. Moreover, we find no evidence of moves in the direction of liberalisation in the sector. The economic modelling undertaken provides an indication of the real income gains and the cost increases of the policies adopted.     

擦亮你的水晶球

又到了拟定下一年度计划的时节,你对明年市场状况预测的依据是什么？数据？模式？历史？直觉？或者,只是良好的愿望？     

Sectoral analysis of foreign direct investment and growth in the developed countries

Empirical studies on foreign direct investment (FDI) and growth in developed countries have yielded conflicting results using cross-country regressions. We use sectoral data for a group of six country members of the OECD. Our paper is the first to identify the sector-specific impact of FDI on growth in the developed countries. Our results show that FDI has positive, or no statistically discernible, effect on economic growth directly and through its interaction with labor. Moreover, we find the effects seem to be very different across countries and economic sectors.     

Why did the chicken cross the road,and what’s funny about it? The role of transportation cartoons in social experiences

This article samples a number of transport related situations that cartoonists sketch in the media, thereby taking a stand and offering solutions regarding transportation issues. We discuss the relationship that is created by the cartoonists and ultimately involves both the general public and transportation professionals. Our analysis offers insight into popular perceptions of transportation experiences through social commentary, transmitted as graphic humor, regarding common situations, which are observed in transport systems. A theory and qualitative research based approach is used to address the complex connections between our daily responses and transportation contexts. An analysis of topical components of transportation systems and experiences as perceived by users and policymakers utilize the representations by cartoonists. By examining how the issues interrelate, we built a storyline that presents observations and critiques.     

A cross-country comparison of accommodation manager perspectives on online review manipulation

Accommodation businesses are increasingly dependent on a limited number of reservation platforms. A significant feature of these platforms is guest evaluations, which are transformed into ratings and rankings. As the positioning of the business in comparison to competitors determines customer demand, accommodation managers have considerable interest in maintaining or improving their online reputation. One response may be to engage in manipulation strategies. This paper presents the results of a survey including 270 hotel managers in five countries, Germany, Israel, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Managers confirm growing competition as a result of ratings and rankings, and they report that guests are increasingly aware of the importance of reviews. To avert negative online feedback impacts, managers intervene strategically. The paper discusses new market pressures, emergent consumer judgement culture and consumer citizenship, opportunities for legal redress and the emerging importance of reputation management strategies.     

Arbitrage and Growth Rate for Riskless Investments in a Stationary Economy

A sequential investment is a vector of payments over time, ( a ₀, a ₁, ... , a_n ), where a payment is made to or by the investor according as a_i is positive or negative. Given a collection of such investments it may be possible to assemble a portfolio from which an investor can get "something for nothing," meaning that without investing any money of his own he can receive a positive return after some finite number of time periods. Cantor and Lipmann (1995) have given a simple necessary and sufficient condition for a set of investments to have this property. We present a short proof of this result. If arbitrage is not possible, our result leads to a simple derivation of the expression for the long–run growth rate of the set of investments in terms of its "internal rate of return."     

Sudden stops and the Mexican wave: Currency crises,capital flow reversals and output loss in emerging markets

Sudden stops are the simultaneous occurrence of a currency/balance of payments crisis with a reversal in capital flows. We investigate whether sudden-stop crises are a unique phenomenon and whether they entail an especially large and abrupt pattern of output collapse (a “Mexican wave”). Using a panel data set over 1975–1997 and covering 24 emerging-market economies, we distinguish between the output effects of currency crises, capital inflow reversals, and sudden-stop crises. Sudden-stop crises have a large negative, but short-lived, impact on output growth over and above that found with currency crises. A currency crisis typically reduces output by about 2–3%, while a sudden stop reduces output by an additional 6–8% in the year of the crisis. The cumulative output loss of a sudden stop is even larger, around 13–15% over a 3-year period. Our model estimates correspond closely to the output dynamics of the ‘Mexican wave’ (such as seen in Mexico in 1995, Turkey in 1994 and elsewhere), and out-of-sample predictions of the model explain well the sudden (and seemingly unexpected) collapse in output associated with the 1997–1998 Asian Crisis.     

The impact of visualizing use versus acquisition of a product on the appeal of its complement

Prior work on consumer visualization has focused on how visualization increases the appeal of the imagined product itself. Instead, the present work examines the effects of visualization on the appeal of the imagined product's complement. The authors distinguish between two visualized consumption actions: use and acquisition. Both are predicted to increase the appeal of the complement, but this increase is expected to be asymmetric, with imagined acquisition leading to a greater increase than imagined use. Specifically, the authors propose that imagining use evokes consideration of how one would interact with the product, which increases the salience of the imagined product's attributes. Conversely, imagining acquisition evokes consideration of why one would purchase the product, which increases the salience of the imagined product's goals. As complementarity is defined by products’ shared goals (not physical attributes), it is predicted and shown that imagining acquisition results in a greater increase in the appeal of the complement than imagining use. Four studies demonstrate the asymmetric effect of imagined use versus acquisition on preference, choice, and willingness‐to‐pay for a complement. The studies also provide evidence for the proposed process and rule out several alternative explanations. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.