Capital Flows During Quantitative Easing: Experiences of Developing Countries

A potentially important side effect of quantitative easing (QE) by the United States Federal Reserve was the expansion of capital flows into developing countries. As a result, there were widespread concerns that reversing QE might trigger financial instability in those countries. The central objective of our article is to empirically investigate this important issue by (1) examining the effect of QE on capital flows into developing Asia and (2) identifying the most significant factors that influence the effect of a QE taper tantrum on exchange rate instability. We find that capital flows into developing countries during QE were at least comparable to those before the global financial crisis. We also find that capital flows during QE and the symptoms of those capital flows such as high inflation, credit expansion, and the deterioration of the current-account balance accounted for much of the destabilizing effect of a QE taper tantrum. While there is no evidence that macroprudential policies directly reduce the destabilizing effect, they can nevertheless be useful preemptive measures.     

Financial constraints,board governance standards,and corporate cash holdings

This study examines whether financial constraints and board governance play substitution roles in lowering agency concerns in corporate cash holdings. Using four firm-specific characteristics of financial constraints and 28 forward-looking board governance standards, we find that board governance mitigates agency concerns in cash holdings more significantly for financially less-constrained firms. Consistently, financially less-constrained firms increase the level of board governance and adopt more board governance standards. A natural experiment with the 2007 financial crisis provides robustness to our findings. Our evidence suggests that financial constraints interrelate with the effectiveness of board governance on corporate cash holdings.     

Korean unification prospects: an assessment through the BDN-model

The debate on the possible unification of South Korea and North Korea has often been assessed from the economic perspective, which is insufficient since unification entails not only the integration of two economies but political, social and technological integration of two territories. Using the box negotiation diagram model, this paper expands the scope of the study on South Korea and North Korea unification through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing the political, economic, social and technological perspectives. Given the huge imbalanced points of unification drawn from our analysis, we observed more divergence than convergence hence, hinging the possibility of unification of serious negotiation.     

Evaluating Form and Functionality of Pay‐for‐Performance Plans: The Relative Incentive and Sorting Effects of Merit Pay,Bonuses, and Long‐Term Incentives

Using two‐year longitudinal data from a large sample of US employees from a service‐related organization, the present study investigates the relative effects of three forms of pay‐for‐performance (PFP) plans on employees’ job performance (incentive effects) and voluntary turnover (sorting effects). The study differentiates between three forms of pay: merit pay, individual‐based bonuses, and long‐term incentives. By definition, these PFP plans have different structural elements that distinguish them from each other (i.e., pay plan form) and different characteristics (functionality), such as the degree to which pay and performance are linked and the size of the rewards, which can vary both within and across plan types. Our results provide evidence that merit raises have larger incentive and sorting effects than bonuses and long‐term incentives in multi‐PFP plan environments where the three PFP plans are operating simultaneously. Only merit pay has both incentive and sorting effects among the three PFP plans. The implications for the PFP‐related theory, as well as for the design and implementation of PFP plans, are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The ‘trilemma’ hypothesis and policy implications for Fiji

This paper examines the trilemma constraint for Fiji; that is, we investigate how trilemma policy variables were used to address policy trade‐offs among the three objectives of exchange rate stability, monetary autonomy, and financial openness. Fiji makes an interesting case because of its policy orientation towards a stable exchange rate and adequate foreign reserves. Our results suggest that the trilemma constraint is binding for Fiji and policy priority is given to exchange rate stability and monetary policy independence, while less emphasis is placed on financial market openness. We also find that the actual policy levels do not deviate substantially from optimal levels, which evidences that Fiji's policy management has been efficient under the trilemma constraint. Finally, we also study the effects of various trilemma policy combinations and foreign reserve holdings on output growth and inflation.     

Do Skill Mismatches Create a Wage Penalty? Alternative Estimates for Korea*

In this paper, we estimate the wage penalty of skill mismatches among young Korean workers using propensity score matching (PSM) and ordinary least squares (OLS) methods. OLS estimates suggest that a moderate wage penalty results from skill mismatches: 3.8 percent for men and 5.6 percent for women. In contrast, PSM estimates suggest a weakly significant wage penalty for men and women only when kernel matching (KM) is used, but not when nearest neighbor matching(NNM) or radius matching (RM) techniques are used. These results contradict the findings of previous studies and suggest that there may not be a substantial wage penalty associated with skill mismatches.     

The Effect of Low‐ versus High‐Variance in Product Reviews on Product Evaluation

This research investigates whether the effect of low‐ versus high‐variance product reviews on the evaluation of a product about which consumers have favorable or unfavorable prior expectation can vary depending on product type, the argument quality of product reviews, and the number of reviewers. The data across three laboratory experiments demonstrate that high‐variance product reviews are more likely than low‐variance product reviews to undermine product evaluation when consumers have unfavorable prior expectation about a product. When consumers have favorable prior expectation, however, high‐variance product reviews can enhance or undermine product evaluation depending on product category, the argument quality of reviews, and the number of reviewers. The findings are explained by the type of causal attribution consumers make, such that high‐variance product reviews can allow consumers to make biased product evaluation consistent with their prior expectation when the causes of variance in the product reviews are attributed to the reviewers rather than to the product. However, when the causes of variance are attributed to the product rather than the reviewers, high‐variance product reviews can undermine product evaluation regardless of the favorability of prior expectation.     

What Does Vacation do to our Family? Contrasting the Perspectives of Parents and Children

Family has been identified as the most important consumption unit. This research builds on related theories of family system and vacation functions and empirically examines the dimensionality of family vacation functions. Through focus group interviews and survey techniques, a typology of family vacation functions was identified. Stressing both “home environment” and “destination environment,” “we” and “individual,” the functions are “Bonding and Sharing,” “Communication,” “Escape and Relaxation,” “Children’s Learning,” and “Novelty Seeking.” Fathers, mothers, and children showed significant differences in their perception of these five dimensions. Parents, especially mothers, appeared to be much more group well-being oriented, and their aspirations for vacation performing various functions were much more pronounced. Children did not demonstrate the equal amount of enthusiasm towards family vacation. Implications were discussed from both academic and applied perspectives.