Additive versus multiplicative trade costs and the gains from trade liberalizations

This paper addresses welfare effects from trade liberalization in a Melitz ( 2003 ) heterogeneous‐firms trade model including the empirically important per‐unit (i.e., additive) trade costs in addition to the conventional iceberg (i.e., multiplicative) and fixed trade costs. The novel contribution of the paper is the result that the welfare gain for a given increase in trade openness is higher for reductions in per‐unit (additive) trade costs than for reductions in iceberg (multiplicative) trade costs. The ranking derives from differences in intra‐industry reallocations and, in particular, from dissimilar impacts on the number of exporters (i.e., the extensive margin of trade).     

International asset allocation under regime switching, skew, and kurtosis preferences

This paper investigates the international asset allocation effectsof time-variations in higher-order moments of stock returnssuch as skewness and kurtosis. In the context of a four-momentInternational Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM) specificationthat relates stock returns in five regions to returns on a globalmarket portfolio and allows for time-varying prices of covariance,co-skewness, and co-kurtosis risk, we find evidence of distinctbull and bear regimes. Ignoring such regimes, an unhedged USinvestor's optimal portfolio is strongly diversified internationally.The presence of regimes in the return distribution leads toa substantial increase in the investor's optimal holdings ofUS stocks, as does the introduction of skewness and kurtosispreferences.     

Migration transition or migration transformation in the Asian dragon economies?

There has been a marked tendency to interpret the recent transformation of international migration systems in Eastern Asia in terms of a ‘migration transition’ model. The transition in these countries from net emigration to net immigration, with major inflows from poorer adjacent countries, is seen as being driven by an intricate regional pattern of uneven development but growing economic integration. This paper challenges this view through an examination of the trade, investment and migration linkages of the region’s four dragon economies (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan). It argues that the key influences on their international migration streams reflect, above all, the functions of these states as second-order, global city regions. Their place in the global capitalist system creates a shared demand for very particular types of both highly skilled and unskilled labour, but the migration policies of the four states are independently, and therefore distinctively, socially constructed. — Il y a une tendance à utiliser un modèle de ‘transition de migration’ pour interpréter les transformations récentes des systèmes de migration internationaux en Asie de l’est. La transition de l’émigration nette à l’immigration nette dans ces pays, avec des arrivées massives des pays adjacents plus pauvres, est supposée être due à un modèle régional complexe de développement inégal mais d’intégration économique croissante. Cet article questionne ce modèle et examine les liens entre le commerce, l’investissement, et la migration dans les quatre économies dragons de la région (Hong Kong, Singapour, la Corée du sud et Taï?wan). Il soutient que les influences majeures sur leur flux de migration internationale reflète avant tout les fonctions de ces états en tant que régions urbaines globales de deuxième ordre. Leur place dans le système capitaliste global crée une demande pour un type très particulier de travailleurs qualifiés et non qualifiés, mais les politiques de migration des quatre états sont indépendemment, et donc distinctement, socialement construites.     

When Marketing Dare Not Speak Its Name: Understanding Market Orientation in Chinese NGOs

ABSTRACT

The market orientation construct has proven to be of value to profit-seeking firms. It ought to be of value to NGOs too. Some previous research has been done to facilitate understanding of market orientation in NGOs, but the methodologies used have mostly been quantitative, and nothing is known about the market orientation of Chinese NGOs. To address this research gap, a qualitative case study methodology was used to develop a deeper understanding of how market orientation is practiced among NGOs in Hong Kong (China). Mapping with previous studies, the research found that three factors together explained the varying degrees of market orientation in the NGOs studied: senior management factors, organizational and institutional factors, and structural and system factors. But more importantly, an NGO’s funding base was found to moderate the relationship between these antecedents and an organization’s market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on public funding or a small number of funders the weaker the influence of the antecedents on market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on private funders, a diversified group of funders, or self-funding, the stronger the influence of the antecedents on market orientation, and the closer its understanding of market orientation is likely to be to that of a commercial entity. The article finishes with a substantive theoretical model for market orientation in the Chinese NGO context.     

The efficacy of gender-based federal procurement policies in the United States

Small Business Economics - Because procurement policies are one means of redressing discrimination and economic exclusion, the United States government has targeted 23% of its annual half-trillion...     

Time spent on erythropoietin stimulating agents administration in hemodialysis centers in Panama: a time and motion study

Objectives: There is a lack of data in Panama on the potential differences in total healthcare professional (HCP) time between routine administrations of short-acting erythropoietin simulating agents (ESAs) (i.e. epoetin alfa) and continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) (i.e. methoxy polyethylene glycol–epoetin beta). This study aimed to quantify the HCP time associated with a single administration of epoetin alfa and CERA for the treatment of anemic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on hemodialysis.

Methods: This was a multi-center, cross-sectional study, using a time-and-motion methodology. Costs related to HCP time and consumables usage associated with administration of epoetin alfa and CERA were estimated.

Results: Based on 60 administrations of either CERA or epoetin alfa, the estimated savings in mean total active HCP time were 2.34 (95% confidence interval?=?1.87–2.81) min (–30%) per administration. When extrapolating to a full year’s treatment with intravenous ESA, it would require a total of 20.3 (95% CI?=?19.90–20.71) h of HCP time for epoetin alfa vs 1.1 (95% CI?=?1.01–1.19) h for CERA per patient per year. Estimated savings in active HCP time per patient per year were 19.20 (95% CI?=?19.20–19.21) h (–95%). This, in turn, translates into staff cost efficiency that favors Mircera with an estimated annual saving of $78.24 (95% CI?=?78.24–78.28) (–95%) per patient.

Conclusions: Data from a real-world setting showed that the adoption of CERA could potentially lead to a reduction in active HCP time.

• Highlights

• Few comparative data have explored the costs and potential savings of using long-acting erythropoietin–stimulating agents (ESA) instead of short-acting ESAs to treat anemia in CKD patients on hemodialysis.

• This time-and-motion study shows that use of CERA reduces total healthcare professional time and could represent a save for an institution in a real-world setting in Panama.

     

The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System*

In these excerpts from The Squam Lake Report, fifteen distinguished economists analyze where the global financial system failed, and how such failures might be prevented (or at least their damage better contained) in the future. Although there were many contributing factors to the crisis—including “agency” problems throughout the financial system and a bankruptcy code poorly suited for reorganizing financial firms—at the core of the problem is a potential conflict between the risk-taking proclivity of financial institutions and the interests of the economy at large that must be managed at least in part through more effective regulation. The Squam Lake Report provides a nonpartisan plan to transform the regulation of financial markets in ways designed to limit systemic risk while preserving—to the extent possible and prudent—the economies of scale and scope that justify the existence of today's large financial institutions. To reduce the risks that large banks will fail, the authors call for higher capital requirements based on more effective assessments of the risks of bank assets and liabilities, as well as a new systemic regulator that should be part of the central bank. To reduce the costs of failure when it occurs, the authors propose that banks be required to create “living wills” laying out their plan to sell assets or shut down operations in the event of financial trouble. As part of that plan, regulators are urged to “aggressively encourage” banks to issue “contingent” debt capital securities that convert into equity.