Exporting Spatial Externalities

Using spatial econometrics, we estimate the effect of externalities generated by neighbors’ exports on place-level exports, explicitly modeling the distance to those neighbors. We find there is a positive effect of neighbors’ exports on exports to the same country but less so for exporting generally. We also find that using a spatial-weights term based on the physical distance between exporters greatly outperforms a dichotomous measure based on exporters in the same region. The results are robust to alternative definitions of the spatial weight.     

The Level of Compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes: Does it Matter to Stock Markets?

The present paper explores, theoretically, and empirically, whether compliance with the International Code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes impacts on financial performance measured by stock markets. The empirical analysis, which considers a 20-year period, shows that stock markets are indifferent to the level of compliance by manufacturers with the International Code. Two important issues emerge from this result. Based on our finding that financial performance as measured by stock markets cannot explain the level of compliance, the first issue refers to what alternative types of mechanisms drive manufacturers who comply the least with voluntary codes such as the International Code. Conversely, from our finding that stock markets do not reward the most compliant, the second issue raised is an inherent weakness of stock markets to fully incorporate social and environmental values.     

The Discursive Dilemma in Monetary Policy

The discursive dilemma implies that the decision of a board depends on whether the board votes directly on the decision (conclusion‐based procedure) or votes on the premises for the decision (premise‐based procedure). We derive results showing when the discursive dilemma might occur. Under majority voting, a discursive dilemma can occur either (i) if the relationship between the premise and the decision is non‐monotonic, or (ii) if the board members have different judgments on at least two of the premises. Normatively, a premise‐based procedure tends to give better decisions when there is disagreement on parameters of the model.     

Kinderfreibeträge in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung

The future of the German pay as you go public pension system is dependent on families with children. In contrast to German tax law, there are no child allowances in the social insurance system. As a result, workers with and without children pay the same pension insurance contributions. This article analyses the introduction of a child allowance into the public pension system in Germany. We quantify the fiscal, distributional and behavioural effects of such a reform.     

Does FOMC news increase global FX trading?

Does global currency volume increase on Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) days? To test hypotheses of abnormal currency volume on FOMC days, a new data set from the Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) Bank is used. The CLS measure captures more than half of the global trading volume in foreign exchange (FX) markets. The evidence shows that FX trading volume increases about 5% in the spot and the spot-next market following FOMC deliberations. The novelty of this result is that the aggregated CLS data controls for responses in various derivatives markets: a feature that existing studies based on intradaily data for specific trading platforms do not consider.     

Children's understanding of television advertising: A grounded theory approach

The study investigates children's understanding of television advertising, with emphasis on differences between children of different ages (6‐ to 11‐year‐old children). Forty‐two focus groups were conducted and grounded theory analysis was employed to discover, analyze, and discuss the findings and their implications. Findings suggest that children view advertising as more complex than has been suggested by perspectives employed by previous research. Overall, a positive relationship was found between age and understanding of the aims of advertising. None of the 6‐ to 7‐, only a few of the 8‐ to 9‐, and most of the 10‐ to 11‐year‐old children understood the role of television advertising. Topics such as sponsorship or the source of television advertising seemed to confuse children in all age groups. Only a minority of children in the older age group recognized the persuasive intent of television advertising. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

University Systems in Europe： A Multi-Dimensional Efficiency Comparison

The paper undertakes an examination of university systems of selected European countries from the perspective of the Austrian higher education system. The challenge of implementing higher institutional autonomy, accountability, and controllability in the Austrian higher education system is discussed with respect to recent experience in selected national university systems in Europe. Two major challenges were identified, first, the high diversity of the Austrian university system, and second, the implementation of considerable reorganization in a comparatively short period and under conditions of relatively high uncertainty.     

Analyst Recommendations and Regulation: Scopes for European Policy Makers to Enhance Investor Protection

Investors rely on analyst recommendations when making investment decisions. Over the last few years, however, sell-side analysts have caught the attention of the supervisory authorities given their vulnerability to numerous conflicts of interest. In this paper, we empirically examine relevant regulatory measures that have an impact upon analysts’ activities, namely the market abuse directive and markets in financial instruments directive. We find that European regulators have primarily focused on mitigating conflicts of interest. However, to establish an environment of more sophisticated investor protection additional regulatory effort is required. Therefore, in this paper, we provide related empirical evidence and discuss proposals to correct regulatory shortcomings in order to strengthen investor protection in the European Union.     

Is innovation in pricing your next source of competitive advantage?

Few companies treat innovation in pricing as seriously as product innovation or business model innovation. However, after interviews with 50 executives and the analysis of pricing practices of 70 companies worldwide, our research suggests that innovation in pricing may be a company's most powerful—and, in many cases, least explored—source of competitive advantage. Innovation in pricing brings new-to-the-industry approaches to pricing strategies, to pricing tactics, and to the organization of pricing with the objective of increasing customer satisfaction and company profits; too many companies today see pricing as a win/lose proposition between themselves and their customers. Innovation in pricing breaks this deadlock and shows how to increase profits and customer satisfaction conjointly. As a result of our research, we present a canvas laying out more than 20 possible avenues for innovation in pricing, offering to any organization—regardless of size, industry, or nationality—a few key ideas on how to increase both profits and customer satisfaction.