Explaining Differences in Milk Quota Values: The Role of Economic Efficiency

This article explores the relationship between milk quota values and economic efficiency in order to analyze government interventions in quota allocations among producers. For this purpose, we estimate quota values using a panel of Spanish dairy farms. Quota values are then decomposed into economic efficiency, price, and scale effects in order to assess the relative influence of these factors. We find that efficiency is important in explaining quota values but is uncorrelated with observable farm characteristics. This casts doubts on the government's ability to allocate quotas to efficient farms.     

The fragile capital structure of hedge funds and the limits to arbitrage

During a financial crisis, when investors are most in need of liquidity and accurate prices, hedge funds cut their arbitrage positions and hoard cash. The paper explains this phenomenon. We argue that the fragile nature of the capital structure of hedge funds, combined with low market liquidity, creates a risk of coordination in redemptions among hedge fund investors that severely limits hedge funds' arbitrage capabilities. We present a model of hedge funds' optimal asset allocation in the presence of coordination risk among investors. We show that hedge fund managers behave conservatively and even abstain from participating in the market once coordination risk is factored into their investment decisions. The model suggests a new source of limits to arbitrage.     

Dealing with demand forecasting games in transport privatization

Privatization has increased the number of players in the decision-making process for major transport investment decisions. The main argument of this paper is that this fragmentation is creating opportunities for strategic decision-making by each actor and that this is particularly obvious in the context of demand forecasting. This paper explores some of the specific causes and consequences of this new situation, including the perverse incentives, linked to the diversity of the objectives across the actors and to the risk allocation induced by the regulatory regime. It illustrates the issues and possible solutions from a wide range of modal and country experiences. In particular, it discusses the role of the newly independent sector regulators in reconciling these diverse goals and their limitations in view of the major information asymmetries problems they face.     

VALUING REAL OPTIONS: CAN RISK‐ADJUSTED DISCOUNTING BE MADE TO WORK?

This paper examines three alternative approaches to valuing real options: (1) the standard option pricing technique using "risk-neutral" probabilities; (2) the use of risk-adjusted discount rates; and (3) discounting certainty-equivalent values with a riskless discount rate. As suggested by the title, a question of particular interest is whether an approach based on risk-adjusted discount rates can be "made to work" for valuing options. The answer is yes. Indeed, the authors show that any of the three approaches will provide a correct valuation if properly employed.
Nevertheless, there are important differences in the information requirements associated with each of the three methods. Another important issue is the relative degree of difficulty in calculating the correct option value. When these two considerations are taken into account, the risk-neutral option pricing procedure generally proves to be the preferred method. It tends to be computationally more convenient—often much more convenient—and to require less information than either the risk-adjusted discounting or certainty-equivalent procedures.     

Organizational Culture, Individual Differences and the Participation System in Cooperativism of Associated Workers in Andalusia, Spain

From a psychosocial perspective, we have attempted to identify the characteristics of the democratic systems of a sample of 36 Andalusian cooperatives of associated workers. In this study it has become evident that those who participate the least in the governments of their organizations are the workers and those with less education. Thus, there is a high degree of association between participation in the governing of the cooperative and the development within it of an appropriate organizational culture. The results of this study have allowed us to empirically deconstruct the concept of cooperative democracy, and this process may have an effect on the improvement of human resource administration in this type of organization.     

A theory of socialistic internal capital markets

We develop a model of a two-division firm in which the “strong” division has, on average, higher quality investment opportunities than the “weak” division. We show that, in the presence of agency and information problems, optimal effort incentives are less powerful and thus managerial effort is lower in the strong division. This leads the firm to bias its project selection policy against the strong division. The selection bias is more severe when there is a larger spread in the average quality of investment opportunities between the two divisions.     

Management of capabilities and situations in R&D centres: the matrix of competences

The paper presents the first results of research carried out by the authors in the research centre of an important Italian industrial group. The management of the centre is strongly interested in new methodological approaches to identify and to represent individual competences. To satisfy this specific need, the authors suggest a method based on the matrix of competences that is the set of relationships between capabilities and situations. The situations and the capabilities are identified by analysing the judgements that other subjects, internal or external to the organization, express on an individual's behaviour.
A sample of fifteen individuals has been investigated in order to identify their individual competences and the most significant situations within the centre. For each individual a network of subjects, the supervisor and some clients and collaborators, has been considered. On the basis of the results, the implications for management are discussed, with particular regard to the design of new procedures for personnel evaluation.     

Intra-industry trade and inter-industry specialization as concurrent sources of International Trade in manufactures

Zusammenfassung Intra-industrieller Handel und interindustrielle Spezialisierung als Ursachen des internationalen Handels mit Industrieerzeugnissen. — Der Hauptzweck dieses Aufsatzes ist es, zur besseren Einsch?tzung der empirischen Relevanz von Intra-Handel und industrieller Spezialisierung als gleichzeitige Quellen des internationalen Handels mit Industrieerzeugnissen beizutragen. Nach einigen überlegungen zur theoretischen Natur des Ph?nomens des Intra-Handels wird gezeigt, daβ die Indizes, die Grubel und Lloyd zur Messung seiner empirischen Relevanz vorgeschlagen haben, dann ganz unzuverl?ssig sind, wenn sich der Gesamthandel des Landes in einem erheblichen Ungleichgewicht befindet. Es werden andere Mase für den Intra-Handel vorgeschlagen, die nicht mit diesen M?ngeln behaftet zu sein scheinen, und die groβen Unterschiede im empirischen Verhalten der verschiedenen Indizes werden an Hand des Handels mit Industriewaren im Jahre 1972 gezeigt. Dann wird die Beziehung zwischen der Export- und der Importstruktur für Industriewaren untersucht mit dem überraschenden Ergebnis, daβ ein Land dann, wenn es verh?ltnism?βig groβe Mengen eines Gutes exportiert, im allgemeinen auch verh?ltnism?βig viel davon importiert. Schlieβlich untersucht die Arbeit auf Jahres-basis die Ver?nderungen des Ausmaβes der interindustriellen Spezialisierung im Zeitraum 1951–1974. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daβ das Ausmaβ der interindustriellen Spezialisierung in diesem Zeitraum recht begrenzt war und sogar im Laufe der Zeit abgenommen hat.

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Résumé Le commerce intra-industriel et la spécialisation inter-industrielle comme des sources concurrentes du commerce international en produits manufacturiers. — Le but essentiel de cet article est de contribuer à une détermination meilleure de l’importance empirique du commerce intra-industriel et de la spécialisation inter-industrielle comme de sources concurrentes du commerce international avec des produits manufacturiers. Après quelques réflexions sur la nature théorique du phénomène du commerce intra-industriel nous démontrons que les indices proposés par Grubel et Lloyd pour mesurer son importance empirique sont toujours entièrement douteux si le commerce total du pays est substantiellement disbalancé. Nous proposons quelques mesures différentes du commerce intra-industriel qu’elles ne semblent pas être influé par ces défauts et nous démontrons les grandes différences de la performance empirique des indices différents concernant le réseau du commerce avec des produits manufacturiers en 1972. Puis nous analysons la relation entre les réseaux d’exportation et d’importation des produits manufacturiers avec le résultat étonnant que si un pays exporte relativement beaucoup d’un produit il normalement veut aussi importer relativement beaucoup du même produit. Finalement, le papier analyse sur une base annuelle les changes de l’étendue de la spécialisation inter-industrielle en produits manufacturiers en cours de la période 1951–1974. Les résultats démontrent que l’étendue de la spécialisation inter-industrielle en produits manufacturiers était assez limitée en cours de cette période et même déclinait en cours du temps.

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Resumen Comercio intra-industrial y especialización inter-industrial como fuentes concurrentes del comercio internacional en manufacturas. — El principal propósito de este artículo es contribuir a un mejor entendimiento de la relevancia empírica del comercio intra-industrial y de la especialización inter-industrial como fuentes concurrentes del comercio internacional en bienes manufacturados. Después de algunas reflexiones acerca de la naturaleza teórica del fenómeno del comercio intra-industrial se muestra, que los índices propuestos por Grubel y Lloyd para medir su relevancia empírica son poco confiables en el caso que el comercio total de un país está sustancialmente desequilibrado. Se proponen medidas diferentes del comercio intra-industrial que parecen no ser afectadas por estas limitaciones y se muestran las grandes diferencias en el desempe?o empírico de los distintos índices con respecto al partón de comercio en manufacturas de 1972. En seguida se investiga la relación entre los patrones de exportación e importación de manufacturas con el resultado sorprendente, que cuando un país exporta relativamente mucho de un bien también importará relativamente mucho del mismo bien. Finalmente, el artículo investiga sobre una basis anual los cambios en la magnitud de la especialización inter-industrial en manufacturas parael periodo 1951–1974. Los resultados muestran, que la magnitud de la especialización inter-industrial en manufacturas ha sido bastante limitada a través de este período e incluso ha declinado a través del tiempo.

     

Barriers to use of policy-relevant information by decision makers

This paper identifies the major barriers which hinder or prevent the application of policy-relevant information, derived from analytical techniques, to practical decisions by actual decision makers. The focus of the report is on Technology Assessment (TA), as an analytical technique which has not yet received the level of utilization which its practitioners have hoped for. However, TA borrows from the older analytic disciplines of technological forecasting and systems analysis, and is related to others such as cost-benefit analysis. Because of the similarities with these other disciplines, many of the barriers which hinder the application of these older techniques also act as barriers to the greater