Finding out the Routes to Escape Poverty: The Relevance of Demographic vs. Labor Market Events in Spain

The knowledge of which events are most effective in pushing households out of deprivation should help in designing poverty-alleviating social policy. Using longitudinal data for Spain, we analyze the nature of events pushing poor households out of poverty, adding an interesting decomposition of transitions: the occurrence of an event and the income change implied by it. We find that, similarly to other developed countries, the events that most help Spanish households in leaving poverty are related to changes in labor status of household members. However, non-labor income changes are significantly more important in Spain than elsewhere.     

Divisionalization and franchising incentives with integral competing units

Existing game-theoretic models of divisionalization and franchising treat each firm's number of competing units as a continuous variable. We account for the integer constraint on divisions, and show that the continuous case reasonably approximates the equilibria of the discrete game.     

The efficiency of competitive equilibria in insurance markets with asymmetric information

This paper addresses the relationship between competitive equilibria and efficient allocations in an insurance market with asymmetric information. Using the definition of second-best efficiency proposed by Harris and Townsend (1981) for environments characterized by informational assmmetry, the efficiency properties of several proposed market equilibria are examined. We find an analogue to the First Optimality Theorem: A Miyazaki-Wilson equilibrium always results in a second best allocation.     

Factors influencing education achievement

This study sets out to examine the factors that influence human capital formation in predominately rural communities. The results indicated that parents’ educational attainment greatly influences the quality of education for their children. Thus, consolidating smaller poor schools in which the parents have limited education above primary and secondary schools, will not likely lead to much if any improvement in students' test scores.     

Advertising, 2nd Edition. Runyon,Kenneth E. Columbus,OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1984. 702 pp

Abstract

Despite cultural similarities between the United States and the United Kingdom, there are substantial differences between American and British television advertising. British commercials tend to contain less information, employ a soft sell rather than a hard sell approach, and attempt to entertain the viewer. British viewers' opinions of advertising are also more favorable than those of American viewers. It is important that scholars and practitioners concerned with these two markets and with international advertising generally be aware of these differences and understand why they have evolved. Possible explanations are evaluated and implications of these findings discussed, including areas for future research.     

Interactions between trade and environmental policies in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is obliged to implement pollution charges in accordance with the EU environmental policy. The charges may affect international competitiveness of the country, since they are applied to the domestically produced, but not to the imported commodities. We investigate how such environmental taxation of six main pollutants affects the Czech competitiveness. Using computable general equilibrium modeling with bottom-up approach, we consider a small-open economy with endogenous unemployment and ten types of taxes. A distinction between taxes on products and taxes on production is essential for analysis of a fiscal policy. Emissions reduction is possible in our model either through substitution with less polluting inputs, or a reduction of output, or through technical abatement. The last channel for emission reduction is ignored by other studies. The results show that the imports should not be affected by the tax reform, except for coal. Exports will increase in the non-energy-intensive and the biomass industries, but it will decrease in the chemical, the coal, and the metal industries. The overall effect on the trade balance is slightly negative. We conclude that investments in energy-saving technologies are necessary in order to preserve international competitiveness.     

Product-harm science communication: The halo effect and its moderators

Science communication on a product-harm situation aims to create awareness on the product's potential impacts for consumers. However, consumers tend to overestimate the information provided, due to possible halo effects. Here we designed a contextual model of halo development including individual and message characteristics detected in the literature as potential moderators. Our experimental study, based on a sample of 3,766 European respondents, evaluates these halo moderators in the context of a product-harm science communication. The results reveal a stronger halo effect on consumers' beliefs when the focal topic is considered as more important (health vs. ethics) and simultaneously when the source of information is more credible (official vs. non-official). Highly involved consumers are also subject to greater halo effects. Suggested implications mainly focus on the need to consider potential amplifying halo effects and on the importance of responding to a product-harm communication via a very accurate communication approach.     

Cost‐effective strategies to mitigate multiple pollutants in an agricultural catchment in North Central Victoria,Australia

Strategies to reduce phosphorus and sediment yields are identified for two Australian catchments using a nonlinear optimisation model. This provides novel insight into the cost‐effective management of dual pollutants of water courses in Australia. A strong degree of complementarity between the two pollutants is highlighted, given the adsorption of phosphorus to sediment that augments the value of gully and streambank management for mitigation. However, the relationship between the two pollutants is asymmetric. A 30 per cent reduction in phosphorus yield achieves a 75 per cent reduction in sediment yield in one catchment, while a 30 per cent reduction in sediment yield achieves only a 12 per cent reduction in phosphorus yield. Sediment abatement costs are low given the efficiency of gully and streambank management. A 30 per cent phosphorus reduction lowers profit by 3–7 per cent, while a 30 per cent sediment reduction lowers profit by around 1 per cent. Land‐use optimisation requires spatial heterogeneity in land‐use and gully/streambank management responses. Overall, this research demonstrates the need to determine whether one pollutant is more important than another, while recognising the potential that mitigation practices possess for the reduction of multiple emissions during their evaluation.     

Employability and the psychological contract in European ICT sector SMEs

This article explores the employability of information and communication technology (ICT) professionals from the perspective of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The first stage of analysis, based on over 100 interviews with managers of ICT supplier companies in seven European countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and the UK), showed most SMEs to have a generally ad hoc approach to managing the employability of their ICT professionals. Assessment and development plans were used primarily to keep skills current to business needs; however, the more developed northern European markets showed greater awareness of the ‘high commitment’ benefits of a more sophisticated approach towards career management (e.g. through mentoring or career planning). A second stage of analysis based only on UK interviews builds on this to propose a model of positive employer influence on psychological contracts through career and employability management practices.