Social articulation as a condition for equitable growth

A formal model is developed to establish the structural conditions that result in growth being progressive or regressive on the personal distribution of income. These conditions include (1) intersectoral investment priorities between wage goods and luxuries, and (2) the state of the levels and distribution of incomes which determines the social origin of demand for different sectors of the economy. The particular combinations of investment and income structures that result in equalizing (social articulation) or unequalizing growth (social disarticulation) are derived. We show empirically that the structural conditions that allowed rapid but unequalizing growth in Brazil between 1968 and 1977 were those of social disarticulation.     

Speed and quality of collective decision making: Imperfect information processing

This paper studies efficient programmed hierarchies as introduced by Radner [The organization of decentralized information processing, Econometrica 61(5) (1993) 1109-1146] in which agents cannot process information perfectly. A group of P identical managers has to make a choice between n alternatives. In order to learn which is the best option, the alternatives have to be compared. The evaluation of an alternative takes time and managers are only able to identify the better one of two alternatives with a positive probability. The skip-level reporting tree proposed by Radner is found to be efficient in terms of the dimensions decision cost, decision delay, and decision quality.     

Do Goodwill Impairments by European Firms Provide Useful Information to Investors?

In 2004 International Accounting Standards Board. (2004). International Accounting Standard (IAS) N°36: Impairment of assets. London: Author. [Google Scholar], the IASB adopted the mandatory annual impairment-test-only of goodwill (IAS 36) instead of amortization of goodwill. We present and discuss the academic literature regarding the association between the goodwill impairment, under this new standard, and the revision of investors’ expectations about a company’s future cash flows. The academic literature highlights that, in some specific cases, IAS 36 may help investors to revise their expectations. More precisely, goodwill impairment seems relevant when: (a) there is strong asymmetry of information between managers and investors, (b) managers disclose detailed information in the notes regarding their own assumptions about future cash flows, and (c) managers do not manage earnings and provide reliable information to investors. In many cases, goodwill impairment is probably useless for investors because they are able to revise their expectations based on public information, or because they cannot trust the accounting numbers and additional information in the notes about the impairment test, which are provided by (undisciplined) managers. More research is, however, needed to understand in which circumstances impairment-test-only is more useful, as well in which cases it is less adequate. Our analysis relates to the current post-implementation review and should be useful to standard-setters. Before any modification, we argue that standard-setters should carefully consider the economic and the institutional contexts when issuing a new accounting standard.     

Income splitting, specialization, and intra-family distribution

Abstract Income splitting for tax purposes results in more specialization of wives, but does this in turn generate more gender inequality? In my dynamic bargaining model with a divorce threatpoint, I find that who controls the couple's labour supply plays a crucial role in establishing this link. If spouses choose their labour supply non‐cooperatively, only the husband's increase – but not her own decrease – in labour supply introduces a negative term in the wife's change in welfare. If the wife does not control her own labour supply, a decrease in her own labour supply introduces an additional negative term.     

Greece in the Eurozone: Lessons from a decade of experience

This study examines Greece's experience as a member of the Eurozone over the period 2002 to 2011. In evaluating the Greek experience within the Eurozone, we derive the following fundamental policy lessons that apply both to similar small peripheral EU countries that plan to enter the Eurozone, or any other economic union, and to the Eurozone itself in terms of facilitating their integration in a large monetary union. First, countries with inefficient public systems must re-engineer and restructure the decision making process in the public sector before they become members of an economic union. Second, countries must generate a friendly environment toward business and provide (a) a simple, stable tax system, (b) an effective and efficient justice system, and (c) a high quality educational system. Third, the living standards of the people are determined by the productivity and competitiveness of the economy and not by an inefficient and overspending public sector. Fourth, structural funds should be used to improve the competitiveness of the economy, not serve the political clientele of the party in power. Fifth, the admission requirements to an economic union must be strict and these requirements must be enforced. Sixth, capital market investors must always differentiate default risk within the country-members of a monetary union.     

Functions and actors of inland ports: European and North American dynamics

The emergence of inland ports took place in several regions around the world, notably where the growth of inland freight distribution required a massification of flows. Yet, there is no definitive consensus about how such inland facilities should be labeled, with terms such as dry ports being advocated. It is suggested in the paper that the term inland port is a more appropriate construct since it considers terminal activities as well as the crucial logistics activities taking place in co-location or in proximity of inland terminals. This perspective requires the investigation of how transport and supply chain functions and the various actors involved in their setting and operations are taking shape in inland ports. Case studies pertaining to European and North American inland ports are presented. Although inland ports are planned, set and operated by a wide variety of actors, ranging from public to private interests, transport and supply chain functions tend to label them as satellite terminals, load centers or transmodal centers.     

How does owners’ exposure to idiosyncratic risk influence the capital structure of private companies?

This paper identifies the owner's exposure to idiosyncratic risk as an important determinant of the demand for loans and the capital structure of private companies. The analysis is based on a sample of small and medium-sized companies from the United States. The exposure to idiosyncratic risk is approximated by the share of personal net worth invested in one company (SNWI). Exposure to idiosyncratic risk increases the cost of equity capital, since higher equity returns are required as compensation. This therefore makes bank financing more attractive. We find that SNWI increases both the demand for new bank loans and leverage substantially.     

Corporate reputation,satisfaction, delight,and loyalty towards rural lodging units in Portugal

This paper enriches the model of delight and satisfaction that Oliver et al. (1997) propose and Finn (2005) modifies, with a suggested causal relationship between disconfirmation and arousal and the introduction of two new variables: the lodging unit's corporate reputation and perceived quality. The modified model is applied to rural tourism accommodations in Portugal and validated using PLS (Partial Least Squares). The results suggest that the lodging unit's reputation is a more significant determinant of loyalty than satisfaction or even delight. This study further supports the conceptualization of customer delight and customer satisfaction as distinct constructs. Results may help managers of rural tourism accommodations to develop and implement more successful relationship marketing strategies.     

Determinants of Participation and Response Effort in Web Panel Surveys

Web panels are widely employed to conduct marketing research surveys, yet little is known regarding why consumers join web panels or participate in web surveys. The present research investigated the effects of individuals' motivational traits on whether they joined web panels, participated in surveys upon joining, and the effort they put into their responses. A longitudinal study employing population profiling gathered personality measures from the entire population of potential panelists (N = 751) and invited them to join a web panel. Those accepting (N = 503) were sent a series of six marketing research surveys. Results revealed that consumers' need for cognition, curiosity, agreeableness and extraversion were significant predictors of joining the web panel. The first three traits also predicted survey participation, as did openness to experience. Among participants, response effort was affected the greatest by curiosity, extraversion, and conscientiousness. An additional experiment, conducted with 327 participants, ruled out a selection bias explanation for some results. These findings provide useful insights to researchers using web panels, and point out limitations with using strictly demographics-based weighting schemes when selecting web panels.     

The Gender Quota and Female Leadership: Effects of the Norwegian Gender Quota on Board Chairs and CEOs

In this article, we use a sample of Norwegian quoted companies in the period of 2001–2010 to explore whether the gender quota requiring 40 % female directors on corporate boards changes the likelihood of women being appointed to top leadership roles as board chairs or corporate CEOs. Our empirical results indicate that the gender quota and the resulting increased representation of female directors provide a fertile ground for women to take top leadership positions. The presence of female board chairs is positively associated with female directors’ independence status, age and qualification, whilst the presence of female CEOs is positively related to the average qualification of female directors. Firms with older and better educated female directors are more likely to appoint female board chairs. The likelihood of female CEOs’ appointment increases with the percentage of independent directors and directors’ qualifications, especially those for female directors. Furthermore, the gender gaps with respect to qualification, board interlocks and nationality between female and male board chairs vanishes after Norwegian companies’ full compliance to the quota in January 2008. However, the gender quota has no significant impact on the gender gaps between female and male directors after its full compliance. Our article thereby contributes to understanding how gender quotas, presence of female directors, percentage of female directors on boards and other board characteristics can determine the gender of top leaders of organizations.