Assessing Global Computable General Equilibrium Model Validity Using Agricultural Price Volatility

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are commonly used for global agricultural market analysis. Concerns are sometimes raised, however, about the quality of their output since key parameters may not be econometrically estimated and little emphasis is generally given to model assessment. This article addresses the latter issue by developing an approach to validating CGE models based on the ability to reproduce observed price volatility in agricultural markets. We show how patterns in the deviations between model predictions and validation criteria can be used to identify the weak points of a model and guide development of improved specifications with firmer empirical foundations.     

Multidimensional scaling reliability in similarity judgments about environmental sentences

The aim of this research was to analyze the stability of Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). The investigations on this topic include studies related to the assumptions of linearity and monotonicity and to the validity and reliability of MDS procedures. Centered in this last topic, a test of the reliability of MDS procedure was carried out. We employed a set of complex stimuli: 21 sentences related to environmental field. 40 subjects made similarity judgements about both pairs “sentence A — sentence B” and “sentence B — sentence A”, so obtaining one square matrix per subject. Each of these matrices was broken down into two triangular matrices that were scaled separately by INDSCAL. The coordinates of stimuli in both MDS solutions were correlated. The results show a significant correlation between the two solutions.     

Determining paths of innovation: The role of culture on the adoption on organic farming management

The aim of this paper is to understand whether national culture is linked with operative performance of organic agriculture. The ultimate goal is, indeed, to measure the impact of social change on technical innovation and sustainability issues. We built an econometric model where the impact of some of the six dimensions of national culture by Geert Hofstede is tested on inputs and outputs of organic production, on a country-based scale. We collected data about the evolution of organic agriculture through the last two decades, extracting data about 27 countries of the European Union from 2000 to 2017. We tested the dataset into two passages: we first employed a DEA model to assess efficiency of organic farming, and then we correlated results to Hofstede 6-D model of national culture. We observed the existence of a relationship between culture and innovation, explaining the importance of determined values in people's management within the firm. The operative performance of organic agriculture is linked to determined culturally influenced business values. We used efficiency results as variables for measuring innovation approach based on cultural models. It has been enhanced the relevance to the nexus innovation-culture approaching to one of the most innovation-resistant industrial sectors.     

Public awareness promoting new or emerging risks: Industrial accidents triggered by natural hazards (NaTech)

Dramatic natural events recently stroke several countries worldwide. The impact of the natural events on industrial sites often resulted in large releases of hazardous materials, causing severe technological accidents (Natural-Technological or NaTech events). Industrial operators were often found unprepared or off-guard for unannounced events but also when they had received early warnings. Due to these occurrences, public awareness has raised and the issue of NaTech is now considered as an emerging risk. Due to the climate change and increase in the frequency of some categories of natural disasters, the likelihood of NaTech scenarios is growing, thus NaTech may be also considered as a new risk in some areas of the world. In the present study, the process that ended in the awareness of the scientific community and of the general public toward NaTech has been analyzed. Available tools and knowledge gaps in the assessment of NaTech scenarios are evidenced. The analysis is mainly addressed to the potential impact of flood, lightning, and earthquake events on industrial installations where hazardous substances are present, aiming at the identification of strategies to improve the resilience of industrial facilities to technological accidents caused or intensified by natural hazards.     

Determinants of early internationalization of new firms: the case of Chile

The aim of this article is to analyze the factors related to the early internationalization of new firms in Chile. We grouped the internationalization driver factors into three categories: individual, organizational, and firm-environmental factors. Using a sample of 374 entrepreneurs from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data and performing a logistic regression model, we found that owner-manager’ high educational levels, opportunity-oriented motivation, new technology use, and activities related to extractive sectors (e.g., farming, forestry, fishing, and mining) contribute to a higher likelihood of early firm internationalizing. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Fiscal impact of privatization revisited: The role of tax revenues in transition economies

In contrast to earlier literature, this paper finds empirical evidence that privatization has deteriorated fiscal balances in transition economies. The investigation focuses on the role of tax revenues in explaining the fiscal impact of privatization, as it appears that tax revenue in many transition countries remained lackluster even after the adoption of several tax reforms in the last two decades, and no formal econometric assessment has been conducted of the extent to which privatization has affected tax revenues. Using panel data for 29 Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries, the analysis finds robust signs of a strong negative impact of privatization on different tax revenue sources. The paper also provides some empirical evidence favoring the early adoption of value-added taxes that appear to have contributed to government revenue recovery.     

Progressive Taxation and the Distribution of Freedom

Freedom of choice in consumption activity can be represented by opportunity sets that are bounded by both budget and time constraints. I argue that, in a society in which income is distributed more unequally than leisure time, a government aiming at leaving freedom distribution unaltered should apply progressive taxation. Since incomes bind freedom only partially when this is bound by time constraints, taxing the rich reduces her/his freedom proportionally less than the reduction in freedom caused by taxation of the poor. The degree of tax progressiveness will be higher if the government aims at redistributing freedom from the rich to the poor.