Adjustment of Input–Output Tables from Two Initial Matrices

The compilation of the information required to construct survey-based input–output (I–O) tables consumes resources and time to statistical agencies. Consequently, a number of non-survey techniques have been developed in the last decades to estimate I–O tables. These techniques usually depart from observable information on the row and column margins, and then the cells of the matrix are adjusted using as a priori information a matrix from a past period (updating) or an I–O table from the same time period (regionalization). This paper proposes the use of a composite cross-entropy approach that allows for introducing both types of a priori information. The suggested methodology is suitable to be applied only to matrices with semi-positive interior cells and margins. Numerical simulations and an empirical application are carried out, where an I–O table for the Euro Area is estimated with this method and the result is compared with the traditional projection techniques.     

Economic integration and regional convergence: effects of NAFTA on local convergence in Mexico, 1980–2008

Continental integration processes can alter traditional development axes. Paelinck and Polèse´s work in 1999 explains that in the case of Mexico there is a tension between the U.S. border and the rest of the country: Mexico´s integration in the NAFTA should have reduced the U.S. border attraction, extending the growth to territories located between this border and Mexico City. To test this hypothesis, we propose a spatial conditional β-convergence model that uses as regressors both the distances to the U.S. border and to Mexico City, together with other control variables. This model is applied to the period from 1980 to 2008 using GVA at the municipality level. Working with municipal-level data allows to observe convergence patterns across space and identify the effects of location. The time-span studied distinguishes between before and after NAFTA. Estimates based on Mundlak´s approach were obtained for time-invariant regressors. Results show that during the pre-NAFTA period there was a general process of convergence, but it is mainly explained by the faster growth of municipalities located near to the U.S. border. However, post-NAFTA, convergence in municipalities disappeared and the effect of distance to the U.S. border reversed its sign, as predicted in Paelinck and Polèse´s model.     

The effect of futures trading on the distribution of spot index returns: Implications for CVaR in the Spanish market

There is extensive empirical research on the potential destabilizing effects of futures trading activity on spot market volatility. Rather than just focusing on spot volatility, the authors deal with the contemporaneous relationship between futures trading volume and the overall probability distribution of spot market returns. Empirical evidence using intraday data from the Spanish stock index futures market over the period 2000–2002 is provided. Their findings reveal that the density function of spot return conditional to spot volume depends on unexpected futures trading volume.     

Temptation, self-control, and competitive nonlinear pricing

Standard pricing theories consider consumers without temptation. With temptation and costly self-control, consumers dislike choice sets with tempting alternatives. We study firms' strategy against such consumers, using Gul–Pesendorfer preferences and a game where firms compete by offering menus.     

Corporate social responsibility and employee commitment

Effective corporate social responsibility policies are a requirement for today's companies. Policies have not only to be formulated, they also have to be delivered by corporate employees. This paper uses existing research findings to identify two types of factors that may impact on employee motivation and commitment to CSR 'buy-in'. The first of these is contextual: employee attitudes and behaviours will be affected by organizational culture and climate, by whether CSR policies are couched in terms of compliance or in terms of values, and by whether such policies are integrated into business processes or simply an 'add-on' that serves as window-dressing. The second set of factors is perceptual. Motivation and commitment will be affected by the extent to which they can align personal identity and image with that of the organization, by their perceptions of justice and fairness both in general and in terms of how CSR performance is rewarded, and by their impressions concerning the attitude of top management to CSR issues and performance.     

Decomposing income inequality in a backward pre‐industrial economy: Old Castile (Spain) in the middle of the eighteenth century

Research on economic inequality in early modern Europe is complicated by the lack of appropriate data for reconstructing income or wealth distributions. This article presents a study of income inequality in mid‐eighteenth‐century Old Castile (Spain) using the Ensenada Cadastre, a census conducted between 1749 and 1759. The article describes the information provided by this census and then discusses its advantages and disadvantages for reconstructing income profiles and calculating income inequality. This is followed by analysis of a dataset derived from the Cadastre that consists of more than 4,000 observations from Palencia (a province in northern Spain) and contains information on sources of household income, each household head's main occupation, residence location, and other household characteristics. Demographic data from this census is used to weight observations in the sample and thereby minimize selection bias. Findings show that inequality in eighteenth‐century Spain was probably substantial despite its relative backwardness; that the relationship between inequality and per capita income was not clear‐cut and was probably influenced by measurement of the higher incomes; and that although income inequality was largely driven by uneven land distribution, labour income also contributed to overall inequality—especially in urban centres.     

Social identity and preferences over redistribution

We design an experiment to study the effects of social identity on preferences over redistribution. The experiment highlights the trade-off between social identity concerns and maximization of monetary payoffs. Subjects belonging to two distinct natural groups are randomly assigned gross incomes and vote over alternative redistributive tax regimes, where the regime is chosen by majority rule. We find that a significant subset of the subjects systematically deviate from monetary payoff maximization towards the tax rate that benefits their group when the monetary cost of doing so is not too high. These deviations cannot be explained by efficiency concerns, inequality aversion, reciprocity, social learning or conformity. Finally, we show that behavior in the lab helps explain the relationship between reported income and stated preferences over redistribution observed in survey data.     

Learning from exporting: The moderating effect of technological capabilities

There is evidence that exporters are more productive than non-exporters. Scholars argue that exporters may have access to knowledge spillovers in foreign markets and use this knowledge to become more efficient. However, we know little about whether learning from exporting is affected by firms’ heterogeneous resource endowments and, particularly, about the specific firm characteristics that matter the most in this respect. Utilizing a sample of 1534 Spanish manufacturing firms from 1990 to 2002, we empirically analyze whether a firm's technological capabilities (proxied by its relative R&D expenditures) affect its ability to learn from the interaction with foreign agents. We find that firm productivity increases after exporting for all firms. However, ex post productivity improvements are larger for the more technologically advanced firms than they are for their less technologically advanced counterparts. Our results show that some firms stand to benefit more from exporting than others and hint at the importance of absorptive capacity for knowledge acquisition overseas.