The Heterogeneity of Self-Employment: The Example of Asians in the United States

Self-employment rates differ widely across industries and across racial and ethnic categories. The heterogeneity of self-employment is most pronounced among Asians working in the U.S. The self-employment rate of Koreans is almost eight times greater than the self-employment rate of Laotians. This paper examines the pattern of self-employment across more narrowly defined classifications of Asians and industries to illustrate the heterogeneity of self-employment, and discusses the implications of this heterogeneity.     

THE CONSTRUCTION OF MATERIALITY IN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING: A CASE OF CONSTRAINING FACTORS AND THE DIFFICULTIES OF HYBRIDIZATION

This paper illuminates materiality features during experimentation with central government accounting in Norway. Data was collected using observations, interviews, informal conversations and documents. We found that materiality was constrained by numerous factors, including: time, disagreement, coordination and communication difficulties, actors’ background, standardizing and thinking ahead. Moreover, a mixture of theoretical accounting approaches and construction forms was found, indicating a hybridization‐based experimentation and materiality construction. Therefore, construction came about as an effect; materiality was often constructed implicitly, and not aligned with its defined elements. Finally, we comment on associated implications for accounting complexity and endeavors to make accounting changes.     

North–South technology transfer in unionised multinationals

We study how incentives for North–South technology transfers in multinational enterprises are affected by labour market institutions. If workers are collectively organised, incentives for technology transfers are partly governed by firms' desire to curb trade union power. Higher union bargaining power in the North leads to more technology transfer along two different dimensions – skill upgrading of Southern workers and quality upgrading of products produced in the South – possibly to the extent that the utility of Northern workers decline. Policies to raise the wage levels of Southern workers might spur technology transfer if wages are initially very low, but have a dampening effect on North–South technology transfer once the Southern wage level has surpassed a certain threshold level. These conclusions are reached in a setting where a unionised multinational multiproduct firm produces vertically differentiated products in Northern and Southern subsidiaries.     

Vertical Control and Price Cycles in Gasoline Retailing

We examine Norwegian gasoline pump prices using daily station‐specific observations from 2003 to 2006. The four big gasoline companies use a vertical restraint that is adopted industry‐wide (labeled price support). This moves price control from the hands of independent retailers into the hands of the headquarters. Retail gasoline prices follow a fixed weekly pattern, where we observe de facto simultaneous decision‐making by the headquarters (without knowledge of their rivals’ prices) when every Monday around noon they decide to increase pump prices to the same level. The price level on Mondays corresponds to the recommended prices published by the headquarters of the gasoline companies.     

Optimal allotment policy in central bank open market operations1

This article derives a central bank's optimal liquidity supply towards a money market with an unrestricted lending facility. We show that when the effect of liquidity on market rates is not too small, and the monetary authority is concerned with both interest rates and liquidity conditions, then the optimal allotment policy may entail a ‘discontinuous’ reaction to initial conditions. In particular, the model predicts a threshold level of liquidity below which the central bank will not bail out the banking system. An estimation of the liquidity effect for the euro area suggests that the discontinuity might have contributed to the Eurosystem's tight response to occurrences of underbidding during the period June 2000 through March 2004.     

Transport appraisal and Monte Carlo simulation by use of the CBA-DK model

This paper presents the Danish CBA-DK software model for assessment of transport infrastructure projects. The assessment model is based on both a deterministic calculation following the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodology in a Danish manual from the Ministry of Transport and on a stochastic calculation, where risk analysis is carried out using Monte Carlo simulation. Special emphasis has been placed on the separation between inherent randomness in the modeling system and lack of knowledge. These two concepts have been defined in terms of variability (ontological uncertainty) and uncertainty (epistemic uncertainty). After a short introduction to deterministic calculation resulting in some evaluation criteria a more comprehensive evaluation of the stochastic calculation is made. Especially, the risk analysis part of CBA-DK, with considerations about which probability distributions should be used, is explained. Furthermore, comprehensive assessments based on the set of distributions are made and implemented by use of a Danish case example. Finally, conclusions and a perspective are presented.     

An investigation into the effects of ethnicity and immigration on self-employment

This paper examines self-employment across industries and states in the U.S. It attempts to determine whether self-employment is due more to pull or push factors and whether one or the other model fits some industries better or fits some states better. The 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples from the U.S. Census Bureau are used in the empirical analysis. It is found that self-employment rates differ considerably across ethnic groups, and that the rate of self-employment tends to be higher for immigrants. This paper also finds that increasing urbanization tends to reduce self-employment rates while the shift from manufacturing to service industries tends to increase self-employment rates.     

European Consumers5 Acceptance of US Hormone-Treated Beef

European Consumers' Acceptance of US Hormone‐Treated Beef The European Union's ban of hormone‐treated beef is one of the most contentious trade disputes between the US and the EU, The EU claims that consumption of hormone‐treated beef constitutes a possible risk to human health and, moreover, that European consumers are unwilling to accept such a risk. On the other hand, the US claims that the ban is a protectionist measure. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favour of the US, saying that there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the ban. The effects on human health can only be evaluated through more medical research but surveys and methods from experimental economics can be used to investigate consumers' acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for hormone‐treated beef. European surveys show that the average consumer is sceptical towards hormone‐treated beef. In experimental auctions conducted in Norway, most participants bid significantly less for US hormone‐treated than hormone‐free beef. However, 18 per cent were indifferent and 10 per cent of the participants preferred the hormone‐treated beef. Given this heterogeneity of preferences, mandatory labelling is a possible solution to the trade dispute. Mandatory labelling, however, has met stern opposition from both sides and no solution to the dispute seems to be close. Les consommateurs européens et la viande de boeuf américain traité aux hormones L'interdiction en Europe de la viande de boeuf américain traité aux hormones constitue l'une des sources majeures de contentieux commercial entre les Etats‐Unis et PEurope. L'Union européenne soutient que la consommation de boeuf traité aux hormones représente un risque et ajoute que les consommateurs européens ne veulent pas le courir. Les Américains, de leur côté, prétendent qu'il s'agit là d'une mesure protectionniste. L'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) s'est prononcée en faveur des américains, au motif qu'il n'existe pas, pour justifier l'interdiction, assez de preuves scientifiques sérieuses du danger. Si l'appréciation des effets de la viande de boeuf aux hormones sur la santé humaine exige des recherches médicates poussées, il est possible, avec des enquêtes et les méthodes de l'économie expérimentale, d'avoir des informations sur l'attitude des consommateurs et leur ‘volonté de payer’ (VDP). Les enquêtes conduites en Europe montrent que dans l'ensemble, les consommateurs europeens sont mefiants vis‐à‐vis de la viande de boeuf traité aux hormones. Dans des études conduites en Norvége sur la base d'enchères fictives, la plupart des participants acceptaient de payer nettement plus cher la viande garantie sans hormone. Cependant, 18%étaient indifférents et 10% préféraient le boeuf traité aux hormones. Au vu de cette hétérogéneité dans les préférences, l'étiquetage obligatoire semble être la solution de ce contentieux commercial. Mais chacune des deux parties s'y oppose formellement, de sorte qu'aucune solution n'est en vue. Die Akzeptanz von hormonbehandeltem Rindfleisch aus den USA bei europäischen Verbrauchern Bei dem EU‐Verbot von hormonbehandeltem Rindfleisch handelt es sich um eine der umstrittensten Handelskontroversen zwischen den USA und der EU. Die EU vertritt den Standpunkt, dass der Verzehr von hormonbehandeltem Rindfleisch ein mögliches Gesundheitst'isiko für den Menschen darstellt und dass es europäische Verbraucher überdies ablehnen, ein solches Risiko in Kauf zu nehmen. Die USA hingegen behaupten, dass es sich bei dem Verbot um eine protektionistische Maßnahme handelt. Die Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) hat zu Gunsten der USA entschieden, da die Befürwortung eines solchen Verbotes nur unzureichend wissenschaftlich begründet werden könne. Die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen auf den Menschen können nur durch eine intensivere medizinische Forschung evaluiert werden; mit Hilfe von Umfragen und Methoden aus dem Bereich der Experitnentalökonomie kann jedoch die Akzeptanz und Zahlungsbereitschaft der Verbraucher fur hormonbehandeltes Rindfleisch untersucht werden. Umfragen in Europa zeigen, dass der durchschnittliche Verbraucher hormonbehandeltem Rindfleisch gegenüber skeptisch eingestellt ist. Bei experimentellen Auktionen in Norwegen boten die meisten Teilnehmer signifikant weniger für hormonbehandeltes Rindfleisch als für hormonfreies Rindfleisch. 18 Prozent der Teilnehmer waren jedoch unentschieden und 10 Prozent bevorzugten das hormonbehandelte Rindfleisch. In Anbetracht dieser Präferenzheterogenitat ist eine Pflichtkennzeichnung eine mögliche Lösung dieser Handelskontroverse. Die Pflichtkennzeichnung trifft jedoch auf beiden Seiten auf erbitterte Gegner und daher scheint eine Lösung der Kontroverse in nächster Zeit nicht wahrscheinlich,     

Endogenous Comparative Advantages in Developing Economies

This paper focusses on endogenous comparative advantages in developing countries, in particular on labour reallocation from low-productivity informal sectors into high-productivity formal sectors. This mechanism is important for two reasons. First, it contributes to the growth potential of developing countries and the absorption capacity for further capital accumulation. Second, labour reallocation will keep developing economies specialized in low-skilled intensive products in the coming decades and it will keep the wages of low-skilled workers low. We analyse this mechanism by simulating an increase in the skill intensity of developing countries the coming decades. These simulations are carried out with WorldScan, a dynamic AGE model of the world economy. An increasing skill intensity in LDCs will stimulate the global supply of high-skilled intensive products more than the supply of low-skilled intensive products, but to a much lesser extent than one would expect in static analyses or in absence of informal sectors.