The Long‐run and Short‐run Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Financial Development in African Countries

This paper contributes to the understanding of the other neglected effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) by analysing how FDI affects financial development in the short run and long run for a panel of 49 African countries over the period 1990–2016. The empirical evidence is based on a pooled mean group approach. With three panels differentiated by income level, the following findings are established: first, while there is a positive and significant long‐run relationship between FDI and financial development in Africa, in the short run the effect of FDI on financial development is negative. Second, the effect of FDI is positive and significant in the long run in the three sub‐samples. However, in the short run, the effect of FDI is negative and significant in lower‐income countries and non‐significant in lower‐middle‐income and upper‐middle‐income countries. Overall we find strong evidence supporting the view that FDI promotes financial development in African countries in the long run.     

Revenue management for make-to-order manufacturing systems with a real-life application

Abstract

Due to successful applications of revenue management in the airline industry, in recent years, there has been a growing interest to adopt revenue management in make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing systems. Several interrelated decision problems such as order acceptance/rejection, short-term capacity planning, due date assignment, and order scheduling need to be studied simultaneously in order to manage revenues effectively in MTO manufacturing systems. Both the producer’s and customer’s requirements need to be taken into account through some negotiation mechanisms that are sensitive to the service-level reputation of the manufacturing companies. In this article, we propose a new dynamic bid price–based revenue management model that considers all of the aforementioned decision problems simultaneously. A simulation optimization approach is utilized in order to determine the best possible values of control parameters for bid price, due date assignment, and price increment/reduction mechanisms. The performance of the proposed integrated revenue management model is tested on both a hypothetical example and a real problem of a bridal gown company. The computational results show that the proposed model provides significant improvements in total revenue compared to other static and dynamic bid price policies.     

When does an ethical attribute matter for product evaluation? The role of warm-glow feelings for low-rated products

Research on the effects of ethical attributes has recently gained traction. However, limited research has addressed consumer response to ethical attributes in the current context where product ratings have become of primary importance to make decisions. Specifically, this study examines the relative effect of ethical attributes on product evaluations across different product ratings. Building on cue consistency theory and the negativity bias, we suggest that ethical attributes gain weight when consumers evaluate a low-rated product. This process leads consumers to anticipate more warm-glow feelings, generating better evaluations for such low-rated products featuring an ethical attribute (vs. another type of attribute). Two experiments provide consistent empirical support for this prediction, and demonstrate that, compared to other attributes or no attribute, an ethical attribute increases product evaluations to a larger extent when the product received low (vs. higher) ratings. We show that this effect occurs because of warm-glow feelings: when product ratings are low, consumers anticipate more warm-glow feelings from purchasing a product with an ethical attribute (vs. another type of attribute), leading to better product evaluations. These findings have direct managerial and ethical implications for practitioners.     

Enrolling in Higher Education: The Impact of Regional Mobility and Public-Private Substitution Effects

Abstract:

In this article, we study the enrollment decision of candidates to Portuguese public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). We classify candidates according to their revealed preference for regional mobility and measure the impact of their mobility status on the likelihood of enrollment. For instance, candidates succeeding to be placed in their home district are about fourteen percentage points more likely to enroll than those pushed away. We also show that distance deters enrollments, even for candidates that reveal a preference for migrating. Finally, we measure the impact of the availability of private sector alternatives in the home district on the likelihood of enrollment and show that their existence reduces the likelihood of enrollment by up to nine percentage points.     

Perceived value of charitable involvement: The millennial donor perspective

The importance of nonprofit relationship marketing continues to increase as organizations compete to attract and retain a younger loyal donor base. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of six determinants of charitable giving on millennial donor's perceived value received from their involvement with the charitable organization. A conceptual model and accompanying research hypotheses are tested on a sample of millennials from the U.S_(n = 227). Structural equation modeling is used to test the relationships in the model. Results suggest that five factors have a positive effect on donor's perceived value. Social recognition is found to be the most important factor, followed by attitude towards and trust in the charitable organization and attitude towards helping others. To a lesser degree, tax benefits and mitigation of guilt are also found to have an impact on donor's perceived value from charitable involvement. Although this study is limited to the examination of millennials, practical and social implications are noted for all donors. Organizations must recognize that donors are influenced by a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors when evaluating their value from charitable involvement. Most of all, donors seek a degree of social recognition from giving, so organizations are encouraged to provide ways for millennial donors to display or share their charitable involvement.     

Prices and promotions in U.S. retail markets

We provide generalizable results on the price and promotion tactics employed in the U.S. retail grocery industry. First, we document a large degree of price dispersion for UPCs and brands across stores, both nationally and at the local market level. Base price differences across stores and price promotions contribute to the overall price variance, and we show how to decompose the price variance into base price and promotion components. Second, we document that a large percentage of the variation in prices and promotion tactics across stores can be explained by retail chain and especially market/chain factors, whereas market factors explain only smaller percentage of the variation. Third, we show that the chain-level price and promotions similarity can be explained by similarity in demand. In particular, a large percentage of the variance in price elasticities and promotion effects can be explained by retail chain and especially market/retail chain factors. Further, price elasticities and promotion effects across stores of the same chain are hard to distinguish from the chain-market-level mean, and cross-price elasticities are typically imprecisely estimated. These findings suggest that retail managers may plausibly consider price discrimination across stores to be infeasible.

     

Educación y desigualdad salarial en el sector informal. El caso del Camerún

En este artículo se estiman los efectos de la educación sobre la desigualdad salarial del sector informal en el Camerún. Mediante una regresión cuantílica se analizan los datos de la segunda encuesta sobre el empleo y el sector informal en el Camerún (EESI 2), de 2010. Los resultados indican que la calificación se asocia a una mayor remuneración y desigualdad salarial, principalmente en el caso de los trabajadores con estudios superiores. En consecuencia, se formulan varias recomendaciones de política destinadas a favorecer la formalización, mediante la creación de empleo calificado, el desarrollo de infraestructuras adaptadas para el sector informal y el fomento de la formación profesional.     

Unemployment and the business cycle in a small open economy: G.M.M. estimation and testing with French data

What is a relevant model for the European business cycle? In this paper, the empirical performances of three models are compared: a canonical Walrasian R.B.C. framework, its extension to the case of a small open economy, and a version of this model with search and wage bargaining on the labor market. Structural parameters of the models are estimated using G.M.M. and their abilities to reproduce the French business cycle, taken as representative of the European business cycle, are tested. Only the small open economy with unemployment is able to generate theoretical moments that match their empirical counterparts.     

Tourism and food production in the Caribbean

Foreign-exchange leakage through food imports for tourist consumption reduces the net economic impact of tourism in the Caribbean. Yet little is known on the interface between tourism and local food production. Tourism's competition for agricultural labor and land, and its impact on land values, land use and food prices, are disputed by researchers and are poorly understood. Thorough studies are needed on the nature and extent of tourism food imports and associated foreign-exchange leakages; the reasons a large proportion of the food for tourist consumption is imported; and the variation in food supply patterns according to quality, size, ownership, and location of tourist establishment. Further research will help formulate policies designed to increase the net economic impact of tourism.     

Farmers' consumption of an imported cereal and the cash/foodcrop decision: An example from Senegal

The effects of key agricultural policies on Senegalese farmers are analysed through a survey combining farming systems research methods, family budgets, dietary and anthropometric studies for the same rural households. Policies impact their food consumption through farm and non-farm incomes, prices of inputs, extension and research, and the prices of basic foods. Food consumption is closely related to family success in mixed cropping, but millet remains the basic rural food. Although rice has deeply penetrated rural markets, a maintenance of export earnings will require simultaneous gains in yields for both cash and traditional foodcrops.