Tourism and trade in OECD countries. A dynamic heterogeneous panel data analysis

This article studies the empirical link between international tourism and trade. We apply dynamic heterogeneous panel data techniques to analyse both long and short-run relationship for the case study of OECD countries. This link is studied by estimating the cointegration vector and analysing the short causality between variables. The analysis recognises that inbound tourism can promote international trade and also that international flow of goods requires and may encourage tourist arrivals and departures. The statistical significance of this link supports the presence of business opportunities due to the potential complementary relationship between tourism and trade. The results suggest a short-run nexus between tourism and trade, and that these variables are cointegrated.     

TRIPs, trade and growth: When comparative advantages break down

In this paper we combine a model of Ricardian comparative advantages as in Dornbusch et al. (1977) with Grossman and Helpman's (1991) quality ladder model and derive the consequences of asymmetric IPRs protection for the pattern of trade and the world rate of growth through innovation. Our analysis differs from that already made by Taylor (1994) in that final goods and research technologies do not go exactly along together, so the impossibility of doing licensing under asymmetric protection will here bring forth an infringement of comparative advantages which we call “the invasion effect”.     

To agree or not to agree? A meta-analytical review of strategic consensus and organizational performance

The premise underlying most of the research on strategic consensus is that a higher degree of consensus has a positive impact on organizational performance. Empirical studies, however, have produced inconsistent results for the strength and direction of this relationship, as well as for the role of potential moderators. With this meta-analysis, we provide empirical support for a positive effect of strategic consensus on organizational performance, and offer evidence for the existence of several moderators of the aforementioned relationship, which we then discuss as fruitful avenues for future research. This study enhances our understanding of this important strategy process construct and benefits managerial practice by discussing means for improving the realization and implementation of strategies.     

Optimal Investment Decisions for Two Positioned Firms Competing in a Duopoly Market with Hidden Competitors

This paper extends the literature dealing with the option to invest in a duopoly market for a leader‐follower setting. A restrictive assumption embodied in the models in the current literature is that investment opportunities are semi‐proprietary in that the two identified or positioned firms are guaranteed to hold at least the follower's position. More competition is realistically captured in our model by introducing the concept of hidden rivals so that the places in the market can be taken not only by positioned firm but also by these hidden competitors. The value functions and the optimal triggers for the positioned firms differ materially in settings with(out) the presence of hidden rivals. Unlike existing models, our model allows for (a)symmetric market shares and investment costs for the leader and the follower. Cooperative entrance by the two positioned firms is also modelled.     

Tourist land use patterns and water demand: Evidence from the Western Mediterranean

Tourism represents a fundamental economic strategy for many cities, regions and countries around the world. Yet, it is also one of the main drivers of global environmental change and may have deleterious effects on a number of critical environmental vectors such as water. The development of tourism in Mediterranean region raises special concerns regarding water because of summer droughts and large concentrations of seasonal tourists. Nevertheless, tourist destinations are far from being homogeneous in their consumption of water and other resources. In this paper we argue that dense, high rise tourist centers tend to use comparatively less water than disperse, low density residential resorts, taking the case of Benidorm and the Alicante coast (Mediterranean Spain) as examples. Thus we seek to illustrate how water consumption may differ substantially depending on the predominant tourist land use patterns and their associated different densities (i.e., campsites, hotels, holiday resorts, apartments, residential homes, etc.). The observed different water consumption patterns reaffirm the heterogeneous nature and impacts of tourist activities and corroborate that density is a crucial variable for understanding the economic, social, and environmental effects of tourism.     

The Weekend Effect, 'Reverse' Weekend Effect, and Firm Size

In this paper, we find a 'reverse%rsquo; weekend effect — whereby returns for Monday are positive and significantly greater than returns for the preceding Friday — in recent data for major stock indexes. We also find that, while a weak weekend effect exists in portfolios of smaller firms, the effect begins to diminish and weak 'reverse' weekend effect begins to appear in medium size firms. The 'reverse' weekend effect becomes strong and statistically significant in portfolios of large firms. The detection of a 'reverse' weekend effect in portfolios of large firms is a new finding in the literature.     

Conformity and diversity of accounting and financial reporting practices in Portuguese local government

Portuguese governmental accounting has evolved from essentially a cash‐based budgetary accounting system to an accrual‐based financial and cost accounting system. Evidence from financial reports shows a great level of diversity amongst municipalities' voluntary compliance with the new accounting rules. Using a sample of Portuguese municipalities in the year 2003 we calculate and analyse the levels of compliance with the practices required by law and document the diversity in compliance across municipalities. The differences across municipalities are explained by some fundamental factors: size, financial conditions, urban characteristics, and diffusion across neighbouring municipalities. We show an unexpected effect of size. Larger municipalities comply less with accounting standards. Organizational complexity, conservative practices, and aversion to change may explain this result. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deposit insurance subsidies,moral hazard,and bank regulation

The model developed in the paper separates deposit insurance subsidies into two components: a premium-linked subsidy which arises from an ex-ante mispricing of the deposit insurance premium, and an asset-linked subsidy which arises from a lack of ex-post monitoring of the bank's actions. The identification of these two subsidies provides important insight into the relation between deposit-insurance subsidies and bank risk. The asset-linked subsidy is higher for banks of average risk and lower for very-high and very-low risk banks. The premiumlinked subsidy behaves differently under risk-adjusted and fixed-rate premiums. The model also indicates that the implementation of a riskadjusted insurance-rate schedule alone would not be sufficient to eliminate the bank's excessive risk-taking behavior. Thus, some combination of risk-sensitive deposit-insurance pricing and regulatory control is necessary to reduce the moral hazard problem.     

Core many-to-one matchings by fixed-point methods

We characterize the core many-to-one matchings as fixed points of a map. Our characterization gives an algorithm for finding core allocations; the algorithm is efficient and simple to implement. Our characterization does not require substitutable preferences, so it is separate from the structure needed for the non-emptiness of the core. When preferences are substitutable, our characterization gives a simple proof of the lattice structure of core matchings, and it gives a method for computing the join and meet of two core matchings.     

Transactional hazards,institutional change,and capabilities: Integrating the theories of the firm

Using a detailed dataset from the Chilean construction industry, we explore how the predictions of the transaction cost and capabilities theories interact to explain building contractors' decisions to ‘make or buy’ the specialty trade activities needed to complete a construction project. We show that the contractor's productive capabilities strongly mediate the relationship between transaction hazards that originate from either temporal specificity or an exogenous change in the subcontracting law and the vertical integration decision. The inclusion of differential capabilities and its interaction with transactional hazards infuse contractors' boundary choices with systematic patterns of heterogeneity and contribute to the integration of these theoretical perspectives. Our analysis corrects for the endogeneity of the capabilities variable and provides a detailed assessment of the marginal effects in logit models. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.