Irish Manufacturing Export Dynamics: Evidence of Exporter Heterogeneity in Boom and Slump Periods

This paper explores export dynamics, using an unbalanced plant-level panel data set of Irish manufacturing plants between 1985 and 2003. The analysis focuses closely on two periods: one of exceptional export growth and one of significant export decline. We find strong evidence of exporter heterogeneity, as measured by individual exporter behaviour running contrary to aggregate trend, in both boom and slump years. The degree of heterogeneity differs markedly by sub-sector and firm size. Despite high levels of entry/exit into and out of export markets in the boom/slump, the export dynamics are dominated by the export activities of continuing exporters. JEL no. E32, F14     

Constitutional Confusion: Slavery,Abortion, and Substantive Constitutional Analysis

A comparison of two U.S. Supreme Court cases about fundamental rights, one on slavery, the other on abortion, sheds light on constitutional law and the principles undergirding liberal constitutional democracy. The Dred Scott case in 1857 denied constitutional rights to enslaved Africans and their descendants living in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 created a constitutional right to abortion that denied constitutional personhood to human beings prior to birth. Both cases involved applications of what legal scholars call “substantive due process”—that is, a substantive interpretation of the constitutional requirement that governments provide persons with “due process of law” that moves beyond procedural formalism. Although many constitutional scholars deny the legitimacy of substantive due process as a legal doctrine, this article proposes that the judicial system cannot ultimately avoid substantive moral questions in constitutional interpretation. In both cases examined here, the crucial question was about who counts as part of the people whom the Constitution protects, and that question could not be answered in purely formal terms. Both Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade erred not by engaging substantive moral questions but rather by denying, in different ways, the natural rights of human persons.     

Subjectivity in Professionals' Incentive Systems: Differences between Promotion‐ and Performance‐Based Assessments

We examine how managers assess performance and promotion prospects—that is, the ex ante likelihood of promotion—and the conditions under which these assessments diverge. We argue that managers apply different cognitive schemas when they make different assessments. To the extent that a signal provides different information about future versus current contributions, assessed performance and promotion prospects are likely to diverge. In two experiments, we manipulate professionals' promotion eligibility and level of consultative decision making. We find that experienced managers assess performance and promotion prospects differently, but only when professionals are promotion eligible. Specifically, more (as opposed to less) consultative decision making decreases promotion prospects while not affecting assessed performance (Experiment 1) or even improving it (Experiment 2). By contrast, more consultative decision making improves both assessments when professionals are not eligible for promotion. We shed light on the relations between subjective assessments, including that promotion is not necessarily the consequence of superior assessed performance.     

Asset values and the sustainability of peace prospects

Continuous violent conflict is a central cause of economic stagnation in many of the world's poorest countries. Given that attempts to achieve peace in these countries often remain elusive, it is important to identify mechanisms which reveal the sustainability of peace over time. We argue that long-term financial asset values reflect the sustainability of peace prospects because the expectation of continued peace will result in higher long-term asset prices. Equity index prices from Sri Lanka are used to test this theory. Also considered are the accuracy of equity prices versus other predictors of sustainable peace, including exchange rates and survey responses. The main conclusion is that long-term financial asset prices indicate the likelihood of conflict or peace and can inform policies as they relate to conflict-torn areas.     

Smart growth and the septic tank: Wastewater treatment and growth management in the Baltimore region

The purpose of this study is to determine the degree to which residential development in the Baltimore region utilizes septic systems, specifically in the context of Maryland's Priority Funding Area (PFA) policy. Our results indicate that residential development in designated growth areas within the five counties surrounding Baltimore City has, in general, been successfully tethered to sewer infrastructure. However, since passage of Maryland's PFA law, development that utilizes septic tanks has grown significantly and, in some cases, growth has occurred inside PFAs generally when there is a lack of existing sewer services. The proliferation of septic systems is a concern because it encourages low-density sprawl-like development, and has negative environmental consequences since these systems are a non-point source for nitrogen, a major pollutant of concern in the Chesapeake Bay.     

Particularistic and system trust among small and medium enterprises: A comparative study in China's transition economy

Guanxi, a type of particularistic trust observed in Confucian societies has mostly been viewed as a static phenomenon. It is not clear how the role of guanxi changes over time during institutional transitions. This field study of twenty one small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in two large cities in Western China examines the changes in SME behaviors since the beginning of economic reforms in 1979. Based on neo-institutionalist trust perspectives, the article argues that the role of guanxi also arose from the paucity of market system trust created by the absence of well-established market institutions during China's transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. Guanxi became relatively less important when market system trust based on well-established institutions was firmly established. Regardless of past practices, the dynamics of institutional transitions leading to the establishment of system trust inevitably reshapes managerial as well as business behaviors, with adaptation occurring to the new rules of the market economy.     

If You Are So Smart,Why Aren't You an Entrepreneur? Returns to Cognitive and Social Ability: Entrepreneurs Versus Employees

How valuable are cognitive and social abilities for entrepreneurs’ relative to employees’ earnings? We answer three questions: (1) To what extent does a composite measure of ability affect an entrepreneur's earnings relative to wages earned by employees? (2) Do different cognitive abilities (e.g., math ability, language, or verbal ability) and social ability affect earnings of entrepreneurs and employees differently?, and (3) Does the balance in these measured ability levels affect an individual's earnings? Our (difference‐of‐difference) estimates of the returns to ability for spells in entrepreneurship versus wage employment account for selectivity into entrepreneurial positions insofar as they are determined by fixed individual characteristics. Our robust results provide the following answers to the three questions: General ability has a stronger impact on entrepreneurial incomes than on wages. Moreover, entrepreneurs and employees benefit from different sets of specific abilities: verbal and clerical abilities have a stronger impact on wages, whereas mathematical, social, and technical ability are more valuable for entrepreneurs. The balance in the various kinds of ability also generates a higher income, but only for entrepreneurs: This finding supports Lazear's Jack‐of‐all‐Trades theory.     

Normal science and paradigmatic shifts: political and regulatory strategies to develop investor protection in the aftermath of crisis

The scale of the Global Financial Crisis prompted initial systematic reflection by leading politicians from Anglo‐Saxon countries. One commonality linked the analyses put forward by Gordon Brown (UK), Barack Obama (USA) and Kevin Rudd (Australia): the crisis had roots in ethical failure. The interlinked failure of structure and agency necessitated fundamental change in the theory and practice of the regulation of capital markets. The international regulatory reform agenda has, however, focused on the technical requirements of the former and largely ignored the latter. The paper argues that this is not only a mistake. It reflects the ongoing strength of the financial services industry to determine the ideational, ideological and institutional battleground.