Understanding liquidity shortages during severe economic downturns

One feature of economic recessions is the appearance of aggregate liquidity shortages that can exacerbate the economic downturn. We develop a model in which the demand for liquidity arises suddenly in response to continued funding needs of partially completed investment projects whose outcomes are subject to idiosyncratic shocks and moral hazard. When the economy experiences an adverse aggregate productivity shock, incentive constraints that underlie equity contracts may bind, provided the shock is severe enough. In this case, credit-rationing appears, and the heightened demand for liquidity coincides with a greater reluctance to take on equity positions or deepen investments in on-going investment projects. The consequence is a reduction in new investment and termination of on-going projects due to a lack of liquidity, thereby worsening the economic slowdown.     

Management of sustainable fashion retail based on reuse– A struggle with multiple logics

ABSTRACT

In scholarly conversations, reuse is one of the common suggested strategies to render fashion retail sustainable. Previous research has stressed the complexity of fashion reuse and the importance of a well-organized system. The complexity stems from processes that involve many actors as well as products hard to evaluate. Consequently, it is challenging to organize reuse-based fashion retail, and studies are needed to further develop knowledge regarding how to manage such systems. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexity in the management of such an initiative, by identifying and explaining obstacles as well as implications. With institutional logics as a framework, three local logics (shopping mall, reuse, and work integration) are used to analyze the management of a reuse-based mall. Despite the mall’s success in getting sufficient donations and creating publicity, it has struggled to establish itself as viable reuse-based fashion retail. The findings illustrate the complexity created by the interplay of different logics and how the complexity influences both the daily and strategic management of the mall. Further, the outcome of this interplay depends largely on which rationality is enacted by involved actors. The study also extends literature on institutional logics, showing that differences in individual actors’ attention, knowledge, skills, coordination, and material conditions influence how logics are enacted and managed. We suggest that there are inherent managerial contradictions in the sustainable practices in fashion retail. Thus, in scholarly conversations, it is important to discuss what different divergent sustainability dimensions imply when seeking solutions for sustainable retail. In practice, there is a need to acknowledge and balance the presence of multiple logics, making it crucial to have competence in all logics. Also, managers of reuse-based fashion retail must consciously and continuously scrutinize their own strategies and actions to avoid an imbalance between the logics.     

Widowhood and health of elderly in India: examining the role of economic factors using structural equation modeling

Evidence on the association between widowhood and health is widely available in the literature. However, there is a dearth of analysis on the mechanism through which widowhood affects the health status of an individual, particularly in old age, specifically whether widowhood among the elderly affects their health through their economic conditions. This paper purports to establish both the direct and indirect effects of widowhood on self-reported health status among aged Indians. We examine the mediating effect of economic factors such as income, labor force participation, extent of economic independence and other economic factors in the relationship between widowhood and health status. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to test specific hypotheses. We use unit level 60th round data for the year 2004 surveyed by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The results confirm that poor economic conditions have a mediating effect on the relationship between widowhood and health and, therefore, any policy to reduce the effect of widowhood on health must be based on economic factors.     

Engaging employees for quality of life: mediation by psychological capital

The objective of this study is to examine the mediating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) between work engagement and the six dimensions of quality of work life (QoWL). Data were collected from the employees working in the accident and emergency department of tertiary hospitals in India involved in rendering emergency healthcare services. Structural analysis showed that PsyCap fully mediates the relationship between work engagement and control at work and partially between work engagement and the other five dimensions of QoWL. These results augment broaden and build theory by explaining the role of PsyCap in channelizing the positive effect of work engagement to improve employees’ QoWL. Hospitals with the accident and emergency department are encouraged to recruit psychologically capable employees. Such employees can transfer the benefits of their personal resources and engagement to the quality of life at work and be less prone to burnout.     

Can individuals’ beliefs help us understand nonadherence to malaria test results? Evidence from rural Kenya

In malaria‐endemic countries about a quarter of test‐negative individuals take antimalarials (artemisinin‐based combination therapies [ACTs]). ACT overuse depletes scarce resources for subsidies and contributes to parasite resistance. As part of an experiment in Kenya that provided subsidies for rapid diagnostic test and/or for ACTs conditionally on being positive, we studied the association between beliefs on malaria status (prior and posterior the intervention) and decisions to get tested and to purchase ACTs. We find that prior beliefs do not explain the decision of getting tested (conditional on the price) and nonadherence to a negative test. However, test‐negative individuals who purchase ACTs report higher posterior beliefs than those who do not, consistent with a framework in which the formers revise beliefs upward, while the latters do not change or revise downward. We also do not find evidence that prior beliefs on ACT effectiveness and trust in test results play any major role in explaining testing or treatment behavior. Further research is needed to improve adherence to malaria‐negative test results.     

全球性量化宽松意味着全球性长期通胀

【摩根士丹利7月3日】目前,许多国家的总体通胀率已陷入负区间,而全球经济才刚刚摆脱“大衰退”。在这种情况下担忧通胀风险,如果不说是荒唐,似乎至少也是为时过早。现在看来,大多数投资者并不担心通胀风险。事实上,根据市场数据推算,目前美国和欧元区的10年期通胀预期都不到2％,低于过去十年间的实际通胀率。但我们认为,市场对长期通胀风险过于乐观了;未来十年的通胀率看来更有可能大大超过、而非低于过去十年间的平均通胀率。     

An empirical comparison of consumer-based measures of brand equity

This article compares eleven different consumer-based brand equity measures and evaluates their convergence. Predictive validity at the individual and aggregate levels is also investigated. Measures based on the dollar metric method and discrete choice methodology predict choices extremely well in a simulated shopping environment, as well as purchase-intention and brand-quality scales.     

The currency risk factor in international equity pricing

Currency risk in the pricing of international equity returns is analyzed from an empirical viewpoint. The significance of the domestic market index, and the world index is also analyzed. The methodology is based on the Asymptotic Principal Components when an approximate factor structure is assumed. Monthly stock price returns for five countries are used. Thirty stocks are chosen from each country. Fifteen years of data is used. The U.S. Dollar is the numeraire. Exchange risk is generally not priced. The Domestic market index is always priced. The pricing of the World Index is mixed, i.e., it is priced in certain case and not in others.