Understanding how legitimacy is acquired among informal home-based Pakistani small businesses

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - The informal business sector has been garnering attention from governments and researchers. In countries where this sector plays a...     

Microfranchise emergence and its impact on entrepreneurship

Our investigation uses structuration theory to explore the emergence of a microfranchise whose aim is to raise the income of smallholder farmers in Kenya by enabling an increase in productivity. This longitudinal real time qualitative study tracks the key actions taken in developing the venture, beginning in the conception phase of startup and continuing through to the initial stage of operations. In doing so it focuses on how agency and structure reciprocally influence the resulting social enterprise. The findings indicate that agency is not exclusive to the founders. Rather it was distributed among the micro-franchisor’s stakeholders to significantly shape the nature and scope of the enterprise. While franchising, generally, is not noted to provide autonomy and independence to franchisees, we find the opposite in this emerging market context. Implications are discussed.     

Cost-effectiveness analysis of peginterferon beta-1a compared with interferon beta-1a and glatiramer acetate in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in the United States

Objective Peginterferon beta-1a 125?mcg, administered subcutaneously (SC) every 2 weeks, a new disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014. This study assesses the cost-effectiveness of peginterferon beta-1a vs interferon beta-1a (44?mcg SC 3 times per week) and glatiramer acetate (20?mg SC once-daily) in the treatment of RRMS from the perspective of a US payer over 10 years.

Methods A Markov cohort economic model was developed for this analysis. The model predicts disability progression, occurrence of relapses and other adverse events and translates them into quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs. Natural history data were obtained from the placebo arm of the ADVANCE trial of peginterferon beta-1a, the London Ontario (Canada) database and a large population-based MS survey. Comparative efficacy of each DMT vs placebo was obtained from a network meta-analysis. Costs (in 2014?US dollars) were sourced from public databases and literature. Clinical and economic outcomes were discounted at 3% per year.

Results Over 10 years, peginterferon beta-1a was dominant (i.e., more effective and less costly), with cost-savings of $22,070 and additional 0.06 QALYs when compared with interferon beta-1a 44?mcg and with cost-savings of $19,163 and 0.07 QALYs gained when compared with glatiramer acetate 20?mg. Results were most sensitive to variations in the treatment effect of each DMT, treatment acquisition costs of each DMT and the time horizon. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses indicated that peginterferon beta-1a remains dominant in >90% of 5,000 replications compared with either DMTs.

Conclusion This analysis suggests that long-term treatment with peginterferon beta-1a improves clinical outcomes at reduced costs compared with interferon beta-1a 44?mcg and glatiramer acetate 20?mg and should be a valuable addition to managed care formularies for treating patients with RRMS.     

Exchange Rate Uncertainty, Sociopolitical Instability and Private Investment: Empirical Evidence from Latin America

Using exchange rate uncertainty (ERU) and sociopolitical instability (SPI) as measures of macroeconomic imbalances and political disorder, respectively, we investigate the link between these two factors and private investment in Latin America. The analysis shows that while ERU and SPI negatively impact private investment jointly, the individual impact of ERU is much greater than that of SPI. Our results should prove useful both to policymakers and others interested in understanding the impact of uncertainty on private investment. Most importantly, macroeconomic policies that limit excess volatility in relative prices should lessen an economy’s general level of investment risk leading to enhanced private investment. Further, though lesser in degree, institutional reforms that reduce social tensions and strengthen property rights should also stimulate private investment. Finally, structural reforms that combine these two are likely to foster a robust market for private investment thus contributing to an economy’s growth potential.     

Learning and Noisy Equilibrium Behavior in an Experimental Study of Imperfect Price Competition*

We consider a duopoly pricing game with a unique Bertrand–Nashequilibrium. The high‐price firm has a nonvanishing market share, however, and intuition suggests that observed prices may be positively related to this market share. This relationship is implied by a model in which players make noisy (logit) best responses to expected payoff differences. The resulting logit equilibrium model was used to design an experiment in which the high‐price firm's market share varies. The model accurately predicts the final‐period price averages. A naive learning model predicts the observed differences in the time paths of average prices.     

Does risk disclosure in prospectus matter in ChiNext IPOs’ initial underpricing?

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - Using a unique and hand-collected dataset, we investigate the impact of the risk factors disclosed in the prospectuses on the initial returns for...     

Do closed survey questions overestimate public perceptions of food risks?

In this paper, we show that the widely accepted methodology for the assessment of risk perception – Likert-type survey questions featuring a set of risks with fixed response alternatives measuring the extent of worry or concern – may overestimate food risk perception. Using a European representative sample survey (n = 26,961) that included an open-ended question asking about problems and risks with food and eating, followed by a battery of closed questions (CQs) assessing food risk perception, we find a similar ranking of perceived food risks across the two methods. Across Europe, the five priority concerns are chronic food-related illness; food origins and quality; acute food-related illness; chemical contamination; and adulteration of food. However, the discrepancies between mentioning a risk in the open-ended question and the expression of worry about risks in the CQ are substantial. Of those who did not mention a specific risk category in the open question, between 60 and 83% (depending on risk category) expressed worry in the CQ. This parallels previous research on the fear of crime, showing that survey responses lead to greatly inflated estimates of the public’s fear of crime than is evidenced by qualitative questioning. It is also consistent with evidence from research on cognitive aspects of survey methodology, suggesting that survey questions may frame the respondent’s thinking about an issue. We conclude with recommendations for the use of branched questions in the quantitative elicitation of public perceptions of risk.     

Short Sea Shipping, intermodality and parameters influencing pricing policies: the Mediterranean case

The Short Sea Shipping (SSS) market is strongly diversified, due to the variety of cargoes, vessel types and capacity, and segmented due to the existence of many national and peripheral submarkets. It is observed that prices differ considerably among transport services of similar distance routes and/or similar demand characteristics. The aim of this study is to identify factors influencing SSS operators pricing policies for both the sea and the inland part of intermodal chains, in an integrated framework. The analysis is based on the comparison of parameters influencing the cost structure and the pricing policy. The analysis of data collected through telephone and face-to-face interviews reveals that fuel, port cost, and market drivers with fuel cost being the most important elements influencing the variation in both the cost function and the pricing policy. Cost variations are also influenced by the cost of hinterland transport and the size of shipments, while pricing policy varies according to destination and type of goods transported. These findings contribute in understanding the SSS market and its operation. However, due to the complexity of self-organised systems, validating the presented cost and pricing structures remains a challenge.     

Value-at-Risk: a multivariate switching regime approach

This paper analyses the application of a switching volatility model to forecast the distribution of returns and to estimate the Value-at-Risk (VaR) of both single assets and portfolios. We calculate the VaR value for 10 Italian stocks and a number of portfolios based on these stocks. The calculated VaR values are also compared with the variance–covariance approach used by JP Morgan in RiskMetrics™ and GARCH(1,1) models. Under backtesting, the VaR values calculated using the switching regime beta model are preferred to both other methods. The Proportion of Failure and Time Until First Failure tests [The Journal of Derivatives (1995) 73–84] confirm this result.