Factors influencing the adoption of ICT tools in Kerala marine fisheries sector: an analytic hierarchy process approach

Adoption of a new ICT tool in the fisheries sector depends on several factors such as ease of use, affordable cost, information, and time. All these factors determine the preference of an existing tool over others for productivity enhancement. Which ICT tool is more beneficial than others is a continuing debate among researchers. However, the literature currently lacks detailed studies of fishermen criteria for selecting the best ICT tools in the marine fisheries sector. This paper is based on a framework which explains the factors influencing the adoption of ICT tools for the better fish catch, with the help of a multi-criteria decision making approach, called Analytic Hierarchy Process. Also, in the study we have compared the results of analysis using AHP with popular method TOPSIS and the obtained results were validated. The Study also assesses scientifically, which is the most important ICT tool for fishing through a case study in Northern and Southern parts of Kerala, a state in the southern India. The Study finds that Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most beneficial and important ICT tool in marine fishing. In contrast to the earlier studies, the results show that wireless set is important than other tools like mobile phone and echo-sounder for multi-day fishing. The cost-benefit analysis also supports findings of the study.     

Back to Buchanan? Explorations of welfare and subjectivism in behavioral economics

In light of behavioral findings regarding inconsistent individual decision-making, economists have begun to re-conceptualize the notion of welfare. One prominent account is the preference purification approach (PP), which attempts to reconstruct preferences from choice data based on a normative understanding of neoclassical rationality. Using Buchanan’s notion of creative choice, this paper criticizes PP’s epistemic, ontological, and psychological assumptions. It identifies PP as a static position that assumes the satisfaction of given ‘true preferences’ as the normative standard for welfare. However, following Buchanan, choice should be understood dynamically as a process whereby preferences constantly regenerate. Accordingly, the meaning of welfare emerges from an ongoing quest for individual self-constitution. If this holds true, then rationality axioms cannot serve as a priori normative standards. Instead, creative imagination and learning processes must remain central to any understanding of welfare in economics.     

A new perspective on the exporter productivity premium: online trade

We use a unique firm-level data set including 9000 companies from 26 European Union countries covering four different sectors to take a close look at the relationship between online exports and productivity. The online exporter productivity premium is estimated using different techniques (ordinary least squares, quantile regressions and robust estimation). Results consistently indicate that the estimated online exporter productivity premium is statistically different from zero, positive and significant from an economic point of view. European online exporters, according to these results, are approximately 2% more productive than non-online exporters. Productivity differences between firms could be related to variables that are not included in the empirical model. More research would be needed to address this issue in the future.     

THE SHORT‐RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF RECENT MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY

This paper presents early evidence on the employment effects of state minimum wage increases enacted between January 2013 and January 2015. As of 2015, we estimate that relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low‐skilled population groups by just over 1 percentage point. Smaller minimum wage increases, as well as increases linked to inflation indexation provisions, appear to have had much smaller (and possibly positive) effects on employment over our sample period. The estimates thus raise the potential importance of nonlinearities in the minimum wage's effects, which are consistent with standard models of the labor market. (JEL H11, J08, J23)     

Fractional Integration Versus Structural Change: Testing the Convergence of $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ Emissions

This paper assesses the stochastic convergence of relative \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) emissions within 28 OECD countries over the period 1950–2013. Using the local Whittle estimator and some of its variants we assess whether relative per capita \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) emissions are long memory processes which, although highly persistent, may revert to their mean/trend in the long run thereby indicating evidence of stochastic convergence. Furthermore, we test whether (possibly) slow convergence or the complete lack of it may be the result of structural changes to the deterministics of each of the relative per-capita emissions series by means of the tests of Berkes et al. (Ann Stat 1140–1165, 2006) and Mayoral (Oxford Bull Econ Stat 74(2):278–305, 2012). Our results show relatively weak support for stochastic convergence of \(\hbox {CO}_2\) emissions, indicating that only between 30 and 40% of the countries converge to the OECD average in a stochastic sense. This weak evidence disappears if we enlarge the sample to include 4 out of the 5 BRICS, indicating that our results are not robust to the inclusion of countries which are experiencing rates of growth which are far larger than those of the OECD members. Our results also decisively indicate that a slow or lack of convergence is not the results of a structural break in the relative \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) emissions series.     

Monetary policy implications of short-term capital flows in Turkey

The advent of global financial crisis in 2008, unleashed volatile short term capital flows to the emerging markets. This has forced many central banks in the developing world to adopt innovative policy measures to address concerns related to financial instability caused by the volatile nature of capital flows. In 2010 Turkish Central Bank included financial stability in addition to price stability as one of primary goals of its monetary policy. Several macro-prudential measures had been taken and ‘corridor system’ of setting the short-term policy rates had been introduced. In this paper, we have estimated an extended Taylor rule, using error correction model, to examine the impact of global financial factors in impacting the setting up of the policy rate in the pre and post 2010 periods in Turkey. It has been found that in the post-2010 period, global financial factors and monetary policy stance of the core economy, USA, have become major factor(s) in shaping up the monetary policy. Particularly our results of variance decomposition show that global financial indicators such as, VIX and EMBI have taken prominence in the setting of the short-term policy rate. This has not only made the domestic monetary more dependent on external factors but has also made pro-cyclical in nature.     

Demographic Transition and Economic Development in Karnataka

The universal process of population change has significant attainment of social and economic implications at global level. Demographic transition is not only consisting of population growth tendency but much more along with economic consequences Karnataka is in the third stage of demographic transition and this scenario is marked with opportunities and challenges. This paper examines the demographic trends of Karnataka by using different Census data collected from Census reports and time series data over the time period of 1991–2014 collected from SRS. The fertility and mortality levels in the state have declined considerably. The districts in the Karnataka state have shown considerable increment in HDI from decade to decade. The study used the bound testing approach to co-integration; Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was also applied for analyzing the long run relationship whereas Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) was applied for analyzing the short run link of the demographic variables with economic growth. The study exhibited that the demographic transition positively affected the economic growth in the long run and negatively in the short run.

     

Commodity price inflation, retail pass-through and market power

When commodity prices rise, wholesalers and retailers of products derived from basic commodities respond by passing along at least a portion of the price increase to consumers. In this paper we examine whether firms respond differently to positive commodity price shocks than to negative commodity price shocks; that is, whether commodity price volatility alters market power. We exploit recent volatility in food commodity prices over the period 2007-2010 to investigate how commodity price shocks translate into market power in two different vertically-structured food product industries: potatoes and fluid milk. For potatoes, we find both wholesale and retail market power decreases (increases) during periods of rising (falling) commodity prices. Moreover, price-cost margins widen a substantially greater degree in response to negative shocks than margins narrow in response to positive shocks, indicating that commodity price volatility increases market power. For fluid milk, we find that market power likewise declines during periods of rising commodity prices; however, market power does not significantly change during periods of falling commodity prices, suggesting that commodity price volatility decreases market power.     

A profit assessment model for equipment inspection and replacement under renewing free replacement warranty policy

For many types of equipment whose maintenance requires skilled labor or whose random failure may have serious consequences, such as aircraft engines, medical equipment and others, customers generally prefer to entrust maintenance activities to the manufacturer or any of its representatives. The latter must, in turn, provide the customer with a maintenance program that is economically viable for both parties. In this study, the customer and the manufacturer agree on what follows regarding a non-self-announcing failure equipment whose state is only known through inspection: during the warranty period, the manufacturer inspects the equipment according to a specified schedule which he establishes taking into account that the costs incurred for inspections and replacements are supported by him during the warranty period. After the expiration of the warranty, inspections and replacements are performed by the manufacturer and billed to the customer. Moreover, penalties related to inactivity periods between failures and their detection are always supported by the manufacturer. The warranty is applicable to any equipment replaced during the validity period of the service contract. This type of contract generates a profit for the manufacturer. In this paper, an analytical model taking into account the commitments of both parties has been developed. The model allows generating the instants (x₁, x₂,…, x_n) at which the inspections must be performed and the corresponding expected profit for the manufacturer while considering the warranty period offered on the market for similar equipment. An algorithm has also been developed to generate the inspection instants given the costs structure and the lifetime probability distribution of the equipment. In a context where business models argue for a greater implication of suppliers towards their customers, the proposed decision model may be relevant and very useful.