Auction theory adaptations for real life applications

We develop extensions to auction theory results that are useful in real life scenarios.1. Since valuations are generally positive we first develop approximations using the log-normal distribution. This would be useful for many finance related auction settings since asset prices are usually non-negative.2. We formulate a positive symmetric discrete distribution, which is likely to be followed by the total number of auction participants, and incorporate this into auction theory results.3. We develop extensions when the valuations of the bidders are interdependent and incorporate all the results developed into a final combined realistic setting.4. Our methods can be a practical tool for bidders and auction sellers to maximize their profits. The models developed here could be potentially useful for inventory estimation and for wholesale procurement of financial instruments and also non-financial commodities.All the propositions are new results and they refer to existing results which are stated as Lemmas.     

Regulation,Minimum Wage and Informality: Introduction to Symposium

Are markets in developing and transition economies over‐regulated or under‐regulated? This is a perennial question in the development discourse, but one for which answers appear to come more from preset ideology than from context‐specific analysis and evidence. These issues become even more pressing when the debate turns to the links between regulation, deregulation and inequality. The recent experience of rising inequality in many countries has also brought to the fore predictable policy positions. A key aspect of labor regulation in developing countries, and one becoming more prominent in the era of rising inequality, is the minimum wage. The range of issues around regulation, minimum wage and informality was addressed by papers presented to a conference held in New Delhi on December 17–18, 2014. The conference was co‐sponsored by the World Bank, UK Department for International Development, Cornell University and Columbia University. The organizers of the conference were Kaushik Basu, Stefan Dercon, Ravi Kanbur and Jan Svejnar. A selection of papers from the conference which passed the usual review procedures of the Review of Development Economics, and a further selection of papers from those submitted to the journal, form this symposium.     

Foreign Capital and Urban Congestion in Emerging Markets

Traditional literature emphasizes the role of foreign capital, especially foreign direct investment (FDI) in explaining the high growth rates that many emerging economies have enjoyed during 1990s and 2000s. The present paper accepts this conventional wisdom but argues that the FDI has also created problems of urban sprawl and congestion that would not be so intense if economic development had primarily come from domestic sources. This is because the FDI is typically concentrated in urban areas that abound in manufacturing and it neglects the rural areas where agriculture predominates. The paper suggests that a small tax on foreign capital tends to mitigate the side effects of foreign investment.     

The accuracy of IPO earnings forecasts in Thailand and their relationships with stock market valuation

In order to help reduce information asymmetry between managers and prospective investors, IPO prospectuses in Thailand are required to publish managers' forecasts of the forthcoming year's earnings. This type of direct disclosure is especially important in a developing economy such as Thailand where financial intermediaries and information vendors are relatively sparse, and where investors are rarely professionals. Our results demonstrate that managers' earnings forecasts are much more accurate than extrapolations of historical earnings. We show that forecast accuracy is related to underpricing, and it has a directional, but not statistical, association with one-year stock returns and one-year wealth relatives.     

An Investigation of Justice in supply chain relationships and their performance impact

Justice is important in improving performance of supply chain relationships. However, the role of justice in improving performance in supply chain relationships is an under-investigated subject in the literature. In studying the joint impact of justice dimensions, the traditional assumption is that the three forms of justice interact with each other in a multiplicative manner. However, this assumption creates a managerial problem as discussed in this paper. We outline a different view of how the justice dimensions interact with one another utilizing the constraining factor model (CFM). We show that the CFM resolves some of the problems arising from the choice of multiplicative interaction of justice measures on performance. Specifically, we demonstrate that an increase in procedural, distributive or interactional justice results in a significant and positive improvement in performance only if the specific justice dimension is the constraining factor in the relationship. Overall, our analysis suggests that all three dimensions are important and a high level of one of the justice elements will not compensate for a low level of another, a view that is put forward by a number of past research studies in justice. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.     

THE ART OF STRATEGIC DIVESTMENT

Divestiture makes sense only as part of a sound, long-term strategy. Before simply shedding business units, companies must consider all the options, and be willing to constantly review, replenish, and trim portfolios as markets change and evolve. In so doing, a company increases not only its flexibility but also its chances of adding shareholder value.
This article examines the corporate restructuring "big picture," in which divestments are only one alternative. It reviews additional measures besides divestments, such as outsourcing, joint ventures, asset swaps, and using new technologies to cut costs, and provides case studies of each. It also raises some interesting issues regarding divestiture, such as ways to sell a business unit without strengthening a competitor's hand, as well as strategies for improving a business unit's valuation in preparation for sale. The authors, who are M&A advisors at Accenture, conclude that "a carefully planned and well-executed restructuring that involves divestiture can be as significant a victory for management and shareholders as a successful acquisition."     

Welfare Economics,Political Economy and Policy Reform in Ghana*

Abstract: Economic policy reform touches upon two aspects of the subject of economics - welfare economics and political economy. The former develops the logic of how the gains of the gainers and the losses of the losers should be weighed against each other, in the context of particular ethical frameworks; the latter analyses how the gains of the gainers and the losses of the losers will be weighed against each other, in the context of the institutions of a particular socio-political system. This essay has considered the sub-disciplines of Welfare Economics and Political Economy as two frameworks for evaluating policy reform and applied them to the case of Ghana. It is argued that the agenda for policy makers in Ghana is to work towards organizing and mobilizing the gainers from reforms which advance social welfare, so that resistance to such reforms from the losers can be overcome. The first decade of reform in Ghana presents the results of such alignment. The second decade of reform now awaits. Résumé: La réforme structurelle de l'économie participe de deux aspects de la doctrine économique: l'économie de bien-être et l'économie politique. La première situe dans un cadre logique les modalités par lesquelles les pertes des perdants et les gains des gagnants devraient être mis en balance, dans le contexte d'un système éthique particulier; la seconde analyse les modalités par lesquelles les gains des gagnants et les pertes des perdants seront mis en balance, dans le contexte des institutions d'un système socio-politique donné. Le présent essai utilise les deux sous-disciplines -économie de bien-être et économie politique-comme cadres d'analyse pour l'évaluation des réformes structurelles, en les appliquant au cas du Ghana. L'auteur soutient que pour les décideurs du Ghana, le mot d'ordre consiste à organiser et mobiliser les bénéficiaires des réformes concourant à la promotion du bien-être social, afin de pouvoir vaincre la résistance que les perdants opposent à ces réformes. La première décennie des réformes au Ghana fait apparaître les résultats de cet alignement. La deuxième décennie est ouverte.     

Resource Configuration in Family Firms: Linking Resources, Strategic Planning and Technological Opportunities to Performance

abstract    We apply the resource-based view of the firm to the study of family firms by investigating how a family specific resource (reciprocal altruism) and a firm specific resource (innovative capacity) contribute to family firm performance. We then examine how the impact of these resources is moderated by strategic planning and technological opportunities. Our findings suggest that family firms can benefit from emphasizing the positive aspects of kinship and from developing innovative capacities. As such, we demonstrate that not only do firm specific resources contribute to family firm performance, but also that family relationships can be a source of competitive advantage for a family firm. In addition, we found a heightened importance of reciprocal altruism in environments rich in technological opportunities, and that strategic planning is more important for those family firms that lack innovative capacities.