Positive Feedback Investment Strategies and Destabilizing Rational Speculation

Analyses of rational speculation usually presume that it dampens fluctuations caused by “noise” traders. This is not necessarily the case if noise traders follow positive-feedback strategies—buy when prices rise and sell when prices fall. It may pay to jump on the bandwagon and purchase ahead of noise demand. If rational speculators' early buying triggers positive-feedback trading, then an increase in the number of forward-looking speculators can increase volatility about fundamentals. This model is consistent with a number of empirical observations about the correlation of asset returns, the overreaction of prices to news, price bubbles, and expectations.     

The Effect of Information on Willingness to Pay for Canned Tuna Fish with Different Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Certification: A Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to assess the role of information in consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for food products with corporate social responsibility (CSR) certification. The item used for the experimental design was canned tuna fish, a product on the market that is already exhibiting various kinds of certification related to social and environmental attributes. Two different kinds of certifications were examined, namely Friend of the Sea, which involves environmental aspects, and SA8000, related to workers' rights and more general social attributes. We implemented experimental auctions, taking into account three information treatments. The initial findings show that the WTP for both CSR labels is higher than the WTP for tuna fish without any CSR certification. Nevertheless, the information provided on CSR certification did not change consumers' WTP among the certification schemes. Our findings could also serve to fine‐tune marketing strategies to consumer preferences and determine which CSR activities are worth undertaking.     

Marktanalyse en markttheorie

Summary The introduction of expectations in market theory has increased its dynamic nature and realism. It is argued that only the incorporation of historical time in the theory will suggest the market development patterns needed by analysts. Dynamic market theory can usefully be based on the development stages of the product cycle. The scope of such a theory is much wider than is currently acknowledged. It comprises entrepreneurial theory, the theory of profits, competition and industrial change, and provides the building blocks of a theory of international business. The application of methods of analysis in the various stages of market development is mentioned.

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Rede, uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van lector in de bedrijfshuishoudkunde aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op 27 april 1971. Prof. Dr. P. Hennipman heeft door zijn critische opmerkingen wezenlijk bijgedragen tot de formulering en nuancering van het gegeven betoog.     

(NON‐)RESILIENCY OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE 2007–2009 FINANCIAL CRISIS

We study the contraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the United States during the recent financial crisis and show their unusual non‐resiliency, which depends in part on the global nature of the economic recession, but also on the increases in the cost of financing FDI in the economies in which the flows originate. To formally study the effects of external financial conditions on FDI in the United States, we exploit the three dimensions of a panel of US inward FDI flows organized by recipient US industries, source countries and years for the recorded flows. Changes in the cost of finance in the source countries have little or no effect on total inward flows (the sum of equity, debt and reinvested earnings) over the 2006–2010 period. However, US industries characterized by more financial vulnerability experience statistically significant variations in the debt and equity components of inward FDI flows in response to the changes in the cost of capital that occurred in the source countries during the crisis.     

Marriage seasonality and the industrious revolution: southern Sweden, 1690–18951

In this article we study the evolution of marriage seasonality in relation to economic change, particularly connected to changes in labour supply and work intensity of the kind implied by the ‘industrious revolution’. The focus is on southern Sweden in 1685–1894, which was a period of agricultural transformation and early industrialization, when we would expect to see an increase in work intensity. The analysis is based on about 120,000 marriages from 117 different parishes. The analysis shows that the seasonality of marriage changed dramatically over time, from a classic grain production pattern, with a marriage peak in late spring and a marriage trough at harvest time, to a much more even seasonality, although with the appearance of a very strong peak in December. This change affected rural rather than urban areas, and was present regardless of differences in institutional settings, and for almost all occupational groups below the elite. The changed seasonality pattern is consistent with increasing work intensity over the year, leaving only the weeks around Christmas as a low season. In addition to the increase in work intensity, the privatization of marriage and the availability of time and resources were also important factors in the changing seasonality pattern.     

Electronic temperature control in electric ovens for increased accuracy in food research

In food research, temperature is one of the variables that must be controlled at all times; household electric ovens are often used for this purpose. The aim of this study was to determine whether an electronic temperature controller (ETC) – an electronic apparatus with a solid-state switch and sensitive sensor – can provide improved temperature control, and consequently sustained food quality, compared with a capillary thermostat in a household electric oven. It was found that the ETC is indeed able to provide better temperature control in household electric ovens. It can, therefore, make a valuable contribution to food research, where consistency during replication is vital for the reliability of research results.