Comment on: “Inflation dynamics with search frictions: A structural econometric analysis” by Krause, Lopez-Salido and Lubik

The implications of search frictions on the inflation dynamics are shown here for the case with wage adjustments typically belonging to the New Keynesian model, not to the Mortensen–Pissarides framework. In that model variant, I identify the role of search frictions by an additional term entering the slope coefficient of the inflation equation. After a numerical exercise, I find results that are in line with those obtained by Krause et al. [2008. Inflation dynamics with search frictions: a structural econometric analysis. Journal of Monetary Economics 55, doi:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2008.05.003.].     

Administración del riesgo crediticio al menudeo en México: una mejora econométrica en la selección de variables y cambios en sus características

The early prediction of bad debtors in revolving loans in Mexico is a relevant current issue. The proposed econometric model of behavioral scoring considers the changes in the characteristics of consolidated clients and produces better results than those obtained with methodology used by the CNBV on provisions. The obtained results show the possibility of replacing the current model, minimizing the expected loss and increasing the ROA of Mexican financial institutions in 2.20% complying the methodology and statistical testing criteria according to the Unique Banking Dispositions and the guidelines of Basel II on credit risk.     

Gender segregation and earnings differences in the Spanish labour market

This article analyses the effects of different types of gender segregation on the gender wage differential for the Spanish labour market. Matched employer–employee data from a sample of 226,535 workers are used. These workers are employed in 61 occupations within 26,492 establishments in 51 different industries. Workers belonging to the same industry, establishment or job share common factors which cannot be observed and these factors affect wages. If these unobservable variables are correlated with the explanatory variables, their estimated effects will be biased. For this reason, we estimate the effects of each type of gender segregation on the wage gap using a robust specification to these possible correlations. We obtain that industrial segregation by gender explains a lower part of the wage gap between men and women than previous researches found using standard regressions, while the contributions of establishment segregation and occupational segregation within each establishment are greater.     

Productivity and international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States

This study looks at international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States. The most intuitive concept is that of price competitiveness. We calculate relative prices for 11 member states of the European Union and the United States for the period 1973–2002. We assume that markets are perfectly competitive and in long‐run equilibrium, so that the observed price always equals average total cost, as measured by the cost dual to the production function. This assumption is used in our calculation of relative competitiveness and productivity gaps between the European Union and the United States and in our decomposition of relative price movements between changes in relative input prices and changes in relative productivity levels.     

The Effect of Customer Orientation on Smaller Sized Service Firms and on the Market: A Multilevel Application Embracing Firms and Customers

The aim of the present work is to ascertain the importance of customer orientation as a business strategy within the smaller services sector. The adoption of customer orientation is measured from the firm's point of view, and its effect on financial performance is analyzed. Customer perception is analyzed, using two variables, perceived value and loyalty. The sample consists of 100 Spanish rural tourism enterprises and 572 customers. The findings reveal that customer orientation has a direct effect on perceived value, and perceived value has a direct effect on loyalty toward the firm. Furthermore, customer orientation contributes to the achievement of financial performance.     

DOLLARIZATION OF DEBT CONTRACTS: EVIDENCE FROM CHILEAN FIRMS

This paper uses a new data set to estimate the causes and consequences of foreign currency debt in firms' balance sheets. The evidence from this sample of Chilean firms indicates that dollar‐denominated debt increases with firms' size and degree of exposure to foreign competition. We find evidence that dollar‐denominated debt combines with exchange rate movements to produce a negative balance‐sheet effect that reduces firms' investment in periods of strong exchange rate depreciation. This negative balance‐sheet effect is associated with long‐term debt and appears to be nonlinear in the amount of real exchange rate depreciation.     

Collaborative workplaces for innovation in service companies: barriers and enablers for supporting new ways of working

The paper aims to provide a systematic overview of the barriers and enablers that contribute to the success or failure of collaborative workplaces initiatives aimed at fostering innovation in service companies. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with innovation managers, human resource managers and facility department executives from a sample of multi-national service companies. Its primary focus is on the workplace initiatives carried out in their Spanish subsidiaries. The paper contributes to the extant research by identifying a conceptual model for collaborative workplaces and by providing a systematic overview of the related barriers and enablers. From the interviews, these factors were organized within a framework usable by practitioners for analysis. This paper is of interest to companies that aim to design collaborative workplace strategies to justify associated investments. It can also provide their managers with guidelines to lead the company in the transition toward new ways of working based on higher employee collaboration and flexibility.     

The contribution of minimum wage valorization policy to the decline in household income inequality in Brazil: A decomposition approach

There is a vast literature that estimates the effect of the minimum wage on wage inequality in various countries. However, as the minimum wage directly affects nonlabor income of families in some countries (in the Brazilian case via the benefits of the pension system and of certain social programs), this article extends the empirical analysis by studying the effects of the minimum wage on the level of inequality of household income as a whole. To accomplish that we employ a decomposition method that gauges the contribution of the increases in the minimum wage that occurred in recent decades in Brazil through the labor and nonlabor sources of household income. The results show that the minimum wage had a contribution of 64 percent to the observed fall in income inequality between 1995 and 2014 and that pensions were the most relevant channel over this period.     

An experimental analysis of team production in networks

Experimental and empirical evidence highlights the role of networks on social outcomes. This paper tests the properties of exogenously fixed networks in team production. Subjects make the same decisions in a team work environment under four different organizational networks: the line, the circle, the star, and the complete network. In all the networks, links make information available to neighbors. This design allows us to analyze decisions across networks and a variety of subject types in a standard linear team production game. Contribution levels differ significantly across networks and the star is the most efficient incomplete network. Moreover, our results suggest that subjects act as conditional cooperators with respect to the information received from the network.