PROLIFERATION OF ACADEMIC JOURNALS: EFFECTS ON RESEARCH QUANTITY AND QUALITY

There have been significant structural changes in research markets in recent years reflected in the increase in the number of academic journals. This paper uses a differential game model of authors and journal editors to examine the effects of an increase in competition among academic journals. Does an increase in the number of academic journals lead to an increase in scholarly articles published? Will an increase in publishing outlets adversely affect research quality? The results show greater competition does not affect research output and in fact enhances research quality. The number of journals and the relative discount rates of authors and editors are crucial determinants of the effects of competition.     

An investigation of risk and return in forward foreign exchange

This paper examines the determination of risk premiums in foreign exchange markets. The statistical model is based on a theoretical model of asset pricing, which leads to severe cross-equation constraints. Statistical tests lead to a rejection of these constraints. We examine the robustness of these tests to time variation in parameters and to the presence of heteroskedasticity. We find that there is evidence for heteroskedasticity and that the conditional expectation of the risk premium is a nonlinear function of the forward premium. Accounting for this nonlinearity, the specification appears to be time invariant. Out of sample portfolio speculation is profitable but risky.     

The informational relevance of corporate social responsibility: evidence from DS400 index reconstitutions

This study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance by analyzing the intra‐industry wealth impact of additions and deletions to the Domini Social 400 index. Results from the event study analysis indicate that additions to the index generate a positive share price response for the announcement firm and a negative response by rival firms. The opposite reaction is observed for index deletions. Additionally, the share price response is more pronounced for informationally opaque industries. Our study highlights the importance of external monitoring agencies in providing meaningful information that helps resolve investor uncertainty regarding the quality of a firm's relationships with its primary stakeholders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Information Transmission between Mature and Emerging Equity Markets During Normal and Crisis Periods: An Empirical Examination

In this paper, we examine the price discovery and volatility spillovers between eight mature market economies (MMEs) and eight emerging market economies (EMEs) from January 2003 to July 2014, covering three sub-periods—prior to the 2007–09 global financial crisis (GFC), during the crisis, and post-crisis. The results of price discovery indicate that MMEs lead EMEs in the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. All MMEs are cointegrated with China in the pre-crisis period but not in the post-crisis period. Dynamic cointegration results reconfirm our findings from Johansen’s co-integration test. The asymmetric dynamic conditional correlation (ADCC-GARCH) coefficients suggest a regional pattern among MMEs and EMEs, except in the case of European MMEs with South Africa. Employing BEKK-GARCH model, we find that volatility spillovers of MMEs with China and of Italy with EMEs weakened in the post-crisis period as compared to the pre-crisis period implying that the GFC damaged the information transmission process, particularly for China and Italy. While China is a large economy with strong trade linkages with the rest of the world, Italy is one of the larger European economies which was in relatively greater distress during the EDC. The findings have implications for policy makers and investors.

     

Identity theft in the internet age: Evidence from the U.S. states

This paper examines the determinants of identity theft, focusing especially on the influence of internet diffusion. Results, based on panel data across the U.S. states, show that a 10% in increase households with internet access would increase identity theft by about 9%, ceteris paribus. Other noteworthy findings point to states with greater corrupt activity having greater identity theft but greater police employment not having a significant deterrent impact. Dynamic panel regressions results reveal the presence of inertia in identity thefts. Some implications for policy are discussed.     

Are health care scams infectious? Empirical evidence on contagion in health care fraud

This paper examines the presence of contagion in health care fraud across jurisdictional boundaries. Using state‐level data for the United States, we find evidence of contagion in medical fraud. There are also spillovers from border corruption on medical fraud, but no evidence of spillovers from international borders. In other findings, greater urbanization, greater elderly population, and higher hospital occupancy positively contribute to medical fraud, while nursing employment has a mitigating effect. Further, it is economic inequality rather than economic prosperity that seems relevant. The main findings are robust to consideration of simultaneity, but dependent upon the prevalence of fraud across states.     

Drivers of COVID-19 vaccinations: vaccine delivery and delivery efficiency in the United States

NETNOMICS: Economic Research and Electronic Networking - This paper adds some formal research to the success of ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the drivers of the...     

Social identity and perceived income adequacy

Economists are increasingly interested in subjective well‐being, but the economic literature on perceptions of income adequacy, which is one of the factors that shape subjective well‐being, is little. Our paper fills this lacuna. We utilize nationally representative data on perceptions of amounts considered as remunerative earnings from self‐employment in India and examine how these are earnings shaped by social identity, namely, caste. We also investigate if institutional change such as the introduction of an employment guarantee scheme alters these perceptions. Finally, we examine the relationship between caste identity and actual earnings. We find that caste identity does shape both perceptions of income adequacy and actual earnings: lower‐ranked groups perceive lower amounts as being remunerative and also earn lower amounts. Further, the employment guarantee scheme alters self‐perceptions differentially for different caste groups, but in more nuanced ways than our ex‐ante beliefs.     

INTRANATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE FLOWS: EFFECTS ON THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTORS

This article studies the effects of international and intranational knowledge flows. Contributions include comparing the effects of knowledge flows on the formal and informal sectors and determining multilateral spatial spillovers of innovation. Results show that formal entrepreneurs respect intranational intellectual property rights, but benefit from international spillovers, especially from patents granted. In contrast, informal entrepreneurs somewhat respect intranational patents granted, but not patent applications and citations. International spillovers to the informal sector are mainly from patents granted. Spillover magnitudes are greater internationally than intranationally, and greater in the informal sector than the formal sector (except for trademarks). (JEL O33, L26, K42)