Microenterprise Dynamics in Developing Countries: How Similar are They to Those in the Industrialized World? Evidence from Mexico

A rich panel data set from Mexico is used to study the patternsof entry, exit, and growth of microenterprises and to comparethese with the findings of the mainstream theoretical and empiricalwork on firm dynamics. The Mexican self-employment sector ismuch larger than its counterpart in the United States, whichis reflected in higher unconditional rates of entry into thesector. The evidence for Mexico points to the significant presenceof well-performing salaried workers among the likely entrantsinto self-employment, as opposed to the higher incidence ofpoorer wageworkers among the entrants into the U.S. self-employmentsector. Despite these differences, however, the patterns ofentry, survival, and growth with respect to age, education,and many other covariates are very similar in Mexico and theUnited States. These strong similarities suggest that mainstreammodels of worker decisions and firm behavior are useful guidesfor policymaking for the developing-country microenterprisesector. Furthermore, they suggest that, as a first approximation,the developing-country microenterprise should probably be viewedas they are in the advanced countries as offering potentiallydesirable job opportunities to low-productivity workers.     

Blog,collaboration and e-commerce theoretical and applicative research project

This theme continues and completes another interdisciplinary project launched one year ago, and its aim is to realize one or several models about e-business in Romania. As a consequence, we can speak now about an extended project. The elaborated material will be useful for a large number of companies doing business in Romanian online environment. The team wants to elaborate solutions for e-businesses, as well as to create a complex and utile work, a starting point for companies wishing to exist in web lifestyle within a global economy. It will be elaborated a manual of blog and electronic commerce, both with theoretical and applicative aspects. This project will consolidate a research nucleus in blogs, collaboration and electronic businesses at the Business Administration Department, Babes-Bolyai University. The results of this extended project will have impact on several plans on the scientific community.     

A Note on Building a Counterfactual for Mercosur

ABSTRACT

Heterogeneity among trade agreements across Latin American countries is important for comparing different experiences and for evaluating the success of existing trade agreements. This note evaluates the Mercosur agreement in a counterfactual framework. Member countries’ experiences are compared to the Mexican experience in several dimensions other than trade. In particular, the effect of trade agreements is evaluated in terms of its effect on the labor market (inequality and informality) and on other measures of integration. This new analysis puts Mercosur in a more positive balance with respect to the pure trade theory analysis.     

Peer effects in the diffusion of water‐saving agricultural technologies

We investigate the role of peer effects in the diffusion of an important water‐saving irrigation technology: low energy precise application (LEPA). Using detailed irrigation behavior data for growers in the High Plains Aquifer region of Kansas covering 1990–2014, we find clear evidence of peer influence in adoption of LEPA, net of environmental factors. Specifically, an additional neighboring LEPA installation within 1 km increases the probability of adoption by about 0.3 percentage points, on average, and this effect diminishes with distance. Our empirical estimates indicate that in the absence of peer effects, LEPA adoption would have been about 10% lower (1,000–1,600 fewer installations) per year. In addition, we find that growers install LEPA in response to higher energy prices.     

Impact mitigation or ecological restoration? Examining the environmental sustainability practices of multinational mining companies

This paper examines the environmental sustainability practices of multinational mining companies in addressing their impacts and promoting the sustainable development of local communities in Ghana. Although large-scale mining companies have embraced environmental sustainability, the drivers and the mechanisms for addressing their impacts throughout the mine life cycle is not fully understood because of the limited research in this area. The focus in this study involves an examination of the drivers for environmental sustainability in a weak and non-enabling institutional context and the mechanisms for addressing impacts on biodiversity, water quality and quantity, and ambient climate. The findings show that the environmental sustainability practices of multinational mining companies are determined by regulatory compliance and corporate environmental responsibility based on perceived ethical obligation. Additionally, we find gaps in mine closure planning and rehabilitation because of the limited requirement for biodiversity restoration in the domains of flora repopulation and active fauna reintroduction. This paper provides empirical and theoretical insights for academics and practitioners in industry and policymaking.     

Many a little makes a mickle: Why do consumers negatively react to sequential price disclosure?

Drip pricing (DP) is distinct from partitioned pricing as it sequentially discloses surcharges to consumers. Critics see DP as a deceptive pricing tactic because it obscures the final price of an offer. We examine the effects of the timing of the final price disclosure and the number of sequentially presented surcharges on consumers' attention to the final price and, ultimately, perceived price fairness. In an eye‐tracking study with 225 participants, we find that the sequential (vs. up‐front) disclosure of the final price lowers perceived price fairness by increasing consumers' attention to the final price, in particular, when the number of surcharges is high. In addition, the sequential disclosure of the final price lowers perceived price fairness because of higher perceived price complexity and lower pricing transparency perceptions. The findings suggest that firms need to be aware of both attentional and cognitive effects of the final price disclosure when designing DP.     

Manipulation of voting schemes with restricted beliefs

In this paper we define manipulation with restricted beliefs as the possibility for some voter to have an insincere preference ordering that dominates the sincere one within the given individual beliefs over other agents’ preferences. We then show that all non-dictatorial voting schemes are manipulable in this sense, up to a given threshold.     

Man,the city and the automobile in the future

The present day city mirrors the internal conflict of modern man. He wants to live in towns and preferably in towns which are pleasant to live in. But, at the same time, he does not wish to be deprived of his car and indeed cannot do without it. Yet the present day automobile has shown itself to be incompatible with the city, or at least with a city that is good to live in. Is there any hope of resolving this dilemma in the next generation, the 26 years which will take us to the year 2000, without endangering a powerful automobile industry, probably vital to the survival of our industrial society, and without destroying our civilisation which is essentially a civilisation of town dwellers ?     

Coberturas financieras con derivados y su incidencia en el valor de mercado en empresas colombianas que cotizan en Bolsa

The financial theory (Modigliani & Miller, 1958) rises that risk management was not an issue for companies because shareholders could make their own hedging management through portfolio diversification; however, further studies conflict with that statement and show that corporate financial hedging improves performance and increases the value thereof (Ahmed, Azevedo, & Guney, 2014; Allayannis & Weston, 2001; Allayannis & Ofek, 1998). Efficient management of market risks, which is based on the use of financial derivatives, demands strategic and efficient managers in hedging that adds value to the firm, especially in against shocks and imbalances from a macroeconomic and financial nature. Empirical evidence analyzes the performance of the Q-Tobin as an indicator of the effect of hedging strategies of exchange rate associated to the market value. This paper aims to find evidence in Colombia on the effect of using derivatives in the market value of the firm. Its added value lies in the analysis made by economic sectors, identified by CIIU codes and grouped into 5 sectors (Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial or Manufacturing, Services and Construction). The methodology includes several models estimating regression panel data, using a Pooled regression with estimators of fixed and random effects by maximum likelihood estimator. In general, it was found a premium due to hedging, statistically and financially significant, for companies exposed to exchange rate risks that use derivatives by an average of 6.3% on the market value. Moreover, mixed results were found regarding the analyzed variables in the model.     

High‐Frequency Trading and the New Stock Market: Sense And Nonsense

The stock market has been transformed during the last 25 years. Human suppliers of liquidity like the NASDAQ dealers and NYSE specialists have been replaced by algorithmic market making; stocks that once traded on a single venue now trade across twelve exchanges and a multitude of alternative trading systems. New venues like dark pools, and new participants like high‐frequency traders, have emerged to take on prominent roles. This new market has had more than its share of controversy and regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the wake of Michael Lewis’s bestseller Flash Boys. In this article, the authors analyze five of the most controversial new market practices, including various high‐frequency trading strategies and dark pool activities. They set out a simple conceptual framework based on adverse selection and agency problems, and apply that framework to assess the welfare effects of each of the five practices. While much that is criticized is indeed objectionable, other controversial practices are much more complex than popularly imagined and may in fact be socially desirable. They conclude by evaluating a range of potential reforms to equity market structure.