Evidence on the effects of inflation on price dispersion under indexation

Distortionary effects of inflation on relative prices are the main argument for inflation stabilization in macro models with sticky prices. Under indexation of non-optimized prices, those models imply a nonlinear and dynamic impact of inflation on the cross-sectional price dispersion (relative price or inflation variability, RPV). Using US sectoral price data, we estimate such a relationship between inflation and RPV, also taking into account the endogeneity of inflation by using two- and three-stage least-squares and GMM techniques, which turns out to be relevant. We find an effect of (expected) inflation on RPV, and our results indicate that average (??trend??) inflation is important for the RPV?Cinflation relationship. Lagged inflation matters for indexation in the CPI data, but is not important empirically in the PPI data.     

Marketization and Performance Measurement in Swedish Central Government: A Comparative Institutionalist Study

Public sector organizations have increasingly been subject to varying forms of marketization, ranging from competitive contracting to a more general conception of citizens or users as customers or consumers regardless of whether such economic factors prevail. Drawing on neo-institutional sociology (NIS) and other advances in economic sociology, we examine such marketization efforts as an institutionally embedded phenomenon with particular reference to how it is implicated in the performance measurement practices (PMPs) of two state agencies in Sweden. This reveals how PMPs are embedded in only partly consistent institutional logics and under what circumstances such practices can be reconciled. Some PMPs, especially those grounded in efficiency concerns, tend to play an important constitutive role in operating-level practices, partly as a result of also being embedded in regulatory pressures. Other PMPs, imbued with symbolic meanings signifying a more customer-oriented rationale, only seem to approach such a status if they are dis-embedded from the 'global' practices in which they originate and re-embedded in evolving PMPs dominated by efficiency concerns. We discuss the implications of these findings for emerging research into practice variations embedded in competing logics in institutional fields and for policy development.     

Kostentr?ger- und Ergebnisrechnung in der Stromwirtschaft

Der Strommarkt befindet sich nach der Markt?ffnung im Jahr 1998 in einem dramatischen Wandel.     

A Tale of Two Surplus Countries: China and Germany

Open Economies Review - We analyze current account imbalances through the lens of the two largest surplus countries; China and Germany. We observe two striking patterns visible since the 2007/8...     

Valuing recreational fishing in Tasmania and assessment of response bias in contingent valuation*

We report results from contingent valuation studies in each of two Tasmanian fisheries that estimate the value of a day’s recreational fishing. Published studies estimating the economic value of recreational fishing in Australia and New Zealand are limited, although the economic and social benefits associated with this activity are sizable and the importance of understanding the behaviour of recreational fishers for the sustainable management of aquatic resources is well recognised. In our contingent valuation surveys, we use a double‐bounded version of the dichotomous choice question, which improves the statistical efficiency of the estimates relative to those based on a single dichotomous choice question. We test and control for response bias, in the form of anchoring and a shift effect, that may occur in data collected using a double‐bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) elicitation format. We highlight the importance of identifying and correcting for response bias in DBDC models on a case‐by‐case basis. Our estimation results show that there is no significant difference in the willingness to pay for a day of recreational fishing across individuals who caught different number of fish in either fishery. This suggests that high and low catch fishers placed the same value on a day’s fishing.     

Bereichernd oder belanglos?

Although participatory press photography has existed for decades, its institutionalization by tabloid journalism is a relatively new phenomenon. The most popular example in Germany is constituted by the “reader reporters” of the tabloid newspaper Bild. Supporters of participatory press photography hope for an enrichment of news coverage while its critics consider the photos as insignificant. This paper tries to clarify this controversy on the basis of news value theory. It presents the results of a census of reader reporter photographs and their adjacent articles. This paper tries to answer the question of whether selection and prominence of the photographs is oriented toward societal or individual relevance. It can be shown that selection is dominated by “soft” news factors while prominence is mainly influenced by “hard” news factors. The latter are also attributed to the photographs via the adjacent text. The results can be transferred to other forms of participatory journalism. They support the hypothesis of a complementary rather than competitive relation between participatory and professional journalism.     

Methoden der risikobasierten Kapitalallokation im Versicherungs- und Finanzwesen

The present contribution is intended to serve as a survey of techniques of risk based capital allocation for (aggregated) insurance and/or financial positions. The starting point is the determination of the risk based capital for the aggregated position, which in turn requires the specification of the existing risk exposure and as well the risk measure used. After this the basic capital allocation procedures (absolute, incremental and marginal capital allocation) are explained. A discussion of postulates for a reasonable absolute capital allocation follows. Especially the axioms of coherent capital allocation developed by Denault are treated. Then central principles of capital allocation (proportional capital allocation, covariance principle, conditional expected value principle, conditional value-at-risk principle, Euler-principle) are introduced and their properties are discussed, especially regarding coherence. Finally firm value based approaches and as well game theoretic approaches are mentioned.     

Standards as Barriers Versus Standards as Catalysts: Assessing the Impact of HACCP Implementation on U.S. Seafood Imports

The United States mandated a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety standard for seafood in 1997. Panel model results for 1990 to 2004 suggest that HACCP introduction had a negative and significant impact on overall imports from the top thirty-three suppliers. While the effect for developed countries was positive, the negative effect for developing countries supports the view of "standards as barriers" versus "standards as catalysts." A different perspective emerges from individual country-level analysis. Regardless of development status, leading seafood exporters generally experienced a positive HACCP effect, while most other smaller trading partners faced a negative effect.     

Flexibility in industrial service relationships: The construct, antecedents, and performance outcomes

Exchanges between service providers and their customers on business markets increasingly take place in the form of long-term business relationships. These relationships are governed through formal or informal agreements. However, actors are bounded in their rationality and find it impossible to contemplate all possible future contingencies. The more formal and detailed the contracts they conclude, the likelier it becomes that at least one actor is going to perceive a need to adjust the initial agreement as environmental events unfold. In this case, the actor relies upon his partner's flexibility. This paper deals with service providers' flexibility and presents empirical results from the market research sector including outcome variables (satisfaction, trust, commitment) and determinants of service provider flexibility (uncertainty, relationship-specific investments, mutuality, long-term orientation). Empirical results suggest that service provider flexibility is an important determinant of customer satisfaction, trust, and commitment.