Level and dynamics of financial depth: consequences for volatility of GDP

The existing literature documents positive but potentially non-linear relationship between financial depth measured as private credit to GDP ratio and volatility of GDP. In this paper, we extend the analysis by considering also the role of financial depth dynamics. We use dynamic spatial panel models to address the issue of cross-sectional dependence of errors obtained from the standard dynamic panel models. We confirm the non-linear impact of the financial depth level but also find that higher growth rates of financial depth are significantly associated with higher volatility of output. The role of the latter factor is considerably more important in terms of explained variance compared to the impact of the private credit level. These results are robust to changes in the sample range, specification of the model, and measurement of the key variables. We also document considerable differences between the estimates obtained from the standard GMM and the spatial models.     

Macroeconomic spillover effects of the Chinese economy

The slowdown of economy and widening of domestic imbalances in China bothers economists and politicians across the globe. We estimate the influence of a negative output shock in China on a number of different economies. We concentrate on China's neighboring countries. We compare the results from the Global VAR model and from the Bayesian VAR models. Also using Bayesian model averaging we search for determinants of Chinese spillovers for the global economy. We find that spillovers are stronger to economies with less flexible exchange rates, a higher share of manufacturing in gross value added and to economies which are larger.     

Multiple Criteria Assessment of Insulating Materials with a Group Decision Framework Incorporating Outranking Preference Model and Characteristic Class Profiles

We present a group decision making framework for evaluating sustainability of the insulating materials. We tested thirteen materials on a model that was applied to retrofit a traditional rural building through roof’s insulation. To evaluate the materials from the socio-economic and environmental viewpoints, we combined life cycle costing and assessment with an adaptive comfort evaluation. In this way, the performances of each coating material were measured in terms of an incurred reduction of costs and consumption of resources, maintenance of the cultural and historic significance of buildings, and a guaranteed indoor thermal comfort. The comprehensive assessment of the materials involved their assignment to one of the three preference-ordered sustainability classes. For this purpose, we used a multiple criteria decision analysis approach that accounted for preferences of a few tens of rural buildings’ owners. The proposed methodological framework incorporated an outranking-based preference model to compare the insulating materials with the characteristic class profiles while using the weights derived from the revised Simos procedure. The initial sorting recommendation for each material was validated against the outcomes of robustness analysis that combined the preferences of individual stakeholders either at the output or at the input level. The analysis revealed that the most favorable materials in terms of their overall sustainability were glass wool, hemp fibres, kenaf fibres, polystyrene foam, polyurethane, and rock wool.     

Die Problematik des Verbraucherschutzes in der Volksrepublik Polen

Zusammenfassung In letzter Zeit hat das Problem des Verbraucherschutzes in Polen sehr an Bedeutung gewonnen. Dies hängt damit zusammen, daß eine bessere Befriedigung der aktuellen Bedürfnisse der Bevölkerung in den Vordergrund gerückt worden ist, was auch in politischen und wirtschaftlichen Programmen zum Ausdruck kommt.Der Artikel behandelt die in diesem Bereich herrschenden Tendenzen und informiert über die wichtigsten Lösungen der Grundprobleme des Verbraucherschutzes.Die Autoren heben mit Nachdruck hervor, daß in den sozialistischen Ländern infolge der Vergesellschaftlichung der Wirtschaft der Verbraucherschutz sich auf zweierlei Weise entwickeln kann: und zwar durch entsprechende Stimulierung der Produktion und des Angebotes. Auf diese Weise wird eine Möglichkeit geschaffen, nicht nur die Folgen, sondern vor allem die Ursachen, welche das Verbraucherinteresse bedrohen, zu eliminieren.

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Problems of consumer protection in the People's Republic of Poland

The problems of consumer protection have come to the fore in Poland as of late. An important reason has been that in recent political and economic programmes, more emphasis has been placed on the necessity of better provision for the population's current needs.The article presents contemporary developments in this respect and informs about different attempts in the doctrine and practice of law to solve the basic problems of consumer protection. The authors emphasize that in socialist countries consumer protection can be achieved not only by strengthening the position of the individual consumer but also, due to the public ownership of the means of production, by adequate stimulation of production and supply. This provides for the opportunity to deal not only with the consequences but also with the determinants of violations of the consumer interest.The following problem areas are treated in the paper together with the solutions attempted in Polish law and in political and administrative practice: (1) problems connected with the creation of large monopolistic production units (more consideration of manufacturer than of consumer interests in decisions concerning content and quality of production; unreasonable pricing; producer-dictated terms of trade between producer and retailer); (2) the treatment of final consumers (terms of contracts favorable to the seller; tendencies of large organizations to bureaucratic and magisterial treatment of their customers); (3) quality deficiencies in products and the preventive and protective measures taken (quality marks and quality control; warranties; producer liability).

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Ewa towska ist Leiterin der Zivilrechtsabteilung des Instituts für Staat und Recht der Polnischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 00330 Warszawa, Nowy Swiat 72. Stanisaw Sotysiski und Jacek Trojanek sind wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter der Adam-Mickiewicz-Universität, Juristische Fakultät, 61–809 Poznan, ul. Czerwonej Armii 90. Czeslawa ulawska ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin der ökonomischen Akademie, Institut für Ökonomik und Warenverkehr, 31–510 Kraków, Rakowicka 27.     

Privatization of state-owned enterprises in Poland

The transition from centrally planned to market economies in Eastern Europe has become a field of debate in economic literature since the late 1980s. Privatization plays a very important role because it is also a sensitive political problem. Privatization is a key element of the several reform packages that are being applied in Poland. This paper examines the different ways that small- and medium-sized enterprises were privatized from 1990 to 1995 using statistical data of the Ministry of Privatization [1995]. Analyzed enterprises are presented by the following group of projects. Capital privatization, direct foreign investment, joint stock companies awaiting privatization, and other methods of privatization are connected with the special program designed for firms with bad financial standing.     

Media delivery competition with edge cloud,remote cloud and networking

NETNOMICS: Economic Research and Electronic Networking - We describe a marketplace for content (digital media) distribution, specifically stored-video streaming, involving both edge cloud (fog) and...     

Mostly harmless simulations? Using Monte Carlo studies for estimator selection

We consider two recent suggestions for how to perform an empirically motivated Monte Carlo study to help select a treatment effect estimator under unconfoundedness. We show theoretically that neither is likely to be informative except under restrictive conditions that are unlikely to be satisfied in many contexts. To test empirical relevance, we also apply the approaches to a real‐world setting where estimator performance is known. Both approaches are worse than random at selecting estimators that minimize absolute bias. They are better when selecting estimators that minimize mean squared error. However, using a simple bootstrap is at least as good and often better. For now, researchers would be best advised to use a range of estimators and compare estimates for robustness.     

Empirical Likelihood Approach for Aligning Information from Multiple Surveys

When two surveys carried out separately in the same population have common variables, it might be desirable to adjust each survey's weights so that they give equal estimates for the common variables. This problem has been studied extensively and has often been referred to as alignment or numerical consistency. We develop a design-based empirical likelihood approach for alignment and estimation of complex parameters defined by estimating equations. We focus on a general case when a single set of adjusted weights, which can be applied to both common and non-common variables, is produced for each survey. The main contribution of the paper is to show that the impirical log-likelihood ratio statistic is pivotal in the presence of alignment constraints. This pivotal statistic can be used to test hypotheses and derive confidence regions. Hence, the empirical likelihood approach proposed for alignment possesses the self-normalisation property, under a design-based approach. The proposed approach accommodates large sampling fractions, stratification and population level auxiliary information. It is particularly well suited for inference about small domains, when data are skewed. It includes implicit adjustments when the samples considerably differ in size. The confidence regions are constructed without the need for variance estimates, joint-inclusion probabilities, linearisation and re-sampling.     

Impact of Digital Transformation on Value Creation in Fintech Services: An Innovative Approach

The aim of this article is to indicate economic and financial characteristics of financial technology, or fintech, that contribute to value creation in the financial services industry. This study presents a theory of digital transformations and elements of ecosystems theory and connecting them to fintech issues. Building from the DIPLOM model of corporate diplomacy. Corporate diplomacy. Building reputations and relationships with external stakeholders. Sheffield UK: Greenleaf Publishing Limited, this article proposes the DIPLOMA model with seven elements of fintech best practice, that are, Digital, Innovation, Pricing, Learning, Openness, Modernity, and Agility. This article stresses on practical insights to provide tool to enable stakeholders create value on fintech.     

ICT skills measurement in social surveys: Can we trust self-reports?

Quality & Quantity - Self-reports are the most common way of measuring information and communications technology (ICT) skills in social surveys. Studies comparing self-reported computer skills...