Estimation of models with grouped and ungrouped data by means of “2SLS”

This paper deals with a special case of estimation with grouped data, where the dependent variable is only available for groups, whereas the endogenous regressor(s) is available at the individual level. By estimating the first stage using the available individual data, and then estimating the second stage at the aggregate level, it might be possible to gain efficiency relative to the OLS and 2SLS estimators that use only grouped data. We term this the mixed-2SLS estimator (M2SLS). The M2SLS estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. We also provide a test of efficiency of M2SLS relative to OLS and “2SLS” estimators.     

Supply chain risk analysis: a shipbuilding industry case

A lack of empirical studies on Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) is observed, especially in the industries of large projects. Therefore, this paper conducts a risk analysis on the Brazilian Shipbuilding Industry by generating an initial risk profile. A panel was conducted with executives from major shipyards, and the primary risks were identified, assessed, and evaluated. Findings corroborate the academic literature, reinforcing that companies recognise the importance of SCRM, but the concept is incipient and far from being successfully implemented in real life. Despite the fact that the shipyards identified important risks, the focus was on internal factors. Because the industry was exposed to risks from the external environment, no risk mitigation actions existed, resulting in the bankruptcy of many shipbuilders. This research is an initial step toward investigating SCRM techniques, offering academics a novel empirical approach that can serve as a systematic risk management tool for supply chain planning.     

Relevance of corruption on the effect of public health expenditure and taxation on economic growth

We investigate whether corruption distorts the positive effect of public health expenditure and taxation on growth through panel data analysis of 75 developing countries for the period from 1995 to 2014. The findings indicate that, although both public health expenditure and taxation can increase economic growth, in countries with more corrupt governments this effect is reduced.     

Measurement of Economic Result in Public Organizations： A Departmental Analysis

The aim of this work is to demonstrate how public university hospital （UH） managers can improve the process of decision-making by using the measurement of economic value added to the society （EVAS） generated by these organizations. Thus, the economic values of the organization and its departments were calculated, according to the theory studied： measurement model of economic result of Slomski （1996）. It was considered the conduction of a case study in a public UH, evaluating its economic performance in a 3-year period. For the interpretation of results, the Data Envelopment Analysis （DEA） which categorized the departments of the hospital studied as efficient or inefficient was used. This study revealed that managers can improve the decision-making process by using the EVAS, since it has been established that this measurement of economic value has sensitivity to identify which of the economic value drivers should be emphasized in the management.     

On uniform convergence of undiscounted optimal programs in the Mitra–Wan forestry model: The strictly concave case

In this paper, we show that the 1986 Mitra–Wan result establishing asymptotic convergence of maximal programs to the unique golden-rule forest in the case of undiscounted, strictly concave felicity functions can be strengthened, in the same setting, to the  uniform  asymptotic convergence of  optimal  programs to the unique golden-rule forest. We work with a notationally reformulated version of the model that may have independent interest.     

Wage Determination Regimes and Pay Inequality: A comparative study of Latin American countries

The relationship between the degree of centralization of wage setting and labour market outcomes, generally discussed with reference to advanced OECD countries, is explored in this paper through the comparative analysis of eight Latin American countries, focusing on the effects of centralization on wage inequality. It is argued that the greater the decentralization of wage setting, the larger will be wage dispersion. The article starts with the presentation of the analytical model, and continues with the empirical study. This is divided into two parts. In the first, a number of institutional factors that contribute to define 'wage determination regimes' (collective bargaining structures; state intervention in wage setting; and union rights that determine union strength) are discussed, stressing the specific traits of centralization within Latin America, and the selected countries are scored in terms of those factors. In the second, the magnitude of wage dispersion across manufacturing industries is examined, and the resulting ranking of countries is contrasted with their ranking in terms of the institutional factors. It is concluded that, with some caveats, the degrees of centralization of bargaining structures and of wage inequality appear to be inversely associated, reproducing in the Latin American region the pattern found in OECD countries.     

Alternative Tourism Activities Management in the Argentinean–Chilean Great Lakes Corridor

Tourist and recreational use of natural and protected areas in Argentine–Chilean Great Lakes Tourist Corridor has experienced a remarkable growth during last years. Although total amount of use is still within these areas admission capacity, problems arise derived from intensive use in certain places, as well as visitors management concerns in considered critical areas. In this context, a research project was elaborated, approaching the problem of alternative tourism activites management, and focusing on aspects referred to their management and administration in the area of Binational Corridor. This paper refers to one of the dimensions considered in the project: alternative tourism activites demand in the Corridor. Starting from the classification of sustainable tourism niches done by Eagles (1994), a segmentation matrix was prepared and applied. Such analysis has important research, planning and market implications and is critical to the development of suitable services as well as to the design of appropriate management strategies and techniques for those institutions in charge of tourism planning in wilderness areas. Results are not only valid for those activities mentioned in the area of study, but also for other outdoor activities management in the context of North-Patagonian protected areas.     

Moral Pragmatism as a Bridge Between Duty,Utility, and Virtue in Managers’ Ethical Decision-Making

Journal of Business Ethics - The decline of empirical research on ethical decision-making based on ethical theories might imply a tacit consensus has been reached. However, the exclusion of virtue...     

Sustainable tourist behaviour – a discussion of opportunities for change

Research shows that despite their declared positive attitudes towards sustainable tourism, only a few tourists act accordingly by buying responsible tourism products, choosing environmentally friendly transportation or behaving responsibly towards destination communities. The low support from customers is one of the main barriers for progress towards sustainable tourism. One reason can be that existing initiatives are missing customers' attention, discouraging industry and governments to continue promoting sustainable tourism. Positive attempts to encourage sustainable consumption in other sectors indicate that specific barriers may reside in the nature of tourist choices. Taking a critical look at tourism research and literature, this article examines the interplay between reasons for tourists' choice of products and services, and environmental motivations. After identifying possible gaps that may explain current failures to stimulate responsible tourist choices, the article concludes by discussing the implications for the effectiveness of informative and awareness‐raising tools aimed to facilitate the shift towards responsible tourist behaviour and actions.     

High skills,high growth: Is tourism an exception?

Despite the emphasis placed by growth models on technological progress, recent empirical evidence shows that tourism, a sector widely regarded as low-skill/low-tech and one of the fastest growing industries in the world, may offer a favorable strategy for growth. In addition, in this tourism-led growth literature it is not clear whether human capital plays a role. Using a panel of 72 countries (1980–2005) this study shed new light on the effect of tourism and human capital for economic growth. While our results confirm that the tourism sector indicator is always positive and significant in growth regressions they also show that increased education contributes to growth and that the role of the tourism sector is significantly larger in countries with higher aggregate levels of human capital. Our main results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables, the use of alternative estimators in the regression analysis and the use of different sub-samples. Overall, our results suggest that an increase in human capital endowments is always beneficial, even when the development strategy focuses on the expansion of a (successful) unskilled sector.