Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard

'The great transformation' from customary exchange to impersonal markets is incomplete. Reciprocal exchange pervades modern societies. It takes the form of 'gifts', reciprocated without certainty. Reciprocity is driven by the pursuit of 'regard'. Money is avoided in regard exchanges, because it is impersonal. Instead, regard signals are embodied in goods, in services, or in time (attention). The personalization of gifts authenticates the signal. Reciprocal exchange persists in family formation, in intergenerational transfers, in labour markets, in agriculture, the professions, in marketing, entrepreneurship, and also in corruption and crime. Reciprocal exchange is constrained by time and psychic energy, but is likely to persist as a preferred source of regard.     

Stockholder-bondholder conflict and dividend constraints

This paper examines a large, randomly chosen, sample of bond indentures focusing on the constraints they set on dividend payments that have the potential to transfer wealth from the bondholders (i.e., payments which are financed by a new debt issue or reduced investment). The nature of these restrictions support the hypothesis that bond convenants are structured to control the conflict of interest between stockholders and bondholders. Further, the empirical evidence suggests that these constraints are not binding — i.e., stockholders do not pay themselves as much dividends as they are allowed to. Explanations of this puzzling empirical regularity are suggested.     

Higher energy cost and the demand for restaurant services — a time-series analysis

Energy cost impact on demand for the restaurant services is examined using a broad base multi-variable regression model with special attention given to the lag structure and timing of the effects. The results reveal no negative impact of higher energy costs on demand. On the contrary, a slight positive delayed impact is evident over the short-run suggesting that, on margin, eating out may have been used as a compensatory recreational activity as a temporary substitute to other, more energy intensive, recreational activities.