Kriging methodology for regional economic analysis: Estimating the housing price in Albacete

Because of the socioeconomic importance of the housing subsector in the local, regional, and national economy and its implications for housing policy, this paper attempts to analyze the spatial behavior of the free housing price in the city of Albacete. To achieve this aim, the authors have used the models and estimators imported from geology called kriging. To do this, it is necessary to know the spatial dependence structure of the process, which is shown in the variogram.     

Repeated signaling games

I analyze a class of repeated signaling games in which the informed player's type is persistent and the history of actions is perfectly observable. In this context, a large class of possibly complex sequences of signals can be supported as the separating equilibrium actions of the “strong type” of the informed player. I characterize the set of such sequences. I also characterize the sequences of signals in least cost separating equilibria (LCSE) of these games. In doing this, I introduce a state variable that can be interpreted as a measure of reputation. This gives the optimization problem characterizing the LCSE a recursive structure. I show that, in general, the equilibrium path sequences of signals have a simple structure. The shapes of the optimal sequences depend critically on the relative concavities of the payoff functions of different types, which measure the relative preferences towards payoff smoothing.     

Employment and Prices in a Simple Macroeconomy

This exercise sets up interlinked labor and goods markets in a classroom macroeconomy. Students with worker roles are endowed with labor that can be consumed or sold to firms that post wages, purchase labor, and produce goods that can be either consumed or sold to workers. The money from sales is used by firms to purchase labor in the next period. Complicated record keeping is avoided by using ordinary playing cards to represent money and goods. The exercise can stimulate a discussion of potential output, unemployment, and the role of money in determining wages and prices. Use: This experiment can be used in introductory macroeconomics classes to teach concepts of the circular flow, real and money wages, unemployment, and labor market equilibrium and in intermediate classes to consider Keynesian and quantity theories. Time required: Fifteen minutes for reading instructions, 30 to 45 minutes for trading (depending on the number of periods), and 15 minutes for discussion. Materials: You will need one copy of the instructions for each person and one deck of ordinary playing cards for each replicated group of two workers and one firm. No money or other incentives are required.     

Is it worth subsidising regional repertory theatre?

Subsidies to the performing arts are usually justified by referenceto externality and public goods arguments that are hard to quantify.We suggest that subsidies to theatres may be appropriate becauseof their inability to engage in spatial price discriminationto capture consumer surplus. For one major theatre, we use audiencedata and the Clawson-Knetsch travel cost method to assess theextent of consumer surplus and find that it exceeds the levelof subsidy received from public sources. On the basis of thisexample, current subsidy levels are justifiable even withoutrecourse to traditional externality/public goods arguments.     

Direct density estimation as an ill-posed inverse estimation problem

A possible definition of ill-posedness in statistical estimation is the lack of qualitative robustness. In this sense direct density estimation shares ill-posedness with the more obviously ill-posed indirect density estimation models, of which it is a special case. A general construction pattern for estimators is proposed, based on suitable preconditioning, that works for both direct and indirect density estimation. Special emphasis is on its application to the direct case, where in general it yields delta-sequence estimators. More specifically both kernel and series type estimators are included depending on the choice of preconditioning operator. In particular sinc and other flattop kernel estimators emerge in a natural way.     

Organizational learning: Proposal of an integrative scale and research instrument

This study describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure organizational learning. Starting out from a comprehensive analysis of the main organizational learning models in the specialized literature, the organizational learning scale in this study consists of 18 items forming five dimensions: the ontological levels of learning, modes of knowledge conversion, learning sub-processes, types of learning, and feedback and feed-forward flows of learning. A survey to large Spanish companies provides data from 167 companies. Confirmatory factor analysis tests the construct measurement model and validates the scale. The results of the study indicate that the scale satisfies the criteria for reliability, and validity. The exploratory factor analysis permits the identification of four factors which make theoretical sense: information systems, the existence of a framework for consensus, procedures for the institutionalization and broadening of knowledge, and forms of management and the genesis of knowledge. The new construct promises to be more comprehensive, integrative and eclectic than previous constructs, achieving its broad scope by incorporating a number of the main theoretical perspectives on the matter. For practitioners, the scale could form the basis of an auditing tool, as well as being a useful target for organizational change initiatives.     

The kinetic quality of store design: An Exploration of its influence on shopping experience

Kinetic quality of store space is the appreciation of the store with regard to the movements and gestures that can be performed during the shopping trip. Few researches have studied this concept despite its potential influence on shopping outcomes. In this paper, we show that the kinetic quality of the store has an impact on hedonic and utilitarian shopping values and on purchase. The impact on shopping value is similar in magnitude to that of atmospheric quality. Music and visual esthetics positively influence kinetic quality.