Export,R&D and new products. a model and a test on European industries

In this article we extend the model developed by Bogliacino and Pianta (Industrial and Corporate Change 22 649, 2013, b) on the link between R&D, innovation and economic performance, considering the impact of innovation on export success. We develop a simultaneous three equation model in order to investigate the existence of a ‘virtuous circle’ between industries’ R&D, share of product innovators and export market shares. We investigate empirically – at the industry level – three key relationships affecting the dynamics of innovation and export performance: first, the capacity of firms to translate their R&D efforts in new products; second, the role of innovation as a determinant of export market shares; third, the export success as a driver of new R&D efforts. The model is tested for 38 manufacturing and service sectors of six European countries over three time periods, from 1995 to 2010. The model effectively accounts for the dynamics of R&D efforts, innovation and international performance of European industries. Moreover, important differences across countries emerge when we split our sample into a Northern group – Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom – and a Southern group – France, Italy and Spain. We find that the ‘virtuous circle’ between innovation and competitiveness holds for Northern economies only, while Southern industries fail to translate innovation efforts into export success.     

Cross-border M&As in the financial sector: Is banking different from insurance?

This paper investigates what factors might help explain the internationalization strategy of banks and insurance companies, by comparing the determinants of cross-border M&As in the two sectors in a unified framework. The empirical analysis shows that between 1990 and 2003 the internationalization of banks and insurance companies followed similar patterns. Distance and economic and cultural integration are important determinants for both the banks’ and the insurance companies’ expansion abroad. Comparative advantage also has a prominent role, the more so for banks. The evidence is less supportive of the view that cross-border M&As are more frequent between similar countries, as predicted by the new trade theory. Finally, and most interestingly, we find indirect evidence consistent with the hypothesis that implicit barriers to foreign entry are more important in explaining the behavior of banks than that of insurance companies.     

The Asymmetric Impact of War: Resilience,Vulnerability and Implications for EU Policy

Intereconomics - In 2019, over 96% of EU27 oil needs, nearly 90% of natural gas and over 43% of solid fuels were met by net imports, with the largest share coming from Russia (35% of oil, 40% of...     

Data mining student choices: A new approach to business curriculum planning

The authors used a clustering technique to analyze business course choices made by students who completed an individualized degree in a large, urban, public university. They looked for patterns to answer the research question, “What can we learn from students' choices to inform the curricular redesign process in business programs?” The authors found five well-defined clusters; two clusters (marketing-management and marketing-management economics) did not correspond to academic paths in the university's business school. These clusters illuminate trends to be considered in business curricular design. This is the first known study to data mine students' courses choices for curricular design purposes.     

“Four Bright Coins Shining at Me”: Financial Education in Childhood,Financial Confidence in Adulthood

We analyze the relation between receiving an allowance (pocket money) in childhood and financial confidence in adulthood. We measure this confidence using self‐reported financial knowledge. Our empirical exercise is based on information provided by a Dutch survey carried out in 2015. We compute our estimates by controlling for parental attitudes and by using a “within‐family” fixed effect model. The results are robust and suggest a long‐lasting effect of pocket money as an easily implementable and informal educational vehicle to help children acquire basic financial concepts and develop good habits, such as budgeting.     

How humble is your company culture? And,why does it matter?

Humility as a virtue of leadership has attracted increased attention in recent years. We introduce the concept of a humble organizational culture and define it as a culture that promotes humility as a key success factor and a source of competitive advantage, and one that institutionalizes six values and norms: (1) employee development, (2) mistake tolerance, (3) transparency, (4) accurate awareness, (5) recognition, and (6) openness. We position a company culture of humility as key to extraordinary success in the marketplace. Humility in individuals includes a willingness to see the self accurately and a propensity to put oneself and others in perspective. In this article, we offer a set of recommendations to help executives build a company culture of humility that supports the six behavioral norms and values that create the foundation for a firm’s competitive advantage. We collected information on organizational cultures of humility for a sample of Fortune 500 firms using data from company mission statements, company websites, and news articles.     

Ergodic chaos, learning and sunspot equilibrium

Summary. In this paper we construct sunspot equilibria that arise from chaotic deterministic dynamics. These equilibria are stationary and have absolutely continuous stationary measures. We prove that they can be learned by a simple rule based on the histograms of past state variables. This work gives a theoretical justification for complex deterministic models that might compete with stochastic models to explain real data. Also we prove the stochastic stability of the indeterminate equilibrium.     

Approximation by finite horizons of the undiscounted one-sector growth model

Summary. In this paper I give a method for finding long-run-average policies in the undiscounted economic growth problem using approximations by finite horizons. Required hypothesis is the strong interiority of T-horizon solutions. Received: March 25, 1996; revised version: July 29, 1997     

Toward the crisis: a Kaleckian-Keynesian interpretation of the instability of growth and capital accumulation in Brazil

This article examines theoretically and empirically the instability of Brazilian investment and growth for the past couple of decades, highlighting the evolution that led to the current crisis. A theoretical discussion highlights the importance of Kaleckian and Keynesian approaches in understanding the semi-stagnation of the Brazilian economy since the 1990s. Empirical evidence shows that investment has increased until 2013, but not to the point of getting the economy back on the track of high growth rates and higher investment-GDP ratios. The econometric findings are compatible with the theoretical underpinnings of investment activity based on Keynes and Kalecki and suggest the existence of room for activist policies in Brazil in order to stimulate economic activity.     

PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR POLICY ANALYSIS IN DSGE MODELS WITH MISSING SHOCKS

In this paper we analyze the propagation of shocks originating in sectors that are not present in a baseline dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. Specifically, we proxy the missing sector through a small set of factors that feed into the structural shocks of the DSGE model to create correlated disturbances. We estimate the factor structure by either matching impulse responses of the augmented DSGE model to those generated by an auxiliary model or by using Bayesian techniques. We apply this methodology to track the effects of oil shocks and housing demand shocks in models without energy or housing sectors. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.