GMM estimation of spatial autoregressive models with moving average disturbances

In this paper, we introduce the one-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation methods considered in Lee (2007a) and Liu, Lee, and Bollinger (2010) to spatial models that impose a spatial moving average process for the disturbance term. First, we determine the set of best linear and quadratic moment functions for GMM estimation. Second, we show that the optimal GMM estimator (GMME) formulated from this set is the most efficient estimator within the class of GMMEs formulated from the set of linear and quadratic moment functions. Our analytical results show that the one-step GMME can be more efficient than the quasi maximum likelihood (QMLE), when the disturbance term is simply i.i.d. With an extensive Monte Carlo study, we compare its finite sample properties against the MLE, the QMLE and the estimators suggested in Fingleton (2008a).     

Investor Response to Cash Flow Information

In this study the usefulness of cash flow data as required by the UK standard, FRS1 , is evaluated and cash flow per share is investigated as a possible specification of cash flow data that may contain information value for security markets. Recent innovation in earnings response models are used to test the robustness of the results and provide further insights into the time series properties of cash flow numbers. The findings indicate that the disaggregation of cash flow as required under FRS1 contains information beyond aggregate cash flow but that the required disaggregation is not optimal from an information standpoint. There is little evidence of any incremental information value of cash flow per share over cash flow numbers.     

Military Expenditure and the Arms Trade in the Asian-Pacific Region

The trend towards further reductions in world military expenditure does not seem to be shared by most Asian-Pacific countries. Military expenditure in the region continues to expand, but the military burden (the proportion of military expenditure in GDP) and the military share (the share of military expenditure in central government expenditure) are declining in most Asian-Pacific countries. This is largely due to sustained high economic growth in the region. Thus far, the military burden has not had an adverse effect on the region's economic growth, but continued expansion of military expenditure is not sustainable in countries where the military share is high. Asian-Pacific countries are vigorously developing, modernizing and upgrading their indigenous arms production capabilities. This effort has been aided not only by the availability of financial resources but also by the changing nature of the international arms market that offers attractive package deals, including various licensing, co-production and offset manufacturing arrangements.     

CUE with many weak instruments and nearly singular design

This paper analyzes many weak moment asymptotics under the possibility of similar moments. The possibility of highly related moments arises when there are many of them. Knight and Fu (2000) designate the issue of similar regressors as the “nearly singular” design in the least squares case. In the nearly singular design, the sample variance converges to a singular limit term. However, Knight and Fu (2000) assume that on the nullspace of the limit term, the difference between the sample variance and the singular matrix converges in probability to a positive definite matrix when multiplied by an appropriate rate. We consider specifically Continuous Updating Estimator (CUE) with many weak moments under nearly singular design. We show that the nearly singular design affects the form of the limit of the many weak moment asymptotics that is introduced by Newey and Windmeijer (2009a). However, the estimator is still consistent and the Wald test has the standard χ²${\chi }^2$ limit.     

Expert Judgments Regarding Risks Associated with Salmon Aquaculture Practices in British Columbia

Making sound decisions about managing ecological risks necessarily involves relying on judgments by technical specialists informed by the best available scientific evidence. Yet, organizing those judgments in ways to assess the relative risks of different components of a technology, and considering priorities in managing those risks, is a difficult and under‐explored aspect of environmental management. In this study, we elicited the judgments of scientists associated with the salmon aquaculture industry in British Columbia in order to learn their expert viewpoints of potential risks. This paper presents survey results regarding structured judgments provided by scientists engaged in studies associated with aquaculture or preserving wild stocks of Pacific salmon species. There were statistically significant differences regarding judgments of the risks of various current aquaculture practices on wild salmon stocks. It was possible to rank the means of scientific judgment scores to prioritize these risks. Differences in rankings were location and context specific.     

The effects of government spending shocks on the real exchange rate and trade balance in Turkey

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of government spending shocks on the real exchange rate and foreign trade balance in Turkey for the period of 2002:01–2012:04 within a structural VAR framework. The analysis shows that a positive shock to the government spending tends to induce real exchange rate appreciation and deterioration in trade balance. We also find that the composition of the government spending matters. Although shocks to the government nonwage consumption generate an appreciation in the real exchange rate and worsening of the trade balance, the effects of government investment shocks remain insignificant. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that shocks to government spending are associated with a rise in taxes, which is indicative of a spending-driven tax adjustment process in Turkey.     

Size and sign asymmetries in house price adjustments

Long-run mean-reversion in real house prices is determined by the relative strength of fundamental factors against the short-run influences. This article suggests that the adjustment towards the long-run trend in house prices could display non-linear behaviour due to some intrinsic characteristics of the housing market. Accordingly, sign and size asymmetries as well as possible structural breaks are taken into account in a unit root testing exercise for twenty-nine countries. Our results suggest that mean-reversion exists for seventy percent of the countries in our sample. Moreover, the out-of-sample forecasting performance of our non-linear models in predicting house prices is better than a simple auto-regressive benchmark for some countries.     

The effect of ethical leadership on service sabotage

ABSTRACT

This study aims at examining the impact of ethical leadership activities on service sabotage, and the mediating role of service climate and corporate ethical values (CEV) on this impact. The study was completed via 384 acceptable questionnaires in total. The research findings show that ethical leadership affects the service climate and the CEV in a positive way whereas it has a negative effect on the service sabotage. In addition, it is observed that the CEV have a positive effect on the service climate. In the light of the research findings, managers’ ethical personal and managerial characteristics affect the service climate in a positive way and play a significant role for the ethical values to become more common within the organization. Furthermore, the ethical leadership is effective for decreasing the service sabotage which is referred as the undesirable and harming behaviors within the organization.     

An assessment of the impact of watershed programmes on agricultural sustainability in Hamedan province,Iran

This paper assessed the effects of watershed programmes (WPs) on the sustainability of agro-ecosystems in Hamedan province, western Iran. This research was a causal–comparative study, and various techniques were used to collect data, such as survey data, archival data, observations, and face-to-face interviews with key informants. The causal–comparative method requires a comparison of agro-ecosystems with and without WPs. Therefore, a survey was conducted using a stratified random sampling to select 136 households in agro-ecosystems with and without WPs. Nine indicators were selected to evaluate sustainability. Significant differences were found between the two agro-ecosystems in biodiversity, soil quality management, hydrological processes, energy-use efficiency (EUE), access to public services, farm management practices, and social capital. No significant variation was found in the indicator of quality of life, even though that indicator was found to be slightly higher in the agro-ecosystem that had WPs. Results revealed that the agro-ecosystem with WPs, with the exception of the social capital, productivity, biodiversity, soil quality, EUE, farm management, and hydrological processes as well as access to public services had significantly higher values than the agro-ecosystem without WPs. Therefore, it can be concluded that despite WPs' positive impact on biodiversity, soil quality, hydrological processes, EUE, farm management, productivity, and access to public services, it had a negative impact on social capital. The findings suggest that WPs affected the agro-ecosystem by increasing the stability and economic viability of the agro-ecosystem and decreasing social dimensions. A new approach, including demand-driven WPs rather than supply-driven ones to cater to the specific needs of local people, was recommended for the promotion of the social acceptability of WPs.     

The effects of trade exposure on technical efficiency: New evidence from the Turkish rubber industry

When a country's foreign trade regime becomes more open, international trade theory suggests that domestic firms face more competition and start to operate more efficiently to reduce their production costs. This proposition is empirically examined by using plant-level data from the Turkish rubber industry during a period of substantial trade liberalization: technical efficiency levels improved significantly when Turkey's trade regime shifted from a restrictive to a more liberalized one. Incumbent plants located closer to international markets improved technical efficiency more than the other plants. These findings suggest that the improvement in technical efficiency was due largely to trade liberalization.