On the choice of an anchor for the GCC currency: does the symmetry of shocks extend to both the oil and the non-oil sectors?

This paper assesses the costs of forming a monetary union among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries by looking at economic linkages within the GCC, and between the GCC and the potential anchors (the US, and major European countries such as France, Germany and Italy) for their proposed new currency. We investigate the importance of the US dollar compared to the Euro by focusing on aggregate demand (AD) and aggregate supply (AS) shock symmetry across these countries. We differentiated between oil and non-oil sector by estimating structural vector autoregression (SVAR) models with a combination of variables: oil output, non-oil output, total output, nominal/real price of oil and overall price level. One set of models was identified with the long-run restrictions of Blanchard and Quah (Am Econ Rev 79(4):655–673, 1989), whereas the set that assesses the robustness of the findings was estimated with the short-run restrictions of Sims (Eur Econ Rev 36(5):975–1000, 1992). We find overwhelming support for AD shock symmetry across the GCC countries and between the GCC and the US, but none for the major European countries with the GCC. Non-oil AS shocks are mostly asymmetric, but oil AS shocks are mostly symmetric when the real price of oil is included. This agrees with the view that GCC countries are subjected to common oil shocks. It also suggests that previous VAR models estimated to pass judgment on the feasibility of monetary union across GCC countries may have suffered from problems of mis-specification if the real price of oil was not considered. We surmise that the US dollar is a better anchor candidate for anchoring the new GCC currency than the Euro, since US monetary policy can at least help smooth demand shocks in these countries.     

Binding Overhang and Tariff-Cutting Formulas

Trade negotiations deal with cuts in bound duties, which differ substantially from applied preferential duties, and from MFN applied duties. Based on WTO’s Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database and on national sources, this paper proposes a systematic assessment of ad valorem-equivalent bound duties at the detailed product level, for almost all WTO members. Fully consistent with the assessment of applied protection provided in the MAcMap-HS6 database, this work allows the full structure of protection—bound, MFN applied, preferential applied duties—to be accurately assessed. We thus provide the first worldwide assessment of the binding overhang, i.e. the gap between bound and applied MFN tariffs. We also assess the likely applied-protection impact of an agreement in the Doha Round. JEL no. F13     

Cross-border relationships and performance: Revisiting a complex linkage — A commentary essay

Obadia and Vida (2010) extend a prominent theme in the export performance literature, by explicitly addressing “importer role performance.” The commentary essay here builds on a significant volume of work dealing with behavioral dimensions in cross-border exchange relationship management, and points at contributions and shortcomings of Obadia and Vida's paper in terms of advancing and upgrading discussions in this area. This commentary concludes that scholars need to concentrate their future research efforts in linking the relationship dimension and export performance on introducing more comprehensive sets of mediating and moderating effects. These sets of effects may include dimensions such as opportunism, foreign market knowledge and competence, conflict reduction, commitment enhancement, partner interaction, knowledge sharing and ICT.     

Customer retailer loyalty in the context of multiple channel strategies

With an increasingly competitive retail environment and decreasing customer switching costs, customer retailer loyalty is a critical goal for merchants of all types. We investigate customer retailer loyalty in the context of multiple channel retailing strategies. Results show that multiple channel retail strategies enhance the portfolio of service outputs provided to the customer, thus enhancing customer satisfaction and ultimately customer retailer loyalty. These results suggest that multiple channel retailing can be a useful strategy for building customer retailer loyalty.     

Configuring and managing strategic supplier portfolios

Acknowledging that not all supplier relationships can nor should be close partnerships, this article explores the development of strategic supplier portfolios. The strategic portfolio perspective considers risks, trade-offs, and interdependencies between the firm's array of supplier relationships. Based on over 50 interviews with managers and archival data from 12 multinational companies, a strategic supplier portfolio management framework is developed. The authors explore processes that firms use to plan, implement, and monitor strategic supplier portfolios. This research indicates that by assembling superior supplier bases, developing suppliers and integrating them into product development and manufacturing, strategic supplier portfolios contribute to competitive advantage.     

Digestibility and asymmetric information in the choice between acquisitions and joint ventures: where’s the beef?

<In response to our empirical findings that, contrary to the predictions of the information asymmetry hypothesis, joint ventures are not more, but instead less likely when parents belong to different industries, Balakrishnan and Reurer argue that (1) the information asymmetry and the indigestibility hypotheses are theoretically complementary and (2) our results may be affected by the characteristics of our sample. In fact, the goal of our study was not to deny the theoretical validity of alternative theories of joint ventures, but only to ascertain their relative explanatory power. We therefore agree that both theories are complementary, but show that our findings are not explained by our sample, but instead by the way we test the information asymmetry hypothesis. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.