Theoretical considerations on the proposed of recovery of purchasing power of the minimum wage in Mexico

Regarding the recent proposal made by the Mexico City Government about the recovery of the purchasing power of the minimum wage, some reflections on the theories of production and distribution are proposed. We first review the seminal paper written by Cobb and Douglas (1928). Some obstacles in measuring the marginal factor products, and a pair of inconsistencies between the theories of production and distribution on the one hand, and some exercises of quantifying “productivities” on the other hand, are presented. Finally, a model of imperfect competition, which displays the dispute over income between economic agents, is included. One conclusion is that income distribution does not follow a simple rule, but a bargaining process based on market power in a historical context that provides inertia and in which institutions play a key role.     

Intellectual capital and value creation in the production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts sector in Brazil： A panel data analysis

This work investigates the relationship between intellectual capital and value creation in the sector of production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts in Brazil. Through the access of the database from the annual industrial research conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, we gathered 865 observations, from 2000 to 2006, of public and private Brazilian companies with more than 100 employees. The database allows the estimate of relevant aggregated variables such as national accounts, gross domestic product, intermediate consumption, as well as propitiates a sectorial study of business strategies and performance, including value added by individual companies. In particular, in this study we use data on variables associated to intellectual capital. To achieve the goal of the study, we consider intellectual capital as defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, including human capital and structural capital. For the analysis of business performance, we used Pulic＇s VAIC （Value Added Intellectual Cofficient） index as a measure of efficiency of the employed financial and intellectual capital. Regression models were run to verify the relationship among the efficiency in the use of intellectual capital and the profitability of Brazilian companies. The gross income, calculated as before selling, general and administrative expenses, depreciation expenses, amortization and interest expenses, was used as measure of the flows of value creation and the profitability was measured by the gross income to the total assets of the companies. Considering the constructs defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, we tested, for the Brazilian sector of Production and Assembly of Vehicles and Auto-parts, the following hypotheses： （l） there is a positive relationship between value creation and intellectual capital, （2） there is a positive relationship between value creation and stock of intellectual capital, （3） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the employed capital, （4） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the human capital, （5） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the structural capital. The results of the study, obtained through panel data analysis and through the use static and dynamic models, support the hypotheses that the intellectual capital of the companies, in its flow and stock dimensions, is positively and significantly related to value creation.     

Investment–cash flow sensitivities,credit rationing and financing constraints in small and medium-sized firms

The controversy on whether investment–cash flow sensitivity is a good indicator of financing constraints is still unsolved. We apply a comprehensive approach by cross-validating our analysis with both balance sheet and qualitative data on self-declared credit rationing and financing constraints on a sample of mainly small and medium-sized firms. Our qualitative information shows that (self-declared) credit rationing is (weakly) related to both traditional a priori factors—such as firm size, age and location—and lenders’ rational decisions taken on the basis of their credit risk models. We use the qualitative information on firms which were denied (additional) credit to provide evidence relevant to the investment–cash flow sensitivity debate. The evidence shows that self-declared credit rationing significantly discriminates between firms which possess or not such sensitivity, while a priori criteria do not. The same result does not apply when we consider the wider group of financially constrained firms (which do not seem to have a higher investment–cash flow sensitivity), supporting the more recent empirical evidence in this direction.     

A Multi-Scale System of Macroeconometric Models: the Inforum Approach

The recent global crisis affected output, but the decline in international trade was even sharper, almost twice as big, so that in the literature it is referred as the Great Trade Collapse. Trade flows have transmitted the crisis through the world economy where international trade runs through much more intricate networks than in the past, involving a greater number of countries, firms, and products. All these relevant economic issues require a clear understanding of the possible positive and negative effects not only on the economy as a whole and on aggregate macroeconomic variables but especially on specific industries and commodities. This type of quantitative analysis can be pursued with several analytical tools and data. Macroeconometric models have a long-standing and remarkable tradition as a tool for analyzing the international transmission mechanism of shocks and policies and for forecasting their effects. In this paper, we present the INFORUM international linking system of models that includes a Bilateral Trade Model (BTM) and a set of multisectoral country models. The INFORUM international system of models is characterised by a detailed industry and commodity classification and the use of econometric equations for estimating the behaviour of economic variables and of bilateral import shares. Moreover, when the complete international system of models is linked through the bilateral trade model, simulation results include feedback effects from country models to all economies in the system through bilateral trade flows. Overall, this multi-scale system of models captures the heterogeneity across industries and countries and produces significant information for economic policy design.     

A bivariate infinitely divisible law for modeling the magnitude and duration of monotone periods of log‐returns

The focus of this article is modeling the magnitude and duration of monotone periods of log‐returns. For this, we propose a new bivariate law assuming that the probabilistic framework over the magnitude and duration is based on the joint distribution of (X,N), where N is geometric distributed and X is the sum of an identically distributed sequence of inverse‐Gaussian random variables independent of N. In this sense, X and N represent the magnitude and duration of the log‐returns, respectively, and the magnitude comes from an infinite mixture of inverse‐Gaussian distributions. This new model is named bivariate inverse‐Gaussian geometric ( in short) law. We provide statistical properties of the model and explore stochastic representations. In particular, we show that the is infinitely divisible, and with this, an induced Lévy process is proposed and studied in some detail. Estimation of the parameters is performed via maximum likelihood, and Fisher's information matrix is obtained. An empirical illustration to the log‐returns of Tyco International stock demonstrates the superior performance of the law compared to an existing model. We expect that the proposed law can be considered as a powerful tool in the modeling of log‐returns and other episodes analyses such as water resources management, risk assessment, and civil engineering projects.     

Environmental management systems: an alternative marketing strategy for sustainability

The purpose of the paper is to shed light on the extent to which environmental management systems such as ISO 14000 standards influence marketing efforts. By examining firms who prefer ISO 14000 standards against those who do not, this research provides a platform for understanding their significance when applied to marketing and seeks to improve environmental marketing strategies. The study empirically tests whether statistically significant differences exist between the two groups on a set of marketing variables. The study uses hierarchical clustering Ward’s method and measurement using squared Euclidean distances to determine the two groups. Discriminant analysis (DA) was used to classify each of the observations into selected groups; and test differences between these groups. Stepwise DA identified customer satisfaction as the best marketing predictor. This research indicates that green market-driven solutions for responsible consumption work best when it is consumer-driven, and consumers derive satisfaction from those results. The results adopts the view that investing in IS0 14000 standards is also highly beneficial for the wider applicability of developing strategies that would help firms make better decisions in marketing.     

Sociomateriality: Theories,methodology, and practice

This article aims to present the theoretical trends that constitute the notion of sociomateriality in the field of organizational studies and to describe a methodological framework for conducting empirical research in this field. It is a contribution for those interested in understanding and using the sociomateriality approach theoretically and methodologically. The main conclusion is that sociomateriality is a valuable alternative not only for comprehending how the entanglement of human and non-human actors may produce organizations, their practices, and changes, but also for (re)thinking organizational phenomena both ontologically and methodologically.     

The evolving role of large and medium farms on Brazilian agriculture

We use Brazilian agricultural censuses data since 1970 to describe land structure evolution in Brazil, focusing on the most important agricultural commodities and livestock products across regions. The analysis reveals a remarkable stability in the number of farms in the period, as well as in the structure of land distribution across farm sizes, with a persistence of a dual agricultural structure. Land distribution, as measured by the GINI index, has changed very little and is still very high. The number of large farms is increasing significantly in time, while the number of farms with area below 500 ha changed little in the 1970–2006 period. Medium‐sized and large farms, although heavily outweighed in numbers, account for the highest share of annual crop production currently, and their share in crop (annual plus permanent) production value increased between 1980 and 2006, while the same share decreased for smaller farms. We conclude that the observed stability will probably reduce in the future, as economic forces will likely change the balance in favor of an increase in the number of large farms. This is an issue of obvious political importance, especially considering the importance of the smaller farms for employment in agriculture.