Re-creation tourism: de-extinction and its implications for nature-based recreation

Recent rapid developments in biotechnology and genomics mean that ‘de-extinction’ – the resurrection of extinct species – is now a real possibility. The opportunity to see living examples of long-dead creatures has important implications (benefits and risks) for nature-based tourism. This paper introduces the topic of de-extinction, briefly discusses how it relates to tourism and indicates areas for further research.     

Optimal redistributive taxation with both extensive and intensive responses

We study optimal income taxation when labor supply reacts along the intensive and extensive margins. Individuals are heterogeneous across two unobserved dimensions: their skill and disutility of participation. We develop a new method to analytically derive conditions under which optimal marginal tax rates are non-negative everywhere. It is typically optimal to provide a distinct level of transfer to the non-employed and to workers with negligible earnings. Numerical simulations illustrate these properties for the US. We also apply our method to sign output distortions in other adverse selection frameworks with random participation, namely the monopoly nonlinear pricing and the regulatory monopoly problems.     

Finnish GNP-series 1954/I–1990/IV: Small shock persistance or trend stationarity? Some evidence with variance ratio estimates

The “shock persistance” of Finnish adjusted quarterly real GNP series in logarithms from 1954/QI to 1990/QIV is analyzed using variance ratio estimators. The results indicate that the random walk component of the series is not big. The small sample properties of variance ratio estimators are studied using empirical distribution derived from simulations. The persistence measures calculated via the ARIMA modelling of the lnGNP_t series are biased upwards. The sampling properties show that the simple random walk model is not an alternative model for the lnGNP. A trend stationary alternative, an AR(2) process, gives almost the same “shock persistence” measures as the assumed unit root processes.     

European Community Intercountry Input–Output Relations: Construction Method and Main Results for 1965–85

Eurostat constructs consolidated input–output (IO) tables for the European Community (EC) by means of an aggregation of the domestic and the intra-EC import matrices from the harmonized national IO tables. Intercountry EC IO tables can be constructed by disaggregating the intra-EC imports according to country of origin, with coefficients derived from international trade statistics. These procedures, however, produce inadequate outcomes for several reasons. The most important reason is that the imports are valued in ex-customs prices, instead of the theoretically more appropriate producers' prices. This paper analyzes the nature of these and other data problems, and describes a more extensive and satisfactory method to construct intercountry and consolidated EC IO tables. The empirical results are illustrated by an analysis of the domestic and intercountry intersectoral spillover effects for 1965–85.     

Matching soulmates

We study iterated matching of soulmates (IMS), a recursive process of forming coalitions that are mutually preferred by members to any other coalition containing individuals as yet unmatched by this process. If all players can be matched this way, preferences are IMS-complete. A mechanism is a soulmate mechanism if it allows the formation of all soulmate coalitions. Our model follows Banerjee, Konishi, and Sönmez, except reported preferences are strategic variables. We investigate the incentive and stability properties of soulmate mechanisms. In contrast to prior literature, we do not impose conditions that ensure IMS-completeness. A fundamental result is that, (1) any group of players who could change their reported preferences and mutually benefit does not contain any players who were matched as soulmates and reported their preferences truthfully. As corollaries, (2) for any IMS-complete profile, soulmate mechanisms have a truthful strong Nash equilibrium, and (3) as long as all players matched as soulmates report their preferences truthfully, there is no incentive for any to deviate. Moreover, (4) soulmate coalitions are invariant core coalitions—that is, any soulmate coalition will be a coalition in every outcome in the core. To accompany our theoretical results, we present real-world data analysis and simulations that highlight the prevalence of situations in which many, but not all, players can be matched as soulmates. In the Appendix we relate IMS to other well-known coalition formation processes.     

The gender division of labour in early modern England

This article presents new evidence of gendered work patterns in the pre-industrial economy, providing an overview of women's work in early modern England. Evidence of 4,300 work tasks undertaken by particular women and men was collected from three types of court documents (coroners’ reports, church court depositions, and quarter sessions examinations) from five counties in south-western England (Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire) between 1500 and 1700. The findings show that women participated in all the main areas of the economy. However, different patterns of gendered work were identified in different parts of the economy: craft work showed a sharp division of labour and agriculture a flexible division of labour, while differences of gender were less pronounced in everyday commerce. Quantitative evidence of early modern housework and care work in England indicates that such work used less time and was less family-based than is often assumed. Comparisons with gendered work patterns in early modern Germany and Sweden are drawn and show strong similarities to England. In conclusion it is argued that the gender division of labour cannot be explained by a single factor, as different influences were at play in different parts of the economy.     

Corporate Governance Scoring Systems: What Do They Tell Us?

The failure of companies such as Enron in the United States, and One. Tel and HIH in Australia, and the collapse of Arthur Andersen have created a worldwide debate on the importance of good corporate governance practices. A number of accounting and consulting firms and rating agencies have responded to the debate by developing corporate governance scoring systems (CGSS). In this paper we seek evidence of whether CGSS convey any information about the financial characteristics and performance of companies. We find no evidence of any significant relationship between the corporate governance score and financial performance. However, we find a direct relationship between a firm's size and its corporate governance score.     

Testing Growth Convergence with Time Series Data— a non-parametric approach

A non-parametric time series testing is suggested to analyse the convergence of international output per-capita gaps. Non-parametric tests are based on signs and ranks of time series properties of output differences. The methods are applied to logs of USA percapita income differences for 16 OECD countries from 1900-97. In contrast to the results obtained by Bernard & Durlauf (1995) for the period 1900-87, convergence of output gaps was evident for the majority of countries. However, the trends in 1970-97 and 1987-97 are noticeably more complicated than the homogeneous convergence found in the pre-1970 period. The results indicate that widening USA gaps are now more likely to emerge than steady-state or narrowing gaps.     

A dual theory approach to estimating risk preferences in the parimutuel betting market

This paper introduces an alternative empirical approach to estimating risk preferences in the parimutuel betting market using a dual theory model which is amended to include bettors’ misperceptions of probabilities. We replicate previous empirical results and test our alternative empirical approach using parimutuel horse race betting data. Our results suggest that while bettors are risk-averse, they are also prone to misperceiving probabilities by overweighting low probabilities and underweighting high probabilities. As an application, these results replicate the choice patterns consistent with the Allais paradox.