Timing of trade liberalization

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of trade liberalization on growth and long-run global income inequality using a two-country model of human capital accumulation by credit-constrained households. I show that the timing of trade liberalization is a crucial determinant of its effects on growth. Moreover, I show that the size of the long-run income gap between the two countries depends on the difference in domestic income inequality when they open up to trade. Based on these results, I analyze the effects of redistributive policy within a country. I show that redistribution in one country may increase income per capita of its trading partner if it is undertaken in a steady state, while the opposite is true if the policy is undertaken during transition.     

Learning-Oriented Sales Management Control: The Case of a Pharmaceutical Company

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The primary goal was to identify organizational conditions for developing a learning-oriented behavioral control system, an issue that has been neglected in previous studies.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors conducted a case study of Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim (NBI).

Findings: We found that a behavior-based sales management control system facilitates learning by salespersons when 1) the focus is on skill development, 2) fewer key performance indicators are being used, and 3) supportive supervision and knowledge sharing are promoted.

Research Limitations: Because this was a single case study, it is necessary to investigate other cases in other countries and to compare the results with those of NBI to develop theories about learning-oriented behavior control systems.

Practical Implications: In the early stages of sales reform, sales managers and medical representatives should not use multiple process indicators for multiple evaluations; rather, they should use a small number of process indicators (e.g., number of visits per day) so that all individuals concerned about a problem can share information and promote improvement.     

Asymptotic Expansion Formula of Option Price Under Multifactor Heston Model

The stochastic volatility model of Heston (Rev Financ Stud 6(2):327–343, 1993) has found difficulty in describing some of the important features of implied volatility dynamics, leading to a quest for multifactor extensions as well as the incorporation of time-dependent model parameters. In this paper, an asymptotic expansion approach to the multifactor Heston model with time-dependent parameters is developed. The results of Benhamou et al. (SIAM J Financ Math 1(1):289–325, 2010) are extended and it is shown that the extension to the multifactor model involves an extra expansion term that captures the interaction between variance factors. The expansion formula under constant parameters can be explicitly computed and the incorporation of time-dependent parameters is straightforward under the framework. As illustration, a two-factor model is calibrated to data of index options and variance swaps and it is found that it is possible to distinguish a short-term and long-term variance factor from the implied volatility surface and variance swap rates. Moreover, the two-factor model is able to reproduce the shapes of the implied volatility surface during various market scenarios.     

BUSINESS CYCLES IN THE EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF LABOR MARKET SEARCH AND SELF‐INSURANCE*

I introduce risk‐aversion, labor‐leisure choice, capital, individual productivity shocks, and market incompleteness to the standard model of labor search and matching and investigate the model’s cyclical properties. I find that the model can generate the observed large volatility of unemployment and vacancies with a reasonable replacement rate of unemployment insurance benefits of 64%. Labor‐leisure choice plays a crucial role through additional utility from leisure when unemployed and further amplification from adjustments of hours worked. On the other hand, the borrowing constraint or individual productivity shocks do not significantly affect the cyclical properties of unemployment and vacancies.     

Continuity and Change in the Employment and Promotion of Japanese White-Collar Employees: The Case of the House of Mitsui

Lifetime employment is one of the most conspicuous featuresof contemporary large Japanese corporations. The employmentpractices of merchant houses in the Edo period (1603–1868)are sometimes proposed as one origin of such lifetime commitment.Little attention has been paid, however, to the connectionsbetween long-term employment in the Edo period and its practicein the twentieth century. This article examines how Edo employmentpractices were adapted to the environment of the early twentiethcentury within a new context of modern educational institutionsand the need for professional managers.     

Multivariate multistage methodologies for simultaneous all pairwise comparisons

We consider the problem of constructing simultaneous fixed-width confidence intervals for all pairwise treatment differences μ₁−μ _J , in the presence ofk(≥2) independent populationsN _p (μ₁,Σ), 1≤i≠j≤k. Appropriate purely sequential, accelerated sequential and three-stage sampling strategies have been developed and variousfirst-order asymptotic properties are then derived when Σ _pxp is completely unknown, but positive definite (p.d.). In the two special cases when the largest component variance in Σ is a known multiple of one of the variances or Σ=σ² H where σ(>0) is unknown, butH _pxp is known and p.d., the original multistage sampling strategies are specialized. Under such special circumstances, associatedsecond-order characteristics are then developed. It is to be noted that our present formulation and the methodologies fill important voids in the context of multivariate multiple comparisons which is a challenging area that has not yet been fully explored. Moderate sample performances of the proposed techniques were very encouraging and detailed remarks on these were included in Mukhopadhyay and Aoshima (1997).     

Coexistence of large firms and less efficient small firms under price competition with free entry

This study constructs a game of technology selection and Bertrand-like price competition in a market with free entry. It demonstrates the existence of a Nash equilibrium in which a small number of firms adopting a large-scale technology coexist with, and charge a lower price than, a large number of firms adopting a small-scale technology. In this equilibrium, both available technologies and resources are allocated efficiently. This result provides a new economic rationale for antitrust law in general and, in particular, the US Sherman Act, wchich regards free entry and price competition as of foremost importance for maintaining market quality.     

A HEDONIC ANALYSIS OF LAND PRICES IN YAMANASHI PREFECTURE, JAPAN

This paper presents a hedonic analysis of residential land prices in Yamanashi Prefecture for the period 1985–1995. The main purpose is to divide Yamanashi Prefecture (including selected attached areas) into Tokyo-influenced and Kofu-influenced areas. This was accomplished by finding the minimum sum of squared residuals following two hedonic regressions. One regression uses access to Tokyo Station, the other access to Kofu Station. We find that the Tokyo-influenced area expanded during the period studied.