Belief elicitation in experiments: is there a hedging problem?

Belief-elicitation experiments usually reward accuracy of stated beliefs in addition to payments for other decisions. But this allows risk-averse subjects to hedge with their stated beliefs against adverse outcomes of the other decisions. So can we trust the existing belief-elicitation results? And can we avoid potential hedging confounds? We propose an experimental design that theoretically eliminates hedging opportunities. Using this design, we test for the empirical relevance of hedging effects in the lab. Our results suggest that hedging confounds are not a major problem unless hedging opportunities are very prominent. If hedging opportunities are transparent, and incentives to hedge are strong, many subjects do spot hedging opportunities and respond to them. The bias can go beyond players actually hedging themselves, because some expect others to hedge and best respond to this.     

Externalities in appropriation: responses to probabilistic losses

Using an appropriation game setting, we examine individual responses to changes in a groups’ vulnerability to a probabilistic loss (L) of a public good. The probabilistic loss parameter entails losing 10, 50 or 90% of the value of the public good that is maintained through cooperation, where the likelihood of the loss decreases in total group cooperation. By design, the expected marginal net benefits to an individual and the expected harm to others depends endogenously on the individuals’ expectations of group cooperation and exogenously on the magnitude of the loss parameter. We find that individual cooperation is greater when forecasts of total group cooperation are greater and where the magnitude of the probabilistic loss is larger. There is, however, an interesting asymmetry in responses by two subgroups. Subjects who are pessimistic regarding total group cooperation decrease cooperation the higher the magnitude of the probabilistic loss and their decisions are tied systematically to changes in their expectations of other’s cooperation. On the other hand, subjects who are optimistic regarding total group cooperation are found to be more cooperative, but their decisions are not systematically tied to changes in expectations of others’ cooperation.     

OIL CURSE AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES: WHICH INSTITUTIONS ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE CURSE AND UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES?

This article extends recent analyses linking the alleged oil curse to a broader set of institutions (13 in number) than democracy, the institution that has received the most attention in the literature. It does so using panel data for over 100 countries between 1975 and 2005, wherever possible, and compares the effects obtained with several different measures of both the importance of oil and experience in the industry and of the interactions between them. Most importantly, instead of simply examining the effect of oil and experience in the industry on the contemporary levels of these various institutions, this study focuses on the effects on changes in the various institutional indicators from one decade to another. While not surprisingly our results reveal considerable sensitivity in the effects of oil resources, oil experience, and interactions across different specifications, they also suggest a number of important findings. The most robust of these are the significant negative effects of oil rents on bureaucratic quality and on socioeconomic conditions. We also find that the number of years since peak oil discovery has a positive effect on government stability, but a negative one on bureaucratic quality. When interactions are allowed for, still more negative effects on institutions are identified, at least partially re‐enforcing several of the institutional links in the oil curse hypothesis. (JEL O13, P16)     

Research on effectiveness of technology transfer in technology alliances: evidence from Turkish SMEs

Many SMEs homed in newly industrialised countries are successful international players despite limited technological infrastructure and R&D resources. This study bridges a gap in the extant literature by examining the relationships between characteristics of partnership relationships, knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of technology transfer in partnerships between SMEs in developing countries and firms from developed countries. By studying data from Turkish SMEs and using partial least squares structural equation modelling, we find that explicit knowledge sharing forms the basis of technology transfer. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that explicit knowledge sharing is strongly contingent upon formalised technical support while trust and technical support seemed to be important antecedents of tacit knowledge sharing.     

Domestic Crop Booms,Livelihood Pathways and Nested Transitions: Charting the Implications of Bangladesh's Pangasius Boom

Rapidly transforming Asian food systems are oriented largely towards domestic markets, yet literature on Asian crop booms deals almost exclusively with commodities produced for export. With reference to pangasius aquaculture in Bangladesh, we argue that ‘domestic crop booms’ – agricultural booms driven by domestic demand – are contributing to rapid social and ecological transformations in Asia and across the globe. We adopt a comparative multi‐scalar approach, and develop the concept of ‘livelihood pathways’ as a means of understanding agrarian change associated with crop booms. The study reveals sharply divergent patterns of social change resulting from the pangasius boom, as experienced in two different village settings, despite underlying similarities in the processes of commodification evident in both. In addition to drawing attention to domestic crop booms and the diversity of transitions in which they result, the paper demonstrates the value of comparative multi‐scalar analytical approaches and the importance of livelihood pathways in processes of agrarian change.     

Eficacia de la inspección laboral cuando la normativa varía según el tamaño de la empresa. El caso del Perú

Se analiza el impacto del control del cumplimiento de cuatro normas laborales (salario mínimo, cotización a pensiones, contrato de trabajo escrito y horas de trabajo) en el Perú, donde la reglamentación y las sanciones varían según el tamaño de la empresa. Con datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares y una estrategia de variable instrumental, la autora se centra en un margen de ajuste previamente no analizado, la reducción del tamaño de la empresa para beneficiarse de normas más flexibles y sanciones más bajas. Los resultados muestran que la inspección tuvo poco efecto en el grado de conformidad o en el tamaño de las empresas.     

Social sustainability in the food value chain: what is and how to adopt an integrative approach?

Quality & Quantity - Despite sustainability is a trending topic in the literature, the analysis of the social dimension in the food industry is almost neglected due to its complexity and the...     

Do Non-socially Responsible Companies Achieve Legitimacy Through Socially Responsible Actions? The Mediating Effect of Innovation

This study investigates the effects on organization’s financial performances of, first, the extent to which the organizations are involved in controversial business activities, and second, their level of social performance. These companies can be considered non-socially responsible given the harmful nature of the activities they are involved in. Managers of these companies may still have incentives to pursue socially responsible actions if they believe that engaging on those actions will help them to achieve legitimacy and improve investors’ perception about them. We develop a comprehensive methodology to investigate these corporate social performance (CSP)-related effects in a complex but specific setting. To this end, we analyze a sample of 202 US firms for the period 2005–2008 using a novel method in this area: partial least squares. Our results indicate that, contrary to the general findings in prior literature, companies involved in controversial business activities which engage in CSP do not directly reduce the negative perception that stakeholders have about them. Instead, we found evidence of a positive mediation effect of CSP on financial market-based performance through innovation.     

Born under a lucky star? Latin American CEOs' perceptions about their own career development

This article explores Latin American Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs') perceptions about the influence of career self-management practices and chance events on their career pathways. Through an edited topical life story approach, we investigate the relationship between those variables throughout CEO's career trajectories in the Latin American context. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 CEOs working for multinational companies were conducted. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed with the aid of QSR NVivo 7 software. The study showed that even in volatile macroeconomic environments, typical of Latin American countries, CEOs do plan their careers. Career planning constitutes the backbone of the career management process. To deal with low predictability chance events, CEOs relied on active development network as the main career self-management practice. However, choice of mobility was the key career self-management behavior when responding to high predictability chance events. These central strategies were frequently combined with other career self-management practices, taking into consideration the type of chance event being responded to. According to this study, if individuals want to develop their careers in unstable environments, they will need to be proficient in career self-management practices, with particular emphasis on network development and choice of job mobility, as well as in happenstance skills.