Economic structure and factor payments

There is a growing body of evidence that the labour payment share in national income varies across countries and over time, suggesting that the popular aggregate Cobb–Douglas production function may not capture income share dynamics. There remains conflicting evidence on the importance of natural resource rents among low income economies and on estimates of the rate of return to produced capital. This paper focuses on the structural differences among countries, confirming the importance of the agriculture sector in estimates of labour and land’s share of factor income based on 81 countries at diverse levels of economic development in the year 2005. I find that cross-country data are best modelled by a CES production function with an elasticity of substitution of 0.8 and that many low income countries have a higher return to capital than the United States.     

ETF arbitrage: Intraday evidence

We use two extremely liquid S&P 500 ETFs to analyze the prevailing trading conditions when mispricing allowing arbitrage opportunities is created. While these ETFs are not perfect substitutes, our correlation and error correction results suggest investors view them as close substitutes. Spreads increase just before arbitrage opportunities, consistent with a decrease in liquidity. Order imbalance increases as markets become more one-sided and spread changes become more volatile which suggests an increase in liquidity risk. The price deviations are followed by a tendency to quickly correct back towards parity.     

Complainers versus non-complainers: a multi-national investigation of individual and situational influences on customer complaint behaviour

Abstract

One of the least understood areas in customer complaint behaviour (CCB) research is why some customers complain and others do not in similar dissatisfaction situations. Prior research has explored differences in customer characteristics between complainers and non-complainers, but not in association with relevant situational factors. This gap is addressed with a new conceptual framework incorporating two situational variables – customer dissatisfaction and involvement – and two consumer traits – impulsivity and self-monitoring. Several hypotheses about their main and interaction effects are tested in two different contexts, using a survey-based study in three countries (Singapore, South Korea, and the United States). Specifically, it is shown that CCB is positively associated with involvement and impulsivity, and negatively with self-monitoring. Involvement and impulsivity are shown to moderate the association between dissatisfaction and CCB positively, and self-monitoring moderates it negatively. Some implications and directions for future research are also discussed.     

An exploratory review of the relationship between enterprise training and technology upgrading: evidence from South African manufacturing firms

The study examines the extent to which disaggregated training variables are related to technological upgrading, in the context of a middle-income developing country trying to manage its integration into the global economy. For a developing country, successful integration into the global economy requires that local manufacturing firms are able to competitively restructure, as a precondition for survival and long-term growth. Consequently, skills and technological upgrading are crucial in raising the international competitive advantage of local firms. Enterprise-provided training is one means that can be used by local firms to continuously upgrade their knowledge bases, increase their international competitiveness, and enhance employment growth over time. This paper uses South Africa as a case study, to demonstrate how economic reform measures can expose skills deficiencies in the manufacturing sector and lead to an increase in capital intensity of the sector. Exposure of skills deficiencies, in turn, raises the importance of skill-upgrading through schooling and training of existing workforce. Despite a couple of studies on the evolution of the labour market in South Africa, no previous research has explicitly examined the relationship between technological upgrading and disaggregated training/learning variables at the firm level. This paper aims to fill that gap by focusing on disaggregated enterprise-based training efforts. The study uses the Human Capital theoretical framework to answer the main research question: Which disaggregated learning variables (i.e., on-the-job or off-the-job training offered to different occupational groups) are significantly associated with technological upgrading? The study raises possible issues of heterogeneity in returns to training offered to different occupational groups in the context of technological-upgrading. On the other hand, technological upgrading may not necessarily always disadvantage all unskilled workers. Possible policy implications of research findings are outlined.     

Tourism development and behavioural changes: evidences from Ratanakiri province,Kingdom of Cambodia

This research paper presents the findings of a research undertaken in Ratanakiri province, Kingdom of Cambodia (Under the RETA 6190 ADB TA project on ‘Preventing the Trafficking of Women and Children and Promoting Safe Migration in the GMS’), with the aim to evaluate the impact of an airport rehabilitation project. It highlights the role that infrastructure development, with a focus on tourism-related projects, can play in a remote rural area and its consequences on local population, especially ethnic minorities. For remote areas, tourism is considered as an accelerating influence on globalisation and in-migration, which, in turn, are seen as the main factors affecting remote local communities to modify behaviours changing from valuing utility to valuing exchange. The rapidity of these cultural changes increase rural depopulation and the vulnerability of human beings to a range of negative situational factors, including loss of land, erosion of community structures and coping mechanisms, and as well as exploitative practices such as debt bondage, prostitution and human trafficking.     

Examining Consumer Purchase Behaviors and Attitudes toward Condom and Pharmacy Vending Machines in Italy: A Qualitative Study

Unplanned births in Italy have significantly declined over the past 30 years, distinguishing Italy from other Western countries. Italy's success may be attributed to condom vending machines (CVMs), which contribute to minimizing embarrassment in contraceptive purchases. This study examined consumer perceptions toward CVMs and their impact on condom purchasing attitudes and behaviors among Italian women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among participants living in Florence, Italy, a popular region for these machines. Grounded theory and a constant comparative method were used for qualitative theme development. Data suggest participants feel positively toward machines, considering them a convenient purchase outlet. Participants noted barriers and facilitators to machine use, offering improvement opportunities for consumer behavior researchers, marketers, and machine retailers (i.e., alternate CVM placement, diversified product offerings, product quality guarantees), potentially contributing to their efficacy as viable condom purchasing alternatives. Findings expand consumer behavior and embarrassment literature and offer insight for future CVM implementation.     

The Color of Choice: The Influence of Presenting Product Information in Color on the Compromise Effect

Consumers often find themselves challenged by the conflicting desires to seek uniqueness versus conformity, and thus seek some degree of balance. In a series of six studies we show that presenting each options’ product-related information in a unique color, as opposed to all product-related information presented in black-on-white, partially satiates the desire for uniqueness, thus amplifying the compromise effect. Consumers facing color presentation formats choose the middle, conforming option more often, yet perceive their choice as more unique. This color effect is not realized if each option's attributes are presented in different colors, but all options use a consistent color scheme, as is often the case in on-line retailing sites such as Amazon.com. Having to justify one's choice moderates the color effect. The practical take-away is that consumers’ choices can be influenced by using unique colors to present option-related product information, a variable that is entirely independent of the options’ performance characteristics. Two field studies confirm this finding, one using a plain background versus a colored background in a product display and the other using product containers that are either in plain white or wrapped in unique colors.     

Editorial Favoritism in Economics?

Are articles by authors with institutional connections or personal ties to the publishing journal's editor(s)/coeditors of lower quality than those authored without such connections? Examination of articles published in six core economics journals in 1990 found that articles authored by those with such connections, especially service on the publishing journal's editorial board, are statistically and numerically of higher quality than articles by those without such connections. In addition, this quality difference does not decrease over time.