Racial Differences in Returns to Educational Investment in the South

Abstract . The paper calculates rates of return to educational investment in the South and highlights differences in returns according to race and sex. The results of this investigation are compared with the results of earlier studies, and it appears that there has been a relative increase in the returns to Black education in the South. For most education levels, Blacks still earn lower returns than Whites, but the recent narrowing of earnings rates suggests that southern Blacks have made significant progress in their drive for equality of opportunity.     

The spatial coverage of shipping lines and container terminal operators

The aim of this paper is to provide a quantitative basis for the discussions about globalization of carriers and container terminal operators. A measuring framework is developed that allows for the comparison of the distribution of ship carrying capacity across various regions, and the comparison of the distribution of terminal throughput worldwide. This approach also allows the investigation of the degree to which liner shipping networks match related terminal portfolios.The main outcomes highlight significant differences between the geographical scope of liner networks, and between the coverage of corresponding terminal portfolios. Interesting results emerge from the matching of networks of integrated operators: early-movers such as Maersk and latecomers such as MSC have very different levels of vertical integration.     

When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions

Consumers may develop feelings of love toward some brands, but the meaning and underlying dimensions of this construct require further development. Through an exploratory Internet study of 843 respondents in France, this research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore the concept of love. Eleven dimensions emerge through a correspondence analysis and the concomitant use of a multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis of the wording that respondents use to describe their feeling of love and the special type of relationships they have with the brands they love. These dimensions identified in France compare to dimensions of love found in previous research conducted in the United States.     

Put your money where your mouth is: Do financial firms follow their own recommendations?

In this paper, we explore how US financial firms trade relative to their own equity analyst recommendations. In the quarter-of and that immediately follow a recommendation, firm trades are significantly positively related to recommendation changes. This relation is robust to controls for sub-sample effects, return/momentum related phenomena, size effects, controls for consensus recommendation, and other data normalizations. Our results show that financial firm trades are consistent with their analysts’ research and recommendations, despite recent conjecture to the contrary.     

环境战略与中国城市发展

可持续发展理论已越来越受到社会广泛关注,但如何将可持续发展理论从书斋引向实践一直是大家渴望看到而未如愿的事情。作者结合上海张江高科技园区规划实践论述了城市发展进程中应如何保护生态环境,为城市可持续发展创造条件。他指出,一、降低城市积聚区密度是改善城市发展环境的基本方法;二、超大城市中心区内的开敞空间和一定面积的绿化对补偿建成区土地利用带来的负面影响是一个关键要素;三、协调通畅的交通组织必须贯彻公交优先原则;四、基础设施网络化是城市可持续发展不可或缺的条件;五、与开发商的密切合作才能实现城市管理和金融资源合理有效地利用。     

Graded eco-labels: A demand-oriented approach to reduce pollution

Supplied oriented environmental policies are generally used in order to limit production related pollution. This fact is based on the hypothesis that consumers are not willing to sacrifice personal utility for a wider social gain. We suggest that widespread environmental concerns of consumers can be exploited to push producers along cleaner technological patterns. Our core assumption is that consumers would be ready to purchase cleaner products if the products' characteristics are not ‘too dissimilar’ to those of more polluting alternatives. However, due to a lack of information about non-observable product characteristics, this assumption on its own is not sufficient for ‘environmental friendly’ producers to become competitive. We show - by means of a simulation model - that only if consumers are provided with appropriate information on the greenness of products through adequate eco-labels (graded eco-labels), then producers will be pressed to implement innovations aimed at reducing the environmental impact of their products. Under two test settings - one without any certification and another with binary eco-labels - the model shows markets characterised by highly polluting technological patterns. Only in the presence of graded eco-labels, competition drives the market toward cleaner technological patterns.     

Models in evolutionary economics and environmental policy: Towards an evolutionary environmental economics

In this paper we review evolutionary economic modelling in relation to environmental policy. We discuss three areas in which evolutionary economic models have a particularly high added value for environmental policy-making: the double externality problem, technological transitions and consumer demand. We explore the possibilities to apply evolutionary economic models in environmental policy assessment, including the opportunities for making policy-making endogenous to environmental innovation. We end with a critical discussion of the challenges that remain.     

Commercial complexity and entrepreneurial finance

This paper shows that the probability of small business firms obtaining outside financing to support their research and development projects is greater given more complex commercial opportunities – defined as a greater number of different potential applications for a project’s anticipated results – for their innovations. The effects on the probability of outside finance found for other factors are consistent with the earlier findings in the literature about innovative entrepreneurial firms.