Macroeconomic consequences of increased productivity in less developed economies

This paper examines the impact of improvements in productivity on prices, output, the real wage rate and the balance of payments. Within the context of the model used in this paper, an improvement in productivity can take two alternative forms: (1) a cost saving for a given output and (2) an increase in production without a direct decrease in employment. The results presented are based on a simple model of a small open economy that includes some key features of less developed economies. It is shown that, in the presence of monetary and fiscal restraints, an improvement in productivity leads to increases in output, employment and the real wage and the effect on the balance of payments, in the short and the medium runs, is also positive. We find that whether or not improvement in productivity is import saving plays a crucial role in both comparative static and simulation exercises.     

Case study—Embodied virtual agents: An analysis on reasons for failure

Despite very optimistic academic and professional literatures, embodied virtual agents (EVA) on commercial websites do not seem to keep all their promises. An update in December 2009 of a benchmark led by OrangeLab in 2007 on embodied agents displayed on French websites reveals that more than 60% of them have actually disappeared. This case study deals with understanding the disappearance of embodied virtual agents thanks to a literature review, a benchmark of 80 agents on French commercial websites and an analysis of experts' in-depth-interviews. This work identifies a series of common errors in the agents design – namely, appearance inadequacy and lack of intelligence and autonomy – that creates a gap between consumers' expectations and agents' performance explaining agents' lack of success. As a conclusion, this case study gives practitioners actionable advices to design future agents by highlighting the characteristics of the ideal virtual sales agent (VSA).     

Pollution,energy use,GDP and trade: estimating the long-run relationship for Vietnam

Since the beginning of economic reform in the 1980s and, in particular, with its openness to international trade accelerating since the 1990s, the Vietnamese economy has registered significant growth. At the same time, energy consumption and the level of pollution in Vietnam has also increased. This article aims to focus on the link between openness to trade and pollution in Vietnam. Due to lack of data, very few existing studies have focused on Vietnam. Using annual data from1980 to 2011 and employing the bounds testing approach to cointegration, based on an autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) model, we find that there is a statistically significant long-run relationship amongst pollution, openness to trade, energy consumption and real national income in Vietnam. This conclusion continues to hold when the possibility of a structural break in the relationship is allowed for using the Gregory-Hansen approach to cointegration. Analysis of the cointegration relationship suggests that, in response to any exogenous shock to the system, adjustment back to the long-run equilibrium is very fast.     

Cournot, Bertrand, and game theory: A further note

This note synthesizes the discussion on the role of Cournot and Bertrand in the analysis of duopoly by drawing on the history of the debate. We conclude that while Bertrand presented a critique of the mathematical economics of Cournot and stimulated the analysis of strategic choice in game theory, he did not present a duopoly model with price as a strategic variable, as opposed to Cournot's model with quantity. In fact, Cournot has both types of models. We show that Irving Fisher contributed to the myth about Bertrand's duopoly theory.     

Bidding behavior in competing auctions: Evidence from eBay

Much of the existing auction literature treats auctions as running independently of one another, with each bidder choosing to participate in only one auction. However, in many online auctions, a number of substitutable goods are auctioned concurrently and bidders can bid on several auctions at the same time. Recent theoretical research shows how bidders can gain from the existence of competing auctions, the current paper providing the first empirical evidence in support of competing auctions theory using online auctions data from eBay. Our results indicate that a significant proportion of bidders do bid across competing auctions and that bidders tend to submit bids on auctions with the lowest standing bid, as the theory predicts. The paper also shows that winning bidders who cross-bid pay lower prices on average than winning bidders who do not.     

Rational functions: an alternative approach to asset pricing

This paper shows that asset prices are linear polynomials of various underlying explanatory factors and asset returns being ratios of these polynomials, are rational functions that do not add linearly when averaging. Hence, average returns should be modeled based on stock prices. However, continuous returns may be treated as approximately linear across time and modeled directly. Our new Rational Function (RF) models, empirically outperform the traditional asset pricing models like the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama–French three and five-factor models for both average and continuous returns. Moreover, the RF theory also provides a model to estimate the asset volumes. The average change in asset volumes together with average returns provide the estimates for average change in market values of assets. Thus, the RF model approach can be used to select assets that provide either highest returns for profit maximization or highest change in market values for wealth maximization for given levels of risk.     

The influence of incoming CEOs

We introduce a novel index capturing the power of an incoming CEO and explore the association between the appointment of a new CEO and turnover in the top management team (TMT). We document a statistically and economically significant relation between the level of new CEO power and the departure of senior executives. Specifically, we find that in addition to CEO origin, new CEO power is positively related to TMT turnover. We also find that in the post-SOX period, CEO power is more significant in affecting TMT turnover and that directorship and ownership of senior executives reduce departure.     

Alibaba: Entrepreneurial growth and global expansion in B2B/B2C markets

The purpose of this case-based research is to analyze and discuss Alibaba Group (hereafter Alibaba) and its entrepreneurial growth and global expansion in B2B/B2C markets. The paper uses company and industry-specific data and surveys to analyze a fast growing Chinese B2B/B2C firm and its internationalization and expansion in global markets. Findings of the work reveal that in a short time, Alibaba has become a major entrepreneurial icon and global player and continues to grow worldwide because of its well-planned business initiatives and B2B/B2C-based business models. The paper also provides implications in the area of international entrepreneurship and its related areas. International entrepreneurs need to learn from Alibaba’s fast growing business model and dynamic growth because of its competitive platforms and Web-based strategies which helped the company to target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in global markets. Within the areas of international entrepreneurship and international business, the paper also provides discussion which deals with the changing e-commerce industry and its future growth and developments.     

Public consumer goods, output-generated variable returns, and labor supply

This paper develops a simple general-equilibrium model of a closed economy. The economy under consideration produces two final goods, one private and one public, which are both produced with labor and an intermediate good under constant returns to scale. The intermediate good is produced by labor alone, and its production is subject to output-generated variable returns to scale. The public good can be interpreted as government spending on environmental quality, police protection, cultural activities, and publicly funded health care. The model is used to examine the impact of an exogenous change in labor supply on the size of the government, relative prices, and welfare. Within the context of the present study, an increase in labor supply can be attributed to either exogenous immigration or population growth. The model is also used to examine the relationship between the size of the country and the pattern of trade.     

A procedure for adapting technological forecasting models

A simple procedure is presented for adapting available mathematical models for forecasting technological substitution. The procedure takes into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the available models and the environmental interactions to identify a set of feasible alternative forecasts, from which a selection is to be made by the decision-maker based on judgement.