Fed policy and presidential elections

In this paper, we test the hypothesis that the Federal Reserve attempts to stimulate the economy prior to a presidential election. Our data covers the Johnson, Nixon, and Carter administrations. While we cannot rule out that political pressure has been effectively brought to bear on the Fed prior to some elections, the data do not produce evidence of a systematic move to ease.     

MFN Status and the Choice of Tariff Regime

The gradualist approach to trade liberalization views the uniform tariffs implied by MFN status as an important step on the path to free trade. We investigate whether a regime of uniform tariffs will be preferable to discriminatory tariffs when countries engage in non-cooperative interaction in multilateral trade. The analysis includes product differentiation and asymmetric costs. We show that with the cost asymmetry the countries will disagree on the choice of tariff regime. When the choice of import tariffs and export subsidies is made sequentially the uniform tariff regime may not be sustainable, because of an incentive to deviate to a discriminatory regime. Hence, an international body is needed to ensure compliance with tariff agreement.     

(How) Do Prerequisites Matter? Analysis of Intermediate Microeconomics and Agricultural Economics Grades

Success in intermediate economics and agricultural economics classes with respect to course prerequisites was evaluated. Prerequisites were statistically important for both intermediate microeconomics and in two of the three agricultural economics courses evaluated. The primary finding was that—for three of the four courses evaluated—the higher the proportion of students who completed the listed prerequisite, ceteris paribus, the lower the grade for any given student. Results also indicate that students with higher ex ante GPAs and to some extent higher math equivalent SAT scores, received higher grades.     

Limitations to interorganizational knowledge acquisition: the paradox of corporate venture capital

By highlighting conditions under which viable interorganizational relationships do not materialize, we explore the limitations of interorganizational knowledge acquisition. In the empirical context of corporate venture capital (CVC), we analyze a sample of 1,646 start‐up‐stage ventures that received funding during the 1990s. Under a regime of weak intellectual property protection (IPP), an entrepreneur‐CVC investment relationship is less likely to form when the entrepreneurial invention targets the same industry as corporate products. In contrast, under a strong IPP regime, industry overlap is associated with an increase in the likelihood of an investment relationship. Our findings suggest that many relationships do not form because the corporation will not invest unless the entrepreneur discloses his or her invention, and the entrepreneur may be wary of doing so, fearing imitation. To the extent that a CVC has greater capability and inclination to target same‐industry ventures, such industry overlap would exacerbate imitation concerns under a weak IPP regime, yet facilitate an investment relationship under a strong IPP regime. Beyond CVC, this insight may explain patterns of other interorganizational relationships, including research and development alliances and technology licensing between start‐ups and incumbents. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Deal’ or ‘No Deal’? Impacts of Alternative Post‐Brexit Trade Agreements on UK Agriculture

Brexit will have important implications for UK agricultural commodity markets due to potentially significant changes to trade flows. We quantify the sectoral impacts on UK agriculture of three illustrative scenarios, which capture a broad range of potential trade arrangements: Bespoke Free Trade Deal , WTO Default and Unilateral Trade Liberalisation . It is estimated that the projected market impacts are relatively small if the UK negotiates a Bespoke Free Trade Agreement with the EU. The projected impacts are much greater under the two other scenarios, which capture potential trade arrangements if ‘no deal’ is reached. The high tariffs imposed under the WTO default scenario lead to significant adjustments in trade between the UK and EU‐27, with the impact on the domestic UK market depending on whether the UK is a net importer or a net exporter of the relevant commodity. All sectors experience price and production declines under the trade liberalisation scenario in which the UK unilaterally sets tariffs on imports from both the EU‐27 and the rest of the world to zero; the impacts are particularly severe in the beef and sheep sectors where international competition is very strong.