波罗地海区域领先的物流服务公司——拉脱维亚铁路公司

SUNGATE（拉脱维亚铁路公司）十分看重欧亚大陆桥的运营和合作,愿和陆桥沿线国家和企业紧密合作,共同为欧亚大陆桥运输业的发展做出贡献。经过十六年的发展,SUNGATE已经成为响誉世界的物流企业,是值得信赖的合作伙伴。SUNGATE（拉脱维亚铁路公司）自身具备了从莫斯科向西到欧洲各国的陆桥运输条件。     

Downward nominal wage rigidity in Canada: Evidence from micro‐level data

We assess the importance of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) in Canada using employer‐level administrative data from the major wage settlements (MWS) and household‐based survey data from the Survey of Labour Income Dynamics (SLID). MWS data cover large unionized firms in Canada, while SLID is a rich rotating panel representative of the employed population in Canada. Combining both sources of information allows for an extensive analysis of DNWR in the Canadian labour market. We find large shares of wage freezes and smaller shares of wage cuts in both MWS and SLID. Shares of freezes are higher at lower CPI inflation rates, based on provincial data. These observations are consistent with the presence of DNWR. DNWR in Canada appears to be larger than in other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and European countries. The incidence of DNWR is heterogeneous across firms’ and workers’ characteristics. Wages report less DNWR over longer horizons.     

Commodity currencies and commodity prices: modelling static and time-varying dependence

This article employs the copula approach to study the relationship between exchange rates and commodity prices for large commodity exporters. Using data for the nominal exchange rates of four commodity currencies (Australian, Canadian and New Zealand dollars, and Norwegian krone) against the US dollar and the relevant country-specific commodity price indices, constructed on a daily basis, we find (1) a positive dependence between the values of commodity currencies and commodity indices, i.e. a commodity index increases when a respective currency appreciates and provides several explanations for this finding; (2) no major asymmetries in the tail dependence for most pairs of exchange rates and commodity indices and (3) a pronounced increase in the time-varying tail dependence following the global financial crisis.     

SCREENING AS A UNIFIED THEORY OF DELINQUENCY,RENEGOTIATION, AND BANKRUPTCY

We propose a parsimonious model with adverse selection where delinquency, renegotiation, and bankruptcy all occur in equilibrium as a result of a simple screening mechanism. A borrower has private information about her endowment, and a lender uses random contracts to screen different types of borrowers. In equilibrium, some borrowers choose not to repay and thus become delinquent. The lender renegotiates with some delinquent borrowers. In the absence of renegotiation, delinquency leads to bankruptcy. Applied to mortgage restructuring, our mechanism generates amplification of house‐price shocks through foreclosure spillovers. We also show that government intervention aimed at limiting foreclosures may have unintended consequences.     

Examining the association of smoking with work productivity and associated costs in Japan

Aims: Smoking is associated with significant health and economic burden globally, including an increased risk of many leading causes of mortality and significant impairments in work productivity. This burden is attenuated by successful tobacco cessation, including reduced risk of disease and improved productivity. The current study aimed to show the benefits of smoking cessation for workplace productivity and decreased costs associated with loss of work impairment.

Materials and methods: The data source was the 2011 Japan National Health and Wellness Survey (n?=?30,000). Respondents aged 20–64 were used in the analyses (n?=?23,738) and were categorized into: current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers. Generalized linear models controlling for demographics and health characteristics examined the relationship of smoking status with the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire (WPAI-GH) endpoints, as well as estimated indirect costs.

Results: Current smokers reported the greatest overall work impairment, including absenteeism (i.e. work time missed) and presenteeism (i.e. impairment while at work); however, after controlling for covariates, there were no significant differences between former smokers and never smokers on overall work impairment. Current smokers and former smokers had greater activity impairment (i.e. impairment in daily activities) than never smokers. Current smokers reported the highest indirect costs (i.e. costs associated with work impairment); however, after controlling for covariates, there were no significant differences between former smokers and never smokers on indirect costs.

Limitations and conclusions: Smoking exerts a large health and economic burden; however, smoking cessation attenuates this burden. The current study provides important further evidence of this association, with former smokers appearing statistically indistinguishable from never smokers in terms of work productivity loss and associated indirect costs among a large representative sample of Japanese workers. This report highlights the workplace benefits of smoking cessation across productivity markers and cost-savings.     

俄罗斯产业结构现状

苏联解体后,俄罗斯的产业结构依然保持了苏联经济结构的基本格局和特点,而且其产业中轻重结构畸形和原材料化趋势还在发展,出现了自发性和退化性的反工业化趋势。俄罗斯产业结构具有以能源工业为支柱,军事工业与机械重工业为重点,民用工业严重落后的特点。应改革国家调控制度,降低通货膨胀和利率,发展抵押贷款信贷制度,加强立法,保障市场的有效运转。     

A nearly optimal auction for an uninformed seller

This paper describes a nearly optimal auction mechanism that does not require previous knowledge of the distribution of values of potential buyers. The mechanism we propose builds on the new literature on the elicitation of information from experts. We extend the latter to the case where the secret information shared by the experts–potential buyers in our model–can be used against them if it becomes public knowledge.     

Extended Producer Responsibility and the Evolution of Sustainable Specializations: Evidences From the e‐Waste Sector

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach that could potentially have a positive impact on different determinants of the business environment, including scientific production. Despite that, direct and indirect impacts on those national research environments where EPR is not directly implemented are under‐represented in the current literature. Based on a dataset of 411 papers related to e‐waste published in the period between 2001 and 2011, our study explores the research dynamics of the e‐waste literature and presents a map of the main areas of interest. Two representations of the geographical time frames of research depict the on‐going reshaping of worldwide technical specializations and inform policy makers on the evolution of regional needs and competences. The conclusions highlight the importance of worldwide impact assessments of EPR in order to achieve both industrial and environmental goals. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Fiscal disparity and equalisation in the Russian Federation

The regions of the Russian Federation are economically disparate. Differential endowment with energy resources drives much of this disparity and this translates into highly diverse fiscal capacities. Although regions do have some independent revenue-raising authority, all taxes are administered by the national Ministry of Taxation and a sizable share (roughly 45%) of total national revenue is transferred to regional and local government. The transfers, however, are not of equal importance to all regions. This article focuses on vertical and horizontal balance in the country. It examines differential revenue capacity and the extent to which national transfer programmes mitigate fiscal disparity.     

The gift of being chosen

We report evidence from an experiment where an employer selects one of two workers to perform a task for a fixed compensation. Workers differ in their ability. The employer’s payoff depends on the worker’s ability and on a non-contractible effort that the worker exerts once employed. We find that selected workers exert an effort higher than the minimum enforceable one. When the employers can send a free-text form message to the selected worker, workers with low ability exert significantly higher effort than the workers with high ability. The difference in effort overcompensates the difference in ability.