What happens to social spending in IMF-supported programmes?

This article finds that education and health spending has risen during International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported programmes at a faster pace than in developing countries as a whole. The analysis is based on the most comprehensive dataset assembled thus far for this purpose, with data covering 1985 to 2009 for 140 countries. Controlling for other determinants of education and health spending, including macroeconomic conditions, the results confirm that IMF-supported programmes have a positive and significant effect on social spending in low-income countries. Over a 5-year period with IMF-supported programmes, spending for education increases by about ¾ percentage point of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and for health, by about 1 percentage point of GDP. IMF-supported programmes are also associated with increases in the share of government spending allocated to education and health.     

IMF conditionality supports revenue collection: is it just tax rates?

This article examines if the observed favourable impact of conditionality in IMF programmes on revenue performance arises from changes in tax rates. It does so by studying the experience of 126 low- and middle-income countries during 1993–2013. When changes in tax rates are controlled for, the impact of revenue conditionality (and especially conditionality on revenue administration reform) not only remains strong on value-added tax collection but also, in contrast to earlier results, it contributes to significant improvements in income tax collection.     

Network formation and social coordination

This paper develops a simple model to examine the interaction between partner choice and individual behavior in games of coordination. An important ingredient of our approach is the way we model partner choice: we suppose that a player can establish ties with other players by unilaterally investing in costly pairwise links. In this context, individual efforts to balance the costs and benefits of links are shown to lead to a unique equilibrium interaction architecture. The dynamics of network formation, however, has powerful effects on individual behavior: if costs of forming links are below a certain threshold then players coordinate on the risk-dominant action, while if costs are above this threshold then they coordinate on the efficient action. These findings are robust to modifications in the link formation process, different specifications of link formation costs, alternative models of mutations as well as the possibility of interaction among indirectly connected players.     

Marketing controls and employee responses: The moderating role of task characteristics

A key concern in implementing organizational controls is that little is known about when controls lead to “negative” employee responses. Previous research has suggested that lower levels of negative responses will be observed only if the controls that are being employed “fit” the characteristics of the tasks being controlled. The two task characteristics usually referred to include performance (outcome) documentation and procedural (cause-effect) knowledge. Unlike previous studies, however, this study assumes that the two task characteristics should have a joint, rather than independent, influence on employee responses to controls. The reason is that knowledge of how well one is doing is not sufficient for expecting lower levels of negative responses if information on procedures that may lead to better performance is not available. Knowledge of procedures, likewise, is not sufficient for lower levels of negative responses if performance documentation is not available. Results of an empirical study provide general support for the above line of reasoning. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Ohio State University. His research interests include the areas of international marketing and sales management. He has previously published inAdvances in International Marketing, International Trade Journal, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and contributed to several national and international conference proceedings. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include sales management, marketing strategy, and international marketing. He has previously published inInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, International Trade Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, and contributed to numerous conference proceedings.     

International industrial buyer behavior: An exploration and a proposed model

A large proportion of world’s trade revolves around a long list of industrial products which are pruchased by industrial buyers. Although it has been suggested that the impact of culture on international markets is more predominant in the consumer goods than industrial goods (Keegan 1984), little has been done in terms of understanding other variables besides culture that effect the international industrial buyer and his/her behavior.     

The impact of perceived crowding on consumers' store patronage intentions: Role of optimal stimulation level and shopping motivation

Abstract

Past empirical studies leave open the question of whether perceived crowding has a positive or a negative effect on shopping outcomes (Eroglu, Machleit, & Barr, 2005 Eroglu, S.A., Machleit, K.A. and Barr, T.F. 2005. Perceived retail crowding and shopping satisfaction: the role of shopping values. Journal of Business Research, 58(8): 1146–1153. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hui & Bateson, 1991 Hui, M.K. and Bateson, J.E.G. 1991. Perceived control and the effects of crowding and consumer choice on the service experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(2): 174–184. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Based on the premise that shopping is a social phenomenon involving hedonic as well as utilitarian motivation, this study hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived crowding and consumers' store patronage intentions. Additionally, past research considers the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between perceived crowding and shopping outcomes. In this research, the authors argue that consumers' cognitive evaluations of the store and its merchandise also mediate the perceived crowding?patronage intention relationship. Survey results of actual shoppers (n?=?201) in a hypermarket in India demonstrate that there exists an optimal level of crowding that maximises consumers' store patronage intentions. The effect of perceived crowding on patronage intention is mediated by the emotional dimension of pleasure and store evaluation. Further, the effect of perceived crowding on emotions and evaluations appears to be moderated by consumers' optimal stimulation level. In particular, the inverted U-shaped relationship of perceived crowding with pleasure and merchandise evaluation is increasingly manifested with increases in optimal stimulation level. The results also reveal that the effect of pleasure on patronage intention is stronger for individuals who score high on hedonic motivation than for individuals who score low on hedonic motivation. The article provides potential research and managerial implications of the findings.     

Stock compensation expense,cash flows,and inflated valuations

Review of Accounting Studies - This paper reviews the statement of cash flow implications of stock compensation expense and the effect it can have on valuations. The paper suggests that treating...     

Integration and diversity

Experimental Economics - We study a setting where individuals prefer to coordinate with others but they differ on their preferred action. Our interest is in understanding the role of link formation...     

A brand new world for nonprofits

Brands provide a number of benefits that can make them a powerful tool for the nonprofit sector. Among other things, they make it possible for organisations to convey a consistent overall positioning while tailoring offerings for multiple publics. They also facilitate the development of trust between the nonprofit and its constituencies, provide insulation from competitive pressures and raise the organisation's profile. Brands are not appropriate for all nonprofit organisations, however, and the decision to adopt a branding strategy is one that requires careful consideration. This paper explores the pros and cons of nonprofit branding, and describes the balancing act that managers face when deciding whether and how to adopt abrand. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications