Do fluctuations in crude oil prices have symmetric or asymmetric effects on the real exchange rate? Empirical evidence from Indonesia

Current research on the oil price impacts on exchange rates typically relies on the assumption that fluctuations in crude oil prices have symmetric impacts on a country's real exchange rate. Thus, the contribution of the paper is to use the non‐linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method of Shin, Yu, and Greenwood‐Nimmo (2014) and examine whether crude oil prices are asymmetrically passed on to the real exchange rate in the case of Indonesia. We uncover that oil price changes indeed asymmetrically affect the Indonesian rupiah in both the long and short run; i.e., the movement in the Indonesian rupiah appears to be more responsive to rising oil prices than to declining oil prices.     

Exchange Rates and Economic Recovery in the 1930s: An Extension to Asia

Scholars have found a positive relationship between the magnitude of currency depreciation and the extent of recovery from the Great Depression for Europe and Latin America. The relationship between currency depreciation and economic activity during the Great Depression for Asian economies has not yet been explored. This paper examines this topic using data from 13 Asian economies: China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. We find that Asian economies responded in a similar way to currency depreciation during the Great Depression as did European and Latin American countries.     

Investor sentiment and aggregate stock returns: the role of investor attention

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - We build on the intuitive, albeit overlooked, relationship between investor attention and investor sentiment to explore the open question of the...     

Mandated sharing and telecom investment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Journal of Regulatory Economics - The main objective of this paper is to look at the effects of mandated sharing on investment in the telecommunications sector in Latin America and the Caribbean...     

Do Non‐exporting Plants Benefit from Exporting Peer Plants?*

This study examines indirect spillover effects at plant level within firms by analyzing the performance of non‐exporting plants with exporting peer plants by using Korean plant–firm matched data from 2007 to 2013. Our results show that there are no significant differences in growth between non‐exporting plants and their exporting peer plants in the same firms, whereas significant differences exist among non‐exporting plants depending on whether their peers export. This implies that exporting peer plants are important channels through which non‐exporting plants benefit within a firm.     

How does workplace harassment influence the employees’ response in a deluxe hotel?

Recently, workplace harassment in the form of superiors abusing their power over subordinates has emerged as a social problem. In the deluxe hotel work environment, dealing with this issue starts by asking whether harassment by a superior has taken place – and if so, how it has influenced subordinates’ responses. The purpose of this study was to measure the perception of workplace harassment among employees and to explain the relationships between workplace harassment and employee engagement, satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent in deluxe hotels in South Korea. The results showed that verbal aggression had a significant negative effect on employee engagement, while isolation, disrespectful behavior, and physical aggression exacerbated employee burnout. In addition, employee engagement significantly enhanced job satisfaction, while burnout increased employees’ turnover intent. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.     

Effects of Environmental Regulations on Trade Flow in Manufacturing Sectors: Comparison of Static and Dynamic Effects of Environmental Regulations

This study analyzes environmental regulations and trade performance in manufacturing sectors under static and dynamic conditions. We investigate environmental innovation induced by environmental regulations and the spillover effect on manufacturing sectors, determine whether the spillover effect offsets any negative effect found under static conditions and analyze environmental regulations on the import side. For this, we formulate a trade model that incorporates the environmental innovation equation. We analyze environmental tax, energy tax and the Emissions Trading System (ETS) using strong, balanced panel data from 19 OECD countries for 1996–2009. The results reveal that the static effect of energy tax on exports is negative, but the dynamic effect is positive; however, the positive effect does not offset the negative effect. In short, environmental tax and energy tax decrease the international competitiveness of the manufacturing sectors. Environmental tax and energy tax limit imports, especially in the high‐energy consumption group. The analyses of the ETS further complicate the overall picture. It shows that the further research on the effects of ETS on manufacturing firms' competitiveness over their foreign competitors in the global is required. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Why has US monetary policy become ineffective lately?

Some recent studies show that US monetary policy has lost its stimulative traction, especially since the early 1980s. They argue that the Fed’s forward guidance has enabled economic agents to anticipate the changes in interest rates more accurately. As a result, it is harder to find truly exogenous monetary policy shocks, which has made monetary policy ineffective. In this article, we find that anomalous economic behaviours of financial institutions might be the true reason for the ineffective monetary policy. Our structural vector autoregressive model shows that increases in the US money supply mostly flowed into the financial sector to increase its profits instead of stimulating the real sector of the economy through business investment.     

A note on a classical result in the collective risk theory

Abstract

In his paper “Über einige risikotheoretische Fragestellungen” (SAT 1942: 1–2, p. 43) C.-O. Segerdahl generalizes the theory of ruin probability ψ(u) to the case where interest is continuously added to the risk reserve u at the rate δ′.     

The Seven Faces of Singaporeans: A Typology of Singapore Consumers and Their Aspirations and Life Satisfaction

A large-scale representative survey was conducted to examine lifestyle patterns of Singaporeans. The data were analyzed using a three-step approach. First, the underlying dimensions of Singaporeans' value system were identified using factor analysis. Based on 45 lifestyle and value items, six factors were obtained. The analysis suggests that the value system of Singaporeans can be described using the following six factors: (1) family values, (2) entrepreneurial spirit, (3) status, (4) traditional values, (5) materialism, and (6) society orientation. Second, these six factors were then utilized to identify clusters of Singaporeans with similar value profiles. The cluster analysis identified the following seven major groups of Singaporeans: (1) Traditional Family Oriented, (2) New Age Family Oriented, (3) Entrepreneurs, (4) Aspirers, (5) Materialists, (6) Pragmatists, and (7) Independents. Finally, to examine whether the identified value-based clusters could also be differentiated in terms of key demographic variables, a discriminant analysis was conducted. The results showed that the seven clusters had distinctive patterns along demographic variables. The examination of the aspirations and life satisfaction of the clusters showed that significant differences did exist among themselves. These differences in aspirations and life satisfaction were consistent with the traits and attitudes of the respective clusters and provided ample support to the grouping of the clusters.