Private peering,transit and traffic diversion

Private peering refers to settlement-free connectivity agreements between Internet Service Providers meant to interconnect their networks by-passing congested National Access Points. We explore the incentives for bilateral peering with particular emphasis on traffic diversion. A private peering agreement between two providers improves the quality of both and would divert traffic from third parties. This provides an incentive for peering. A three-player model is introduced and analyzed. Complication introduced by price competition and heterogeneous consumers are also studied.     

Diversification and performance: evidence from East Asian firms

We examine the impact of diversification on performance for firms operating in different institutional environments during a relatively stable period and during a major economy‐wide shock. We locate our study in six Asian countries at different levels of institutional development. Results indicate that diversification negatively impacts performance in more developed institutional environments while improving performance only in the least developed environments. Even in the least developed institutional environments, diversification offers limited benefits when an economy‐wide shock strikes. Though successful diversifiers are sometimes affiliated with business groups, diversification is associated with poorer performance for both affiliated firms and independent firms. In sum, we find that the outcomes of diversification are influenced by institutional environments, economic stability and affiliation with business groups. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does employment before marriage exert autonomy after marriage? Evidence on female autonomy from India

This paper examines the determinants of female autonomy using data from India. We model female autonomy for movement as well as economic decision-making using a summative index approach. Our contributions to the literature include a careful examination of the regional differences, tests of economic and sociological hypotheses on female autonomy and the use of pre-marriage autonomy measures in terms of employment status to determine post-marriage autonomy. Our results suggest that economic, sociological and pre-marriage autonomy factors explain female autonomy. Regional differences regarding the economic, sociological and pre-marriage autonomy factors play a role in determining female autonomy.     

Introduction to the special section on subsistence marketplaces

We provide an introduction to the special issue on subsistence marketplaces. We briefly describe the stream of subsistence marketplaces, and the conference series associated with the call for papers. We provide a brief overview of the diverse set of papers in the special section.     

FDI and the skill premium in a North–South global economy

The effect of FDI from North to South countries on the skill premium of both groups of countries is examined. The lower wage of unskilled labor in the South induces the Northern firms to shift the unskilled labor intensive production processes in the South. FDI occurs in an unskilled labor intensive activity, but in a skill-intensive sector. It is shown that this leads to an increase in the skill premium of skilled labor in both North and South.     

Marketing and r&d strategies for biotechnology firms in the usa

This pape reports on a survey of 64 biotechnology firms in the USA about their R&D strategy, marketing focud and sources of technology. The survey explored the interrelationships among the strategic issues and how they were related with the means of appropriating R&D results. Three stralegic clusters for technology acquisitin emerged from the data: (i) internal developer, (ii) joint developer, and (iii) cooperative financed. Three marketing clusters were: (i) market penetartor, (ii) innovative marketer, and (iii) market developer. The R&D clusters were: (i) defensive strategy, (ii) aggressive strategy, and (iii) research-intensive strategy. External sources of technology appeared to be predominant among thje various firms and apparently marketing strategy and source of technology had no significant relationship. Most of the firms were involved with commercial innovation in their R&D strategy and few were research specialists. Innovative firms were inclined to depend on external sources sources of technology. Issues related to appropriability of R&D results for the different groups have been examined for their implications for public policy.     

Exchange rate expectations and foreign direct investment flows

Exchange Rate Expectations and Foreign Direct Investment Flows. — Theories about exchange rate expectations are difficult to check empirically. We study FDI data to find indirect evidence on the formation of exchange rate expectations by foreign direct investors. Using panel data techniques on exchange rate movements and FDI flows from the United States to 20 OECD countries we find that skewness of devaluations has a robust positive impact on FDI flows while average devaluation and its volatility do not. We view this evidence as consistent with the hypothesis that relatively large exchange rate movements generate mean-reverting long-run expectations. This finding is consistent with survey-based evidence on exchange rate expectations.     

Financial services ads and viewer response profiles: Psychometric properties of a shortened scale

Schlinger's Viewer Response Profile is a widely used tool in advertising research, in both commercial and academic environments. It is used in ad testing to gauge viewer reactions to television commercials. Initial research on its psychometric properties was critical of the scale; however, more recent work using more sophisticated statistical techniques and larger, more realistic, samples has been much more complimentary. This article reports on the use of a shorter version of the Schlinger scale to test financial services advertisements. The findings generally indicate that the scale can be used with confidence in that environment, and that the shorter scale generally performed well. The limitations of the study are acknowledged, managerial implications are discussed, and avenues for future research are identified.     

Financial services ads and viewer response profiles: Psychometric properties of a shortened scale

Schlinger's Viewer Response Profile is a widely used tool in advertising research, in both commercial and academic environments. It is used in ad testing to gauge viewer reactions to television commercials. Initial research on its psychometric properties was critical of the scale; however, more recent work using more sophisticated statistical techniques and larger, more realistic, samples has been much more complimentary. This article reports on the use of a shorter version of the Schlinger scale to test financial services advertisements. The findings generally indicate that the scale can be used with confidence in that environment, and that the shorter scale generally performed well. The limitations of the study are acknowledged, managerial implications are discussed, and avenues for future research are identified.