Estudio de los factores de compra de productos retro y segmentación del mercado potencial retro

This paper aims to analyze the behavior of potential retro products buyers. A bibliographical review has allowed defining the motives to buy this type of products. However, it should be emphasized that there is scarcely any quantitative information on the reasons to purchase and the segmentation of the potential retro product market. Using the data collected by means of a survey, a factor analysis and a cluster analysis have been performed. As a result, there are three factors of retro product purchase: characteristics of product, present differentiation feelings and past feelings. Furthermore, the existence of two differentiated segments has been detected: emotive consumer and commercial consumer.     

Pricing, learning, and strategic behavior in a single-sale model

Summary. We analyze an infinite horizon model where a seller who owns an indivisible unit of a good for sale has incomplete information about the state of the world that determines not only the demand she faces but also her own valuation for the good. Over time, she randomly meets potential buyers who may have incentives to manipulate her learning process strategically. We show that i) the seller's incentives to post a high price and to experiment are not necessarily monotonic in the information conveyed by a buyer's rejection; and ii) as the discount factors tend to one, there are equilibria where the seller always ends up selling the good at an ex-post individually rational price. Received: January 6, 1999; revised version: July 15, 2000     

Detecting changes in a multivariate renewal process

Some recent extreme value asymptotics for multivariate renewal processes are used to derive an asymptotic changepoint test. This test is proven to be consistent in the multivariate framework where we assume that at most one change (AMOC) occurrs in any of the component renewal processes. Since the actual covariance structure is often unknown, we also suggest an appropriate estimate. This research was partially supported by an Auckland University Research Grant and by a travel grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Reformbedarf bei der steuerlichen Berücksichtigung von Kinderbetreuungskosten

In Germany, parents’ taxable income base is reduced by the costs of childcare. The way this is done at the moment is not suitable: for some parents, the income tax deduction is too high, while for others it is too low. The actual tax regulations concerning childcare costs do not support the ability-to-pay principle. This paper discusses how the costs of children and childcare should be treated for tax purposes and which reforms would improve the fairness of the tax treatment of taxpayers with children compared to the tax treatment of taxpayers without children.     

Changes in the banking system and small business lending

Since small businesses typically rely on small banks as their primary source of financing, there are concerns that the wave of bank consolidation of the 1990s may have reduced the availability of loans to small businesses in the US. Using a panel of state-level banking information over 1993–2002, this paper shows that the Riegle–Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 reduced the number of small banks, but not the amount of small business lending. We also show that small banks are participating less in small business lending. These results imply that the bank-lending channel of the monetary transmission mechanism became less important in the US in the late 1990s as a result of more firms borrowing from large banks that are less sensitive to monetary shocks.     

The evolution of cognitive radio technology in Europe: Regulatory and standardization aspects

Cognitive radio (CR) is considered a promising technology that could provide important benefits in the telecommunication domain. In Europe, the number of research projects, standardization activities and public consultations by the European Commission and regulatory authorities testify to the growing interest in CR. The introduction of CR in the telecommunication market may require new regulations or changes to the way spectrum is licensed and the conditions under which it can be used. The concepts of CR can be applied to various operational scenarios, which are described in this paper.This paper identifies the main challenges for the deployment of CR technology in Europe, provides an overview of the activities by European regulatory and standardization bodies to address the identified challenges and describes a roadmap with potential actions to support the adoption of CR technology.     

Two are Better Than One: The Link Between Management Systems and Business Performance

Little is known about the complementary performance benefits associated with facilities’ combined use of both quality management systems (QMSs) and environmental management systems (EMSs), and how these performance benefits might differ from those associated with facilities’ use of only one of these management systems (or neither). We suggest that complementarities arise because each management system fosters the development of internal capabilities that facilitates the adoption and routine operationalization of the other, while maintaining differentiated goals that enhance strategic value. We examine these relationships using a sample of 2619 manufacturing facilities operating within six OECD countries, while controlling for self‐selection issues. Our findings support the idea of complementarity, in that facilities that adopt both QMS and EMS are more associated with positive business performance than facilities that adopt either a QMS or an EMS on its own, or no management system. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Understanding the effect of market orientation on circular economy practices: The mediating role of closed-loop orientation in German SMEs

The implementation of circular economy (CE) practices is considered a key driver towards sustainable development of firms. Earlier studies point to the general strategic approach of market orientation as an antecedent to CE practice implementation. Still, insights are limited as the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Based on a sample of 121 German small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), we empirically examine how the strategic approach of closed-loop orientation mediates the relationship between market orientation and the implementation of three types of CE practices. Using structural equation modelling, we find that while market orientation is positively related to all three types of CE practices, closed-loop orientation mediates these relationships for only two. Our study extends CE literature by suggesting that market orientation is translated into closed-loop orientation to spur CE practice implementation. We also offer a differentiated understanding of CE practice implementation in the context of German SMEs.     

Earnings Reported under IFRS Improve the Prediction of Future Cash Flows? Evidence from European Banks

This paper examines the relative costs and benefits of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in the European Union by testing the ability of earnings computed under IFRS to predict future cash flows. The study considers the contribution of net income, comprehensive income and other comprehensive income to the usefulness of earnings to predict cash flows, and it compares IFRS with domestic Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Evidence from a sample of Continental European banks shows that IFRS improve the ability of net income to predict future cash flows. Comprehensive income, too, provides relevant information to predict future cash flows, although with a measurement error which is higher than that in net income for greater lags of time. In our interpretation, these findings are consistent with unrealised gains and losses recognised in other comprehensive income being more transitory and volatile in nature. Overall, our results are relevant to academics and standard setters debating the merits of IFRS adoption and to those who use financial statements and adopt reported earnings to form expectations about future cash flows.     

Human Capital Spillovers and Regional Development

This paper introduces technological interdependence into the theoretical framework of Gennaioli et al. (Quarterly Journal of Economics 2013; 128 : 105–164). This extension leads to an expression for regional development with spatial effects that motivates the incorporation of the geographical dimension into their newly constructed database and empirical analysis. Our estimation results corroborate both the necessity of accounting for the presence of spatial dependence to study the determinants of regional income per capita and the importance of educational attainment in explaining regional development differences. Furthermore, we provide evidence that human capital generates positive spatial spillovers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.