Non-cooperative support for the asymmetric Nash bargaining solution

We study a model of non-cooperative multilateral unanimity bargaining on a full-dimensional payoff set. The probability distribution with which the proposing player is selected in each bargaining round follows an irreducible Markov process. If a proposal is rejected, negotiations break down with an exogenous probability and the next round starts with the complementary probability. As the risk of exogenous breakdown vanishes, stationary subgame perfect equilibrium payoffs converge to the weighted Nash bargaining solution with the stationary distribution of the Markov process as the weight vector.     

Information and communication technology in green logistics: status quo and research gaps

The purpose of this paper is to determine the status quo of research on applications of information and communication technology (ICT) in green logistics (GL) and offer recommendations for future research. We determine that research about political interaction is needed to design new standards and regulations for GL. We also recommend that this work be extended by behavioural research to both identify factors that influence society’s sustainable behaviour and determine whether the current digitisation of society leads to more sustainable transport. In addition, this paper provides an overview of types of software applications that may be beneficial to GL. These benefits usually relate to the strategic management of freight transport and supply chains and the provision of software for executing or monitoring passenger transport. As such, further research on sustainability measures is also needed to identify important sustainable indicators in transport. Existing reviews mostly concentrate on either a specific logistics area or supply chain management; as far as we are aware, no studies focus on the use of ICT in GL at a superordinate level. This paper’s holistic evaluation of the state of research in this underexplored area and its propositions for future research help to fill this gap in the literature.     

The horn of Africa and international relations

All the countries abutting on the Red Sea and on the Gulf of Aden as well as the East African coast will gain in economic, political, and strategic importance as soon as the Suez Canal is reopened to shipping. The present article discusses the situation in an important subregion of this area, the so-called Horn of Africa which owes an eminent position under political and strategic aspects.     

Forward rates and spot rates in the European monetary system — Forward market efficiency

Conclusions Our empirical investigation of forward and spot rates in the European Monetary System in comparison to flexible exchange-rate regimes provides the following results. Unit root tests reveal that forward rates and spot rates are best described by random walks for all six exchange rates under consideration. This indicates that even in the EMS, exchange rates behave in an unpredictable way and exchange-rate variability is relatively high. Applying cointegration theory to the forward rate and the future spot rate, we find that these two time series are cointegrated in the EMS and in flexible exchange-rate systems. There exists a stable linear relationship between the forward rate and the future spot rate which implies that a necessary condition for forward market efficiency is fulfilled. We find the forward rate to be a poor predictor of the future exchange rate. It predicts the sign of the future exchange-rate change correctly except for the guilder, but explains only a small fraction of the change. Concerning forward market efficiency, the single hypothesis, H₀: β₁ = 1, for EMS and non-EMS exchange rates was found to be rather robust. The joint hypothesis for forward market efficiency, H₀: α₁ =0, β₁ = 1, could be rejected for the EMS exchange rates but not for the flexible exchange rates. Thus, a sufficient condition for forward market efficiency is violated in the case of the EMS while it holds for the flexible exchange rates.

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Zusammenfassung Terminkurse und Kassakurse im Europ?ischen W?hrungssystem. Zur Effizienz der Terminm?rkte. — Die Verfasser untersuchen für die Periode 1979–89 das Verhalten der Termin- und Kassakurse im EWS im Vergleich zum System flexibler Wechselkurse. Die „random-walk“-Hypothese für Termin- und Kassakurse kann weder für floatende noch für EWS-Wechselkurse verworfen werden. Kointegrationstests ergeben eine stabile Beziehung zwischen Termin- und Kassakursen, was eine notwendige Bedingung für die Effizienz der Terminm?rkte ist. Eine hinreichende Bedingung für effiziente Terminm?rkte, die sich aus einem von Fama vorgeschlagenen Verfahren ergibt, ist zwar für flexible Wechselkurse erfüllt, nicht aber für das EWS.

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Résumé Les cours du change à terme et les cours au comptant dans le système monétaire européen (SME): L’efficience du marché à terme. — Cette étude analyse pour la période 1979—89 le comportement des cours du change à terme et des cours au comptant dans le SME en comparaison des cours du change flexibles. L’hypothèse de ?random-walk? pour les cours du change à terme et les cours au comptant ne peut pas être réjetée, ni pour les cours flottants ni pour les cours dans le SME. Les tests de cointégration rélèvent une relation stable entre les cours du change à terme et ceux au comptant ce qui est une condition nécessaire pour l’efficience du marché à terme. Une condition suffisante, donnée par une procédure proposée par Fama, est satisfaite pour les cours du change flexibles, mais pas pour le SME.

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Resumen Tasas a término y spot en el sistema monetario europeo. La eficiencia del mercado a término. — En este trabajo se investiga el comportamiento de las tasas a término y spot en el sistema monetario europeo (EMS) en comparación con los regimenes de cambios flexibles de 1979 a 1989. La hipótesis del “random walk” para tasas a término y spot no puede ser rechazada, ni para tasas de cambio flexibles ni para tasas de cambio del EMS. Tests de cointegración revelan una relación estable entre las tasas a término y spot, la cual es una condición necesaria para la eficiencia del mercado a término. Una condición suficiente para la eficiencia del mercado a término, dada por el procedimiento sugerido por Fama, es satisfecha para las tasas de cambio flexibles, mas no para las del EMS.

     

The role of science and technology in the new international order

The United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) is to be held in Vienna, 20–31 August 1979. The present article arises from the author’s work at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on the preparations for this conference.     

Capital accumulation with tangible assets

The paper develops a neoclassical growth model with capital accumulation and a retradable tangible asset in an overlapping generations framework. It analyzes its effect on the dynamics of capital accumulation. Two period lived consumers hold portfolios consisting of real capital and the tangible asset. It is shown that the possibility of trading the tangible asset as an alternative to capital may cause the coexistence of stable steady states with high and low levels of capital and with disjoint basins of attraction. Thus, the so-called poverty trap may appear purely endogenously generated as a consequence of asset trading alone. The possibility of the occurrence of the poverty trap is reduced as factors of production become more substitutable. However, the result is robust for continua of homogeneous as well as heterogeneous consumers.