Measuring Educational Heterogeneity And Labor Quality: A Note

This paper investigates the magnitude of the mismeasurement that occurs when only a few education categories are used in the construction of a constant quality index for labor input. By employing a very comprehensive data set it is found that the error resulting from the omission of information on education is relatively small. The empirical results are thus supportive of the current state of practice of constructing indices of constant quality labor input.     

Foreign Capital and Economic Growth in Tanzania

Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of whether the inflow of foreign capital has contributed to economic growth in Tanzania. We distinguish between aid and loans and conclude that while aid seems to have fostered growth during the past decades, loans have apparently not. Using a simple model we show that the basic reason for this is that foreign loans are efficient in promoting growth only if several conditions are fulfilled; data suggest that this is not the case Tanzania. Résumé: Le présent document traite de la question de savoire si le flux de capitaux étrangers a contribuéà la croissance économique en Tanzanie. Nous faisons la distinction entre l'aide et le prêts et concluons que si l'aide a apparenment favorisé la croissance au cours de ces dernières décennies, il ne semble pas en être de même pour les prêts. Avec un modèle simple, nous montrons que la raison fondamentale est que les prêts extérieurs ne favorisent la croissance que si plusieurs conditions sont réunies. Les statistiques révèlent que tel n'est pas le cas en Tanzanie.     

Inventory control with a modified Croston procedure and Erlang distribution

This paper considers an inventory control system, primarily for a finished goods inventory. The purpose is to create a procedure that can handle both fast-moving items with regular demand and slow-moving items. The suggested procedure should be easy to implement in a modern computerized ERP-system. Essentially, the system is a periodic review system built around a Croston forecasting procedure. An Erlang distribution is fitted to the observed data using the mean and variance of the forecasted demand rate. According to probabilities for stock shortages, derived from the probability distribution, the system decides if it is time to place a new order or not. The Croston forecasting method is theoretically more accurate than ordinary exponential smoothing for slow-moving items. However, it is not evident that a Croston forecasting procedure (with assumed Erlang distribution) outperforms ordinary exponential smoothing (with assumed normal distribution) applied in a “practical” inventory control system with varying demand, automatically generated replenishment, etc. Our simulation study shows that the system in focus will present fewer shortages at lower inventory levels than a system based on exponential smoothing and the normal distribution.     

Existence of equilibrium actions and of equilibrium : A note on the ‘new’ existence theorems

A lemma by Ky Fan, which asserts the existence of a maximal element relative to some ordering (an equilibrium action) in a compact choice set, is extended to a larger class of orderings. This extension allows one to generalize slightly several existence theorems and seems to be useful for the applications. Kakutani's fixed-point theorem and the existence of an equilibrium in a generalized game are used to exemplify this. In the last case the method of proof may be of some independent interest involving, as it does, the reduction of an n-person game to a corresponding 1-person game.     

The making of an expert

Popular lore tells us that genius is born, not made. Scientific research, on the other hand, reveals that true expertise is mainly the product of years of intense practice and dedicated coaching. Ordinary practice is not enough: To reach elite levels of performance, you need to constantly push yourself beyond your abilities and comfort level. Such discipline is the key to becoming an expert in all domains, including management and leadership. Those are the conclusions reached by Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University; Prietula, a professor at the Goizueta Business School; and Cokely, a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, who together studied data on the behavior of experts, gathered by more than 100 scientists. What consistently distinguished elite surgeons, chess players, writers, athletes, pianists, and other experts was the habit of engaging in "deliberate" practice--a sustained focus on tasks that they couldn't do before. Experts continually analyzed what they did wrong, adjusted their techniques, and worked arduously to correct their errors. Even such traits as charisma can be developed using this technique. Working with a drama school, the authors created a set of acting exercises for managers that remarkably enhanced executives' powers of charm and persuasion. Through deliberate practice, leaders can improve their ability to win over their employees, their peers, or their board of directors. The journey to elite performance is not for the impatient or the faint of heart. It takes at least a decade and requires the guidance of an expert teacher to provide tough, often painful feedback. It also demands would-be experts to develop their "inner coach" and eventually drive their own progress.     

States and persons—on the interpretation of some fundamental concepts in the theory of justice as fairness

In this paper we discuss the ability of persons to compare the ‘positions’ of different individuals, which is fundamental for the theory of equity and justice as fairness, through the use of a state structure involving states, persons, consequences, preferences and mappings between sets of these objects.It is shown that a type of identity axiom implies a complete identity axiom. Such a complete identity axiom will hold if properties and preferences are dependent and all persons have the same properties, or properties are part of consequences. It is argued that the latter case provides a rationale for the complete identity axiom but demands great abilities of comparison on behalf of the persons involved.     

An analysis of dynamic risk in the Greater China equity markets

This study looks at the time-varying nature of systematic risk in the Greater China equity markets. The Shanghai and Shenzhen markets both have a low average systematic risk when measured against the world market. The short outbursts in systematic risk for these two markets seem to be directly related to policy shifts. The Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are more integrated with world markets and they show signs of large variations in systematic risk over time. Furthermore, conditional betas in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets are stationary, while the Hong Kong and Taiwan betas are integrated of order one. In addition, long memory tests show that all four markets exhibit a long-run dependence in their conditional betas. While the two mainland China market betas are covariance stationary, the Hong Kong and Taiwan betas are not.     

东欧金融危机的回顾与分析

【彼德森国际经济研究所2009年6月】在这次大萧条以来最严重的全球金融危机中,中东欧受到的打击超过了任何其他地区。预计2009年该地区GDP将下降4％左右,拉脱维亚和乌克兰两国GDP都可能出现两位数的负增长。     

Portfolio returns and manager activity: How to decompose tracking error into security selection and market timing

We develop a new method for detecting portfolio manager activity. Our method relies exclusively on portfolio returns and, consequently, avoids the pitfalls associated with disclosed portfolio holdings. We investigate the link between activity and performance of actively managed U.S. equity funds from 2000 to 2007 and document robust evidence that future performance is positively related to past stock picking and negatively associated with past market timing. Finally, we find that portfolio manager activity is highly persistent over time, which supports the conclusion that stock picking increases performance while market timing decreases performance.     

Implementing social media marketing strategically: an empirical assessment

The purpose of this study is to examine how firms implement social media systematically to drive strategic marketing actions. To this end, the study conceptualises social media implementation as a multidimensional, organisational construct composed of social media strategy, active presence, customer engagement initiatives and social media analytics. Using primary data, the study operationalises the social media implementation construct and tests its effect on firm performance isolated into social media performance and marketing performance. The results indicate that all except the active presence dimension of social media implementation are positively related to social media performance. The results further indicate that social media performance is positively related to marketing performance. The study contributes to the literature by offering a novel conceptualisation and empirical validation of the social media implementation construct.