Dimensional effects of Korean SME’s entrepreneurial orientation on internationalization and performance: the mediating role of marketing capability

This study examines how three different dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking) each determine internationalization strategies and enhance international performance among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the mediating role of marketing capabilities. An integrative theoretical framework built on international entrepreneurship and a resource-based approach was tested in the context of Korean SMEs. Analyses of 401 survey data collected from Korean exporting SMEs revealed the differential effects of each entrepreneurial orientation and the mediating effect of marketing capability on internationalization strategies and performance. Proactiveness and risk taking appeared to function as significant antecedents of marketing capability. Marketing capability, in turn, significantly decreased internationalization scope and increased the financial performance of Korean SMEs, though it did not influence internationalization scale. This study further confirms that the mediating role of marketing capability in entrepreneurial orientation-performance relationships vary by entrepreneurial orientation dimensions. Taking the direct and indirect roles of the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions together, this study recommends the critical prioritization of risk-taking over proactiveness. It extends previous approaches to the triad of resource–capability–performance. Theoretical contributions and insightful managerial implications are also provided.     

POLONIA dynamics during the years 2006–2012 and the effectiveness of the monetary Policy of the National Bank of Poland

In the study we investigate the effectiveness of the National Bank of Poland in counteracting the negative results of the financial crisis in the Polish interbank market. The situation was exceptional in a sense, that during the period of the financial crisis the Polish interbank market experienced liquidity surplus, and the main problem of the central bank was to regain confidence among commercial banks and stimulate interbank transactions. We concentrate on the spread between the rate of overnight interbank loans and the reference rate and based upon its dynamics we assess the monetary policy of the Polish central bank. Using econometric techniques we study how the central bank influenced the spread, when its control over it weakened and when was it strengthened. The study is supported by the results of the survey directed to the headquarters of commercial banks. We conclude that the ability of the central bank to control overnight rate was temporarily lost during the first phases of the financial crisis, but gradually regained after implementation of the confidence pact.     

Under What Conditions Is an Insurance Guaranty Fund Beneficial for Policyholders?

In this article, we derive conditions in an imperfect market setting, under which the introduction of a self‐supporting insurance guaranty fund improves the position of the policyholders. When a guaranty fund is advantageous given homogeneous firms in the market, all policyholders benefit from it to the same extent, if they have the same underlying risk preferences and are charged identical premiums. In a more realistic heterogeneous setting, the introduction of an insurance guaranty fund is in general no longer beneficial for all policyholders in the same manner. Hence, systematic wealth transfers take place between the policyholders of different insurance companies. As a possible solution, and in order to counteract this effect, we introduce a framework for utility‐based fund charges.     

Testing for hypothetical bias in willingness to support a reforestation program

This study measures hypothetical bias in CVM-based estimates of willingness to support a forest protection and restoration program in Poland. It does so in two parallel ways: within- and between-subjects. To this end, participants are asked to vote in a referendum on an NGO-led reforestation project for various per-capita cost levels. They do so either directly or, as a surprise continuation, after a hypothetical analogue. Both methods deliver a similar (and substantial) level of hypothetical bias – it is slightly higher, but not significantly so, in the between-subject comparison. This suggests that hypothetical bias in this context is not primarily driven by such factors as consistency seeking or impression management.     

THE NUMÉRAIRE PROPERTY AND LONG‐TERM GROWTH OPTIMALITY FOR DRAWDOWN‐CONSTRAINED INVESTMENTS

We consider the portfolio choice problem for a long‐run investor in a general continuous semimartingale model. We combine the decision criterion of pathwise growth optimality with a flexible specification of attitude toward risk, encoded by a linear drawdown constraint imposed on admissible wealth processes. We define the constrained numéraire property through the notion of expected relative return and prove that drawdown‐constrained numéraire portfolio exists and is unique, but may depend on the investment horizon. However, when sampled at the times of its maximum and asymptotically as the time‐horizon becomes distant, the drawdown‐constrained numéraire portfolio is given explicitly through a model‐independent transformation of the unconstrained numéraire portfolio. The asymptotically growth‐optimal strategy is obtained as limit of numéraire strategies on finite horizons.     

MONETARY POLICY IN A NON‐REPRESENTATIVE AGENT ECONOMY: A SURVEY

It is well known that central bank policies affect not only macroeconomic aggregates, but also their distribution across economic agents. Similarly, a number of papers demonstrated that heterogeneity of agents may matter for the transmission of monetary policy to macro variables. Despite this, the mainstream monetary economics literature has so far been dominated by dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models with representative agents. This paper aims to tilt this imbalance towards heterogeneous agents setups by surveying the main positive and normative findings of this line of the literature, and suggesting areas in which these models could be implemented. In particular, we review studies that analyse the heterogeneity of (i) households’ income, (ii) households’ preferences, (iii) consumers’ age, (iv) expectations and (v) firms’ productivity and financial position. We highlight the results on issues that, by construction, cannot be investigated in a representative agent framework and discuss important papers modifying the findings from the representative agent literature.     

The Relationship Between REITs Returns and Inflation: A Vector Error Correction Approach

Previous studies show that REITs returns and inflation arenegatively related. This paper reexamines this perverse inflation hedgephenomenon by investigating the relationship among REITs returns, realactivities, monetary policy and inflation through a Vector ErrorCorrection Model. Empirical results show that inflation does notGranger-cause REITs returns and that REITs returns signal changes in monetary policy. The observed negative relationship between REITs returnsand inflation is merely a proxy for the more fundamental relationshipbetween REITs returns and other macroeconomic variables.     

REIT Returns and Inflation: Perverse or Reverse Causality Effects?

Contrary to the Fisherian theory of interest, previous studies document a negative relationship between REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) returns and inflation. In this research, we re-examine this perverse inflation behavior by testing for the causal relationships among REIT returns, real activity, monetary policy, and inflation through a vector error correction model. Our results indicate that the observations of REIT returns as perverse inflation hedges are spurious. The observed negative relationship between REIT returns and inflation is in fact a manifestation of the effects of changes in monetary policies. These findings are consistent with Darrat and Glascocks (1989) evidence of monetary effects on REIT returns.