Public–private wage differentials in Turkey: public policy or market dynamics?

We evaluate public–private sector wage differentials by gender in Turkey between the years 2005 and 2013. Using micro data from Household Labor Force Surveys we find a positive premium for low wage earners and a penalty of working in the public sector at the higher end of the distribution. Although the penalty has not disappeared, the price effect has increased at both ends of the distribution. The increase at the lower tail is attributed to a higher price effect in the public sector, whereas at the higher tail it has been a result of a relatively uneven wage increase in the private sector along the distribution, rather than an explicit public wage policy.     

The impact of national brand introductions on hard-discounter image and share-of-wallet

Hard-discounters (HDs) such as Aldi and Lidl are increasingly introducing national brands (NBs) into their private label (PL) dominated assortments. While there is evidence that this enhances sales in the categories where such NBs are added, little is known about how it affects consumers' overall perceptions of the HD and consequently its share of the customers' wallet. Using a unique data set that combines longitudinal information on a HD's perceptions, with that chain's assortment composition, we investigate the impact of NB introductions on the chain's overall value and assortment image, and spending share.We show that introductions of NBs, in particular category leaders, may significantly contribute to a more favorable perception of the HD store. For positive value-image effects to materialize, HDs must offer these NBs at low-enough prices to maintain a reasonable price gap with the current private label offer. For the NB entry to enhance the HD's assortment perception, it must come with a sufficiently deep product line.However, there are limits to this approach. Introductions gradually lose effect as the share of NBs at the HD goes up. More importantly, ill-selected NB additions may backfire on the HD. Listing NBs that are not category-leaders, at prices too far above its private labels, deteriorates the HD's favorable value positioning — cutting into its core competitive advantage, and leading to notable reductions in share-of-wallet. We discuss the academic and managerial implications of these findings.     

REGULATION OF POLLUTION IN THE LABORATORY: RANDOM INSPECTIONS,AMBIENT INSPECTIONS,AND COMMITMENT PROBLEMS

We compare experimentally a traditional random inspection policy and a variant where the agency may carry out a preliminary inspection of the level of ambient pollution before implementing any individual inspection. Since the agency may have an incentive to announce high inspection probabilities and then secretly renege on its announcement to avoid implementing costly inspections, we are also interested in the agency's commitment power. We find that overall, ambient inspections increase efficiency but the effect is weaker than expected when the agency has no commitment power; and polluters' reactions to the lack of commitment power of the agency vary depending on whether the agency uses ambient inspections or not.     

How Various Segments of Visitors Perceive l’Accueil in the Places Where They Eat,Sleep, and Play

‘Accueil’ is a French word that means feeling welcome somewhere and being introduced into a process that takes the visitor from being an outsider (a stranger) to being an insider (one of us). Accueil also means feeling the host’s genuine pleasure in welcoming his or her guests through words, attitudes, and actions. Based on a survey (n = 1,003) done for the Quebec Department of Tourism¹, we look at how different segments of visitors perceived the ‘accueil’ they received while traveling in the province of Quebec. The results are analysed for lodging, restaurants and attractions. We found that accueil is perceived differently depending on the age of the visitor, the group size and its composition. To a lesser extend, it is also influenced by gender and social status. The characteristics of the trip (distance, purpose and length) have little impact on accueil.     

Wage structure effects of international trade in a small open economy: the case of Belgium

This paper investigates the impact of international trade on wage dispersion in a small open economy, Belgium. It is one of the few to: (i) use detailed, matched employer-employee data to compute industry wage premia and disaggregated industry-level panel data to examine the impact of changes in international trade on changes in wage differentials, (ii) simultaneously analyse both imports and exports, and (iii) examine the impact of imports according to the country of origin. Looking at the export side, we find (on the basis of the system generalized method of moments estimator) a positive effect of exports on industry wage premia. The results also show that import penetration has a significant and negative impact on industry wage differentials. However, the detrimental effect of imports on wages is found to be significantly greater when imports originate from low- and middle-income countries than from high-income countries.     

Price impact and bursts in liquidity provision

This paper analyses brief episodes of high-intensity quote turnover and revision—‘bursts’ in quotes—in the US equity market. Such events occur very frequently, several hundred times a day for actively traded stocks. We find significant price impact associated with these market maker initiated events, about five times higher than during non-burst periods. Bursts in quotes are concurrent with short-lived structural breaks in the informational relationship between market makers and market takers. During bursts, market makers no longer passively impound information from order flow into quotes—a departure from the traditional market microstructure paradigm. Rather, market makers significantly impact prices during bursts in quotes. Further analysis shows that there is asymmetry in adverse selection between the bid and ask sides of the limit order book and only a sub-population of market makers enjoys an informational advantage during bursts. Market makers on the side opposite the burst suffer elevated adverse selection costs, while market makers on the side of the burst realize positive spread, irrespective of the order flow direction. Our results call attention to the need for a new microstructure perspective in understanding modern high-frequency limit order book markets and the quote manipulation strategies at the disposal of the fast market makers.     

Remittances and misery index in Turkey: is there a link?

This study tests the long run relationship between remittances and misery index in Turkey over the 1975–2011 period, using bounds testing approach. The results indicate that remittances and misery index are co-integrated. The misery index appears to have positive impact on remittance inflows in both short and long run, supporting altruism theory in remittance sending behaviour in Turkey.     

The heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance estimator in accounting

The main purpose of this paper is to compare the White (1980) heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC) covariance matrix estimator with alternative estimators. Many regression packages compute the White (1980) heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC) covariance matrix estimator. The common procedure in Accounting and Finance research to deal with the heteroskedasticity problem is based on this estimator, despite its worse finite-samples properties when compared with other consistent estimators. In this paper we compare several HC covariance matrix estimators based on a sample of 3706 European listed companies from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. We conclude that HC standard errors increase when finite-samples more appropriate estimators are considered and in the most part of countries the Ohlson (1995) model coefficients estimates became statistically insignificant. This can be explained by the high leverage points in the design matrix. To the best of our knowledge it is the first time that these alternative estimators are compared with the one of White (1980) in accounting research.     

Entrepreneurship: From motivation to start-up

The goal of this article is to reveal the origins of entrepreneurial motivation and to identify the logics of action (entrepreneurial projects) associated with each dimension of this attitude. The study looks to answer the following questions: What needs are at the beginning of a business, what are their intensities, and to what extent does entrepreneurial motivation influence projects? Using questionnaires answered by entrepreneurs who have just created their business, we evaluate the characteristics of entrepreneurial motivation (needs and their intensities), identify the antecedents liked to this attitude, and isolate the entrepreneur logics of action (imitation, innovation–adventure, reproduction, and innovation–valorisation). This study is supported by a theoretical framework that is the result of research on motivation and entrepreneurship. A series of causal relations are isolated and then tested. Analysis enables an ensemble of conclusions to be drawn on entrepreneurial motivation. Pathways of motivation lead to logics of action linked to innovative projects and explain the phenomenon of reproduction (or imitation) found in some entrepreneurs. Development objectives and a need for personal independence are identified at the beginning stages of entrepreneurial planning. Creators hope that their business will bring tangible financial and material results. Entrepreneurs are conscious that they must make a commitment across a range of dimensions for their organisation (managerial, commercial, etc.). In their quest for valorisation, entrepreneurs take risks, exploiting advantageous business contexts, thanks to their competences, and show a need for creativity. These two dimensions (competences and creativity) are associated with the objective of independence. The logic of reproduction is characterised by self-confidence (locus of control) and responds to the objective of business development.