Impact factor as a metric to assess journals where OM research is published

This paper investigates impact factor as a metric for ranking the quality of journal outlets for operations management (OM) research. We review all prior studies that assessed journal outlets for OM research and compare all previous OM journal quality rankings to rankings based on impact factors. We find that rankings based on impact factors that use data from different time periods are highly correlated and provide similar rankings of journals using either two-year or five-year assessment periods, either with or without self-citations. However, some individual journals have large rank changes using different impact factor specifications. We also find that OM journal rankings based on impact factors are only moderately correlated with journal quality rankings previously determined using other methods, and the agreement among these other methods in ranking the quality of OM journals is relatively modest. Thus, impact factor rankings alone are not a replacement for the assessment methods used in previous studies, but rather they evaluate OM journals from another perspective.     

Endogenous Public Policy, Politicization and Welfare

In the two–stage political–economic game that we study public policy is the outcome of the interaction between interest groups and a two–tier government. Implementation of a policy proposed by a bureaucrat requires approval by an elected politician. The objective function of the bureaucrat hinges on the weight assigned to social welfare relative to the rent–seeking outlays of the interest groups. This weight represents the degree of politicization of the government. Our main result is that, in contrast to common belief, increased politicization need not adversely affect the public well–being.     

Why Pay Taxes When No One Else Does?

In this paper we try to understand the phenomenon whereby a large proportion of the population evades tax payments. We present a model which incorporates elements from the theory of information cascades with the standard model of tax evasion and analyze the connection between the decision of a potential tax evader, the number of tax evaders, and the number caught in previous periods. General conditions exist under which any expected utility maximizing potential tax evaders will decide to emulate other tax evaders.     

Learnability and rationality of choice

In this paper we study the learnability of the class of rationalizable choice functions using the basic concept of PAC-learnability from statistical learning theory. We prove that the class of rationalizable choice functions on N alternatives is learnable from O(N) examples and is optimal in terms of PAC-learnability among classes which are invariant under permutations of the elements.     

Nonlinearities and Fractional Integration in the US Unemployment Rate*

This paper proposes a model of the US unemployment rate which accounts for both its asymmetry and its long memory. Our approach introduces fractional integration and nonlinearities simultaneously into the same framework, using a Lagrange multiplier procedure with a standard null‐limit distribution. The empirical results suggest that the US unemployment rate can be specified in terms of a fractionally integrated process, which interacts with some nonlinear functions of labour‐demand variables such as real oil prices and real interest rates. We also find evidence of a long‐memory component. Our results are consistent with a hysteresis model with path dependency rather than a non‐accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) model with an underlying unemployment equilibrium rate, thereby giving support to more activist stabilization policies. However, any suitable model should also include business cycle asymmetries, with implications for both forecasting and policy‐making.     

The Border Effect in Spain

This paper analyses the border effect in Spain using a unique dataset on intranational trade flows over the period 1995–98. The results indicate that, after controlling for market size and distance, Spanish regions trade around 22 times more with the rest of Spain than they do with OECD countries. Moreover, the size of the Spanish bias is lower in the case of the Spanish regions’ exports than in the case of imports, although the difference is not statistically significant in most cases. Finally, the border effect is not uniform across Spanish regions.     

Incorporating nutrients into meat demand analysis using household budgets data

The objective of this article is to analyze the Spanish demand for meat, taking into account the consumer's concern about the relationship between food diet and health. This concern is forcing food demand analysts to assume that consumer utility is a function of nutrients instead of simply the food products themselves. Nevertheless, these utility function arguments are not produced in the marketplace but rather at home. As a consequence, in this article household production theory is followed in order to analyze Spanish demand for meat using the Quarterly National Expenditure Survey for 1999. Demands for several meat products (the input in the model) are derived from the translog cost function. Censored regression models are used in the estimation process, since many zero responses are reported. Five broad categories, eight nutrients, and the most relevant socioeconomic variables are considered. Finally, a set of elasticities is calculated with respect to all the variables included in the analysis.     

Knowledge and willingness to pay for organic food in Spain: Evidence from experimental auctions

The aim of this paper is to analyse the main determinants of consumers' knowledge and their willingness to pay for organic food products. Moreover, the relationship between knowledge and buying behaviour is explored. Virgin olive oil is taken as an example. Data was generated by way of an experimental auction carried out in two cities in northeast Spain. A three-equation model is estimated: (1) Consumer knowledge; (2) the decision to pay a premium for organic olive oil; and (3) how much premium consumers are willing to pay. Results indicate that socio-economic variables are main determinants of consumer knowledge, and that consumer attitude, lifestyle and knowledge all influence the decision to pay a premium for organic olive oil.     

The impact of the 1999 CAP reforms on the efficiency of the COP sector in Spain

The cereal, oilseeds, and protein crop sector (COP) occupies a prominent position within the European Union's agricultural sector. Within Spain, the COP sector accounts for almost a third of total Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund expenses, and half of the utilized agricultural area (UAA). The COP sector is not only relevant because of its physical and economic magnitude, but also because of the political attention it receives. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms that occurred during the 1990s paid special attention to this sector. This article aims to determine the impacts of Agenda 2000 on a sample of Spanish COP farmers' production decisions by using an output-oriented stochastic distance function. The distance function allows for an assessment of the reform-motivated changes on total output, input used, input composition, and crop mix. It also permits an assessment of the impacts of the reform on farms' technical efficiency.
Results show that the reform has shifted the production frontier inward and changed output composition in favor of voluntary set-aside land. With respect to input composition, Agenda 2000 induced a decrease in land, fertilizers, pesticides, and other inputs in favor of labor. In addition, Agenda 2000 has had a negative impact on technical efficiency.     

One-sample tests for a generalized Fréchet variance of a fuzzy random variable

A procedure to test hypotheses about the population variance of a fuzzy random variable is analyzed. The procedure is based on the theory of UH-statistics. The variance is defined in terms of a general metric to quantify the variability of the fuzzy values about its (fuzzy) mean. An asymptotic one-sample test in a wide setting is developed and a bootstrap test, which is more suitable for small and moderate sample sizes, is also studied. Moreover, the power function of the asymptotic procedure through local alternatives is analyzed. Some simulations showing the empirical behavior and consistency of both tests are carried out. Finally, some illustrative examples of the practical application of the proposed tests are presented.