Large scale infrastructure investment and economic performance – a case study of Oresund

We analyse the effect of a large scale infrastructure investment, namely the construction of the Oresund bridge, on the local and supra-regional economy. We employ the synthetic control method to construct counterfactual regions that mimic the trajectory of Malmo and Southern Sweden without treatment. Our results point to a positive effect. However, placebo tests in space and time only reveal statistical significance at a larger regional level. The results suggest that spillover effects are eminent.     

Slack-adjusted efficiency measures and ranking of efficient units

In non-parametric methods many units are calculated as efficient. The article suggests a method for ranking efficient units, not by their efficiency, but by importance as benchmarks for the inefficient units, in contrast to earlier suggestions in the literature which rank units high if they are specialized. However, the total potentials for improvement frequently remain unrevealed by calculating radial efficiency measures of the Farrell type only. The article therefore first develops efficiency measures that explicitly extend the radial measures to include slacks. The new measures are applied to a typical multidimensional small-sample data set for Norwegian employment offices.     

Within-group heterogeneity and group dynamics: analyzing exit of microcredit groups in Angola

The effect of within-group heterogeneity on the survival of social groups is theoretically ambiguous. A greater diversity of ideas, experience, and networks can have a positive effect on members’ benefits from group membership, but diversity also creates a potential for conflict. This paper analyzes the relation between heterogeneity and exit of microcredit groups, using data from Angola. The results suggest that the form of group heterogeneity matters. Fragmentation in terms of social identities, or more specifically religious-linguistic fractionalization, is associated with a greater probability of group exit. Within-group economic inequality, however, is associated with a decrease in the probability of exit, but at a diminishing rate.     

The effects of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program on agricultural households

In the late 1990s, China aimed to mitigate environmental degradation from agricultural production activities by introducing the world's largest “Payments for Environmental Services? program: the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). We develop a microeconomic Agricultural Household Model, which can model the production, consumption, and nonfarm labor supply decisions of agricultural households in rural China in a theoretically consistent fashion. Based on this theoretical model, we derive an empirical specification, which we econometrically estimate using the Hausman–Taylor method and a large longitudinal farm household data set. The empirical results significantly differ between regions, but are generally consistent with the results of our theoretical comparative static analysis, for example, that the SLCP significantly decreases agricultural production. While the SLCP only increases nonfarm labor supply and total consumption in some regions, these effects could not be observed in others. The recent reduction of the SLCP compensation payment rates generally had negligible effects on agricultural production and off‐farm work and only very small effects on household consumption.     

In-store Marketing as a Mode of Discipline

Although the idea of the self-governing consumer has been widely disputed, modern shopping spaces and supermarkets are considered as the key arenas of the sovereign and empowered consumer. Yet, purchasing patterns, which seem predictable over time, can be explained as resulting from consumer routines and habits. Inspired by Foucault’s general thesis that the emergence of individual freedom coincides with new techniques of discipline, this paper explores consumer routines as an outcome of governance structures embedded in modern retail marketing techniques. First, the term embodiment of consumer choice is introduced to describe how shopping in modern supermarkets hinges on various techniques of bodily discipline. Second, by relying on a study of in-store marketing in Norwegian retailing, these promotional activities are examined as techniques normalizing purchasing behaviour. We conclude by saying that power and discipline are underestimated as explanations to the formation of shopping behaviour and consumer routines.     

A Regionalised Innovation Policy Should Be Adopted

Original Papers

A Regionalised Innovation Policy Should Be Adopted     

The Anatomy of Income Distribution in Urban Ethiopia

Poverty is gradually spreading to the urban areas of Ethiopia, although it remains more extensive in the rural areas. This paper presents the first substantial analysis, since the 1960s, of the distribution of urban incomes and their determinants. It uses data for 1994 for an analysis of the economic well-being of urban households; it shows that income diversification is a typical characteristic of the poor, while those who are better off derive more than 75 per cent of their income from wage employment. Multiple activity remains less common in urban Ethiopia than in comparable countries, which is not surprising, since the two-decade socialist rule ruined the private sector. — La pauvreté, déjà généralisée dans les régions rurales de l’Ethiopie, se répand progressivement dans les zones urbaines de ce pays. Cet article présente la première analyse approfondie relative à la distribution des revenus dans les villes et aux déterminants de ces revenus, depuis les années 60. Les données pour 1994 sont utilisées pour analyser les conditions de vie des ménages urbains; l’article montre que la diversification du revenu est une caractéristique des pauvres tandis que les couches de la population mieux nanties tirent plus de 75 pour cent de leurs revenus d’un emploi salarié. Par rapport à d’autres pays analogues, la multiplicité de l’activité reste peu courante dans les zones urbaines d’Ethiopie, ce qui n’est guère surprenant étant donné que les deux décennies de régime socialiste ont ruiné le secteur privé.     

The Fear of Exclusion: Individual Effort when Group Formation is Endogenous*

To secure their membership in a popular group, individuals may contribute more to the group's local public good than they would if group formation were exogenous. Those in the most unpopular group do not have this incentive to contribute. This may result in substantial differences in individual effort level between groups. Our model thus provides one explanation for the existence of group‐specific behavioral norms. A principal will prefer exogenous or endogenous group formation depending on whether he prefers high or low levels of the local public good. We analyze two stylized examples: social interaction in schools, and multiple‐task teamwork.