Correcting for the Missing Rich: An Application to Wealth Survey Data

It is a well‐known criticism that if the distribution of wealth is highly concentrated, survey data are hardly reliable when it comes to analyzing the richest parts of society. This paper addresses this criticism by providing a general rationale of the underlying methodological problem as well as by proposing a specific methodological approach tailored to correcting the arising bias. We illustrate the latter approach by using Austrian data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey. Specifically, we identify suitable parameter combinations by using a series of maximum‐likelihood estimates and appropriate goodness‐of‐fit tests to avoid arbitrariness with respect to the fitting of the Pareto distribution. Our results suggest that the alleged non‐observation bias is considerable, accounting for about one quarter of total net wealth in the case of Austria. The method developed in this paper can easily be applied to other countries where survey data on wealth are available.     

Book Reviews

R.J. May and W.J. O'Malley (eds), Observing Change in Asia. Essays in Honour of J.A.C. Mackie, Bathurst: Crawford House Press, 1989, pp. 265. Paper: A$20.00.

Michael R. Dove (ed.), The Real and Imagined Role of Culture in Development: Case Studies from Indonesia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1988. US$ 32.00.

Fukuo Ueno, Desa Cimahi: Analysis of a Village on Java during the Japanese Occupation (1943), Rotterdam: Comparative Asian Studies Programme (GASP), Erasmus University, 1988, pp. 291 + xi.

Sritua Arief and Adi Sasono, Modal Asing, Beban Hutang Luar Negeri dan Ekonomi Indonesia, Jakarta: LSP dan UI Press, 1987, pp. 69 + xix.

BRIEFLY NOTED: World Bank, World Debt Tables 1989–90, 2 Vols, Washington Dc, 1989.

Mohan Munasinghe, Energy Analysis and Policy, London: Butterworths, 1990, pp. 315 + xx; Electric Power Economics, London: Butterworths, 1990, pp. 323 + xviii.     

Budgetary-Neutral Fiscal Policy Rules and External Adjustment

Large external imbalances and fragile fiscal positions have emerged as major policy challenges for the euro area in the financial crisis. The paper analyses whether shifting government purchases between tradable and non-tradable goods could help reduce external fluctuations without large swings in the overall fiscal stance. The policy rules considered are budgetary-neutral in the sense that the overall level of government expenditure is kept constant. We compare the policy rules to fiscal devaluation as a strategy to reduce external imbalances and find that state-dependent changes in the composition of government purchases between tradables and non-tradables can stabilise excessive fluctuations in the event of economy-wide supply and demand shocks. Contrary to fiscal devaluation, the expenditure-shifting rule faces a trade-off between stabilising domestic activity and enhancing household welfare, on the one hand, and reducing excessive fluctuations in external positions, on the other hand. The excess volatility of domestic variables associated less volatility in the external position implies welfare losses for standard specifications of household utility. The adverse welfare effect is absent in the case of fiscal devaluation.     

Integrating soft factors into the assessment of cooperative relationships between firms: accounting for reputation and ethical values

Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co‐specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to account systematically for the economic consequences of these ‘softer factors’. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple‐decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter‐organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers.     

How Do Investors' Expectations Drive Asset Prices?

Based on an extension of the process of investors' expectations to stochastic volatility we derive asset price processes in a general continuous time pricing kernel framework. Our analysis suggests that stochastic volatility of asset price processes results from the fact that investors do not know the risk of an asset and therefore the volatility of the process of their expectations is stochastic, too. Furthermore, our model is consistent with empirical studies reporting negative correlation between asset prices and their volatility as well as significant variations in the Sharpe ratio.     

Die sozialen Kosten von Währungsreserven

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 2 TextabbildungenDer Verfasser, der während der Arbeit an diesem Artikel Research Assistant bei Professor Fritz Machlup, Princeton, gewesen ist, möchte aus Anlaß dieser Veröffentlichung für die dort empfangenen Anregungen ausdrücklich danken.