The Transactional Framework of Sharecropping: Further Implications

In this paper, the transactional framework of sharecropping, recently published, is used to explore various controversies in cropsharing. Conventional sharecropping theories have resulted in a plethora of propositions, making the empirical verification of them confusing. It is difficult to tell which proposition holds for the real world and which holds under perfectly competitive conditions. The transactional framework proposed provides a simple, prosaic underpinning for some of these arguments. Consistent explanations for the main cropsharing issues are possible, using the transactional framework Dans cet article, le nouveau cadre transactionnel pour le métayage est utilisé pour scruter les con-troverses qui entourent cette pratique. Les théories classiques ont suscité une pléthore de propositions, dont la vérification empirique est devenue très déroutante. Il est difficile de déterminer quelle proposition vaut dans les conditions réelles et quelle vaut dans des conditions de parfaite concurrence. Le nouveau cadre transactionnel apporte une base simple, accessible, pour l'explication de certains de ces arguments. Des explications cohérentes des grandes questions touchant le métayage sont possibles en recourant au cadre transactionnel     

Declining global market share of Singapore's electronics exports: Is it a concern?

In contrast with the steadily rising shares of other regional exporters, Singapore's export shares in the global electronics market have been faltering in recent years. This has given rise to concerns about its export competitiveness. The drop in Singapore's global ranking can be attributed to shrinking exports of end products and low‐end electronics parts, as manufacturers relocate such assembly production out of Singapore to the regional economies. Fortunately, Singapore remains competitive in the export of high‐end intermediate electronics components, which are characterized by capability, technology, and automation‐intensive processes. While Singapore is progressing in the right direction, the climb up the high‐tech value chain needs to be further accelerated in order to maintain a technology gap with regional exporters. Besides accelerating its own industrial upgrading, Singapore needs to actively pursue measures that would help create a more integrated and competitive production platform for ASEAN, as well as to seek opportunities to service the rapidly enlarging consumer market in China. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Airline Code-share Alliances and Costs: Imposing Concavity on Translog Cost Function Estimation

This paper provides an assessment of how airline code-share alliances affect the costs of the airline industry. It makes two contributions to the literature. First, it measures the effects of airline alliances by estimating a translog cost function using a panel dataset of 10 major U.S.-based airlines over 29 quarters. Secondly, it ensures concavity of the estimated cost function by using the procedure suggested by Ryan and Wales (2000, Economics Letters 67, 253–260). A conventional translog cost function is first estimated and scale estimates are computed. Unfortunately, the estimated function fails the curvature requirement, which makes interpreting the estimated effects of alliances somewhat dubious. Hence, we re-estimate the cost function by imposing local concavity restrictions. We find that large alliance partners have a small negative effect on airlines costs, but small alliance partners effect on costs appear to be positive, although the magnitude is negligible. We also find material differences in the estimates of scale economies after imposing local concavity.JEL classification: L00, L12, L93     

Subsidiary knowledge flow strategies and purpose of expatriate assignments

Although a general association between the role of international assignees and knowledge transfer has been noted in the international human resource literature, very little is known on how subsidiary knowledge flow strategies influence the purpose of expatriate assignments. Building specifically on Gupta and Govindarajan’s typology of subsidiary knowledge flow strategies and Hocking’s expatriate assignment purpose, we examine the link between subsidiary knowledge flow and the purpose of expatriate assignments using a mixed method approach. Combining survey data and qualitative interviews from 156 subsidiaries in the service and manufacturing sector in Malaysia and Singapore, we find that subsidiaries with divergent strategic roles have different knowledge flow strategies, thus leading to different purposes of expatriate assignments.     

Strategic Sequential Bidding for Government Land Auction Sales – Evidence from Singapore

This paper studies the extent to which equilibrium land auction prices are pushed up sequentially due to strategic bidding behaviors in government land auction sales. Using a unique dataset that covers the universe of tendering prices submitted by all developers for all residential land auction sales in Singapore, we find that a tenderer’s bids are significantly higher where there was a previous land parcel sold within two years and located within four kilometers. The identified price margin decreases with time and geographic distance. Tracking sequential bids submitted by the same developer over time, we find that the incumbent winner of a previous auction is more likely to participate in subsequent nearby land sales as compared to the second-highest bidder of the same auction. However, it does not necessarily win the subsequent sites. We argue that the incumbent deliberately bids up the subsequent land prices to gain pricing advantages to their own parcels.     

The European Union preventive restructuring framework: A hole in one?

While traditionally (Continental) Europe has not been known for an in particular debtor‐ or restructuring‐friendly insolvency practice, in recent decades, important reforms were implemented that would foster restructurings in Europe. In this article, we comparatively look a the status quo of insolvency and restructuring practice in five different European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK). We place our observations into the context of the preventive restructuring directive, to be implemented within the next two years after its publication on 26 June 2019. The directive leaves quite some room implementation, from a watered‐down restructuring tool with high access threshold to a pre‐insolvency debtor‐friendly US‐style restructuring procedure.