Cost Structure, Interfactor Substitution and Complementarity, and Efficiency in the Canadian Agricultural Sector

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost structure, painvise input relationships and the technological aspects of the Canadian agricultural sector. The theoretical approach applied in this investigation is the CES-translog production technology in its generalized form. The theoretical model has been tested by using time-series data (1947-85) and four factors of production (i.e., land, capital, labor and intermediate inputs). The method used to estimate the model is the full-information maximum likelihood technique.
L'objet de I'article est d'examiner la structure des cofits, les rapports d'intrants en paires et les aspects technologiques du secteur agricole canadien. La demarche theorique utiliske est celle de la fonction de production CES-translog dans sa forme Gkncralisce. Le modele theorique a ete test6 sur des series chronologiques (1947–1985) et sur quatre facteurs de production: fonds de terre, capital, main-d'euvre et intrants intermediaires La methode d'estimation du modele est la technique dite de I'information totale-probabilitk maximale.     

What determines the success or failure of german bilateral financial aid?

This paper explores the causes of success or failure of German bilateral financial aid, using data on 1,003 Financial Cooperation (FC) projects and programs performed by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). The authors find that the success or failure of financial aid loans disbursed under FC depends on project characteristics and macroeconomic conditions in the recipient country. Supervision time is also highly negatively correlated with the probability of success. While the relationship disappears once endogeneity is taken into account, the existence of an institutional bias toward a disproportionate allocation of supervision resources in unsuccessful projects cannot be rejected. These results show that some recent evidence on multilateral policybased aid holds also for the case of German bilateral project-based aid.     

A model of buyer regret: Selected prepurchase and postpurchase antecedents with consequences for the brand and the channel

This research examines how two prepurchase stages of the buyer decision process–information search and alternative evaluation–and two postpurchase stages–evaluation of product and service attributes–influence buyer regret. The study extends prior consequences of regret to include purchase intentions toward both brand and the channel. Tested in a field sample of luxury automobile purchasers, results show that higher information search and alternative evaluation lead to more buyer regret; lower evaluations of service (but not product) attributes lead to more regret; and regret's consequences include reduced intentions to repurchase either the brand or from the dealership. Buyers who switch brands experience more regret than buyers who did not switch brands.     

Germany being dragged along by global recovery

Economic recovery in Germany is struggling to gain momentum. While exports are the main driving force, domestic demand remains weak. How good are the prospects for the year ahead? Is there a chance of a lasting upturn?