Innovative behavioral regulatory agencies as second generation commitment devices

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes how the commitment problem in economic regulation, and a solution based on strategic delegation, are affected by the non-standard rationality of agents that participate in the regulatory interaction. As a result, on the one hand, independent regulators are seen as part of a potentially more robust innovative regulatory system, and, on the other hand, their contribution to this system can be based on a wider range of instruments. Second generation commitment mechanisms that take this into account may be a key ingredient of reforms in the regulation of those industries that require a long run perspective.     

Disruptive technology adoption,particularities of clustered firms

ABSTRACT

This article explores to what extent the internal attributes of a clustered firm influence its capacity to adopt disruptive innovations. A multidimensional approach to the absorptive capacity (ACAP) model is used to distinguish between potential (acquisition and assimilation domains) and realized (transformation and exploitation domains) internal firm capabilities. Our evidence comes from an empirical analysis of the population of firms belonging to the Spanish ceramic tile cluster which have adopted a disruptive innovation – the so-called digital printing technology – on a massive scale. The econometric estimations suggest the relevance of the Exploitation dimension of ACAP for early adoption of a new technology. In contrast, the other dimensions do not seem to play a decisive role when it comes to adopting one novelty earlier than others. In conclusion, and contrary to what was expected for non-clustered firms, the results revealed an uneven effect of the potential and realized domains of ACAP of clustered firms regarding the rate of adoption of distant technologies.     

An innovative regime switching model to forecast Taiwan tourism demand

The tourism industry has become a major part of economic development for many countries. These countries have greatly invested in tourism to attract more tourist arrivals. Hence, the need for more accurate forecasts of tourism demand is important. Various approaches have been applied to forecast tourism demand of different countries. However, tourism demands tend to be imprecise and their trends nonlinear. In addition, there may be drastic changes in the tourism demand time series. To properly handle these problems, this study proposes an innovative forecasting model to detect the regime switching properly and to apply fuzzy time-series model to forecast. The monthly tourist arrivals to Taiwan will be used as forecasting target. The analysis by the proposed model will be validated by the major events as well as previous studies.     

QUANTITATIVE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF BRANCHLESS BANKING ON MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS

In this study, we examined how implementing branchless banking partnerships (BBPs) can enable microfinance institutions to improve their efficiency by reducing cash handling and to expand its product offering to savings. We examined the case of Attawfiq Microfinance in Morocco, that implemented a BBP strategy named Low Income Banking (LIB) in order to achieve increased efficiency and expand its product offering to savings through the LIB account offering. We studied how the customers of Attawfiq used the LIB account for transactional and savings purposes by analysing a large database of sociodemographic factors of customers and payments data of microcredits for the period 2010–15 (554,541 customers). We included in our analysis, for the first time to our knowledge, not only the study of the correlations between a very extensive dataset of sociodemographic variables and the use of bank accounts in terms of transactions and savings, but also the study of microcredit data as explanatory variables. Our study concluded that the BBP model implemented (LIB) allowed Attawfiq Microfinance to improve its operating efficiency although it failed to achieve increased savings.     

Checking quality of sensory data via an agreement-based approach

Quality & Quantity - Sensory evaluations are adopted in many fields for measuring and comparing sensory properties of products and improving their quality. The selection of panelists able to...     

Hidden monopsony rents in winner‐take‐all markets—sport and economic contribution of Spanish soccer players

In labor markets where few companies compete for many workers, economic theory predicts monopsony rents. Surprisingly, soccer clubs do not profit from the expected rents. The purpose of this study is to explain such contradictory evidence. Our model and empirical test, using data obtained from the Spanish professional soccer league for the season 2001/2002, suggests that monopsony rents that the clubs were to obtain from most of the soccer players would eventually revert to the superstars. The study also illustrates that the market value of players stems both from their sporting performance and their economic contribution. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the impact of prior experience in entrepreneurial intention

Although entrepreneurial behavior is proposed as part of the solution to fragile labor markets, in particular in periods of economic and social change, policy makers are struggling to find the right levers to promote it. Despite the extant prior research on entrepreneurial behavior, little is known on the entrepreneurial behavior drivers for the individuals of working age with experience. Prior research explores the influence of entrepreneurial knowledge to study the drivers of experienced individuals evaluating whether or not to engage in an entrepreneurial behavior. This research introduces entrepreneurial knowledge to study the impact of prior experience on entrepreneurial intention. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research work analyzes the relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurial intention, and the mediating effects of the TPB perceptual variables: personal attitude (PA), social norm (SN), and perceived behavioral-control (PBC). A structural equation model (SEM) has been used to analyze the responses of a sample of 431 experienced individuals of working-age that completed a questionnaire based on Liñan & Chen’s, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 593–618, (2009) Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ). The results showed that entrepreneurial knowledge positively influences entrepreneurial intention and that this influence is mediated by the perceptual variables of the TPB model (PA, SN, PBC). These findings contribute to the understanding of the entrepreneurial intention for experienced individuals and consolidate the use of the TPB model to study individual entrepreneurial intention. The findings suggest that policy makers should pay more attention to individual entrepreneurial knowledge, and strengthen the attractiveness of an entrepreneurial career, if they are interested in fostering entrepreneurial behavior among individuals of working age with experience.     

Best Practices in Credit Accessibility and Corporate Social Responsibility in Financial Institutions

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss some of the best practices of financial industry, in three emerging economies: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The main thesis is that, notwithstanding the importance of certain specific deficiencies, such as an inadequate regulatory context or the lack of financial education among the population, the main factor that explains the low banking levels in emerging and developing economies, affecting mostly lower-income segments, is the use of inefficient financial service distribution models. In connection with this thesis, we will try to show that traditional financial institutions, both in developing countries and in the advanced economies have a special social responsibility to help create an efficient financial system that makes saving and borrowing instruments available to the greatest possible number of citizens.     

Coalition Formation and Stability

This paper aims to develop, for any cooperative game, a solution notion that enjoys stability and consists of a coalition structure and an associated payoff vector derived from the Shapley value. To this end, two concepts are combined: those of strong Nash equilibrium and Aumann–Drèze coalitional value. In particular, we are interested in conditions ensuring that the grand coalition is the best preference for all players. Monotonicity, convexity, cohesiveness and other conditions are used to provide several theoretical results that we apply to numerical examples including real-world economic situations.     

Best Practices in Credit Accessibility and Corporate Social Responsibility in Financial Institutions

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss some of the best practices of financial industry, in three emerging economies: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The main thesis is that, notwithstanding the importance of certain specific deficiencies, such as an inadequate regulatory context or the lack of financial education among the population, the main factor that explains the low banking levels in emerging and developing economies, affecting mostly lower-income segments, is the use of inefficient financial service distribution models. In connection with this thesis, we will try to show that traditional financial institutions, both in developing countries and in the advanced economies have a special social responsibility to help create an efficient financial system that makes saving and borrowing instruments available to the greatest possible number of citizens.