Distortion in statistical inference: the distinction between data contamination and model deviation

The present work develops a basic classification scheme for distortion in the framework of classical statistical inference. In particular, it emphasizes the still outstanding and consequent distinction between data contamination and model deviation. It is explored when different implications on the performance of statistical inference procedures under the two types of distortion are possible and how these can be detected. A critical review of some important approaches in the robustness and diagnostics literature finally indicates which of them is aimed at data contamination and which at model deviation (independently from what has been claimed originally). The paper raises awareness of the above problem through a constructive discussion – it is not meant to introduce new methodology     

A tourism research agenda for Portugal

The need to direct research towards the tourism industry is related to the increasingly competitive environment it finds itself in, especially in terms of services rendered, having grown more complex in the features and critique that comprise the tourist experience, and as economic and social agents become more selective regarding both demand and supply. Possessing information and the proper understanding of the real needs of information users and those responsible for public and private decision‐making processes at the action and intervention levels becomes a fundamental issue for sustainable tourism growth and its statement for international competitiveness. This paper proposes a tourism research agenda for Portugal in order to guide future developments towards the industry's needs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entry and Bidding in Common and Private Value Auctions with an Unknown Number of Rivals

In many procurement auctions bidders do not know how many rivals they face at the time that they incur the cost of preparing their bids. We show in a theoretical model that regardless of whether the procurement is characterized by private or by common values an increase in the potential number of bidders may lead to higher procurement costs. This raises potential policy questions of whether and how entry should be encouraged or limited in public procurement auctions. We use evidence from auctions of construction contracts to estimate the effect of an increase in the pool of potential bidders on entry and auction prices when entry and bidding decisions are made sequentially with no knowledge of the number or identity of the actual competitors.     

Taking operations strategy into practice: Developing a process for defining priorities and performance measures

Enterprises’ operations systems and environments, characterized by their complexity and dynamics, are challenging operations strategic management models. The study presented in this paper develops a process to integrate operations strategy content to operations performance measurement system design. Essentially, the developed methodology is based on Process Approach (Cambridge Approach) technique that systematizes procedures for generating a performance measures set coherent to operations strategy objectives and also produces a consistent strategy implementation process. To illustrate the development and the application of the proposed design methodology, findings of two case studies related to telecom engineering services companies are used. Results are discussed focusing on testing the proposed methodology in terms of its feasibility, usability, and utility. A refined process, organized in phases, steps, and procedures, is the final result of the presented study.     

Some unpleasant currency-devaluation arithmetic in a post Keynesian macromodel

The conventional view argues that devaluation increases the price competitiveness of domestic goods, thus allowing the economy to achieve a higher level of economic activity. However, these theoretical treatments largely neglect two important effects following devaluation: (1) the inflationary impact on the price of imported intermediate inputs, which raises the prime costs of firms and deteriorates partially or totally their price competitiveness; and (2) the redistribution of income from wages to profits, which ambiguously affects the aggregate demand as workers and capitalists have different propensities to save. New structuralist economists have explored these stylized facts neglected by the orthodox literature and, by and large, conclude that devaluation has contractionary effects on growth and positive effects on the external balance. Given that empirical evidence on the correlation between devaluation and growth is quite mixed, we develop a more general Keynesian–Kaleckian model that takes into account both opposing views in order to analyze the net impact of currency depreciation on the short-run growth rate and the current account. We demonstrate that this impact can go either way, depending on several conditions such as the type of growth regime, that is, wage-led or profit-led, and the degree of international price competitiveness of domestic goods.     

A cautionary note on tests of overidentifying restrictions

In this note, we argue that tests of overidentifying restrictions give little information on the validity of the moment conditions implied by the underlying economic model, and therefore are mute about the possibility of identifying the parameters of interest.     

Remittances and Relative Prices

Using Mexican data, this article analyzes the impact of the workers' remittances on the cross‐section distribution of prices as well as on the evolution of individual relative prices over time for 272 consumer items. The results suggest that there are important differences in the responses of relative prices to remittances according to various categories of these items. While the relative prices of a number of nontradable service items such as housing consistently rise, the relative prices of several durable items such as furniture tend to fall in response to the remittance shock. Furthermore, remittances explain substantial variation in prices for a large number of consumer durables and services at various time horizons. The relative price responses are more volatile over time for most food items and less volatile for nonfood and service items reflecting different degrees of price flexibility.     

Debt crisis and 10-year sovereign yields in Ireland and in Portugal

We assess the determinants of the 10-year sovereign yield for the period 2000–2015, in Portugal and in Ireland. Results show that the long-term Portuguese sovereign yield increased with the rise of the 10-year Bund yield and during the Securities Markets Programme, but decreased due to financial integration. Additionally, during the period of the economic and financial adjustment programme, there was evidence of additional rises (decreases) due to increases (decreases) in the 3-month Euribor rate, and the level of public debt. EU/IMF funding reduced sovereign yield.     

Concentration Measurement Under Cross-ownership: The Case of the Spanish Electricity Sector

When major investors own shares in several firms in the same industry, the traditional approach to concentration measurement by the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index (HHI) fails to accurately reflect the level of competition in the market. To address this problem we derive a generalized HHI formula (GHHI) based on the investors degree of control over each firm. We test alternative definitions of this control with actual data from the Spanish electricity sector and show that recent decisions in this industry, particularly the failed merger between the largest firms, Endesa and Iberdrola, could have been affected had the GHHI been used by the competition agency.