Wage Effects of Labour Migration with International Capital Mobility

Wage effects of immigration are investigated in a setting with international capital mobility, which eliminates two‐thirds of the native wage effects of immigration. Without international capital mobility, overall gains from migration in the immigration region are only a small fraction of total losses to native workers, but with perfect international capital adjustment, overall gains are larger than total losses to native workers. Two alternative tax policies to eliminate the negative wage effects of immigration on low‐skilled native workers are evaluated.     

A sequential purchasing power parity test for panels of large cross-sections and implications for investors

In this paper we use monthly time series data for not less than 64 countries and a new sequential approach to test for purchasing power parity (PPP). The results are strong in that the evidence in favor of PPP is very weak. In fact, for the US-dollar-based exchange rates the evidence is basically non-existent. In order to eliminate the effect of the base currency, we also apply the sequential PPP test to all pairs of exchange rates, and find similarly weak evidence of PPP. However, for those rates where evidence is found, using a technical trading rule, we find evidence of significant profits. The predictability of the stationary pairs is therefore important for investors.     

A modified LLC panel unit root test of the PPP hypothesis

In a recent study, Westerlund (Empir Econ 37:517–531, 2009) shows that the performance of the popular LLC (Levin et al., J Econ 108:1–24, 2002) panel unit root test depends critically on the choice of lag truncation used when correcting for serial correlation, and that it is only when this parameter is set as a function of time that the power raises above size. The purpose of the current paper is to propose a modified test that does not suffer from this drawback. The new test is not only simpler to compute but also superior in terms of small-sample performance, which is illustrated using an example purchasing power parity for less developed countries.     

Testing for a unit root in a random coefficient panel data model

This paper proposes new unit root tests in the context of a random autoregressive coefficient panel data model, in which the null of a unit root corresponds to the joint restriction that the autoregressive coefficient has unit mean and zero variance. The asymptotic distributions of the test statistics are derived and simulation results are provided to suggest that they perform very well in small samples.     

The entrepreneur's role stressors and proclivity for a venture withdrawal

We test a causal model of entrepreneurs’ role stressors—role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload—and their relationships with exhaustion and reduced perceptions of compensation for one's efforts which over time lead to the development of a proclivity for venture withdrawal. Using structural equation modelling and a 2-year longitudinal data set, we find empirical support for the proposed causal model. Overall, the empirical results support the indirect influence of role stressors and highlight the direct effects of enhanced exhaustion and reduced perceptions of compensation for one's efforts on a proclivity for a new venture withdrawal. The paper concludes by proposing implications for theory and further research.     

Testing for Panel Cointegration with Multiple Structural Breaks*

This paper proposes a Lagrange multiplier (LM) test for the null hypothesis of cointegration that allows for the possibility of multiple structural breaks in both the level and trend of a cointegrated panel regression. The test is general enough to allow for endogenous regressors, serial correlation and an unknown number of breaks that may be located at different dates for different individuals. We derive the limiting distribution of the test and conduct a small Monte Carlo study to investigate its finite sample properties. In our empirical application to the solvency of the current account, we find evidence of cointegration between saving and investment once a level break is accommodated.     

Japan Section News

Huge variations in expenditure per life saved have been documented in the USA, Sweden, and Japan. Using an original-position argument, this paper examines normative rationales that might permit departures from equalization of marginal lifesaving investments. The conclusion is that adjustment for identifiability, as reflected in strict benefit-cost analysis, is not justified yet adjustments for consideration of longevity, quality of life and productivity are compelling. It is less clear as to whether factors such as ability to pay, voluntariness and catastrophic potential should influence lifesaving expenditures.     

苹果、蜜蜂与合同:正溢出效应下的科斯-张定理

本文通过经济的“核”分析，以形式化的方式研究了科斯-张定理。特别地，本文说明了在某些条件下，德布鲁-斯卡夫的核收缩定理可应用于有正生产溢出效应的经济中。     

Markups and export-pricing strategies

We analyze empirically export-price strategies across export destinations using detailed firm-product data. Most recent studies using disaggregated data to investigate why firms charge different prices for the same product on different markets focus on the cost component of prices and neglect the markup component. In this paper, we concentrate on the markup component and examine how variations in firms’ export prices may reflect price discrimination by comparing the markup of firms with different pricing strategies. We make use of detailed firm-level data for exporting firms in the Swedish food sector consisting of both manufacturing and intermediary trading firms. The paper documents the export-price variations within the two sub-sectors and explores how different price strategies correlate with markups. The results offer new information beyond the fact that exporters tend to have a higher markup. In particular, we find that firms in the food-processing sector with a greater ability to discriminate across markets mark their products up even more. This result points to the importance of underlying firm decisions in order to explain differences in export premiums across firms. In addition, the results reveal that markups are a complex function of firm and destination characteristics, and that the relationship between markups and pricing strategies in the manufacturing sector is not necessarily observed in other sectors of the supply chain.