Global warming and economic externalities

Despite worldwide policy efforts such as the Kyoto Protocol, the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) remains a negative externality. Economic equilibrium paths in the presence of such an uncorrected externality are inefficient; as a consequence, there is no real economic opportunity cost to correcting this externality by mitigating global warming. Mitigation investment using resources diverted from conventional investments can raise the economic well-being of both current and future generations. The economic literature on GHG emissions misleadingly focuses attention on the intergenerational equity aspects of mitigation by using a hybrid constrained optimal path as the “business-as-usual” benchmark. We calibrate a simple Keynes-Ramsey growth model to illustrate the significant potential Pareto improvement from mitigation investment and to explain the equilibrium concept appropriate to modeling an uncorrected negative externality.     

The Matching Problem (and Inventories) in Private Negotiation

This study examines laboratory market outcomes under alternative matching risk scenarios and advance production. Limited access and/or asymmetry in the number of buyers and sellers cause a matching problem. When sellers hold inventory before sale and there is buyer concentration, prices are about 23% below the competitive level and close to the predicted monopsony price. The bargaining advantage shifts to buyers in this market environment. Sellers can benefit by creating alliances or cooperatives to increase their bargaining position for price and overcome poor access to buyers.     

Contractionary effects of devaluation

A simple model is developed to illustrate a number of contractionary effects of currency devaluation, some of which have been noted previously. In a Keynesian model, it is shown that depreciation can lead to a reduction in national output if (i) imports initially exceed exports: (ii) there are differences in consumption propensities from profits and wages; (iii) government revenues are increased by devaluation, e.g. when there are significant export taxes. Similar effects are also shown to exist in monetarist models, via reductions in both real balances and the nominal money supply. A numerical example illustrates the results for an economy ‘typical’ of semi-industrialized countries.     

The effects of progressive income taxation on job turnover

We examine whether the level of the income tax rate and the convexity of the income tax schedule affect job mobility, as measured by moving to a better job. While the predicted effect of the level of the tax rate is ambiguous, we predict that an increase in the convexity of the tax schedule decreases job search activity by taxing away some of the benefits of a successful job search. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate that both higher tax rates and increased tax rate progressivity decrease the probability that a head of household will move to a better job during the coming year. Our estimates imply that a five-percentage-point reduction in the marginal tax rate increases the average probability of moving to a better job by 0.79 percentage points (a 8.0% increase in the turnover propensity) and that a one-standard-deviation decrease in our measure of tax progressivity would increase this probability by 0.86 percentage points (a 8.7% increase in the turnover propensity). This estimate is robust to sensitivity analysis examining the importance of different sources of identification and variation in estimated effects across subgroups in the population. Our estimated importance of tax policy for job turnover suggests a potential role in explaining the responsiveness of taxable income to marginal tax rates.     

Historic Changes in the High Yield Bond Market

In a history that now stretches about four decades, the high yield (HY) market has experienced growth in issuance and out‐standings that is remarkable both for its level (about 13% per annum, with HY bonds now accounting for about 25% of the total corporate bond market) and its cyclicality and sensitivity to the broad economy. The HY market has also experienced a notable shift away from B‐rated bonds and toward both lower‐risk Ba‐rated bonds and, to a lesser extent, more risky Caa‐rated bonds. Consistent with this development, studies of the performance of HY bonds show Ba‐rated bonds experiencing not only lower risk, but also higher returns than Caa‐rated bonds, which have produced surprisingly low average returns along with exceptionally high volatility. At the same time, studies of the correlation of HY bond returns with returns on other major asset classes report that all classes of HY bonds (but particularly the riskier B‐ and Caa‐rated bonds) have consistently stronger relationships with common stocks (especially small‐cap stocks) than with Treasuries and investment‐grade bonds. Analysis of the volatility of HY bond returns over time shows that during periods of stability in the economy and financial markets, the volatility of HY bond returns has been very similar to that of investment‐grade bonds. But during periods of political or economic uncertainty, the volatility of HY bonds has become two or three times that of investment‐grade bonds, approaching the volatility of common stocks. The main driver of the significant increase in the risk of the aggregate HY bond market during periods of uncertainty has been Caa‐rated bonds, whose risk pattern has been remarkably similar to that of small‐cap common stocks. Analysis of the credit risk spread (or CRS) series for both the composite HY bond market and each of its rating categories shows markedly non‐normal distributions with significant positive “skewness”—that is, periods of exceptionally high spreads (that are not counterbalanced by periods of exceptionally low spreads). The authors also report a consistently strong relationship of the CRS series with default rates and the general state of the economy, with major peaks occurring during or shortly after economic recessions. Near the end of 2008, however, there was a clear break in this relationship when the CRS reached an historic peak of 2,000 basis points, or more than five standard deviations above its long‐term mean, while the default rate (at 4%) was below its long‐term average. The authors offer two explanations for this break in CRS‐default rate relationship: the jump in the CRS caused by the extreme flight to quality and drop in liquidity for all risky securities during the second half of 2008; and the use of covenant‐lite securities and other sources of financial flexibility that appear to have enabled many HY issuers to defer defaults (if not avoid them entirely).     

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Ethical Dimensions of Alcohol and Tobacco Sports Sponsorships

While the sport industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar international business with unique ethical concerns, there is little empirical research examining the ethics involved in sport sponsorships, especially sponsorship of alcohol and tobacco brands. This study investigates the potential influence of culture and gender on future practitioners' willingness to work in the tobacco and alcohol sport sponsorship areas. The nature of the relationship between sports, alcohol and tobacco is reviewed, along with past research on variables noted to influence ethical decision making. Three hypotheses are investigated for differences between American and Australian students. A cultural difference in ethical perceptions is supported, while gender differences are not significant. The implications of these findings are discussed, along with the study's limitations and future directions for ethics research in sport marketing.     

Corporate accountability in Australia: Managing the information environment for corporate accountability

Accountability is a significant factor in the soundness of the organisational environment in Australia, for both the public and private sectors. The accountability process rests on the quality and accessibility of organisational records, the information environment. While the Australian liberal democratic open society and free market system relies on accountability, paradoxically accountability is constrained by the needs of the open society and the market. Setting appropriate mechanisms for accountability while preserving civil liberty and innovative free markets is a difficult task, and is one that falls to government. Governments have a ubiquitous role in implementing accountability in both the public and the private sectors, and the Australian federal system further complicates governments' difficult role. The 1990s will bring further corporate pathologies, similar to those of the 1980's. However the public and private sectors can reduce the impact of corporate pathologies in the 1990's by learning the lessons of the 1980's, through placing a priority on inculcating ethical and moral behavior, emphasising democratic values, and raising the organisational status of records.Lance McMahon is a lecturer specialising in government in the School of Management and Marketing, Curtin Business School. He has previously worked as a senior policy adviser in the Western Australian State Government.     

客户需求的误区

许多公司在创新流程中倾听了客户的声音,但创新的成果却往往得不到用户的认可。这种情况如此普遍,以至于一些企业在创新过程中贬低客户需求的作用。但正确的理念是：客户需求可以而且应该引导创新,那么,问题出在哪里呢？