Intertemporally Dependent Preferences and the Welfare Cost of Capital Income Taxation

The welfare cost of capital income taxation is analyzed utilizing intertemporally dependent preference operationalized using a variable rate of time preference. It is shown that if households exhibit increasing marginal impatience, then the welfare cost of capital income taxation is inversely related to the elasticity of the rate of time preference with respect to consumption. Therefore, the welfare cost of capital income taxation reported using time additive preferences may not be robust. Numerical examples show that the use of time additive preferences could result in the welfare cost of capital income taxation to be overestimated by as much as 25%.     

贸易条件趋势与进出口波动:基于1980~2006年亚洲国家和地区的实证研究——兼论其对中国的启示

本文对亚洲国家在1980~2006年间贸易条件趋势及进出口波动的平稳性进行了实证研究。实证研究结果表明:出口增长不一定能够长期改善贸易条件,进口增长也并不一定长期恶化贸易条件,而确保进口波动的长期平稳才是促使亚洲国家贸易条件呈现长期平稳趋势的关键因素。同时,本文发现中国大陆在这期间的出口增长对其贸易条件的改善作用不足以抑制贸易条件在短期恶化的趋势,这与中国大陆在现今国际外贸市场的激烈竞争之下出口商品的单位价格逐渐下降有关。本文对此提出了几点建议。     

Impact of psychological capital on innovative performance and job stress

We investigated the impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on supervisory‐rated innovative performance and job stress. Data collected from a diverse sample (N = 237 paired responses) of employees from various organizations in Pakistan provided good support for the hypotheses. The results indicate that PsyCap is positively related to innovative job performance and negatively related to job stress. High PsyCap individuals were rated as exhibiting more innovative behaviours by their supervisors than low PsyCap individuals. Particularly, we found that high PsyCap individuals were more likely to generate, acquire support for, and implement novel ideas in their workplace. Similarly, individuals with high PsyCap reported lower levels of job stress as compared to their low PsyCap counterparts. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pillion riders' cloth related injuries and helmet wearing patterns: a study of Lahore,Pakistan

This study aims at investigating the burden and pattern of clothing related pillion riders' injuries and their helmet wearing pattern in Lahore, Pakistan. Data were collected for nine months (July 2013 to March 2014), reporting 13,248 motorcycle related injuries, out of which 8751 (66%) cases were related to the clothing related pillion riders' injuries. Out of these injuries 10.30% were severe injuries which can be prevented or reduced by proper safety measure, e.g. wearing helmet. It was also found that most of the fatalities were not wearing helmet. Injuries due to wearing of loose fitting clothes and absence of helmet are not uncommon in Pakistan and other underdeveloped parts of the world. Such accidents may be reduced by creating awareness and safety sense in the riders, where use of safe dress and helmet should be encouraged in order to avoid such fatal damages.     

Meta-analysis of the impact of financial constraints on firm performance

A large number of studies have investigated the relationship between financial constraints and firm performance. However, due to heterogeneity in study design factors, such as choice of measures for constraints and performance, control variables, estimation methods and study sample, the empirical results have been mixed. To mitigate this issue, this paper reports a meta-analysis of the association between financial constraints and firm performance. To assess the overall direction of the relationship and the sources of heterogeneity, we apply meta-analytic methods to 26 studies (providing 189 effect sizes) on the association between financial constraints and financial performance in listed companies. Our result shows that, overall, there is a positive relationship between financial constraints and firm performance. In addition, meta-regression results suggest that return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as measures of financial performance, and external finance and size as measures of financial constraints, have a significant negative impact on the relationship between financial constraints and firm performance relative to the mean impact on effect size. Similarly, all of North America and Asia as regional differences, control of size and corporate governance as control variables, and journal quality as strength of results, also have a significant negative impact. On the other hand, market value as a measure of financial performance, and the Whited & Wu index as a measure of financial constraints, have significant positive impact relative to the mean impact. Similarly, cross-country and Europe as regional differences, and publication status as strength of results, all have significant positive impact. Given that firm performance is of fundamental importance to investors, this study therefore helps researchers and policymakers to understand the variation in the empirical results on the impact of financial constraints.     

Robotics and STEM learning: students’ achievements in assignments according to the P3 Task Taxonomy—practice,problem solving,and projects

This study presents the case of development and evaluation of a STEM-oriented 30-h robotics course for junior high school students (n = 32). Class activities were designed according to the P3 Task Taxonomy, which included: (1) practice—basic closed-ended tasks and exercises; (2) problem solving—small-scale open-ended assignments in which the learner can choose the solution method or arrive at different answers; and (3) project-based learning—open-ended challenging tasks. The research aimed at exploring students’ working patterns, achievements in learning the course, and the impact of this experience on students’ motivation to learn STEM subjects. Evaluation tools included a final exam on factual, procedural and conceptual knowledge in the STEM subject learned in the course, class observations, interviews with the students, and administrating an attitude questionnaire before and after the course. Since the experimental class was quite heterogenic in regard to students’ prior learning achievements and motivation to learn, some of the students completed just the basic exercises, others coped well with the problem-solving tasks, and only a few took it upon themselves to carry out a complex project. However, all students showed high motivation to learn robotics and STEM subjects. In summary, robotics provides a very rich and attractive learning environment for STEM education. Yet, the realization of this potential depends largely on careful design of the course methodology and especially the students’ assignments in the class. One should recognize that often only some students are capable of learning a new subject on their own through project work, and these students also need to gain additional knowledge and skills before dealing with complex projects.     

Asymmetric impact of oil prices,exchange rate,and inflation on tourism demand in Pakistan: new evidence from nonlinear ARDL

This study scrutinized the asymmetric impact of oil prices, exchange rate, and inflation on tourism demand in Pakistan using [Shin, Y., Yu, B., & Greenwood-Nimmo, M. (2014) Modelling asymmetric cointegration and dynamic multipliers in a nonlinear ARDL framework. In Festschrift in honor of peter schmidt (pp. 281–314). New York, NY: Springer] nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The NARDL bounds test examined the existence of cointegration in study variables, including CO₂ emissions, institutional quality, oil prices, exchange rate, inflation, and tourism demand. The evidence proposes that disregarding the intrinsic nonlinearities may misinform inference. The estimated NARDL model affirmed long-run negative and significant effect of CO₂ emissions on tourism demand, while institutional quality was positively associated with tourism demand. Furthermore, the findings of the study also suggested long-run asymmetric relationship between oil prices, exchange rate, inflation, and tourism demand.     

Would African Countries Benefit from the Termination of Kenya’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU? An Analysis of EU Demand for Imported Roses

This paper assesses the impact of Kenya’s preferential status on EU demand for imported roses by country. Import demand equations were estimated using a production version of the Rotterdam model in an Armington framework. With the expiration of the Lomé Convention, tariffs (up to 24%) on Kenyan roses were likely if an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was not signed by January 2008. Roses from African countries not subject to tariffs were expected to displace Kenya’s exports in the future. However, results of this study showed that roses from African countries were complements in the EU market and those exports from Zimbabwe and Other African countries would have been negatively impacted if a Kenya–EU EPA was unsuccessful. Given the maximum import duty on Kenyan roses, EU imports from Kenya would decrease by 9.1% and imports from Zimbabwe and Other African countries would decrease by 6% and 4%, respectively.     

Evaluating the impact of Tax-for-Fee reform (Fei Gai Shui) on water resources and agriculture production in the Zhanghe Irrigation System, China

This article questions the effectiveness and viability of rural Tax-for-Fee reform (Fei Gai Shui) on water resources and agriculture production, taking the Zhanghe Irrigation System of China as a case study example. The Fei Gai Shui reform has been heralded as a possible solution for reducing the excessive fiscal burden on peasants. While the reform may achieve in relieving peasant burdens significantly, the initial impact of Fei Gai Shui on water resources and agricultural production indicate least satisfactory trends. The policy shows significant impact on rice yield and area. It might also have profound impact on cropping pattern but it has yet to be seen. Dependence on local water resources such as ponds show significant increase after Fei Gai Shui as it discouraged farmers to rely on regional water sources. Although the lower regional water use under Fei Gai Shui reduced the water charges paid by farmers, the savings were mostly offset by increasing pumping costs in accessing water from local ponds. Without any adjustments, the Fei Gai Shui is likely to cause serious predicament in agricultural sector. It is visioned that local water resources such as water ponds will continue to play an important role in sustaining agricultural production.