MATRIX BALANCING UNDER CONFLICTING INFORMATION

We have developed a generalised iterative scaling method (KRAS) that is able to balance and reconcile input–output tables and SAMs under conflicting external information and inconsistent constraints. Like earlier RAS variants, KRAS can: (a) handle constraints on arbitrarily sized and shaped subsets of matrix elements; (b) include reliability of the initial estimate and the external constraints; and (c) deal with negative values, and preserve the sign of matrix elements. Applying KRAS in four case studies, we find that, as with constrained optimisation, KRAS is able to find a compromise solution between inconsistent constraints. This feature does not exist in conventional RAS variants such as GRAS. KRAS can constitute a major advance for the practice of balancing input–output tables and Social Accounting Matrices, in that it removes the necessity of manually tracing inconsistencies in external information. This quality does not come at the expense of substantial programming and computational requirements (of conventional constrained optimisation techniques).     

Does a Common Currency Promote Countries’ Growth via Trade and Tourism?

The main aim of this study is to contribute to the debate on the effects of a common currency. In particular, the impact of a common currency on growth via trade and tourism is explored for a panel dataset which includes 179 countries as destination and 30 OECD countries as origin over the period 1995–2006. This research contributes to previous work in three ways: (i) tourism is included as an additional channel for a common currency to promote growth; (ii) the heterogeneity of countries is addressed by dividing the sample into three groups of countries by income; and (iii) up‐to‐date data including the case of the euro are considered. The results obtained suggest that a common currency strengthens economic growth by promoting not only international trade but also tourism.     

Can a good organizational climate compensate for a lack of top management commitment to new product development?

This study examines the marketing—R&D relationship at different levels of top management commitment to determine if such commitment moderates the effect of the climate between departments on new product performance. Four key variables of relationship marketing-cooperation, communication, trust, and internal commitment-serve to measure the interfunctional climate, and the measures of top management commitment rely on both top management support and risk aversion. According to surveys of R&D directors from 178 Spanish innovative firms pertaining to 345 products, low top management commitment enhances the importance of effective cross-functional communication flows for new product performance. Furthermore, this unique research (1) uses a relationship marketing approach to investigate intrafunctional relationships, (2) measures new product performance as a formative construct, and (3) includes top management commitment as a possible moderator.     

The new organizational structure and its virtual functioning

"Virtuality" is initiating a change in organizations. It is necessary for companies to be managed flexibly and to respond to the changing needs of the environment. Some new concepts of understanding the organization, accompanied by current technological developments, may offer some opportunities and solutions to the various strategies. How does this new concept of organization with no presence, no physical attendance, and no material factors affect existing companies? This paper deals with questions such as: What is virtuality for companies? How does one manage a virtual company? What elements of virtuality need to be considered by traditional companies entering the new millennium? These questions will be reflected upon and analyzed from a theoretical framework. The framework will provide the basis for the design of an empirical study. The results of the study contribute to and give feedback on these initial questions.     

Intragroup competition in public good games: The role of relative performance incentives and risk attitudes

We analyze a public good game (PGG) with intragroup competition in which, generally but not always, the dominant strategy is to not contribute; therefore, free riding is the unique Nash equilibrium, not achieving Pareto efficiency. We propose a PGG setup where subjects' contributions are rewarded with different individual returns following a rank‐order voluntary contribution mechanism. It is found that the resulting competition for a better return significantly increases contributions. This effect is sensitive to the salience of return differences rewarding higher contributions. Furthermore, the positive effect of return differences on contribution levels depends on an individual's return‐to‐risk sensitivity as elicited through an independent risk elicitation task.     

The Impact of Automation in Service Industries＂ An Empirical Study

Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer＇s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company＇s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer＇s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer＇s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.     

Women’s Employment and Childcare Choices in Spain Through The Great Recession

The Great Recession (2008–13) changed patterns in women’s employment and the use of formal and informal external childcare among mothers of young children in Spain. This paper analyzes these changes using an analytical strategy that takes into account interdependencies across the outcomes under study. The results show that the economic crisis has resulted in interesting changes in the use of external childcare across mothers’ and fathers’ employment status; for example, as men’s unemployment increased, the use of informal non-parental childcare declined, which might be related to (unobserved) changes in fathers’ involvement in childcare during the recession. These results further indicate the need for policies that improve access to formal childcare, as well as policies that provide men and women with employment stability.     

An economic theory of leadership turnover

In an infinite-horizon stochastic model, a coup not only disciplines a dictator's policy towards a group of “kingmakers”, but also enables a kingmaker to become a dictator. Greater competition for the dictator's position, a lower impact of the dictator's policy on the kingmakers, or lower risks of staging a coup raises the benefit of a coup relative to its opportunity cost and so raises the probability of a coup. Since periodic shocks affect the efficacy of the dictator's policy, a bad enough shock makes it too costly for even talented dictators to avert a coup. More talented dictators are able to survive more negative shocks, so the worst shock in a dictator's reign is informative about the probability of a coup. Conditional on the worst shock, the probability of a coup is independent of a dictator's duration in office. The unconditional probability declines with duration.     

Using Remote Sensing for Agricultural Statistics

Remote sensing can be a valuable tool for agricultural statistics when area frames or multiple frames are used. At the design level, remote sensing typically helps in the definition of sampling units and the stratification, but can also be exploited to optimise the sample allocation and size of sampling units. At the estimator level, classified satellite images are generally used as auxiliary variables in a regression estimator or for estimators based on confusion matrixes. The most often used satellite images are LANDSAT-TM and SPOT-XS. In general, classified or photo-interpreted images should not be directly used to estimate crop areas because the proportion of pixels classified into the specific crop is often strongly biased. Vegetation indexes computed from satellite images can give in some cases a good indication of the potential crop yield.