Development and validation of an emic scale to measure ad-evoked nostalgia in France

The practice of imbuing marketing communications with nostalgic reverie is prevalent in numerous countries. However, scholarly research investigating consumer response to such communication across cultures is lacking. This inquiry follows an emic approach examining and measuring ad-evoked personal nostalgia in France. Findings from five studies (N = 699) reveal significant differences in consumer reactions in France, as compared to earlier research based on American samples. Among the French, nostalgic advertising evokes personal memories and cultural nostalgia, contrasted to reports of past imagery, physiological and positive and negative emotional reactions in the United States. Furthermore, while cultural nostalgia is an important component of the French personal nostalgic experience, it is the personal memories that are the key to the creation of positive impressions about the ad and brand (brand heritage, brand bonds, and attitudes), and driving behavioral intentions. The emic French scale was found to be superior to an etic ad-nostalgia measure, in terms of fit and variance explained of the endogenous variables. The findings contribute to cross-cultural advertising and marketing research, and can be instructive for advertisers targeting the French market.     

A continuity property for local price adjustment mechanisms

This paper makes a case that a (local) continuity property is a reasonable one for any local price adjustment mechanism. This property means that if the starting points (i.e., initial prices) of the adjustment process are ‘close' to one another, and if the characteristics of the economies are ‘close' to one another, then, given any price adjustment mechanism, agents should compute equilibria that are ‘close' to one another. Under preferences which satisfy a ‘surjectivity hypothesis', it is shown that the tâtonnement process satisfies this continuity property on a nice subset of the space of all economies. A characterization of these economies for which the tâtonnement process is locally stable is given. Chart logic is a useful way to think about the path dependent property of implied volatility and about the relationship between implied volatility and historical volatility.     

Classroom Games: The Allocation of Renewable Resources Under Different Property Rights and Regulation Schemes

The authors describe a renewable resource allocation game designed to stimulate students' interest in and understanding of market failure associated with open-access types of resource use. They also use the game to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various property rights and regulation schemes. Because this exercise demonstrates the power of unregulated and regulated economic incentives, many types of students may benefit from this game, including undergraduates enrolled in the standard introductory and in more advanced microeconomics classes, as well as courses in environmental economics and natural resource economics. This game was specifically designed so that noneconomics majors in natural resource management and environmental courses could also benefit.     

Trading and liquidity in the catastrophe bond market

We provide first insights into secondary market trading, liquidity determinants, and the liquidity premium of catastrophe bonds. Based on transaction data from TRACE (Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine), we find that cat bonds are traded less frequently during the hurricane season and more often close to maturity. Trading activity indicates that the market is dominated by brokers without a proprietary inventory. Liquidity is high in periods of high trading activity in the overall market and for bonds with low default risk or close to maturity, which results from lower order processing costs. Finally, using realized bid–ask spreads as a liquidity measure, we find that on average, 21% of the observable yield spread on the cat bond market is attributable to the liquidity premium, with a magnitude of up to 141 bps for high-risk bonds.     

Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities

Drawing from the marketing capabilities and innovation literatures, we identify aprocess by which a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation impacts profits and show that it is dependent on marketing capabilities. Using a half-longitudinal design we integrate survey data with performance metrics over two time periods, from a sample of 190 firms. While the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on innovation is enhanced by architectural marketing capabilities, the effect of innovation outcomes on profits is enhanced by specialized marketing capabilities. Ultimately, the pathway from EO to performance, mediated by innovation, is positively significant at higher levels of both marketing capabilities. The results uncovered using Bayesian conditional process modeling, are robust to alternate model specifications, endogeneity tests, and provide insights into the capabilities-based understanding of entrepreneurism-marketing interface. We discuss resource allocation implications for managers as they attempt to maximize profits through innovation.     

Consumer decision making and variety of offerings: The effect of attribute alignability

In recent years, many companies have considerably increased their number of offering varieties. The underlying rationale for such product strategies is substantiated by the belief that assortment proliferation would better satisfy customers' diverse preferences. However, empirical evidence exists suggesting that if there are too many varieties to choose from, customers sometimes either refrain from making a purchase at all, or else resort to simple selection heuristics. This article approaches the issue of assortment variety from a decision‐theoretical perspective, by positing circumstances under which expanding the number of varieties will positively or negatively affect consumer behavior. Herein, the concept of attribute alignability provides explanatory potential. Two experimental studies are presented which analyze the effect of the number of product varieties on customers' decision‐making behavior by means of manipulating the choice settings in a virtual car configurator. It can be shown that whether the product attributes in question are alignable or nonalignable is the decisive factor in explaining customer decision making under variety. Furthermore, “pseudo‐alignability”is achieved easily via the relabeling of product options. These findings yield concrete managerial insights for the customer‐oriented design of product lines consisting of a basic product and several varieties derived from it. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Real convergence,financial markets,and the current account – Emerging Europe versus emerging Asia

Global financial integration has been associated with divergent patterns of real convergence and the current account in emerging markets. While countries in emerging Asia have been running sizeable current account surpluses, countries in emerging Europe have been facing large current account deficits. In this paper we test for the relevance of financial market characteristics in explaining this divergence in the catching-up process in Europe and Asia. We assume that the two regions constitute distinct convergence clubs, with the euro area and the United States respectively at their core. In line with the theoretical literature, we find that better developed and more integrated financial markets increase emerging markets’ ability to borrow abroad. Moreover, the degree of financial integration within the convergence clubs – as opposed to the state of financial integration in the global economy – and the extent of reserve accumulation are significant factors in explaining the divergent patterns of real convergence and the current account in the regions under review.     

Reconciling the Invisible Hand and innovation

It is generally agreed that Adam Smith invoked the Invisible Hand to send the message to posterity that a free-market economy is the best form of economic organization. Strictly speaking, the Invisible Hand of Adam Smith is a conjecture about the virtues of a free-market economy. There are three claims in this paper concerning the interpretation of the Invisible Hand conjecture. First, the neoclassical interpretation engenders a conceptual confusion – identified here as the ‘double paradox’ of the Invisible Hand. Second, the interpretation of Adam Smith's conjecture on the beneficial effects of the free-market economy cannot – and should not – be confined to the production and consumption of existing products. Failure to distinguish the Invisible Hand Theorem from the Invisible Hand Doctrine distorts thinking about Adam Smith's message, creating the misconception that the Invisible Hand passage excludes business innovation. Third, the central message conveyed by Invisible Hand is to be read in the context of modern evolutionary economics.     

Determinants of foreign direct investment of OECD countries 1991–2001

It is the objective of this paper to identify the determinants that led to the increase in worldwide foreign direct investment during the 1990s. The paper also addresses the question of whether these factors influenced exports differently. Therefore, using data from 22 countries reporting to the OECD, gravity models for bilateral FDI stocks/flows and exports are estimated, first in a cross-section setting for 1999 and then as a panel data set for the period 1991–2001. In order to control for EU-specific effects, a distinction is made between intra-EU25 observations and observations outside the EU25 area. Regressions are repeated with exports as a dependent variable in order to elaborate how far determinants of trade flows are identical or how far they differ. In the panel context, the results show that a change in total market size is an important aspect that leads both FDI and exports in the same direction. Only exports are significantly influenced by relative market size. Stock market booms boost FDI but not exports. Political indicators and exchange rate changes suggest that exports are demand-driven while FDI is supply-driven. Overall, FDI and exports tended to flow relatively less abundantly to distant countries than to nearby countries over the period under consideration. This supports the idea of a complementary relationship between investment and trade. However, this trend is reversed for exports within the EU25 area.