The impact of public investment on private investment spending in Latin America: 1980–95

This paper investigates the theoretical and empirical links between key economic variables and private spending in Latin America during 1980 to 1995. The empirical findings of this paper directly address the complementarity hypothesis which suggests that increases in public investment spending raise the marginal productivity of private capital, thereby inducing higher rates of private investment spending. This paper also addresses the issue of whether changes in the real exchange rate (expenditure-switching policies) have a deflationary effect on the economics of Latin America. The findings in this paper make an important contribution to the ongoing debate about which policies need to be promoted to raise and sustain the rate of private capital formation in Latin America—the region's future source of employment and income creation.     

A credit scoring model for Vietnam's retail banking market

As banking markets in developing countries are maturing, banks face competition not only from other domestic banks but also from sophisticated foreign banks. Given the substantial growth of consumer credit and increased regulatory attention to risk management, the development of a well-functioning credit assessment framework is essential. As part of such a framework, we propose a credit scoring model for Vietnamese retail loans. First, we show how to identify those borrower characteristics that should be part of a credit scoring model. Second, we illustrate how such a model can be calibrated to achieve the strategic objectives of the bank. Finally, we assess the use of credit scoring models in the context of transactional versus relationship lending.     

„Controlling muss vor Ort wahrgenommen werden.“

Praxis / ArtikelInterview Titelthema

„Controlling muss vor Ort wahrgenommen werden.“ Interview mit Manfred Paul, Leiter Zentrales Controlling der Knauf Gruppe     

A critical discourse analysis of racial violence in South Carolina,U.S.A.: implications for traveling while Black

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to present a rich, detailed case that illustrates the way in which the discourse of racial violence has been constructed in the United States (U.S.), and how that has impacted Black travel. Using South Carolina, a state centrally-located along the East coast with historic, political, and social ties to the U.S. South as the context for this analysis, this paper employs a critical discourse analysis to examine the intersection of racial violence and tourism, situating cases of violence – historic to the modern. This study makes a case for more focused attention on the intersection of tourism and violence within the literature, as well as a call to the tourism industry to be proactive to discourses of violence, demonstrate a desire for diversity in their visitors, consider the critical issues of racial representation in their tourism products, and be aware of the emerging organizations supporting and facilitating Black travel.     

Green Business and Blue Angels

This paper presents a model of a monopolist'svoluntary overcompliance with legal environmentalstandards under asymmetric information about thefirm's environmental impacts. The key assumptions are:the existence of quality premia for environmentalsoundness, a positive but imperfect degree ofmonitoring, and adaptive consumer expectations.Conditions necessary for overcompliance to arise in aprofit-maximizing equilibrium are derived. The effectsof a third-party eco-labeling system are analyzed. Itis shown that the existence of an independent labelingauthority increases the likelihood of overcomplianceto be profit-maximizing. Moreover, firms might have anincentive to lobby for the introduction of such asystem. The effect of consumers' risk preferences andan instrument for preventing ``Greenwash' (companieslying about their environmental performance) is alsodiscussed.     

Public capital formation and labor productivity growth in Mexico

This paper addresses the important question whether public investment spending on economic infrastructure enhances economic growth and labor productivity in Mexico. Following the lead of the endogenous growth literature, it presents a modified production function which explicitly includes the positive or negative externality effects generated by additions to the public capital stock. Using cointegration analysis, the paper proceeds to estimate a dynamic labor productivity function for the 1955–94 period that incorporates the impact of the growth rate in the stocks of both private and public capital (as opposed to the flows) and the economically active population (EAP) (rather than the rate of population growth). The results suggest that (lagged) increases in public investment spending on economic infrastructure—as opposed to overall public investment spending—have a positive and highly significant effect on the rate of labor productivity growth. In addition, the estimates suggest that increases in government consumption expenditures may have a negative effect on the rate of labor productivity growth, thus suggesting that the composition of government spending may also play an important role in determining the rate of labor productivity growth. Finally, the findings call into question the politically expedient policy in many Latin American countries of disproportionately reducing public capital expenditures on economic and social infrastructure to meet targeted reductions in the fiscal deficit as a proportion of GDP.     

Dynamic Adjustment of Eco‐labeling Schemes and Consumer Choice – the Revision of the EU Energy Label as a Missed Opportunity?

Products with a superior environmental performance, such as a high level of energy efficiency, are typically subject to information asymmetries. Therefore these product attributes are often undervalued in purchase decisions. Signaling, e.g. energy labeling, can overcome these asymmetries, with positive implications for effective consumer decisions, competitive advantage for suppliers of energy‐efficient goods, and for societal goals such as mitigating climate change. However, there is a scarcity of research investigating how energy labels actually influence consumer choice. The recent revision of the European Union energy label provided a unique opportunity to investigate the effectiveness of energy labeling in a quasi field‐experimental setting. We show that the proposed extension of the seven‐point A–G rating scale by adding new classes A+, A++, etc. will result in a lower perceived importance of energy efficiency in consumer decision‐making. Based on a stated preference survey investigating 2244 choices by German consumers, we conclude that the revision actually undermines the label's ability to overcome information asymmetries, hence potentially contributing to market failure. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

An examination of firm licensing behaviour after a payday-loan ban

In 2008, Ohio enacted the Short-Term Loan Law capping interest rates to 28% APR, effectively banning the industry. Previous analysis has shown that while the policy was effective in eliminating the payday lending industry, expansion occurred within the pawnbroker, small-loan and second-mortgage lending industries in effective policy periods. Extending this previous analysis, using branch-level licensing records from the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions, this study examines the firm’s decision to license at the branch-level both with a zip code and within a county. I predict the effects of the ban on the likelihood of entry in the small-loan and second-mortgage industries while also controlling for incumbent status as a payday lender. Results at the zip-code level show that the likelihood of entering the lending market as a small-loan lender increases by 35.4% and initiating a second-mortgage license increases by 6.3% after the signing the Short-Term Loan Law. At the county level, the probability of initiating a small-loan licenses increases by 15.3%, while the likelihood initiating a second-mortgage license increases by 6.3%. At the county level, branches previously operating as payday lenders are 1.1% more likely to re-license as small-loan lenders, though has no effect on licensing as a second-mortgage lender.