Technology investment and alternative regulatory regimes with demand uncertainty

A vertically integrated incumbent and an OLO (Other Licensed Operator) compete in the market for broadband access. The incumbent has the option to invest in building a Next Generation Network that covers all urban areas with similar demand structures. The investment return in terms of demand increase is uncertain. We compare the impact of different access regulation regimes – full regulation, partial regulation (only the copper network is regulated), risk sharing – on investment incentives and social welfare. We find that, when the alternative for the OLO is using the copper network rather than leaving the market entirely, exclusion of the OLO does not necessarily happen in equilibrium even when the incumbent is better in offering value-added services. Risk sharing emerges as the most preferable regime both from a consumer and a social welfare perspective for a large range of parameters.     

Prior knowledge and social networks in the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities

In this study we analyze the effects of prior knowledge and social networks on the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. The prior knowledge considered is associated with the successes and failures experienced in the entrepreneurial trajectory and, therefore, derived from the exploitation of prior opportunities. In analyzing social networks, we examine the strength of the relationships between entrepreneurs, managers and entrepreneurial associations. As an explanatory factor of the entrepreneurial process, we also include the influence of the entrepreneurial opportunities recognized. Through a hierarchical regression analysis, we show that the number of potential opportunities recognized, the number of previous opportunities successfully exploited and the strength of entrepreneurial social networks positively influence the number of opportunities developed and exploited.     

Bioregional planning in central Georgia, USA

Human influences in the five-county region around Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, have been long and intense. Only 4% of the native longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forest remains intact. Besides the loss of species, habitats, and ecosystem services associated with longleaf pine forests, the environmental concerns of the region include air, water, and noise pollution. The mix of federal and private ownership in this region leads to complicated land-management issues that will likely become even more difficult as the city of Columbus continues its projected growth along the northern border of Fort Benning. To understand how anthropogenic developments affect the environment, we are developing a Regional Simulator (RSim) to project future developments and their impacts on environmental conditions. Using RSim, we can identify the potential effects of growth on noise and air pollution, water-borne nutrients, and habitats for focal species. Noise impacts are already large in the areas of current and projected urban growth for the region. This knowledge of potential futures allows options for environmental protection to be considered. A key lesson from this analysis is that regional simulation models are a cost-effective way to assess the long-term environmental implications of anthropogenic growth and development.     

Collective Voice under Decentralized Bargaining: A Comparative Study of Work Reorganization in US and German Call Centres

This article compares the process of and outcomes from work reorganization in US and German call centres, based on four matched case studies in the telecommunications industry. Both German cases adopted high‐involvement employment systems with broad skills and worker discretion, while the US cases relied on a narrow division of labour, tight discipline and individual incentives. These outcomes are explained by differences in institutional supports for collective voice. Works councils in the German companies used their stronger participation rights to limit monitoring and encourage upskilling at a time when US managers were rationalizing similar jobs. Findings demonstrate that industrial relations institutions can have a substantial influence on employment systems in work settings characterized by decentralized bargaining and strong cost pressures.     

Trade credit and bank credit: Evidence from recent financial crises

This paper studies the effect of financial crises on trade credit for a sample of 890 firms in six emerging economies. Although the provision of trade credit increases right after a crisis, it contracts in the following months and years. Firms that are financially more vulnerable to crises extend less trade credit to their customers. We argue that the decline in aggregate trade credit ratios is driven by the reduction in the supply of trade credit that follows a bank credit crunch, consistent with the “redistribution view” of trade credit provision, whereby bank credit is redistributed via trade credit from financially stronger firms to weaker firms.     

The refugee entrepreneurship process from/in emerging economies

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - The paper examines several refugee experiences in Mexico and presents their reasons for leaving their home countries. A gap in research is...     

Risk aversion, moral hazard, and the principal's loss

Summary. In their seminal paper on the principal-agent model with moral hazard, Grossman and Hart (1983) show that if the agent's utility function is , then the loss to the principal from being unable to observe the agent's action is increasing in the agent's degree of absolute risk aversion. Their proof is restricted to the case where the number of observable outcomes is equal to two, and it uses an argument that is specific to that case. In this note, we provide an alternative proof that generalizes their result to any (finite) number of outcomes. Received: March 21, 2001; revised version: June 21, 2001     

Surpluses in Disequilibrium Urban Land Markets

It is unlikely that urban land markets are in equilibrium. If land markets are out of equilibrium, zones within an urban area would have residential location surpluses. This paper shows how to derive and estimate an index of income surplus by residential zone. The procedure is applied to the Baltimore Metropolitan Area for 1978. Households should be at attracted to zones with high surpluses. A comparison of the estimated location surpluses and growth rates for the Baltimore area show this correspondence.     

Authors’ Reply: Forecasting Social Security Actuarial Assumptions - Discussion by John A. Beekman; Cecil J. Nesbitt; Krzysztof M. Ostaszewski; Gregory Savord; Richard S. Foster,October 1997

Abstract

This study provides an economic analysis of life insurance company expenses and develops a methodology for the construction of benchmark expense factors. These benchmarks can facilitate the pricing of new business, cost control within companies, and expense comparisons among companies. We derive the expense factors by estimating a cost function wherein total general expenses are modeled as a function of input prices and physical outputs, and the physical outputs are proxies for the cost drivers of the different lines of business. This methodology has two important advantages: first, the derived expense factors are independent of the methods that insurers use in allocating total expenses across lines of business. Second, the estimated cost function explicitly accounts for different degrees of economies of scale and consequently in the present value of marginal expenses across insurers. Hence, this study demonstrates that economies of scale and, in turn, size must be considered when constructing an expense table.