An Extension of the Structural Change Model to International Economic Relations

In this paper Pasinetti's model of structural economic dynamics (1981) is extended to consider international economic relations. Conditions for full employment, full expenditure of income and equilibrium of the trade balance are established for an open economy that requires capital goods to produce final commodities. Analytical results concerning the benefits from free trade and international learning are formally studied. In addition, static and dynamic aspects of the ‘principle of comparative cost advantage’ are analysed considering the determinants of the specialization level.     

Optimal portfolio choices using financial leverage

This paper investigates the role of leverage in determining the investor's optimal asset allocation over multiperiod investment horizons. To do this, we allow investors to lever their financial position by borrowing from credit markets. GMM methods are used to estimate and test the optimal portfolio weights and individual's optimal choice of financial leverage. These optimal choices are assumed to be parametric functions of a set of state variables describing the evolution of the economy. The empirical application of this methodology to a portfolio of cash, bonds and stocks reveals that a) financial leverage limits the reaction of investors to changes in the investment opportunity set; b) individuals increase leverage during recessions and deleverage in expansionary periods; c) optimal portfolio weights and financial leverage are negatively related to the degree of investor's risk aversion and positively related to the investment horizon.     

A two‐sector neo‐Kaleckian model of growth and distribution: Investment allocation and evolutionary dynamics

This paper focuses on the two‐sector neo‐Kaleckian model of growth and distribution that was developed by Dutt (1990) and challenged by Park (1995). We develop a variant of this model, focusing on the supply‐side to solve the overdetermination problem that was raised by Park. Finally, we introduce evolutionary dynamics to model the investment flows between the capital and consumer goods sectors. In this setup, the sectoral profit rates and the size of capital stocks wield an essential role upon the entrepreneur’s decision on which sector to invest in. This model is perfectly determined and it generates a stable evolutionary equilibrium over the long term.     

Coffee exports and industrialization in Brazil

We investigate the dynamic relationship between coffee exports and machinery imports in Brazil from 1869 to 1939. Our tests reveal cointegration and bidirectional causality in the temporal sense. This evidence suggests that foreign exchange real revenues from coffee exports were important for the onset of industrialization, as machinery imports proxy for real investment demand. Capital growth, in turn, also helped to boost the country’s exports.     

Can the Consumption–Wealth Ratio Predict Housing Returns? Evidence from OECD Countries

We use a representative consumer model to analyze the relation between the transitory deviations of consumption from its common trend with aggregate wealth and labor income, cay, and the housing risk premium. The evidence based on data for 15 OECD countries shows that, if financial and housing assets are seen as complements, investors will temporarily allow consumption to rise when they expect a rise in future housing returns. By contrast, if housing assets are treated as substitutes for financial assets, consumption will be reduced.     

An empirical test of the Post-Keynesian growth model applied to functional income distribution and the growth regime in Brazil

The main purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether, between 1970 and 2008, the Brazilian economy was profit-led or wage-led. To this end, we approach a canonical post-Keynesian growth model (PKGM) to estimate certain vector autoregressive (VAR) models and perform Granger non-causality tests. Three main results are extracted from the generalized impulse-response functions provided by the VAR models. First, a positive profit-share innovation affects economic growth and capacity utilization rate, both in the same direction, suggesting a profit-led pattern. Second, a profit share shock positively affects both the ratio actual/potential output, and capital accumulation, reinforcing the previous result. Third, a capacity utilization shock is shown to positively affect both output growth and capital accumulation via the accelerator effect. On the one hand, the pairwise Granger non-causality test does not provide any evidence of causality running from profit share to economic growth or capacity utilization. On the other hand, there is some evidence of Granger causality running from profit share to capital accumulation.     

Why is export-oriented entrepreneurship more prevalent in some countries than others? Contextual antecedents and economic consequences

Drawing on institutional economics, this article investigates how different contexts condition the prevalence of export-oriented entrepreneurship, which affects economic growth. We place emphasis on the differences between developed and developing countries through interaction effects that allow us to test for differential validity. Using simultaneous equation panel data models for a sample of 43 countries (2004–2012), we find that access to credit and access to communications are the most significant factors in explaining the export-oriented entrepreneurship required for economic growth. Policy implications for both developed and developing countries are suggested to enhance economic performance under specific context characteristics through export-oriented entrepreneurship.     

Influence of the entrepreneur's capacity in business performance

The article presents a theoretical model of the entrepreneur's capacities and their influence on business performance. Starting from the traditional theory of dynamic capacities, those related to entrepreneurship and/or that influence the entrepreneur's capacities are identified, determining factors such as training, experience and confidence. In addition, other factors such as the environmental and institutional environment have been taken into account as they affect the entrepreneurship. For this purpose, a study was carried out with the Smart PLS software in a sample of companies in the tourism sector in the Mar Menor Region (Spain). An essential factor in the development of entrepreneurship in the region is the sustainability of the coastal lagoon. Some considerations are obtained from the study of the factors that determine the model of capacities, in which the confidence of the entrepreneur and the environmental sustainability, exert a positive and significant influence in the business performance. Furthermore, among the mentioned capacities of the entrepreneurial influence, experience and trust are the ones that most influence the success of the tourism business.