Reserves and the managed float: a search for the essentials

We examine the stability of rules that determine the rate of devaluation as a function of the level of reserves; the analysis is conducted in terms of an overlapping-generations and a Sidrauski-type model with rational expectations and without capital mobility. On the whole, the analysis confirms results by Rodriguez (1981) in a substantially different model, by which ‘high’ speeds of adjustment tend to provoke instability.     

Fiscal policy,welfare, and employment with perfect foresight

The long-run feasibility of expansionary fiscal policy is analyzed in a “fix price” economy under the assumption that individuals are altruistic and have rational expectations. It is found that exclusive reliance on interest bearing debt is a feasible policy only if money is an inferior good. However, feasibility is ensured if the bonds to money ratio is not higher than a certain critical level.     

On dollarization

The paper examines the case for dollarization in emerging market economies. It is claimed that dollarization becomes an attractive monetary regime when account is taken of recent financial turmoil in such economies. The case is further strengthened by the fact that these economies have a penchant for acquiring dollar debts (i.e., liability dollarization). However, exchange rate misalignment and deflation are potentially serious problems, unless appropriate fiscal and public sector prices policies are implemented, in addition to establishing a financial sector whose assets and liabilities face parallel relative price risks. JEL classification: F31, F41     

Contract employment policy and research productivity of knowledge workers: an analysis of Spanish universities

Abstract

This article investigates how contract employment practices adopted by universities—fixed-term contracts and permanent contracts—impact research productivity measured in terms of publications in scholarly journals. The empirical application considers the Spanish public higher education system for the period 2002–2008. We report an inverse U-shaped relationship between the rate fixed-term contracts and the research productivity of Spanish universities. That is, contract policies based on fixed-term contracts are conducive to research productivity; however, beyond a critical threshold value increases in the proportion of fixed-term contracts are associated with declining research productivity. These findings reveal that contract employment policies shape research productivity, and that flexible and balanced contract practices are critical for enhancing universities’ research productivity. The results suggest that the excessive use of fixed-term contracts might create an unstable working environment that limits the universities’ capacity to capitalize on their knowledge workers. Policy implications and future research avenues are discussed.     

Face to face and telephone surveys in terms of sampling representativeness: a multidimensional analysis

This paper analyzes sample structure in a survey-based research project using both face-to-face and telephone survey techniques, at a time when the telephone survey has completely ousted the face-to-face survey; particularly in electoral studies. Multiple Correspondence Analysis is applied to the data from a political poll conducted prior to regional elections held in Spain’s Autonomous Community of Galicia in which half of the questionnaires were administered by telephone and the other half via face-to-face interview. Unlike other studies—that use a partial approach based on bivariate analysis—this one examines all the sociodemographic variables simultaneously.     

Spanish hotel industry: indebtedness determinants

This article analyses the indebtedness of the companies belonging to the Spanish hotel industry. The internationalization process of Spanish hotel companies requires a new approach to their financial strategies. The form of expansion chosen in this process has an impact on the pace and volume of the funds needed for it. Other items are incorporated to observe different behaviour among hotel companies in relation with their indebtedness process. Among analysed factors, we can observe the importance of solvency, liquidity, and asset structure. The hotel industry's means to explain individual indebtedness is also relevant, demonstrating the fact that firms usually follow the sector's benchmark when determining the level of indebtedness. Studies such those of Grinblatt and Titman (2003) or Frank and Goyal (2009) confirm this same hypothesis.     

Pricing policies for a two-part exhaustible resource cartel: The case of OPEC

This paper examines pricing policies for OPEC under the assumption that the cartel is composed of a block of spender countries with large cash needs and a block of saver countries with little immediate need for cash and a lower rate of discount. The decision problem for the two-part cartel is embodied in a game-theoretic framework and the optimal bargaining solution is computed using results from the theory of cooperative games developed by Nash. The set of feasible bargaining points—and the corresponding Nash solution—is computed under two assumptions on the behavior of output shares: that they are subject to choice and that they are fixed at historical values. Our results suggest that for fixed output shares, there is little room for bargaining, and the price path approximates the optimal monopoly price path. If the shares are subject to control, optimal paths depend significantly on the relative bargaining power of each block.     

Are High Interest Rates Effective for Stopping High Inflation? Some Skeptical Notes

High interest rates are considered an effective tool for stoppinghigh inflation. The case for a policy of high interest ratesis developed in terms of a conventional IS-LM model. However,among other things, the model ignores some central aspects ofmodern credit markets. In particular high interest rates maygive rise to nonperforming bank loans, thus seriously jeopardizingthe effectiveness of the policy. Examples are developed in whichit would be optimal to aim for equilibriums of low, rather thanhigh, interest rates. One of these examples hinges on the existenceof nonindexed domestic debt.     

Devaluation: Levels versus rates

In a context of infinitely-lived families à la Sidrauski, where consumers are lump-sum compensated for the inflation tax, and there is no capital mobility, it is shown that a devaluation improves while an increase in the rate of devaluation deteriorates the balance of payments.     

Further remarks on totally ordered representable subsets of Euclidean space

We introduce the property of ? -norm-boundedness on totally ordered subsets of Euclidean spaces. We show that when a closed subset X of the Euclidean space ⁿ, endowed with a continuous total order ?, is ? -norm-bounded, the order topology and the induced Euclidean topology must coincide on X. This generalizes a recent result by Beardon, proved on connected totally ordered subsets of Euclidean space, because on totally ordered closed subsets of ⁿ connectedness is a particular case of ? -norm-boundedness. We also analyze necessary and sufficient conditions for the coincidence of both topologies, and discuss some extension to the infinite-dimensional context.