The Environment as a Stakeholder? A Fairness-Based Approach

Stakeholder theory is often unable to distinguish those individuals and groups that are stakeholders from those that are not. This problem of stakeholder identity has recently been addressed by linking stakeholder theory to a Rawlsian principle of fairness. To illustrate, the question of stakeholder status for the non-human environment is discussed. This essay criticizes a past attempt to ascribe stakeholder status to the non-human environment, which utilized a broad definition of the term "stakeholder." This paper then demonstrates how, despite the denial of stakeholder status, the environment is nonetheless accounted for on a fairness-based approach through legitimate organizational stakeholders. In addition, since stakeholder theory has never claimed to be a comprehensive ethical scheme, it is argued that sound reasons might exist for managers to consider their organization's impact on the environment that are not stakeholder-related.     

Multidimensional Screening in a Monopolistic Insurance Market

We consider a population of individuals who differ in two dimensions, their risk type (expected loss) and their risk aversion, and solve for the profit-maximising menu of contracts that a monopolistic insurer puts out on the market. Our findings are threefold. First, it is never optimal to fully separate all the types. Second, if heterogeneity in risk aversion is sufficiently high, then some high-risk individuals (the risk-tolerant ones) will obtain lower coverage than some low-risk individuals (the risk-averse ones). Third, because women tend to be more risk averse than men (in that the risk aversion distribution for women first-order stochastically dominates that for men), gender discrimination may lead to a Pareto improvement.     

Attitudes Towards Income Risk in the Presence of Quantity Constraints

Considering a consumer with standard preferences, I trace out how quantity constraints on markets impact on relative risk aversion and prudence. I first show how this impact decomposes into a local curvature effect and an endogenously changing risk aversion/prudence effect. Next, I calibrate both effects on relative risk aversion and prudence, using estimates on household demand for durables and labour supply. The calibrations show that commitments to durable goods have large effects on attitudes towards risk. And while small wedges between realised and desired levels of labour supply have only moderate effects, becoming full time unemployed on a 60 per cent unemployment benefit significantly raises risk aversion and prudence.     

Rethinking an old empirical puzzle: econometric evidence on the forward discount anomaly

Using both semiparametric and parametric estimation methods, this paper corroborates earlier findings of fractionally integrated behaviour in the forward premium. Two new explanations are also proposed to help reconcile earlier conflicting empirical evidence on the time series properties of the forward premium. Traditional regression approaches used to test the forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis are then evaluated, including regression in levels, in returns (Fama's, 1984 , regression), and in error‐correction format. Interesting statistical and/or interpretive implications are found in all three cases. For example, the predictions of the appropriate nonstandard limit theory are consistent with many of the standard empirical results reported from Fama's regression, including the commonly occurring, yet puzzling negative correlations between spot returns and the forward premium. It is suggested that the principal failure of unbiasedness, may be due instead to the difference in persistence between these two series. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Taxonomic Evaluation of Advertising Budgeting Models

The advertising budget allocation decision has been recognized as a critical decision that should receive logical, scientific determination. However, actual decision-making practice indicates that marketers typically use qualitative, non-scientific methods when setting advertising budgets. This article discusses the reasons for this practice by focusing on the properties of qualitative models which make them attractive to practitioners and the properties of quantitative models which make them unattractive. To assist in this analysis, a taxonomy for the classification of various qualitative and quantitative budget models is constructed, the emphasis of which is on the perceived usefulness of a budget model to practitioners.     

Redistribution and Small Coalitions of Friends

When side marketing trade is perfect, linear taxation of retradeable commodities is the only scheme that survives attempts to arbitrage. In this paper, I discuss tax schemes when side trading is imperfect in the sense that commodities can only be re-exchanged within coalitions no larger than two people. In the framework of a two-class economy, I identify coalitions which might have an incentive to form and provide a characterisation for the Pareto-efficient tax scheme. The tax formula has a very simple form and strongly resembles the formula for the no-side-trade case. In a numerical exercise, the constraints imposed on policy by an imperfect side trading process are found to be almost as tough as those imposed by perfect side trading.