Some limit theorems in urn models with indistinguishable balls

Abstract

When n indistinguishable balls are distributed into m cells, there are two possible models (known as Bose-Einstein Statistics) depending on whether the cells are allowed to be empty or not. In these models, the possible limit laws of the number of cells containing k balls each are identified which are Normal, Poisson and degenerate. It is interesting to see that these are the only three limit laws of the occupancy variables studied here.     

The power of goal internalization: studying psychological empowerment in a Venezuelan plant

This study, based in a manufacturing plant in Venezuela, examines the relationship between perceived task characteristics, psychological empowerment and commitment, using a questionnaire survey of 313 employees. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of an organizational intervention at the plant aimed at increasing productivity by providing performance feedback on key aspects of its daily operations. It was hypothesized that perceived characteristics of the task environment, such as task meaningfulness and task feedback, will enhance psychological empowerment, which in turn will have a positive impact on employee commitment. Test of a structural model revealed that the relationship of task meaningfulness and task feedback with affective commitment was partially mediated by the empowerment dimensions of perceived control and goal internalization. The results highlight the role of goal internalization as a key mediating mechanism between job characteristics and affective commitment. The study also validates a Spanish-language version of the psychological empowerment scale by Menon (2001).     

Developing with Foreign Investment: Malaysia

Abstract
Over the past two decades, there has been a decisive shift in trade and industry policy in developing countries (DCs) away from import substitution and towards export-orientation. As part of this policy shift, an increasing number of DCs have become more receptive to foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite its policy relevance, the literature on the role of FDI in the export expansion of manufactured exports from DCs is sparse. This article attempts to fill this gap through a case study of the role of export-oriented FDI in Malaysia's rapid industrialisation. The overall conclusion of the article is that export-oriented FDI has brought significant returns to Malaysia principally because the general economic climate has been favourable for the internationalisation of production for a considerable period of time.     

Spatial Decentralization and Programme Evaluation: Theory and an Example

This paper proposes an instrumental variable method for programme evaluation that only requires a single cross‐section of data on the spatial intensity of programmes and outcomes. The instruments are derived from a simple theoretical model of government decision‐making in which governments are responsive to the attributes of places, rather than to the attributes of individuals, in making allocation decisions across space, and have a social welfare function that is spatially weakly separable, that is, that the budgeting process behaves as if it is multi‐stage with respect to administrative districts and sub‐districts. The spatial instrumental variables model is then estimated and tested with a single cross‐section of Indonesian census data. The results offer support to the identification strategy proposed but also highlight some issues affecting validity.     

Trade Liberalisation, Closer Economic Relations and Intra-Industry Specialisation

Abstract
Much of the growth in trade among the industrialised countries, and more recently among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, has taken the form of intra-industry trade (HT). Australia has historically had one of the lowest shares of IIT among OECD countries. This article examines how Australia's IIT has changed in the 1980s in response to the process of trade liberalisation and completion of the Closer Economic Relations (CER) pact with New Zealand. HT indexes are estimated for Australia's multilateral and trans-Tasman trade for 1981 and 1991 for 132 industries using data at the 3 and 4-digit level of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). The results point to a sharp increase in the share of IIT for both multilateral and trans-Tasman trade. Industries that have undergone the largest reductions in protection levels have increased their shares of IIT quite considerably. Increased intra-industry specialisation suggests that the short-run adjustment costs associated with trade liberalisation are likely to be lower. If IIT continues to grow in response to the ongoing process of internationalisation of the Australian economy, then Australia's prospects for expanding its share of world trade are good.     

Elevating Repositioning Costs: Strategy Dynamics and Competitive Interactions

Research summary: This article proposes an approach for modeling competitive interactions that incorporates the costs to firms of changing strategy. The costs associated with strategy modifications, which we term “repositioning costs,” are particularly relevant to competitive interactions involving major changes to business strategies. Repositioning costs can critically affect competitive dynamics and, consequently, the implications of strategic interaction for strategic choice. While the literature broadly recognizes the importance of such costs, game‐theoretic treatments of major strategic change, with very limited exceptions, have not addressed them meaningfully. We advocate greater recognition of repositioning costs and illustrate with two simple models how repositioning costs may facilitate differentiation and affect the value of a firm's capability to reduce repositioning costs through investments in flexibility. Managerial summary: This article illustrates how the decision to make a strategic change is affected by both the cost to the firm of making the various strategy modifications, as well as the cost to its rivals of changing their strategies in response. These “repositioning costs” are important because they shape the responses each competitor would likely make to a move by the other competitor, and should be anticipated when considering an initial change to one's own strategy. The paper shows how repositioning costs can be used strategically to facilitate differentiation, and to assess the value of potential investments in flexibility. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shared autonomous vehicles and their potential impacts on household vehicle ownership: An exploratory empirical assessment

Emerging transportation technologies have the potential to significantly reshape the transportation systems and household vehicle ownership. Key among these transportation technologies are the autonomous vehicles, particularly when introduced in shared vehicle fleets. In this paper, we focus on the potential impact that fleets of shared autonomous vehicles might have on household vehicle ownership. To obtain initial insights into this issue, we asked a sample of university personnel and members of the American Automobile Association as to how likely they would consider relinquishing one of their household's personal vehicles if shared autonomous vehicles were available (thus reducing their household vehicle ownership level by one). For single-vehicle households, this would be relinquishing their only vehicle, and for multivehicle households (households owning two or more vehicles) this would be relinquishing just one of their vehicles. Possible responses to the question about relinquishing a household vehicle if shared autonomous vehicles are present are: extremely unlikely, unlikely, unsure, likely, and extremely likely. To determine the factors that influence this response, random parameters ordered probit models are estimated to account for the likelihood that considerable unobserved heterogeneity is likely to be present in the data. The findings show that a wide range of socioeconomic factors affects people's likelihood of vehicle relinquishment in the presence of shared autonomous vehicles. Key among these are gender effects, generational elements, commuting patterns, and respondents' vehicle crash history and experiences. While people's opinions of shared autonomous vehicles are evolving with the continual introduction of new autonomous vehicle technologies and shifting travel behavior, the results of this study provide important initial insights into the likely effects of shared autonomous vehicles on household vehicle ownership.     

An augmented P-star model of Indian inflation

ABSTRACT

An augmented P-Star model is estimated and tested to identify the drivers of inflation in India. The model includes monetary and non-monetary factors, demand-pull and cost-push factors, and domestic as well as foreign factors. The results show that inflation in India is driven by a combination of monetary factors and non-monetary factors, some of which affect inflation on the supply side while others operate on the demand side. It turns out, however, that inflation in India is determined more by domestic rather than foreign factors.     

Does East Asia Have a Working Financial Safety Net?

Financial safety nets in Asia have come a long way since the Asian financial crisis (AFC) of 1997/1998. With Asian countries not wanting to rely solely on the IMF again, the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) was created in 2000. When the CMI also proved inadequate following the global financial crisis, it was first multilateralized (CMIM), and then doubled in size to US$240bn, while the IMF de‐linked portion was increased to 30 percent of the available country quotas. A surveillance unit, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, was set up in 2001. These are impressive developments, but are they enough to make the CMIM workable? Without clear and rapid‐response procedures to handle a fast‐developing financial emergency, we argue that it is unlikely that the CMIM will be used even as a complement to the IMF. To serve as a stand‐alone option, however, its size or the IMF de‐linked portion of funds needs to be further increased, as does its membership, to add diversity. Only if the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office can develop into an independent and credible surveillance authority would it then perhaps be in a position to lead the next rescue.