Capital Income Taxes and Growth in a Stochastic Economy: A Numerical Analysis of the Role of Risk Aversion and Intertemporal Substitution

This paper undertakes a numerical analysis of the effects of changes in the tax rates on domestic and foreign capital income in a stochastically growing open economy under recursive preferences, in which the rate of time preference, ?, and the coefficient of risk aversion, R, can be set independently. The responses of the equilibrium growth rate, its volatility, and welfare to changes in the tax changes considered are highly sensitive to the independent variations in both ? and R. Consequently, the errors committed by using the conventional constant elasticity utility function, even for small violations of the compatibility condition (R= 1/?) can be significant, suggesting that this functional form should be employed with caution.     

Efficient monetary allocations and the illiquidity of bonds

We construct a monetary economy with heterogeneity in discounting and consumption risk. Agents can insure against this risk with money and nominal government bonds, but all trades must be monetary. We demonstrate that a deflationary policy à la Friedman cannot sustain the constrained-efficient allocation as no-arbitrage imposes too stringent a bound on the return money can pay. The constrained-efficient allocation can be sustained when bonds have positive yields and, under certain conditions, only if they are illiquid. Illiquidity, meaning that bonds cannot be transformed into consumption as easily as cash, is necessary to eliminate arbitrage opportunities due to disparities in shadow interest rates.     

BRAZILIAN POVERTY BETWEEN AND WITHIN GROUPS: DECOMPOSITION BY GEOGRAPHICAL, GROUP-SPECIFIC POVERTY LINES

This study investigates Brazilian poverty by exploiting geographical differences in the cost of living. We apply the reformulation of the FGT class of poverty measures proposed by Chiappero and Civardi (2006) . This decomposition aims to compute poverty within groups, using group-specific poverty lines, and poverty between groups by adopting a community-wide poverty line. Our findings suggest that the analysis of poverty between and within groups is more exhaustive than the standard methodology when differentiated poverty lines are exploited.     

The relationship between food consumption, age and gender over time in Britain

This paper investigates the relationship between nutrition and socio-economic status among British youths. It describes the dynamics of consumption over age and time using data from the British National Food Survey (NFS) covering the period 1975-2000. Daily calories-age relationships for men and women are estimated by solving a non-linear least square model with a roughness penalty function approach. Focusing on young age groups, trends of consumption over the 25-year period of study and the cohorts effect have been explored across three classes of age. Finally, an exploration of specific trend variations in eating habits has been implemented controlling for income distribution.     

Issue linkage and issue tie-in in multilateral negotiations

We describe a model of international, multidimensional policy coordination where countries can enter into selective and separate agreements with different partners along different policy dimensions. The model is used to examine the implications of negotiation tie-in — the requirement that agreements must span multiple dimensions of interaction — for the viability of multilateral cooperation when countries are linked by international trade flows and transboundary pollution. We show that, while in some cases negotiation tie-in has either no effect or can make multilateral cooperation more viable, in others a formal tie-in constraint can make an otherwise viable joint multilateral agreement unstable.     

Managing integrators where integration matters: insights from symbolic industries

Recently, companies have been faced with strong need for integration in order to deal with the trade-offs of the current competitive environments – quick response and customization, technical functionality and stylistic appeal, low cost and top quality. This need has led to the introduction of different integrating positions. Although these positions already exist within the firm, in recent years they have become strategic and therefore have to be carefully managed. The relevance and the management of integrators are particularly evident in the symbolic industries, where the need to combine the symbolic and the functional facets of products and services has become increasingly critical for companies to succeed. We provide evidence based on four case studies conducted in the European fashion industry in order to build an original framework for the effectiveness of the integrators and to highlight the relevance of HRM practices in dealing with these positions.     

Defining the Entrepreneurial Capital Construct

The purpose of this paper is to show preliminary results from an international research project on intellectual capital and value creation led by Lappeenranta University of Technology （Finland）. In the case of this paper, results from Italy will be reported and specifically. The Italian analysis focuses on the entrepreneurial capital （EC） and it analyses how large Italian companies develop and enhance this intangible element. The main research question is： What is the current level of EC in Italian organizations and how does it affect value creation.＇？ To this end, the research addressed the different definitions of EC that literature offers. As a secondary step, this paper analysed the variables suggested by previous literature and proposed an original definition for the research project. The definition is that EC is a stock of competences and the personnels＇ attributes related to proactive, risky, and aggressive decision-making and behaviour. This research provides researchers and managers with unique insights into the evolutionary nature of the relationships between distinct 1C variables and draws a picture on the state of art of corporate EC in the selected sample. This research highlights and improves companies＇ abilities to manage their EC. Furthermore, this research will set the agenda for improving the EC practices of Italian companies and will allow future comparison with firms from other countries that are participating in the same project identifying different pathways to success.     

New evidence on the firm-university linkages in Europe. The role of meritocratic management practices

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the determinants of university-industry links in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), using internationally comparable firm-level data for the period 2007–2009. Besides the usual firm-specific variables, it examines the role of meritocratic management practices in firms’ decisions to collaborate in R&D. Firm innovative efforts, the export status and the R&D government support are positively related to business-university links in almost all countries, human capital and firms’ size in two out of five countries under scrutiny, while belonging to science-based sectors does not seem to play a significant role in all countries but Italy. Importantly, we find that meritocratic managerial practices positively affect the firm-university nexus in Germany, France and the UK, while meritocracy does not appear to enhance businesses’ R&D collaboration in Italy and in Spain.