Malnutrition: A poverty or a food problem?

The author discusses malnutrition as the ‘silent’ food problem — a poverty problem — separate from the ‘overt’ food problem of scarcities of food in markets. The dimension of malnutrition which is treated here is the important calorie deficit problem — a problem which is often not revealed by aggregate food consumption data. The author presents data estimating the orders of magnitude of calorie undernutrition and then discusses numerous options as direct approaches to reduce malnutrition in market economies: (a) consumer education, (b) food market intervention, (c) income earning opportunities for the poor, (d) income redistribution, and (e) target group oriented food distribution measures. The options are evaluated with regard to their cost-effectiveness. He concludes that the costs of (a–d) are prohibitively high and therefore, (e) — a programme along the lines of a food stamp programme — is the option most likely to eleminate malnutrition.     

The equivalence of superadditivity and balancedness in the proportional tax game

Under the regulation that the single public good is to be financed through proportional taxation of the single private good, it is proved that a weak notion of superadditivity is equivalent to the balancedness of the induced game.     

A simulation study of income tax evasion

In a game-simulation context, tax evasion behavior of 15 subjects was observed. Large fines were found to be more effective deterrents than frequent audits. The decision to underreport income appears to be influenced by different factors than the magnitude of underreporting. Tax evasion behavior differed widely among individuals.     

How does beta explain stochastic dominance efficiency?

Stochastic dominance rules provide necessary and sufficient conditions for characterizing efficient portfolios that suit all expected utility maximizers. For the finance practitioner, though, these conditions are not easy to apply or interpret. Portfolio selection models like the mean–variance model offer intuitive investment rules that are easy to understand, as they are based on parameters of risk and return. We present stochastic dominance rules for portfolio choices that can be interpreted in terms of simple financial concepts of systematic risk and mean return. Stochastic dominance is expressed in terms of Lorenz curves, and systematic risk is expressed in terms of Gini. To accommodate for risk aversion differentials across investors, we expand the conditions using the extended Gini.     

Continuous Time Models of Collective Action and Political Change

This paper presents continuous time models for an analysis of dynamic systems using them to examine the complex dynamics of collective action and political change. The study concentrates on the mutual dependence and behavior of two variables over time: the number of citizens participating in collective action, and the amount of resources mobilized by the government to combat such collective action. The models presented highlight the key components that determine outcomes, and allow for planning, of particular dynamics of collective action and political change. Specifically, the proposed models analyze the impact of collective action on the transition toward democracy as well as possible dynamics of revolution.     

Agility and flexibility in international business research: A comprehensive review and future research directions

This study explores 134 articles on agility and flexibility research published in the top-nine international business (IB) journals. Accordingly, we critically analyze, map and structure flexibility and agility research in IB, and synthesize the findings into an integrative framework. The paper identifies a wide range of definitions of the concept and a lot of work on its conceptualization. However, studies at the individual and institutional levels of analyses are scarce, and the concept is under-theorized, as there is a dearth of real theoretical underpinnings in this research stream. Thus, in addressing this gap, more qualitative and interdisciplinary research is needed.     

The role of HR practices in developing employee resilience: a case study from the Pakistani telecommunications sector

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in understanding the factors that contribute to the development of employee resilience. Despite such interest, there is a dearth of research examining the contributory role played by HR practices in enhancing employee resilience. Looking at the context of Pakistan’s telecommunications sector and deploying a qualitative methodology, this paper examines the impact of HR practices on employee resilience. The findings indicate that four key areas of HR practices – job design, information sharing and flow within an organisation, employee benefits (monetary as well as non-monetary), and employee development opportunities – enable the development of employee resilience. Consequently, the effective implementation of HR practices in these areas has been the key factor for the development of employee resilience.     

THE MEAN‐GINI EFFICIENT PORTFOLIO FRONTIER

A main advantage of the mean‐variance (MV) portfolio frontier is its simplicity and ease of derivation. A major shortcoming, however, lies in its familiar restrictions, such as the quadraticity of preferences or the normality of distributions. As a workable alternative to MV, we present the mean‐Gini (MG) efficient portfolio frontier. Using an optimization algorithm, we compute MG and mean‐extended Gini (MEG) efficient frontiers and compare the results with the MV frontier. MEG allows for the explicit introduction of risk aversion in building the efficient frontier. For U.S. classes of assets, MG and MEG efficient portfolios constructed using Ibbotson (2000) monthly returns appear to be more diversified than MV portfolios. When short sales are allowed, distinct investor risk aversions lead to different patterns of portfolio diversification, a result that is less obvious when short sales are foreclosed. Furthermore, we derive analytically the MG efficient portfolio frontier by restricting asset distributions. The MG frontier derivation is identical in structure to that of the MV efficient frontier derivation. The penalty paid for simplifying the search for the MG efficient frontier is the loss of some information about the distribution of assets.     

On blocking coalitions: Linking Mas-Colell with Grodal–Schmeidler–Vind

In this paper we investigate the question of how many coalitions of a given relative size would block a non-Warlasian allocation in large finite economies. It is shown that in finite economies, if a Pareto optimal allocation is bounded away from being Walrasian, then, for any two numbers α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$ between 0 and 1, the proportion of blocking coalitions in the set of all coalitions with relative size between α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$, is arbitrarily close to 1/2, as the number of individuals in the economy becomes large.     

The “Make‐up” of a Regression Coefficient: Gender Gaps in the European Labor Market

We provide a comprehensive picture of the relationship between labor market outcomes and age by gender in the 28 European countries covered by the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. The analysis is based on a somewhat unconventional approach that refers to concentration curves in the Gini regression framework. It allows identification of ranges in the explanatory variables where local slopes change sign and/or size, i.e. the components that “make up” a regression coefficient. Gender is a crucial factor differentiating participation among workers, although employment–age profiles do not substantially differ. Relevant differences in age profiles concern working‐hours patterns: some countries are characterized by an almost specular behavior in men and women; other countries instead show similar patterns. Generally, earnings increase with age for both men and women. However, local regression coefficients are not monotonic over the entire age range and can even be locally negative in some countries.