Tourist preferences for ecotourism in rural communities adjacent to Kruger National Park: A choice experiment approach

This paper analyses the potential for development of ecotourism in rural communities adjacent to Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa. We determine preferences of tourists, according to origin and income levels, for ecotourism and their marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for three ecotourism attributes: village accommodation, village tours and visits to crafts markets. Data were collected from 319 tourists through choice experiments, and analyzed using a conditional probit model. Findings indicate reluctance on the part of all tourists to use accommodation facilities outside KNP, but interest to purchase village tours and visit village-based craft markets. MWTP was negative for accommodation for all income groups, but positive for village tours and crafts markets. Among international and high income groups of tourists, tourists were willing to pay much higher fees than proposed by communities. These findings suggest the potential for development of some limited ecotourism services in villages adjacent to KNP.     

Chinese and British consumers’ evaluation of Chinese and international brands and factors affecting their choice

This paper examines Chinese and British consumers’ evaluations of Chinese, and international brands, and factors affecting their brand choice. The results support recent findings of a decline in Western brands’ preference in China. But, these are attributed to several factors. The findings show country of origin does not affect Chinese brand choice, has a great effect on British choice between Chinese and other brands; brand value, and brand familiarity influence Chinese choice whereas brand reputation, and brand trust determine British choice. Implications for Chinese domestic and international expansion strategies, demographics’ influence, and cultural differences are discussed.     

FDI and economic growth: the role of local financial markets

In this paper, we examine the various links among foreign direct investment (FDI), financial markets, and economic growth. We explore whether countries with better financial systems can exploit FDI more efficiently. Empirical analysis, using cross-country data between 1975 and 1995, shows that FDI alone plays an ambiguous role in contributing to economic growth. However, countries with well-developed financial markets gain significantly from FDI. The results are robust to different measures of financial market development, the inclusion of other determinants of economic growth, and consideration of endogeneity.     

Dual-listings on international exchanges: the case of emerging markets' stocks

This paper examines the effects on stock returns of dual-listing on an international exchange. My sample consists of 70 firms from 10 emerging markets that dual-listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ and SEAQ-I (London) over the period 1991–1995. I evaluate whether an international dual-listing has any significant effect on returns, for the particular case of emerging markets' firms, and I proceed to investigate whether there is evidence to support an International Asset Pricing based explanation. In addition I compare the impact of US and London SEAQ-I listings. My results confirm previous empirical findings on international listings: the firms in my sample experience significant positive abnormal returns before listing and a significant decline in returns following listing. Evidence seems to be supportive of the segmentation hypothesis: dual-listing effects are more pronounced for emerging markets' listings and that pattern is similar across exchanges.
G15     

Incomplete Credit Markets and Commodity Marketing Behaviour

We use a simple theoretical model of seasonal market participation in the presence of liquidity constraints and transaction costs to explain the ‘sell low, buy high’ puzzle in which some households do not take advantage of inter‐temporal price arbitrage through storage and sell output postharvest at prices lower than observed prices for purchases in the subsequent lean season. We test our model with data from western Kenya using maximum likelihood estimation of a multivariate sample selection model of market participation. Access to off‐farm income and credit indeed seem to influence crop sales and purchase behaviours in a manner consistent with the hypothesised patterns.     

Rental markets for cultivated land and agricultural investments in China

The purpose of this paper is to empirically track the progress and consequences of the emergence of cultivated land markets in China since 2000. We draw on a set of nationwide, household‐level panel data (for 2000 and 2008) and find that the markets for cultivated land rental have emerged robustly. According to our data, 19 of China's cultivated land was rented in farm operators in 2008. We also find that the nature of China's cultivated land rental contracts has become more formal and lengthened the period of time that the tenant is able to cultivate the rented‐in plots. While there may be benefits for lessors and tenants, our data show that there are falling rates of investment in organic manure. The farmers in our sample have reduced organic manure use from 13 tons/ha in 2000 to 5 tons/ha in 2008. Part of this fall is due to the rise of cultivated land rental markets. The analysis, however, does not find that improved property rights in cultivated land rental affect investment largely because property rights have largely been established by 2000, the first year of our sample. Our results, however, also show that there are forces that appear to be mitigating the negative consequences of rising cultivated land rental. After holding constant initial rental rates and other factors, we find that the gap between investment in organic manure in own land and rented‐in land is narrowing. One interpretation of our findings is that if policymakers can find ways to even further strengthen the rights of lessors and tenants as well as lengthen contract periods, farmers—even those that rent—will invest more in their land, because they will be able to capture the returns to their investments.     

Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.com

Research Summary : Platform owners sometimes enter complementors' product spaces and compete against them. Using data from Amazon.com to study Amazon's entry pattern into third‐party sellers' product spaces, we find that Amazon is more likely to target successful product spaces. We also find that Amazon is less likely to enter product spaces that require greater seller efforts to grow, suggesting that complementors' platform‐specific investments influence platform owners' entry decisions. While Amazon's entry discourages affected third‐party sellers from subsequently pursuing growth on the platform, it increases product demand and reduces shipping costs for consumers. We consider the implications of these findings for complementors in platform‐based markets. Managerial Summary : Platform owners can exert considerable influence over their complementors' welfare. Many complementors with successful products are pushed out of markets because platform owners enter their product spaces and compete directly with them. To mitigate such risks, complementors could build their businesses by aggregating nonblockbuster products or focusing on products requiring significant platform‐specific investments to grow. They should also develop capabilities in new product discovery so that they could continually bring innovative products to their platforms.     

管理层盈余预测与不对称及时性实证研究

为了分析管理层盈余预测对盈余不对称及时性之间的关系,即发布消息的时间点和内容分类对盈余不对称及时性的影响,用Basu模型分段实证检验盈余预测对盈余不对称及时性的影响、正(负)向盈余预测与不对称及时性的关系,以及当期发布的盈余预警对盈余不对称及时性的影响。结果表明,不对称及时性对公司发布的未来盈余的影响不显著,公司发布预期盈余的时间及时性主要集中在负向盈余意外,这与价格引导盈余引起更多的未来盈余预测的向下有偏的不对称及时性系数相一致,当期发布盈余预警会降低盈余与收益的不对称及时性。管理层发布内部盈余预测,有助于缓解与外部信息使用者之间的信息不对称,满足利益相关者的决策需求,进而有助于促进证券市场向半强式有效市场转化。     

International Housing Markets and the U.S. Subprime Crisis

We propose a novel decomposition approach to study the degree of co-movement of international housing markets while distinguishing among different economic drivers. We find that the housing market variability for an average country was mainly driven by the common housing risk premium components during the years leading up to the 2007–08 subprime financial crisis. A decrease in the common housing risk premium was followed by a housing boom and economic expansion in the United States prior to the crisis. Our findings add to the understanding of the role of common risk factors across international housing markets before the crisis.     

Global Banks and Synthetic Funding: The Benefits of Foreign Relatives

This paper examines the effect of dislocations in foreign currency (FX) swap markets (“CIP deviations”) on bank lending. Using data from UK banks we show that when the cost of obtaining swap-based funds in a particular foreign currency increases, banks reduce the supply of cross-border credit in that currency. This effect is increasing in the degree of banks' reliance on swap-based FX funding. Access to foreign relatives matters as banks employ internal capital markets to shield their cross-border FX lending supply from the described channel. Partial substitution occurs from banks outside the UK not affected by changes in synthetic funding costs.