Raising the bar (9)

ABSTRACT

This editorial summarizes the papers published in issue 13(4) so as to raise the bar in applied spatial economic research and highlight new trends. The first paper develops an economic geography model with trade costs in all sectors and different shares of unskilled labour in all locations. The second paper translates an economic geography model into a dynamic spatial econometric model and then estimates the unknown parameters to test for congestion spillover effects among Chinese cities. The following paper also investigates spillover effects, but of sovereign and banking risks across countries. The fourth paper empirically examines if a higher market potential results in higher average productivity and lower productivity dispersion of Italian retailers. The fifth paper demonstrates that modelling more than one spatial lag in the independent variables, using different specifications of the spatial weight matrix, can be used as a tool to correct for an omitted variable bias. The final paper develops a test for the existence of non-parametric non-linearities in a linear spatial econometric model.     

A decomposition approach to analysing racial and gender biases in Farm Service Agency's lending decisions

This study provides a different perspective in revisiting the racial and gender discrimination issue at the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Employing the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition method, this study analyses disparities in approved loan amounts among racial and gender classes of borrowers. This study's results indicate substantial differentials in approved loan amount gaps between racial and gender classes, favouring white and female borrowers, respectively. Further scrutiny of the borrowers’ comparative financial conditions presented to FSA to support their loan applications, however, indicate that these borrower groups significantly dominate their peers in a number of measures that indicate their financial strengths and relatively greater capability to repay their future lending obligations. Hence, this study's results can hardly be construed as evidence of biased lending decisions as these borrower groups should rightfully be offered more favourable loan terms, such as larger loan amounts, by the FSA.     

论发达国家分配关系社会化的多重成因

分配关系社会化是指战后资本主义国家中企业的收入分配权削弱,政府和社会在国民收入分配中的地位和作用不断加强的过程。文章认为,分配关系社会化是发达国家财产关系调整的一般规律,其根本原因在于资本主义的基本矛盾,同时还受到资本社会化、科技进步、工人运动以及政府的干预等多重因素的影响。     

Country Equity

Abstract

The idea of country branding, while controversial, has gained broad acceptance and is actively practiced at the national and regional levels. A number of new research studies are indicative of the growing interest and importance of the topic. This article focuses on practical opportunities for South Africa to become more adept at using marketing communications to promote itself to critical international audiences.     

A Private-Public Strategy for International Marketing Through Collective Brands: Canada Brand Foods

A country brand for agrifood products requires managing quality across a range of products and firms while recognizing the potential pitfalls in linking a brand's image with a country's image. Understanding the incentives for firms adopting the brand to use and contribute to the brand's equity informs the choice of brand management mechanism. The challenges in managing a country brand for international agrifood exports are discussed. This case is used to illustrate a strategy based on the obstacles faced by a collective brand that is used by many firms. The article highlights how a successful strategy will produce a brand that is unique, robust to impersonators, and has quality assurance mechanisms that are in line with firm's incentives to produce high-quality products.     

A note on the turn of the month and year effects in international stock returns

This examination of the turn of the month (TOM) and turn of the year (TOY) effects in 50 international stock indices, for the period 1994–2006, characterises the degree that the effects are influenced by: (i) the gross domestic product of the economy, (ii) the sign of the return on the prior day (called the prior day effect), (iii) a temporal indicator and (iv) the Monday effect. These effects are assessed by the use of an estimated generalised least squares (EGLS) panel regression model incorporating panel-corrected standard errors. Three important results relating to the TOM and TOY effects are observed. When the prior day effect on control days is used as the reference and controls are made for market development and year, we find that: (i) there is a relatively enhanced return on all TOM days, (ii) there is a relatively enhanced return on good TOY days and (iii) returns of bad TOY days are not remarkable.     

第三国倾销制度初探

第三国倾销制度包含"代表第三国反倾销"和"请求第三国反倾销"两项内容。虽然WTO的反倾销协定之下的一般的反倾销条款构成"第三国倾销"规则的组成部分,但代表第三国反倾销和请求第三国反倾销与一般的国内反倾销仍有不同之处。中国外贸立法上的"第三国倾销"条款是不完备的,应参考国际立法和外国的立法,充实我国立法中第三国倾销方面的制度。     

Is mandatory country-of-origin labelling a retrograde step in the long run?

Abstract

There is a strong push from the farming community in Australia to persuade the government to legislate the compulsory display of country-of-origin labelling on retail products. This research examines the label elements considered by grocery shoppers who are inclined to examine the country of manufacture. Shoppers are most likely to consider the brand name when choosing a product, with the odds ratio of taking note of the country of manufacture being the largest for those consumers who scrutinize the name of the product and for those who ascribe the highest importance to the product's country of manufacture. Overt identification as Australian origin, for products without a recognizable brand name, may therefore not be advantageous to Australian producers. Country-of-origin prone shoppers also seek stronger reassurance from other cues on the product label. Shoppers would have to contend with the inevitable higher prices arising from label recomposition and country-of-origin compliance. To what extent increased prices would dampen demand is a moot point.     

Labour demand in the EU and returns to scale: A production function approach

The paper tests the hypothesis that small member states of the European Union (EU) experience economies of scale constraints. This study adopts a production function approach, utilising data from the 27 differently sized EU member countries. The results confirm the hypothesis and indicate that larger EU member countries incur lower costs per unit of output produced when compared to the smaller ones. This finding has important implications for small EU member states, including that smaller countries have to overcome their economies of scale constraint in order to attain and maintain international competitiveness. This disadvantage is particularly relevant for small states, because these states tend to be highly dependent on international trade, in which case international competitiveness is a major issue.