Can good marketing carry a bad product? Evidence from the motion picture industry

We examine the relative roles of marketing actions and product quality in determining commercial success. Using the motion picture context, in which product quality is difficult for consumers to anticipate and information on product success is available for different points in time, we model the effects of studio actions and movie quality on a movie’s sales during different phases of its theatrical run. For a sample of 331 recent motion pictures, structural equation modeling demonstrates that studio actions primarily influence early box office results, whereas movie quality influences both short- and long-term theatrical outcomes. The core results are robust across moderating conditions. We identify two data segments with follow-up latent class regressions and explore the degree of studio actions needed to “save” movies of varying quality. We finally offer some implications for research and management.     

中国贸易收支的结构分析

20世纪90年代除1993年外,我国贸易收支保持持续顺差的状态,贸易收支的顺差额在不断的增长,贸易收支在国际收支和国民经济中的地位日益重要。对我国的贸易收支进行研究有重大的理论和现实意义。本文试图研究我国贸易收支内部结构的特点,对我国贸易收支进行结构分析。     

中美双边工业品增加值贸易隐含碳福利核算与分配问题研究

现代贸易方式不仅导致贸易利益在全球价值链上进行分配,还带来了贸易隐含污染排放在全球贸易网络中的分布。两国之间的贸易利益分配除了表现为贸易经济福利的分配,还表现为贸易隐含碳福利的分配。本文将贸易增加值分解法结合MRIO模型对2000—2014年中美双边工业品贸易增加值所隐含的碳福利分配及影响机制展开深入分析。研究结果表明:(1)在中美双边工业品增加值贸易隐含碳福利分配中,碳福利逆差在中国,碳福利顺差在美国;(2)中美工业品贸易碳福利级差经历了“先扩大,后收窄”的过程,美国次贷危机之后双边碳福利不平衡状况重新呈现扩大趋势;(3)中国碳排放强度下降、价值链地位提升以及对美进口规模扩大都有助于改善碳福利逆差的局面,但美国对中国不断扩大的中间品和最终品需求以及双边复杂的技术关联结构仍是中国碳福利逆差的主导因素;(4)全球价值链的深化可能将导致对出口国加征关税会通过降低进口消费侧排放的方式恶化加征国的贸易隐含碳福利。本文研究的时间范围同时覆盖中国加入WTO以及美国次贷危机两个重要节点,这对于重新审视中美经贸关系新格局下双边贸易隐含碳福利分配构建了一个新的分析视角,为中美未来贸易谈判以及全球碳排放责任认定提供了一个新的解读方向。     

人民币汇率变动的物价传递效应:多结构变化协整回归分析

现有研究物价传递效应的文献以线性模型为主,甚少关注物价传递过程中可能存在的结构变化,本文在充分考虑我国转轨时期所面临的各种经济冲击的条件下,利用最新发展的多结构变化协整回归方法考察了1994年1月至2008年12月间人民币汇率变动的物价传递效应。研究结果表明,人民币汇率变动的物价传递效应分别在1998年8月、2002年10月、2005年8月及2007年7月发生了四次结构变化,传递效应虽总体趋减,但2007年7月后出现了反复,且符号也发生了改变。在上述结论基础上,本文提出了相关政策建议。     

产业结构失衡与调整的市场机制研究——山西产业结构调整的再思考

在我国特别是在资源型地区,由于市场机制调节产业结构的机制存在要素自由流动不畅、利益机制传导受阻、核心技术缺乏等问题,使市场机制作用的发挥受到较大影响,导致这些地区往往存在严重的产业结构失衡与产业升级较慢等问题。当前,资源性经济景气下降,诸如山西这样资源型地区的"寒号鸟"们再次感受到了冬天的寒冷,又到了市场倒逼机制开始发挥作用的时期。在这个时期,需抓住我国深入市场化改革的机遇,破除阻碍市场调节产业结构调整机制的多重障碍,通过发展混合所有制经济、激活国企利益机制功能和创新科研机制确立核心技术研发主体等措施,完善市场调节机制,推进地区产业结构调整,走出"调整-反弹-再调整"的结构调整怪圈。     

Cross-ownership as a structural explanation for over- and underestimation of default probability

Based on the work of Suzuki, we consider a generalization of Merton’s asset valuation approach in which two firms are linked by cross-ownership of equity and liabilities. Suzuki’s results then provide no arbitrage prices of firm values, which are derivatives of exogenous asset values. In contrast to the Merton model, the assumption of lognormally distributed assets does not result in lognormally distributed firm values, which also affects the corresponding probabilities of default. In a simulation study we see that, depending on the type of cross-ownership, the lognormal model can lead to both over- and underestimation of the actual probability of default of a firm under cross-ownership. In the limit, i.e. if the levels of cross-ownership tend to their maximum possible value, these findings can be shown theoretically as well. Furthermore, we consider the default probability of a firm in general, i.e. without a distributional assumption, and show that the lognormal model is often able to yield only a limited range of probabilities of default, while the actual probabilities may take any value between 0 and 1.     

Price integration in the Australian rock lobster industry: implications for management and climate change adaptation

Rock lobster fisheries are Australia's most valuable wild fisheries in terms of both value of production and value of exports. Different states harvest and export different lobster species, with most of the landings being sent to the Hong Kong market. A perception in the Australian lobster industry is that the different species are independent on the export market, such that a change in landings of one species has no impact on the price of the others. This study investigates the market integration of Australian exports to Hong Kong for the four species and different exporting states. Our results indicate all four species and producers/export states are perceived to be substitutes for one another, so that, in the long run, prices paid to operators in the industry will move together. The integrated nature of the Hong Kong export market for Australian lobster suggests that the potential impacts of alternative fisheries management and development strategies at state and species levels cannot be considered in isolation, at least from an economic perspective. In addition, impacts of external shocks affecting production in one state (e.g. climate change) can be expected to affect all Australian lobster fisheries.     

Test of the MBA knowledge and skills transfer

In view of the growing popularity of the MBA degree as a management development tool, there is a need to examine knowledge and skills transfer among MBA graduates. This study then developed and tested a parsimonious model of perceived transfer of knowledge and skills of MBA graduates to the job. Respondents were those who had completed part-time MBA programmes in Hong Kong for at least one year but not more than five years. LISREL results revealed a modest fit of the model to the data. The path coefficients further revealed that seven of the fifteen predicted relationships were statistically significant and in the predicted direction. Specifically, self-efficacy, Type A personality, transfer climate, and transfer rewards were positively related to motivation to learn, while organizational commitment was negatively related to motivation to learn. The results also indicated that motivation to learn, continuous-learning culture, and utility of MBA programme were positively related to perceived knowledge and skills transfer.     

Monetary dynamics: a market approach

The behaviour of the short-run responses implied by the identification of a long-run money demand relationship is examined. These responses have recently been interpreted as representing the policy stance of the monetary authority. However, as movements in the monetary aggregate reflect both demand and supply adjustments, estimating the short-run dynamics solely within the money demand relationship may produce biased results. In order to address this issue, the paper explicitly acknowledges the importance of the supply of money function by including the function alongside the demand for money function. While the interaction of the two equations continues to produce the long-run quantity theory result, the additional detail provides more accurate estimates of the individual short-run adjustments within the two equations.     

铜现货价格与国内外期货价格的影响路径分析

铜是现在工业和经济发展中不可或缺的基础性原材料,同时,沪铜的影响力在提升。本文主要研究关于沪铜期价与LME铜价以及长江现价之间的路径关系,同时加入反映经济波动周期的因素,利用SEM建立路径分析模型,验证因素之间的因果结构关系,同时计算因素之间的直接和间接效应,得到伦铜→沪铜→现铜的影响路径,同时发现沪铜对于伦铜也有重要影响,以及美元指数、美国工业生产指数、中国PMI指数和PPI指数对国内外期现货产生影响的路径。