The stock market and investment

Changes in stock prices have substantial explanatory power forU.S. investment, especially for long-term samples, and evenin the presence of cash flow variables. The stock market dramaticallyout-performs a standard q-variable because the market-equitycomponent of this variable is only a rough proxy for stock marketvalue. Although the stock market did not predict accuratelyafter the crash of October 1987, the errors were not statisticallysignificant. Parallel relationship for Canada raise the puzzlethat Canadian investment appears to react more to the U.S. stockmarket than to the Canadian market.     

When consumers switch brands

A proposed integrative approach measured consumer response to various incentives to switch brands. The response measure consisted of both actual behavior (i.e., switching behavior) and an evaluative measure, which underlies the behavior. Self-perception theory was utilized to assess consumer switching behavior in response to intrinsic versus extrinsic motives. The integrative approach was tested in the context of a multistage longitudinal field study concerning five product classes. Findings show that there is a difference depending upon whether switching behavior was induced by extrinsic (e.g., price, coupon) or intrinsic (e.g., a desire to try a new brand) incentives. Unlike intrinsically induced switching, extrinsic incentives motivated consumers to switch despite a high level of satisfaction with the last purchased brand. However, this switching behavior resulted in weaker intentions to repurchase the new brand.     

Marketing mix and customer equity of SPA brands:Cross-cultural perspectives

Globalization has substantially transformed the fashion industry. Firms that conduct innovative marketing campaigns for SPA brands, also known as fast fashion, are operating worldwide. Because SPA brands tend to have short trend cycles, corporate profitability is sensitive to consumers' attitudinal changes. The authors of this study establish a theoretical framework by examining research trends related to customer equity at home and abroad by delving into the current state of global SPA brands, defining customer equity, developing customer equity measurements, and conducting empirical analyses. This study uses structural equation models to analyze corporate marketing activity effects on customer lifetime value through brand attitude. Although earlier studies identify customer equity as driving value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity, the authors introduce social network equity as another driver.     

EXPLAINING DIFFERENCES IN EFFICIENCY: A META‐STUDY ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT LITERATURE

This paper reviews the literature on local government efficiency by meta‐reviewing 360 observations retrieved from 54 papers published from 1993 to 2016. The meta‐regression is based on a random‐effects model estimated with the two‐step random‐effects maximum likelihood (REML) technique proposed by Gallet and Doucouliagos. Results indicate that the study design matters when estimating a frontier in local government. We find that studies focusing on technical efficiency provide higher efficiency scores than works evaluating cost efficiency. The same applies when using panel data instead of cross‐section data. Interestingly, studies that use the Free Disposal Hull (FDH) approach yield, on average, higher efficiency scores than papers employing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, thereby suggesting that in this literature the convexity hypothesis of the production set is a matter. Finally, the efficiency of local government increases with the level of development of the analysed countries and is positively related to the national integrity of the legal system. The opposite holds when considering the corruption.     

Public‐private partnerships for waste management: Challenges for policies and procedures

Recently, all essential services in South Africa have been the focus of major efforts to ensure equitable access. This focus is quickly intensifying at all levels of government, as greater attention is directed at global environmental issues and at removing the imbalances in the socio‐economic conditions of the past. Unfortunately for solid waste management, unlike other essential services, this is happening at a time of declining financial resources, fewer national programmes and increasing regulation. Many municipalities in South Africa are turning to public‐private partnerships (PPPs) as a way of addressing the growing municipal solid waste management problem, especially with regard to extending services to previously disadvantaged, low‐income communities. This article seeks to define relevant issues, clarify the use of PPPs and generally suggest a way forward for local municipalities committed to meeting the challenges of maintaining and expanding solid waste management services.     

Regional infrastructure and firm investment: theory and empirical evidence for Italy

The authors model the channels through which public expenditure on infrastructure influences firm value and shapes its investment decisions via both adjustment costs and marginal profitability of capital. The authors test these hypotheses using a large panel of Italian firms. Empirical results show that infrastructure interacts with revenues and costs in shaping firm??s capital profitability and influences its adjustment costs. Finally, the authors find that infrastructure expenditure contributes to the reduction of the economic gap between the North and the South of Italy. These effects vary across regions and sectors.     

Firm heterogeneity in productivity across Europe: evidence from multilevel models

This paper analyses the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK). TFP data refer to 2008. The empirical setting is based on the multilevel modeling which provides two main results. Firstly, we show that TFP heterogeneity is largely due to firm-specific features (85% of TFP variability in the empty model). Interestingly, we find that some key-drivers of firm performance (size, family management, group membership, innovations and human capital) are significantly related to TFP, but do not, on the whole, absorb much of firm TFP variance, implying that differences in productivity are due to notable yet unobservable firm characteristics. Secondly, as far the role of localization is concerned, we demonstrate that the country effect is more influential than region effect in explaining individual productivity. Net of the country effect, the localization in different European regions explains about 5% of TFP firm heterogeneity. When considering the case of three individual countries, France, Italy and Spain, location in different regions explains 5.3% of TFP heterogeneity in Italy, while this proportion is lower (3.6%) in France and higher (9.9%) in Spain.     

The second fundamental theorem of asset pricing: a new approach

This article presents a new definition of market completenessthat is independent of the notions of no arbitrage and equivalentmartingale measures. Our definition has many advantages, allshown herein. First, it preserves the Second Fundamental Theoremof Asset Pricing, even in complex economies. Second, under ourdefinition, the market can be complete yet arbitrage opportunitiesexist. This is important in practice, and stands in contrastto the traditional definitions. Third, under the assumptionsof no arbitrage and when used in the standard models, our definitionis equivalent to the traditional one.     

THE IMPACT OF PRICES AND CONTROL POLICIES ON CIGARETTE SMOKING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Smoking among youths and young adults rose throughout the 1990s. Numerous policies were enacted to try to reverse this trend. However, little is known about the impact these policies have on the smoking behavior of young adults. This article uses a dichotomous indicator of daily smoking participation in the past 30 days, an ordered measure representing the frequency of cigarette consumption, and a quasi-continuous measure of the number of cigarettes smoked per day on average to examine the impact of cigarette prices, clean indoor air laws, and campus-level smoking policies on the smoking behaviors of a 1997 cross section of college students. The results of the analysis indicate that higher cigarette prices are associated with lower smoking participation and lower levels of use among college student smokers. Local- and state-level clean indoor air restrictions have a cumulative impact on the level of smoking by current smokers. Complete smoking bans on college campuses are associated with lower levels of smoking among current smokers but have no significant impact on smoking participation. Bans on cigarette advertising on campus as well as bans on the sale of cigarettes on campus have no significant effect on the smoking behavior of college students.