Strategic Sequential Bidding for Government Land Auction Sales – Evidence from Singapore

This paper studies the extent to which equilibrium land auction prices are pushed up sequentially due to strategic bidding behaviors in government land auction sales. Using a unique dataset that covers the universe of tendering prices submitted by all developers for all residential land auction sales in Singapore, we find that a tenderer’s bids are significantly higher where there was a previous land parcel sold within two years and located within four kilometers. The identified price margin decreases with time and geographic distance. Tracking sequential bids submitted by the same developer over time, we find that the incumbent winner of a previous auction is more likely to participate in subsequent nearby land sales as compared to the second-highest bidder of the same auction. However, it does not necessarily win the subsequent sites. We argue that the incumbent deliberately bids up the subsequent land prices to gain pricing advantages to their own parcels.     

Have Casinos Contributed to Rising Bankruptcy Rates?

This paper examines the relationship between casino gambling and bankruptcy rates in U.S. counties using a panel of U.S. county-level data from 1990 through 2005. We contribute to the literature in several ways, perhaps most notably by examining the possibility that the effect of a casino on bankruptcy may differ over the casino’s lifespan. Results confirm this possibility, indicating that the impact of casinos on bankruptcy follows a “U-shaped” curve over the life of the casino. More specifically, regression analysis indicates the existence of a casino in a county increases the bankruptcy rate by more than 9% in the first year of operation. The percentage of additional bankruptcies then decreases through the third year after the casino opens. Bankruptcy rates in casino counties then slightly fall below that of non-casino counties during the fourth through seventh years after opening, increasing once again in the eighth year and thereafter. This cycle corresponds closely to the 6 year statute of limitations period applicable to Chapter 7 bankruptcies.     

The Effect of Real Exchange Rate Uncertainty on Exports: Empirical Evidence

Unless very specific assumptions are made, theory alone cannotdetermine the sign of the relation between real exchange rateuncertainty and exports. On the one hand, convexity of the profitfunction with respect to prices implies that an increase inprice uncertainty raises the expected returns in the exportsector. On the other, potential asymmetries in the cost of adjustingfactors of production (for example, investment irreversibility)and risk aversion tend to make the uncertainty-exports relationnegative. This article examines these issues using a simplerisk-aversion model. Export equations allowing for uncertaintyare then estimated for six developing countries. Contrary tothe ambiguity of the theory, the empirical relation is stronglynegative. Our estimates indicate that a 5 percent increase inthe annual standard deviation of the real exchange rate canreduce exports by 2 to 30 percent in the short run. These effectsare substantially magnified in the long run.     

The attraction paradigm in dyadic exchange

Although the marketing literature alludes to the influence of interpersonal attraction in dyadic exchange, the composition of attraction, as well as its relationship to other elements in the exchange process, has not been given adequate attention. Since substantial empirical evidence supports the impact of attraction on a variety of human responses, this article examines how attraction impacts on marketing dyads and presents a model of interpersonal attraction as a framework for empirical testing. The implications of the model are discussed, and suggestions for further research are given.     

Smoothing sudden stops

Emerging economies are often exposed to sudden shortages of international financial resources. Yet domestic agents do not seem to take preventive measures against these sudden stops. We highlight the central role played by the limited development of ex ante (insurance) and ex post (spot) domestic financial markets in generating this collective undervaluation of international resources. We study several policies to counteract the external underinsurance. We do this by solving for the optimal mechanism given the constraints imposed by limited financial development, and then considering the main financial policies—in terms of the model and practical relevance—that implement this solution.     

Responsibility of the University in Employability: Development and validation of a measurement scale across five studies

This paper develops and validates, at a confirmatory level, a second‐order scale to measure Responsibility of the University in Employability (RUE). First, the literature on the components of RUE is explored and a formative conceptual model is proposed to underpin its measurement using extant research in the field of organisational responsibility and employability. At the empirical level, the second‐order RUE model considers the reputation of the university, the teaching staff, and the matching activities with employers as components of RUE. This model is based on five empirical studies. The first is a small‐sample study based on the opinions of experts (n = 5) and the rest are based on representative samples of university students (n = 816, n = 1,082, n = 1,088, and n = 1,203). A very good fit between model and data were revealed (CFI = 0.975; RMSEA = 0.039; standardised X² = 2.676). The results indicate that matching activities with employers and teaching staff generate more RUE than university reputation. Guidelines are offered for managing the responsibility of the university in employability.     

Analysis of Information Content in U.S. and Japanese Magazine Advertising

Abstract

The content of Japanese versus U.S. magazine advertisements is assessed to determine relative levels of information content based on the type of magazine, the kind of information, the product represented in the advertisement and the size of the advertisement. It was found that Japanese magazine advertisements were generally more informative than U.S. ads, although the emphasis on specific content varies cross-culturally.     

Two-part tariffs in the online gaming industry: The role of creative destruction and network externalities

Playing computer games online is a fast growing, billion dollar industry which has received little academic attention. The industry exhibits a number of interesting economic features. The industry structure is determined by creative destruction as in Aghion and Howitt (1992) [Aghion, P., Howitt, P. 1992. A model of growth through creative destruction, Econometrica, 60(2), 323–351], with game makers experiencing market power within a genre until the game is superceded. Furthermore, the attractiveness of playing a game online depends on the existence of opponents (positive network externalities) while technical and reputational problems eventually arise (negative network externalities). We model the choice of two-part tariffs by a monopolist under creative destruction and network externalities and derive conditions for the multiple equilibria which currently exist in the industry.