Cost of Equity Capital and Additionality of Brazilian Renewable Energy Projects Under the Clean Development Mechanism

The purpose of this study was to assess additionality and the practice of estimating the cost of equity capital in 70 renewable energy projects in Brazil. Forty projects demonstrated additionality by means of financial analysis. No strong or clear relationships were found between project characteristics and the financial method used to demonstrate additionality. Among projects that used financial analysis, the evaluation often employed the risk-free rate. Failure to add any risk premium to projects of this nature suggests a certain analytical carelessness, perhaps induced by the innovative or experimental nature of these projects.     

The experience of technological collaborations by MERCOSUR companies

This paper examines some of the experiences in information and knowledge sharing involving MERCOSUR firm. It finds that while technological collaborations by MERCOSUR firms are relatively few, located in low-tech sectors and taking place in an environment of little innovation, they are motivated by the need to 'fuse' their own knowledge with that of partner or to improve available information. Modes of governance vary accordingly, with equity or contractual forms being used for new developments and informal agreements for improvements. Govmments and business associations can be important facilitators of technological collaborations. The analysis of technological collaborations suggested that the better prepared a corporation entered an agreement the more successful it was likely to be. It also pointed out that where interactions were intense, well intended and transparent, included personnel exchanges, were properly assessed and involved receptive participants, learning progressed smoothly and partners were satisfied. Benefits of the collaborations included new patentable and non-patentable products new factories, as well as building trust between partners. Premature termination of some collaborations was the result of financia1 limitations unrelated to the success of the collaboration.     

Word-of-mouth communications in marketing: a meta-analytic review of the antecedents and moderators

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) activity has been studied as an outcome variable of other constructs such as satisfaction, less attention has been given to the antecedents and moderators of WOM when considering WOM as a central construct. Hence, we propose a model of WOM antecedents and moderators using a meta-analytic review. The results show that all antecedents have significant effects on WOM activity, with customer commitment showing the strongest effect. The following hypotheses are also supported: (1) WOM valence is a significant moderator, (2) cross-sectional studies show a stronger influence of satisfaction and loyalty on WOM activity than longitudinal studies, and (3) studies of WOM behavior show a weaker link between loyalty and WOM activity than studies of WOM intentions. In addition, we show that satisfaction has a stronger relationship with positive WOM than loyalty, whereas (dis)loyalty has a stronger relationship with negative WOM than does (dis)satisfaction. We discuss this finding based on the different natures of positive and negative WOM. This article is based on the first author’s dissertation.     

The experience of technological collaborations by MERCOSUR companies

This paper examines some of the experiences in information and knowledge sharing involving MERCOSUR firm. It finds that while technological collaborations by MERCOSUR firms are relatively few, located in low-tech sectors and taking place in an environment of little innovation, they are motivated by the need to ‘fuse’ their own knowledge with that of partner or to improve available information. Modes of governance vary accordingly, with equity or contractual forms being used for new developments and informal agreements for improvements. Govmments and business associations can be important facilitators of technological collaborations. The analysis of technological collaborations suggested that the better prepared a corporation entered an agreement the more successful it was likely to be. It also pointed out that where interactions were intense, well intended and transparent, included personnel exchanges, were properly assessed and involved receptive participants, learning progressed smoothly and partners were satisfied. Benefits of the collaborations included new patentable and non-patentable products new factories, as well as building trust between partners. Premature termination of some collaborations was the result of financia1 limitations unrelated to the success of the collaboration.     

Rent-seeking in an emerging market: A DSGE approach

Due to the fact that rent-seeking is by definition an unobservable variable, measuring its size and evolution over the business cycle can be a daunting challenge. In this article, by embedding rent-seeking behavior in an otherwise standard open-economy DSGE model, we are able to derive a quarterly time series of this variable (expressed as a percentage deviation from the trend) for an emerging economy such as Brazil. The estimated series, spanning the period 2002Q1?2017Q4, shows a strong positive correlation with the “Commodity Super Cycle” of the 2000 decade and falls as a result of some political scandals and their ensuing investigations, among other driving forces. We also rely on the same model to assess how several shocks hitting the economy affect both rent-seeking and the relevant macroeconomic variables in our model. Barring monetary expansions, increased exports and higher income transfers to households, expansionary shocks are associated with lower rent-seeking activity. Factoring in these two sets of results, the upshot is that rent-seeking behavior shows a pattern of procyclicality in the Brazilian economy.     

Economic volatility and financial markets: The case of mortgage‐backed securities

The volatility of aggregate economic activity in the United States decreased markedly in the mid‐eighties. The decrease involved several components of GDP and has been linked to a more stable economic environment, identified by smaller shocks, more effective policy, and a diverse set of innovations in technology as well as financial markets. We study one such financial innovation, and document a negative relation between the rapid growth of mortgage‐backed securities and the volatility of GDP and some of its components from the mid‐1970s to the late 1990s. We also document that this relation changed sign, from negative to positive, in the early 2000s.     

PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS SOFTWARE: AN EXPLORATORY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE OPTIONS

The software available to implement and carry out efficiency analysis is crucial for the diffusion of efficiency frontier techniques among applied researchers and policy makers. The implementation of up‐to‐date productivity and efficiency analysis is indeed important to advance our knowledge in many fields, ranging from the public and regulated sectors to the private ones. This contribution fills a gap in the existing literature and surveys the currently available options to estimate a variety of frontier methodologies using either general or dedicated programs. We outline directions for future research.     

Anticonsumption beyond consumers: The role of small organic producers in environmentally oriented anticonsumption

Recent studies recognize that environmentally oriented anticonsumption gives power to individuals who are willing to express their environmental concerns. Yet, it goes beyond consumers’ decisions and should also include producers’ practices and discourses. In this study, we explore the food system context and the emergence of organic food as a more sustainable and healthy food production mode to describe the role of organic farmers in building social and material arrangements against conventional food production and consumption. Our empirical study involved an interpretative approach based on 29 interviews with Brazilian organic farmers and experts in organic production. The findings indicate that farmers explore two different discursive mechanisms to build arguments that support the hegemonic and conventional food production system. Farmers also perform two sets of supporting practices that allow the construction of an alternative approach to food production and consumption. We conclude that farmers’ discourses and practices build an alternative food system, enabling conventional food anticonsumption. This study contributes to the literature of anticonsumption by expanding the traditional consumer-centric perspective through the inclusion of the producer perspective.