Effort Elicitation,Wage Differentials and Income Distribution in A Wage‐Led Growth Regime

Motivated by the empirical evidence on endogenous labor effort and wage differentials, this paper explores implications for distribution and growth of firms using different strategies to elicit effort from workers. The frequency distribution of effort‐elicitation strategies across firms is governed by a replicator dynamic that generates wage differential as a long‐run equilibrium. Although firms willing to elicit more effort have to compensate workers with a higher wage rate, a larger proportion of firms adopting such strategy will not necessarily produce a higher wage share and thereby a higher growth rate. The intuition is that, depending on the accompanying rise in labor productivity, the wage share may not vary positively with the proportion of firms paying higher wages.     

Analysing reviews in the Web 2.0: Small and medium hotels in Portugal

This study presents a characterisation of online reviews for small and medium hotels (SMH) in Portugal. We collected and analysed 1500 online reviews from 50 SMH. The findings show that room, staff and location were the concepts most frequently appeared in the reviews, with cleanliness, friendliness, helpfulness, and centrality of position the terms most frequently used to qualify the concepts. This study points out the main features which SMH managers should prioritize.     

An empirical model of the Brazilian country risk -- an extension of the beta country risk model

The paper examines the distribution of unemployment experience in Britain within the framework of the Han and Hausman semi-parametric estimator, which has the advantage of circumventing problems associated with individual heterogeneity arising from unobserved individual characteristics. The results imply that the unemployment burden is unequally distributed among the working population. Males and females bear an unequal unemployment burden. The study casts light on the characteristics of those individuals who are most likely to experience a high unemployment burden.     

EXCHANGE RATE TARGET ZONES: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

This work selectively reviews the literature on exchange rate target zones and their theoretical and empirical methodologies and examines whether they can be used to clarify to what extent this type of exchange rate regime could contribute to greater exchange rate stability. We discuss the main contributions of the first and second generations of exchange rate target zone models. In an attempt to reconcile the poor empirical performance of the Krugman model with the reality of exchange rate target zone regimes, this line of research integrates target zones with alternative underlying economic models, such as imperfect credibility, intra‐marginal interventions and sticky price models. It was thus possible to understand the correlations observed between the exchange rate, its fundamentals determinants and the interest rate differential, and to explain the fact that the statistical distribution of the exchange rate is hump shaped rather than U shaped. This implies that the initial emphasis of target zone models on nonlinearities, ‘honeymoon effect’, ‘smooth pasting’ and marginal interventions has vanished. Exchange rate target zones are better described as similar to managed floating regimes with intra‐marginal interventions, with some marginal interventions when the exchange rate reaches the edges of the floating band.     

Relevance and advantages of using the item response theory

The item response theory (IRT) also known as latent trait theory, is used for the development, evaluation and administration of standardized measurements; it is widely used in the areas of psychology and education. This theory was developed and expanded for over 50 years and has contributed to the development of measurement scales of latent traits. This paper presents the basic and fundamental concepts of this IRT and a practical example of the construction of scales is proposed to illustrate the feasibility, advantages and validity of IRT through a known measurement, the height. The results obtained with the practical application of IRT confirm its effectiveness in the evaluation of latent traits.     

Investment, credit, and endogenous cycles

This paper presents a general-equilibrium dynamic Ramsey-type model that can generate endogenous cycle. We assume two different representative agents, borrowers and lenders, and financial intermediaries with inside and outside money. We investigate under which conditions this model presents a cyclical relationship between capital and loans. The sources of endogenous fluctuations in this model come from a credit restriction in the representative-borrower problem.     

Affective predictors of the effectiveness of training moderated by the cognitive complexity of expected competencies

Research in training, development and education (TD&E) in organizations has produced important results in the last two decades. Evaluation of TD&E has been a special focus of this research, which has resulted in the production of relevant predictive models. The present study has the aim of testing a model of effectiveness of training on work, with the trainee's motivation and satisfaction with training as the antecedent variables and the type of training as a moderator variable. Data collection with 600 participants in a Brazilian bank was conducted with measurement scales before training, at its end and three months later. The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that the motivation of the trainee and satisfaction with training are predictors of its effectiveness on work and that the type of training affects this predictive relationship. The key feature of the type of training was the cognitive complexity of expected competencies.     

Consumer perceptions of risks of chemical and microbiological contaminants associated with food chains: a cross-national study

The development and implementation of effective systems to identify vulnerabilities in food chains to chemical and microbiological contaminants must take account of consumer priorities and preferences. The present investigation attempted to understand consumer perceptions associated with chemical and microbiological contaminants in four specific food chains (drinking water, farmed salmon, chicken and milk powder). To this end, ten focus group discussions were held in five different countries (Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Brazil). Consumers expressed higher concerns about chemical, as compared with microbial, contaminants. Chemical contaminants were more strongly associated with the potential for severe consequences, long-term effects and lack of personal control. Traceability was considered by consumers as a useful tool that offers the potential to improve consumer confidence in food safety.     

Improvement Trajectories in Operations and Technology Management: Concept, Process and Content Issues

This study introduces a framework for the analysis of improvement trajectories in operations and technology management. In the first part, the concept of improvement trajectories in operations is defined, grounding on the evolutionary economic issues of path dependence and dynamic capabilities. In the second part, seven dimensions of the process and content of improvement trajectories are reviewed and integrated into a research framework, and research propositions are built to ground further research on the subject. In the third part, the roles of implementation history, innovation capabilities, and strategic orientation as determinants of improvement trajectory success are discussed.     

Stock Market Reaction to Monetary Policy: An Event Study Analysis of the Brazilian Case

This article examines the relationship between the monetary policy implemented by the Central Bank of Brazil and the stock market. We implement event study analysis and analyze the effect of the anticipated and unanticipated components of monetary policy decisions on the returns of the IBOVESPA index and 53 stocks. We find that monetary policy has a significant effect on the stock market, but is only responsible for a small proportion of market variation. The analysis at the sector level with expected returns identifies that the financial sector is the most affected by this policy, whereas with excess returns only industrial goods are significantly affected. Moreover, individual assets respond in a rather heterogeneous fashion to monetary policy; however, when we look at excess returns, we identify a reduction in the intensity and in the number of companies impacted by monetary policy. Finally, the monetary shock is explained by unanticipated variations in the unemployment rate, in the Industrial Production Index, in the General Market Price Index, and in the Broad Consumer Price Index.