Smoothing the adjustment to trade liberalization

Empirica - We use a dynamic general equilibrium trade model with comparative advantage, heterogeneous firms, heterogeneous workers and endogenous firm entry to analyze economic policy meant to...     

How might the negative impact of higher education on growth be explained? The role of vertical qualification (mis)match in an MRW‐type model

This study explores the impact of higher education on growth in 11 new EU members over the period 2000–2016 using an augmented MRW‐type model which takes into account the quality of education and vertical mismatch. More precisely, it tests whether the accelerating increase of college graduates causes an oversupply of educated labour which, in turn, extends the qualification mismatch and adversely affects growth of per capita income. We find that an increase of the most educated labour force does not per se lead to a higher growth rate. The impact of human capital becomes positive and statistically significant only if graduates with occupations requiring tertiary education are considered in the model. In addition, the econometric outcome implies that the extent of skill mismatch is determined primarily by the rising female population with college education and the gross value added of trade‐related services.     

Extractive Industries Reporting: A Review of Accounting Challenges and the Research Literature

While the extractive industries (EI) are of major significance economically, the reporting of their activities has been the subject of contentious debate posing dilemmas for regulators and standard setters over many decades. In order to ensure alignment with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) research project on EI, we first identify some important economic characteristics of EI and associated accounting challenges together with an overview of how current accounting standards deal with these challenges using International Financial Reporting Standards as the focus. Second, we conduct a review of extant research on EI reporting analyzed around the key areas of: (a) international diversity of accounting practices and the challenges facing information users; (b) standard-setting processes and lobbying behaviour that deals with why the IASB (and other standard setters) have not succeeded in developing rigorous standards for extractive activities; (c) the reporting of oil, gas, and mineral reserves, given that large proportions of the assets of EI firms (the reserves) are off-balance sheet; (d) environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting dealing with how EI firms have increased their reporting of ESG information in response to regulatory demands and pressure for voluntary disclosures; and (e) other EI related topics such as earnings management, risk disclosures, and voluntary disclosure behaviour. Finally, we present some conclusions together with suggestions relating to key areas for future research on EI reporting.     

Relative deprivation, relative satisfaction, and attitudes towards immigrants: Evidence from Ukraine

This paper applies the concept of relative deprivation/satisfaction to studying the formation of attitudes towards immigrants. It finds that the feeling of group relative deprivation, as opposed to individual relative deprivation or satisfaction, adversely affects the attitudes of native-born, even when its potential endogeneity is taken into account. Furthermore, relative deprivation matters only for native-born who subjectively underestimate their well-being, but not for those who overestimate it. When considering other forms of native-born individuals’ perceived disadvantage, such as in terms of employment, access to education or medical facilities, there is weak evidence that only a perceived disadvantage in obtaining medical aid negatively affects attitudes.     

Households’ foreign currency borrowing in Central and Eastern Europe

Foreign currency loans represent an important feature of recent financial developments in CEECs. This might pose a serious challenge for macroeconomic stability. Against this background, we study the determinants of foreign currency loans of households, using data on the behavior of households in nine CEECs. Our results reveal that foreign currency loans are driven by households’ lack of trust in the stability of the local currency and in domestic financial institutions. Moreover, special factors including remittances and expectations of euro adoption play an important role in selected regions. The financial crisis reduced foreign currency borrowing, but there is some indication this effect might be only temporary.     

Under the Lender’s Looking Glass

This paper studies the impact of bank monitoring on the risk of US equity REITs. Using a unique, hand-collected data sample of mortgage balances, I show that bank screening and monitoring of REIT assets via utilizing secured mortgage financing (vs unsecured, public debt) lowers the overall company risk of a REIT. At the asset level, screening results in retail and office assets with higher acquisition values and located in primary markets, i.e., more transparent assets, being pledged as collateral. Further, I find evidence consistent with the role of lender monitoring for secured mortgage loans and show that properties located in closer proximity to a REIT’s headquarters are more likely to be pledged as collateral for a mortgage.     

Who Benefits from Trade Wars?

Even though economists keep on emphasising the benefits of international trade, protectionism is on the rise in many industrialised countries. The authors argue that a potential explanation for this phenomenon can be found in the short-run distributional effects of import tariffs: while protectionism hurts the economy from an aggregate perspective (i.e. GDP goes down), unskilled workers in import-competing sectors benefit in the short run and do not lose in the long run. They might therefore lend political support to protectionism.     

Horizontal Product Differentiation: Disclosure and Competition

This paper studies firms' incentives to disclose horizontal product attributes in a competitive environment. With competition, two elements play an important role: whether (i) firms can disclose only their own product characteristics or also those of their competitors, and whether (ii) competitors can react with their pricing decisions to the type of information disclosed. In all possible cases, full revelation is an equilibrium outcome. More importantly, it is generically the unique equilibrium outcome when (i) advertising is comparative and (ii) prices are also advertised, that is, announced simultaneously with the product information. When advertising is noncomparative or prices are not advertised, many nondisclosure equilibria exist.     

THE DYNAMIC AND DISTRIBUTIONAL ASPECTS OF IMPORT TARIFFS

We use a dynamic trade model with two sectors and two types of workers to analyze the optimal setting of income‐generating tariffs. We study dynamic and distributional aspects focusing on the time horizon of policymakers and workers. The level of tariffs preferred by workers depends on the sector where they are employed as well as their skill class, with the relative weight of both aspects determined by the time horizon of the workers. Unskilled workers in the unskilled‐intensive sector are the ones most in favor of protectionism and might even benefit from a trade war.