Food Superstores, Food Deserts and Traffic Generation in the UK: A Semi-Parametric Regression Approach

This study contributes another route towards explaining and tackling ‘food desert’ effects. It features the estimation of a (semi-parametric) trip attraction model for food superstores in the UK using a composite dataset. The data comprises information from the UK Census of Population, the NOMIS (National Online Manpower Information System) archive and traffic and site-specific data from the TRICS (Trip Rate Information Computer System) databases. The results indicate that traffic to a given food superstore, ceteris paribus, increases with household car ownership, store parking provision, site size (floor space), and distance to the nearest competitor. Furthermore, increases in public transport provision are shown to be associated with increasing car trips. This latter effect is discussed in the light of planning policy for development control purposes and a role linked to the reinforcement of ‘food deserts’. The results also reveal activity-specific household economies of scope and scale. It is suggested how these may also further perpetuate unsustainable development and ‘food desert’ characteristics.Traffic Generation, Food Superstores, Food Deserts, Activity Based Travel, Sustainable Development, Modelling

Bayesian Geoadditive Seemingly Unrelated Regression

Parametric seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models are a common tool for multivariate regression analysis when error variables are reasonably correlated, so that separate univariate analysis may result in inefficient estimates of covariate effects. A weakness of parametric models is that they require strong assumptions on the functional form of possibly nonlinear effects of metrical covariates. In this paper, we develop a Bayesian semiparametric SUR model, where the usual linear predictors are replaced by more flexible additive predictors allowing for simultaneous nonparametric estimation of such covariate effects and of spatial effects. The approach is based on appropriate smoothness priors which allow different forms and degrees of smoothness in a general framework. Inference is fully Bayesian and uses recent Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques

Impact of specific CSR activities, executive & board diversity on equity valuations

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2018The objective of this study is to identify the impact of specific corporate social responsibility behaviors on equity prices. This study uses fixed effect parametric and nonparametric regressions to quantify the effect of specific corporate social responsibility activities on the equity price multiples of a number of US firms from 1999 to 2009. The results of these empirical models consistently show that CEO diversity, corporate charitable giving, and work-life balance benefit plans, are associated with lower equity price multiples compared against similar firms that lack these characteristics. Additionally, board diversity and support of the LBGTQ community is associated with a positive impact on equity price multiples. This study provides evidence that individual corporate social responsibility activities can have drastic impacts on equity prices, leading the way for future research testing whether the magnitudes of these impacts are rational and in-line with their expected impact on financial performance and risk, or a deviation from the efficient market hypothesis

Domestic Plant Productivity and Incremental Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment

We develop a simple test to assess whether horizontal spillover effects from multinational to domestic firms are endogenous to the market structure generated by the incremental entry of the same multinationals. In particular, we analyze the performance of a panel of 10,650 firms operating in Romania in the period 1995-2001. Controlling for the simultaneity bias in productivity estimates through semi-parametric techniques, we find that changes in domestic firms’ TFP are positively related to the first foreign investment in a specific industry and region, but get significantly weaker and become negative as the number of multinationals that enter in the considered industry/region crosses a specific threshold. These changing marginal effects can explain the lack of horizontal spillovers arising in traditional model designs. We also find these effects to vary between manufacturing and service, suggesting as a possible explanation a strategic change in technology transfer decisions by multinational firms as the market structure evolves.transition economies;multinational firms;productivity

How revealing is revealed preference?

This lecture address the following two key criticisms of the empirical application of revealed preference theory: When the RP conditions do not reject, they do not provide precise predictions; and when they do reject, they do not help characterize the nature of irrationality or the degree/direction of changing tastes. Recent developments in the application of RP theory are shown to have rendered these criticisms unfounded. A powerful test of rationality is available that also provides a natural characterization of changing tastes. Tight bounds on demand responses and on the welfare costs of relative price and tax changes are also available and are shown to work well in practice

An Evaluation of the Soda Tax with Multivariate Nonparametric Regressions

This research extends past work by Shonkwiler and Yen (1999) by allowing for distributional flexibility and nonlinear responses in the form of established semiparametric and nonparametric regressions. The proposed models are shown to outperform the parametric version typically used in demand analysis to characterize a system of censored equations in terms of model fit and prediction power. Using the developed models, we derive elasticities associated with different individual-specific scenarios with regard to the recently proposed “penny-an-ounce” tax on soft drinks sweetened with sugar.censoring, health taxes, nonparametric regressions, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

PRODUCTIVITY SPILLOVERS FROM MULTINATIONAL ACTIVITY TO LOCAL FIRMS IN IRELAND. OECD PRODUCTIVITY WORKING PAPERS No. 16, November 2018

As well as their direct effects on output and employment, the attraction of foreign direct investment is sometimes argued to provide further economic benefits through spillover effects that potentially increase the productivity performance of domestic firms. Empirical evidence on these indirect effects has however tended to be mixed. This paper uses Irish firm-level data on both manufacturing and services firms to re-examine and update evidence on intra-industry and intra-region spillovers and then extends the previous research by examining if spillovers are more likely to occur through supply chain linkages. In addition, we consider the heterogeneity of investors and allow the spillover effects to differ for foreign affiliates owned by EU and non-EU based parent companies. Finally, we examine the role of domestic firms’ absorptive capacity in conditioning the effects of spillovers from multinationals on their productivity. Overall, we find limited evidence or a negative link between the presence of foreign-owned firms and the productivity of domestic firms in the same industry or the same region. Examining forward and backward linkages through supply chains indicates that on average, selling to foreign-owned firms had a positive effect while buying from foreign owned firms had a negative effect on the average productivity of domestic firms. Finally, considering the absorptive capacity of domestic firms and allowing the spillover effects to differ depending on the origin of the parent companies, we find that the positive productivity spillovers come from supply chain linkages between domestic firms investing in R&D and foreign affiliates of multinationals with headquarters based outside the EU

Finding the path(s) towards profitable e-commerce

Relying on a unique and arguably representative sample of transaction e-commerce companies, this paper takes a closer look at whether and how companies could be profitable on-line. This analysis clearly demonstrates that a non-trivial set of winners are emerging, which combine both strong operational excellence as well as fine-tuned to about 3 generic strategic postures. --E-tailing,Strategic Clusters,Post entry performance

Econometric analysis of volatile art markets

A new heteroskedastic hedonic regression model is suggested which takes into account time-varying volatility and is applied to a blue chips art market. A nonparametric local likelihood estimator is proposed, and this is more precise than the often used dummy variables method. The empirical analysis reveals that errors are considerably non-Gaussian, and that a student distribution with time-varying scale and degrees of freedom does well in explaining deviations of prices from their expectation. The art price index is a smooth function of time and has a variability that is comparable to the volatility of stock indices.Volatility, art markets, hedonic regression, semiparametric estimation