PARAMETRIC AND NONPARAMETRIC MARKET POWER TESTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Parametric and nonparametric market power tests most commonly used to assess imperfectly competitive behavior are identified. Monte Carlo experiments are used to assess the accuracy of eight nonparametric tests. The results are compared to Raper, Love, and Shumway's (1997) findings concerning three parametric market power tests in the Bresnahan-Lau tradition. Both monopolistic and monopsonistic market power tests are implemented using data from 10 known market structures. Only two of the nonparametric market power tests distinguish between market structures adequately. The parametric tests perform well, although functional form bias is not investigated in this study.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

Private Governance in International Affairs and the Erosion of Coordinated Market Economies in the European Union

Part Three of the Germany in Global Economic Governance SeriesThe variety of capitalism-perspective is particularly well suited for an assessment of the broader political and economic effects of transnational private governance, given its focus on the interaction between the diverse economic institutions that are regulating capitalist formations. The core notion here is “institutional complementarity,” i.e. “referring to situations in which the functionality of an institutional form is conditioned by other institutions” (Martin Höpner). Thus, substantial changes in one institution may have wide-ranging consequences for other institutions and, correspondingly, for the model as a whole. Within the “variety of capitalism” (VoC)-perspective, the most sophisticated and most frequently used frame of reference is the distinction between “Liberal Market Economies/LME” and “Coordinated Market Economies/CME,” with the first “Anglo-Saxon” model usually illustrated with the case of the U.S. and the latter “Rhenish” model with Germany (Peter Hall and David Soskice). Currently, we can observe that institutions that are strongly interlinked with the LME model are being transplanted into CME type economies by means of transnational private governance, particularly within the European Union. Examples include accounting standards, rating agencies and competition policy enforcement by law firms. Together, these recent activities tend to strongly undermine the institutional complementarities inherent in CMEs

DETERMINISTIC NONPARAMETRIC MARKET POWER TESTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

A review of recent literature reflects the development of several deterministic nonparametric market power tests. We use Monte Carlo experiments to evaluate the veracity of four monopolistic and four monopsonistic market power tests that use the deterministic nonparametric approach. The experiments are implemented using data from ten known market structures. When results are compared to Raper, Love, and Shumway's (1999) findings concerning parametric market power tests in the Bresnahan-Lau tradition, we find that the parametric tests perform well while only two of the nonparametric tests appear able to identify market power.Marketing,

Who suffers during recessions? Economic downturns, job loss, and cardiovascular disease in older Americans

Job loss in the years before retirement has been found to increase risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but some studies suggest that CVD mortality among older workers declines during recessions. We hypothesized that recessionary labor market conditions were associated with reduced CVD risk among persons who did not experience job loss and increased CVD risk among persons who lost their jobs. In our analyses, we used longitudinal, nationally representative data from Americans 50 years of age or older who were enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study and surveyed every 2 years from 1992 to 2010 about their employment status and whether they had experienced a stroke or myocardial infarction. To measure local labor market conditions, Health and Retirement Study data were linked to county unemployment rates. Among workers who experienced job loss, recessionary labor market conditions at the time of job loss were associated with a significantly higher CVD risk (hazard ratio = 2.54, 95% confidence interval: 1.39, 4.65). In contrast, among workers who did not experience job loss, recessionary labor market conditions were associated with a lower CVD risk (hazard ratio = 0.50, 95% confidence interval: 0.31, 0.78). These results suggest that recessions might be protective in the absence of job loss but hazardous in the presence of job loss

The expression of a recombinant glycolate dehydrogenase polyprotein in potato (Solanum tuberosum) plastids strongly enhances photosynthesis and tuber yield

We have increased the productivity and yield of potato (Solanum tuberosum) by developing a novel method to enhance photosynthetic carbon fixation based on expression of a polyprotein (DEFp) comprising all three subunits (D, E and F) of Escherichia coli glycolate dehydrogenase (GlcDH). The engineered polyprotein retained the functionality of the native GlcDH complex when expressed in E. coli and was able to complement mutants deficient for the D, E and F subunits. Transgenic plants accumulated DEFp in the plastids, and the recombinant protein was active in planta, reducing photorespiration and improving CO2 uptake with a significant impact on carbon metabolism. Transgenic lines with the highest DEFp levels and GlcDH activity produced significantly higher levels of glucose (5.8-fold), fructose (3.8-fold), sucrose (1.6-fold) and transitory starch (threefold), resulting in a substantial increase in shoot and leaf biomass. The higher carbohydrate levels produced in potato leaves were utilized by the sink capacity of the tubers, increasing the tuber yield by 2.3-fold. This novel approach therefore has the potential to increase the biomass and yield of diverse crops

Employment protection and job insecurity

Government regulations are frequently seen as causes of poor economic performance. The goal of this study is to evaluate this claim focusing on one class of regulations, employment protection legislation, and their impact on labor market performance across advanced economies. Even though little is known about the causal effects of employment protection, there is a widely shared consensus that in particular young people suffer from their consequences. Focusing on the youth labor market effects of employment protection should therefore be a generous test for their alleged costs. The empirical analysis draws on two cross-national data sources, uses different estimation strategies and performs a number of robustness checks. The results indicate that there are no robust effects of job security provisions on youth unemployment or employment, neither in the cross-section nor over time. Deregulating temporary employment contracts has brought neither employment gains nor unemployment reductions, but increased labor market insecurity among young people