Competition and norms: a self-defeating combination?

This paper investigates the effects of information feedback mechanisms on electricity and heating usage at a student hall of residence in London. In a randomised control trial, we formulate different treatments such as feedback information and norms, as well as prize competition among subjects. We show that information and norms lead to a sharp – more than 20% - reduction in overall energy consumption. Because participants do not pay for their energy consumption this response cannot be driven by cost saving incentives. Interestingly, when combining feedback and norms with a prize competition for achieving low energy consumption, the reduction effect – while present initially – disappears in the long run. This could suggest that external rewards reduce and even destroy intrinsic motivation to change behaviour

The Legacy of a Fractured Eurozone: The Greek Dra(ch)ma

This paper addresses neoliberal origins of the acute geoeconomic and social crisis that was inflicted on Greece since 2010 with the unleashing of the 3 consecutive bailout plans and the implementation of fierce austerity policies. We further scrutinize the composition of the soaring Greek debt and most importantly, the unsettling utilization of the troika loans for the 2010–15 period. For the first time in the literature, we provide evidence that the vast bulk of the loans went overwhelmingly not to benefiting a “profligate” Greek state but to avoiding the write-downs of bad loans made by reckless creditors (mainly, German and French banks) to the Greek government and private banks. We propose the temporary adoption of a parallel currency in the form of government IOUs, together with other drastic measures to reboot the ailing Greek economy inside the Eurozone

Financial Development, Political Instability, Trade Openness and Growth in Brazil: Evidence from a New Dataset, 1890‑2003

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. What is the relationship between financial development, political instability, trade openness and economic growth and how does it change over time? This paper examines these links using a new econometric approach and unique data set. In this paper, we apply the logistic smooth transition model (LST) to annual data for Brazil from 1890 to 2003. The main finding is that financial development has a time-varying effect on economic growth, which depends significantly on (jointly estimated) trade openness thresholds. In addition, political instability displays a negative effect on growth whereas trade openness a positive one. Finally, our estimates show that in 56% of the years in which financial development has a ‘below the mean’ effect, we find that trade openness experiences a substantial ‘above the mean’ change

How Smart Cities Transform Operations Models: A New Research Agenda for Operations Management in the Digital Economy

The notion of smart cities is growing in prominence in the digital economy. The integration of urban infrastructures with information and communication technologies (ICT) enables the development of new operations models. Digitised infrastructures offer opportunities for public and private organisations to design and deliver more customer-centric products or services, particularly for those that require geographical proximity with consumers in the O2O (online to offline) context. A framework is developed and used to analyse three case examples. These cases illustrate the emergence of new operations models and, demonstrate how smart cities are re-defining the characteristics of operations models around their scalability, analytical output and, connectivity. We also explore the feasibility, vulnerability and acceptability of each new operation. This paper contributes to our understanding of how smart cities can potentially transform operational models, and sets out a research agenda for operations management in smart cities in the digital economy

The economic impact of broadband: Evidence from OECD countries

Information networks have a significant impact on modern economies. This is reflected by their adoption and use across countries along with the increasing quality of the networks. As a result, the impacts on the economy are driven both by the level of adoption and the quality of the connections. Looking at the OECD countries between 2002 and 2016, I find a consistent effect of broadband adoption on national economic output with diminishing returns to scale. I also find that speed is a moderator of these effects and identify a speed threshold, beyond which further quality increases are deemed unproductive. This speed-threshold increases over time as more applications and skills become available. The measurement of adoption levels and speeds helps formulate a policy tool that guides the development of new communications networks. It also shapes the key priorities in terms of their coverage and quality trade-offs

The economic impact of broadband: Evidence from OECD countries

Information networks have a significant impact on modern economies. This is reflected by their adoption and use across countries along with the increasing quality of the networks. As a result, the impacts on the economy are driven both by the level of adoption and the quality of the connections. Looking at the OECD countries between 2002 and 2016, I find a consistent effect of broadband adoption on national economic output with diminishing returns to scale. I also find that speed is a moderator of these effects and identify a speed threshold, beyond which further quality increases are deemed unproductive. This speed-threshold increases over time as more applications and skills become available. The measurement of adoption levels and speeds helps formulate a policy tool that guides the development of new communications networks. It also shapes the key priorities in terms of their coverage and quality trade-offs

The current state of financial (dis)integration in the euro area

This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.The sovereign bond crisis which started in 2010 caused a major disruption in euro area financial markets. The rise of credit risk led banks from the “core” of the euro area to stop lending to the euro-area “periphery”. Only the huge liquidity support by the ECB through its unconventional monetary policy measures alleviated divergent financing conditions across euro area Member States. But the fragmentation of euro-area financial markets has not disappeared, and financial fragmentation still continues to divide the euro area. This is the case despite progress on the European Banking Union project and the ECB’s (conventional and unconventional) monetary policy. Against this background, this note assesses the implications and risks stemming from persistent fragmentation of euro area financial markets for the transmission of monetary policy. Secondly, it discusses some of the policy options available (to the ECB) which may reduce this fragmentation.European Parliament. Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs