The influence of financial changes on interest rates and monetary policy: a review of recent evidence

Interest rates ; Monetary policy ; Economic conditions - United States

Intensity of Interaction in Suppy of Business Advice and Client Impact: A Comparison of Consultancy, Business Associations and Government Support Initiatives for SMEs

This paper assesses the supply of business advice using new empirical evidence from a large scale survey of SMEs. The chief focus of the paper is on a comparison of suppliers that operate in different environments of regulation, contract and reputation. The paper argues that interaction intensity varies with the level of information asymmetry of these different environments, between different types of service supplier and their clients. Interaction intensity between suppliers also varies as a result of the level of trust they enjoy: for example, the low trust enjoyed by consultants appears to encourage higher intensity of interaction which improves the tailoring of the service to the client's needs and enhances impact. The paper assesses interaction intensity using the existence of site visits and/or a written brief/contract as indicators. Although these measures have limitations, the paper demonstrates clear and significant differences between suppliers in terms of interaction intensity, use of contracts and impact in three broad categories: private sector consultancy (low trust, high intensity, high impact), business associations (high trust, low intensity, moderate impact) and government support agencies (moderate trust, moderate to high intensity, moderate or low impact). Multivariate estimation methods demonstrate that significant differences in interaction intensity, use of contracts and impact by client type are much less important than differences in supplier type. This indicates that suppliers generally develop more into niche service fields or groups of services rather than niches related to types of firm.Business Services, Contracts, Business Link, Trust, Reputation

The Use and Impact of Business Advice by SMEs in Britain: An Empirical Assessment Using Logit and Ordered Logit Models

This paper assesses the effect of differences in types of client on the use and impact of business advice by SMEs in Britain using new survey evidence from the Cambridge ESRC Centre for Business Research Survey of 1997. The survey, covering over 2500 respondents, is the largest and most definitive assessment available in Britain. Moreover, the survey allows an assessment of the full range of the providers of external advice, the private sector, business associations and various public sector bodies, as well as the fields of advice. Using multivariate logit models we find that size of firm, rate of growth and innovation appear to be the main variables influencing the likelihood of firms seeking external advice, both from different sources and from different fields. Other variables which are investigated include, age, profitability, skill levels, manufacturer/services, and exporter/non-exporter. Ordered logit models of the impact of the advice demonstrate that there are significant differences between clients' perceived impact of advice and the sources of advice they use, chiefly as a result of firm size, and to a lesser extent for growth, innovation and export levels.Business Advice, Business Link, consultancy, logit, ordered logit

Are U.S. reserve requirements still binding?

Paper for a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York entitled Financial Innovation and Monetary TransmissionBank reserves ; Federal funds market (United States) ; Monetary policy

Falling reserve balances and the federal funds rate

The growth of "sweeps"--a banking practice in which depository institutions shift funds out of customer accounts subject to reserve requirements--has reduced the required balances held by banks in their accounts at the Federal Reserve. This development could lead to greater volatility in the federal funds rate as banks try to manage their accounts with very low balances. An analysis of the evidence suggests that the volatility of the funds rate is rising slightly, but not enough to disrupt the federal funds market or affect the implementation of monetary policy.Bank reserves ; Federal funds market (United States)

Events and Controversies: Influences of a Shocking News Event on Information Seeking

It has been suggested that online search and retrieval contributes to the intellectual isolation of users within their preexisting ideologies, where people's prior views are strengthened and alternative viewpoints are infrequently encountered. This so-called "filter bubble" phenomenon has been called out as especially detrimental when it comes to dialog among people on controversial, emotionally charged topics, such as the labeling of genetically modified food, the right to bear arms, the death penalty, and online privacy. We seek to identify and study information-seeking behavior and access to alternative versus reinforcing viewpoints following shocking, emotional, and large-scale news events. We choose for a case study to analyze search and browsing on gun control/rights, a strongly polarizing topic for both citizens and leaders of the United States. We study the period of time preceding and following a mass shooting to understand how its occurrence, follow-on discussions, and debate may have been linked to changes in the patterns of searching and browsing. We employ information-theoretic measures to quantify the diversity of Web domains of interest to users and understand the browsing patterns of users. We use these measures to characterize the influence of news events on these web search and browsing patterns

VALUING BOTANIC COLLECTIONS: A COMBINED TRAVEL-COST AND CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEY IN AUSTRALIA

The economic value of biological collections in three major botanic gardens in Australia was estimated using the Travel-Cost (TC) and Contingent Valuation (CV) methods. The study used truncated count data models to control for the non-negative integer and truncation properties of the number of visits to botanic gardens in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. We estimate consumer surplus values of approximately $34 per trip to each botanic garden, resulting in the total social welfare estimate of approximately$96.9 million in 2010 Australian dollars. This result is relatively high compared to similar studies conducted in other countries. Willingness to pay (WTP) for entry fees and or higher parking charges for access to botanic gardens were also investigated. Results indicate a positive mean WTP of approximately $3-$4 per trip per person. These findings will be useful for resource management decisions in the botanic gardens and other biological collections in Australia.Economic value, botanic gardens, biological collections, willingness to pay, travel-cost method, contingent valuation method., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,