MAKE-OR-BUY’ IN INTERNATIONAL OLIGOPOLY AND THE ROLE OF COMPETITIVE PRESSURE

We study how competitive pressure influences the make-or-buy decision that oligopolistic firms face between producing an intermediate component in-house or purchasing it from a domestic supplier. We model outsourcing as a bilateral relationship in which the supplier undertakes relationship-specific investments. A home and foreign firm compete in the home market. Firms’ mode of operation decision depends on cost and strategic considerations. Competitive pressure increases firms’ incentive to outsource. Consumer gains from trade liberalisation are enhanced when it leads to less outsourcing.Outsourcing, Vertical Integration, Trade Liberalisation, Oligopoly

An Efficient Estimator for Dealing with Missing Data on Explanatory Variables in a Probit Choice Model

A common approach to dealing with missing data in econometrics is to estimate the model on the common subset of data, by necessity throwing away potentially useful data. In this paper we consider a particular pattern of missing data on explanatory variables that often occurs in practice and develop a new efficient estimator for models where the dependent variable is binary. We derive exact formulae for the estimator and its asymptotic variance. Simulation results show that our estimator performs well when compared to popular alternatives, such as complete case analysis and multiple imputation. We then use our estimator to examine the portfolio allocation decision of Italian households using the Survey of Household Income and Wealth carried out by the Bank of ItalyMissing Data, Probit Model, Portfolio Allocation, Risk Aversion

Assessing Brand Image through Communalitites and Asymmetries Brand-to-Attribute and Attribute-to-Brand Associations.

Brand image is a key component of customer-based brand equity, and refers to the associations a consumer holds in memory. Such associations are often directional; one should distinguish between brand-to-attribute and attribute-to-brand associations. Information on these associations arise from two ways of collecting data respectively: brand-by-brand evaluations of all attributes and attribute-by-attribute evaluations of all brands. In this paper, the authors present a methodological approach, namely correspondence analysis of matched matrices, to assess the communalitites as well as asymmetries between brand-to-attribute and attribute-to-brand associations. The methodology results in perceptual maps visualizing brand image. The approach is illustrated in an empirical market research project in which two samples of consumers evaluated ten brands of deodorants and eleven attributes.

Efficient Estimation of the Non-linear Volatility and Growth Model

Econometrics, Macroeconomics, Growth, Volatility

Tax uniformity: A commitment device for restraining opportunistic behaviour.

We investigate whether and to what extent uniform and differentiated tax systems diverge in their propensity to create distortionary opportunistic behavoiur. The set-up in which we carry out our analysis features polluting firms that are confronted with existence a Pigovian emission tax. Firms can invest in pollution abatement. We first show that the existence of emmission taxes, although optimally chosen, create strategic incentives for firms to distort their abatement investment. Second, we find that a system of differentiated emission taxes has a greater propensity to foster strategic distortions in abatement investment than a uniform emission tax regime.Uniform tax, Differentiated taxes, Emission tax, Short-run policy commitment, Pollution-abating investment, Strategic investment.

The Impact of Monetary Policy Shocks on Stock Prices: Evidence from Canada and the United States

monetary policy shocks; stock prices; open economy; structural vector autoregressive model

Optimal Initial Public O¤ering design with aftermarket trading.

We characterize the optimal pricing and allocation of shares in the presence of distinct adverse selection problems. Some investors have private information at the time of the IPO and sell their shares in the after-market upon facing liquidity needs. Others learn their private interest in the after-market, and sell their shares strategically. The optimal mechanism trades-o¤ informational rents and rents to strategic traders. Flipping facilitates truthful information revelation. When liquidity needs are likely, it is optimal to allocate all shares to investors informed at the IPO stage. Otherwise, some shares are allocated to those who trade strategically in the after-market.

Preferential Treatment in College Admissions and Student Incentives

This paper examines student incentives when faced with a college admissions policy which pursues student body diversity. The effect of a diversify-conscious admissions policy critically depends on the design of the policy. If the admissions policy fails to incentivize students from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background it may lead to a deterioration in the intergroup score gap while failing to improve student body diversity in equilibrium.Affirmative Action, College Admissions, All-Pay Auction, Contest, Tournament

The U.S. and Irish Credit Crises: Their Distinctive Differences and Common Features

Abstract: Although the US credit crisis precipitated it, the Irish credit crisis is an identifiably separate one, which might have occurred in the absence of the U.S. crash. The distinctive differences between them are notable. Almost all the apparent causal factors of the U.S. crisis are missing in the Irish case; and the same applies vice-versa. At a deeper level, we identify four common features of the two credit crises: capital bonanzas, irrational exuberance, regulatory imprudence, and moral hazard. The particular manifestations of these four “deep” common features are quite different in the two cases.

CO2 emissions and economic activity: heterogeneity across countries and non stationary series

This paper explores the homogeneity of the functional form, the parameters, and the turning point, when appropriate, of the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic activity for 31 countries (28 OECD, Brazil, China, and India) during the period 1950 to 2006 using cointegration analysis. With a sample highly overlapped over time between countries, the result reveals that the homogeneity across countries is rejected, both in functional form and in the parameters of long term relationship. This confirms the relevance of considering the heterogeneity in exploring the relationship between air pollution and economic activity to avoid spurious parameter estimates and infer a wrong behavior of the functional form, which could lead to induce that the relationship is reversed when in fact it is direct.Bound testing, cointegration, CO2 emissions, environmental Kuznets curve, heterogeneity