Business Commons^™

Prediction Markets To Forecast Electricity Demand, Peter Cramton, Luciano De Castro

Luciano I. de Castro

Forecasting electricity demand for future years is an essential step in resource planning. A common approach is for the system operator to predict future demand from the estimates of individual distribution companies. However, the predictions thus obtained may be of poor quality, since the reporting incentives are unclear. We propose a prediction market as a form of forecasting future demand for electricity. We describe how to implement a simple prediction market for continuous variables, using only contracts based on binary variables. We also discuss specific issues concerning the implementation of such a market.

How Demanding Should Equality Of Opportunity Be, And How Much Have We Achieved?, Valentino Dardanoni, Gary S. Fields, John E. Roemer, Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This chapter proposes tests of various notions of equality of opportunity and applies them to intergenerational income data for the United States and Britain. Agreement is widespread that equality of opportunity holds in a society if the chances that individuals have to succeed depend only on their own efforts and not on extraneous circumstances that may inhibit or expand those chances. What is contentious, however, is what constitutes "effort" and "circumstances." Most people, we think, would say that the social connections of an individual's parents would be included among circumstances: equality of opportunity is incomplete if some individuals get …

Organizational Values, Social Responsibility, And Corporate Citizenship: The Case Of Nevada State College, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

Organizational Values, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Citizenship Organizations contribute more than products and services to the society. The generation of jobs, creation of wealth and satisfaction of needs are only a portion of the influence that organizations have in a community. Likewise, organizations are increasingly engaging in social responsible initiatives to respond to the concerns of their various stakeholders (Aguilera, Rupp, Williams, & Ganapathi, 2007). Organizations with a genuine interest for social responsibility and citizenship possess value systems that articulate and integrate these social motives into their corporate strategy (Graber & Kilpatrick, 2008). Higher education institutions in the United States …

A Public Lecture: Labour Markets And Economic Development, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] I want to put forward three propositions to you based on decades of work in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. First, economic development can be (but need not be) a win-win-win situation - for businesses, for individuals and groups of individuals, and for governments and non- governmental organisations (NGOs). Second, the labour market can (but need not) serve as an effective mechanism for contributing to economic growth and for transmitting the gains from economic growth. And third, in both of these areas, whether a country experiences the more favorable set of outcomes or the less favorable ones reflects a) …

Chinese Investment In Ethiopia: Devlopmental Opportunity Or Deepening China's New Mercantilism?, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta

Explaining Commercial Rents In Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas Using An Error Correction Model With Panel Data, Maria R. Ibanez

Maria Ibanez

This project presents rent models for flexible, industrial, retail and office properties in the Unites States. Panel data are used covering the largest fifty metropolitan areas in the U.S. for 27 years (1982-2009) to analyze the determinants of rents.

Re-Visioning The Future Of Work: Towards A New Mindset, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

Dualism In The Labor Market: A Perspective On The Lewis Model After Half A Century, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

This paper asks how the Lewis model might be viewed from the perspective of economic science half a century later. Many of the core propositions remain intact, some might be amplified, and a small number might be revised.

Household Income Dynamics: A Four Country Story, Gary S. Fields, Paul L. Cichello, Samuel Freije, Marta Menéndez, David Newhouse

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] In this paper, we analyse the dynamics of household per capita incomes using longitudinal data from Indonesia, South Africa, Spain and Venezuela. We find that in all four countries reported initial income and job changes of the head are consistently the most important variables in accounting for income changes, overall and for initially poor households. We also find that changes in income are more important than changes in household size and that changes in labour earnings are more important than changes in other sources of household income.

The Microeconomics Of Changing Income Distribution In Malaysia, Gary S. Fields, Sergei Soares

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This study uses data from Malaysia's Household Income and Expenditure Surveys to quantify the importance of different factors in accounting for the changes in Malaysia's income distribution between 1984 and 1989 ("Period 1") and between 1989 and 1997 ("Period 2"). These particular years were chosen, because 1997 is the most recent available survey, 1984 is the earliest survey comparable to 1997, and 1989 is important for three reasons: 1. Income inequality fell until 1989 and rose thereafter. 2. Economic growth was slow in 1984-89 and fast in 1989-97. and 3. 1989 is the closest year to the beginning of …

Decent Work And Development Policies, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

Welcoming the shift to outcomes which he perceives in the ILO's focus on decent work, the author explores the major issues thus raised. He discusses how to make the notion of decent work more precise in operational terms, and how to develop an integrated approach to economic and social policy in the decent work context, before formulating an empirical approach to assessing the effects of economic growth on decent work. Finally, he outlines a structure for the ILO's planned country reviews of progress towards decent work.

¿Tiene El Empresario Conciencia Social?, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

User-Generated Content (Ugc) In Tourism: Benefits And Concerns Of Online Consumers, Stephen Burgess, Carmine Sellitto, Carmen Cox, Jeremy Buultjens

Carmen Cox

This paper examines the views of travel consumers that search for information online in relation to the specific benefits and concerns identified with user-generated content (UGC). Real contrasts in relation to views about UGC content were identified in the literature. For instance, UGC is perceived as being ‘credible’ or ‘not credible’ as an information source depending upon the view of the user. The paper reports research that examined the use of UGC by online travel consumers, sourced from an Australian tourism organisation’s online subscriber database. The study highlighted a similar range of areas that were seen as benefits and concerns …

Muerte Al Mercado De Capitales, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of The Barrett Law, Robert Main

Robert S. Main

No abstract provided.

Restarting Securitization Markets: Policy Proposals And Pitfalls, John Kiff, Andy Jobst, Jodi Scarlata, Michael Kisser

John Kiff

This chapter tracks the rise and fall of securitization markets, and evaluates the various initiatives aimed at restarting them on a sounder footing, focusing on the markets for securities not backed by governments or government-sponsored enterprises. The analysis attempts to discern how securitization can positively contribute to financial stability and sustainable economic growth. While most of the current proposals are unambiguously positive for securitization markets and financial stability, some proposals—such as those designed to improve the alignment of securitizer and investor interests and accounting changes that will result in more securitized assets remaining on balance sheets—may be combined in ways …

Was Financial Market Contagion The Source Of Economic Crisis In Asia? Evidence Using A Multivariate Var Model, Ahmed Khalid, Masahiro Kawai

Ahmed Khalid

The episodes of financial crises in many parts of the world during the 1990s have sparked interest in identifying channels through which such crises spread from one country to another. Researchers have identified several factors that may have sparked and induced contagion. This study further extends the existing research by identifying and testing three financial market variables to trace the alleged origin and the subsequent path of the contagion during the 1997 Asian Crisis. Foreign exchange rates, stock market prices and interest rates are three main financial market indicators, representing the currency, stock and money markets, respectively. We use a …

September 11th, John Maynard Keynes, Kenneth J. Arrow, And Me: The Nexus, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins, Ph.D.

De Revolución En Revolución, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

¿Demasiada Expectativa En Los Brics?, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

[Review Of Pay Without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise Of Executive Compensation], Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

[Excerpt] Every once in a while someone comes out with an important book concerning corporate governance or executive compensation. Like Aldolf A. Berle and Gardiner C. Means's The Modern Corporation and Private Property (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1932) and Graef S. Crystal's In Search of Excess: The Overcompensation of American Executives (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991), Bebchuk and Fried's new book is thought-provoking and interesting. It is a very important book and should be read not just by those interested in executive pay or corporate governance but by anyone interested in how corporations work.

[Review Of Personnel Economics In Imperfect Labour Markets], Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

Excerpt] This book is an attempt to consolidate what we know about Personnel Economics by focusing on Personnel Economics in Imperfect Labor Markets. Even on the first page of the book, the author is clear about this mission. In particular he notes that "The view of personnel economics analyzed in this book is based on two key properties of... labour markets: labour markets are imperfect and jobs are associated to [sic] rents; labour market institutions interact with personnel policies. Notably, wages are partly set outside the firm-worker pair (minimum wages and collective agreements are widespread)" and "job termination policies are …

Alternative Estimators Of Cointegrating Parameters In Models With Non-Stationary Data: An Application To Us Export Demand (Working Paper), James J. Forest, Paul Turner

James J Forest

This paper presents Monte Carlo simulations which compare the empirical performance of two alternative single equation estimators of the equilibrium parameters in a dynamic relationship. The estimators considered are Stock and Watson’s dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimator and Bewley’s transformation of the general autoregressive distributed lag model. The results indicate that the Bewley transformation produces a lower mean-square error as well as superior serial correlation properties even with lower truncation lags for the lagged variables included in the estimation equation. An application is then provided which examines the nature of the equilibrium relationship between aggregate US exports, world trade …

Identidade Cultural E Desenvolvimento Regional: Um Olhar Para Os Municípios Da Secretaria De Desenvolvimento Regional De Canoinhas/Sc., Jorge Amaro Bastos Alves, Sandro Perotti

Jorge Amaro Bastos Alves

RESUMO: Esse artigo aborda o entendimento sobre cultura e seu influxo no desenvolvimento da região de abrangência da Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Regional (SDR) de Canoinhas, situada no planalto norte do Estado de Santa Catarina, trabalhando-se a questão identitária e cultural sob vários aspectos do desenvolvimento, bem como, analisando alguns indicadores sócio-econômicos e de desenvolvimento humano. Para o desenvolvimento desse artigo, realizou-se pesquisa exploratória e bibliográfica com base em livros, teses e artigos versando sobre o tema, bem como, fez-se um levantamento estatístico disponível em órgãos governamentais, tais como, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) e Programa das Nações Unidas …

El Modelo De Desarrollo Guayaquileño, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Honduras Rompe Paradigma En América Latina, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Los Paraísos Fiscales, ¿Malos Para Quién?, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

La Banca Ecuatoriana, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Ocaso De Un Gigante, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Ideacheck: Bcg Report On The Innovation Imperative In Manufacturing, Kwanghui Lim

Kwanghui Lim

In March, the Boston Consulting Group published a report on "The Innovation Imperative in Manufacturing". The report assesses the level of competitiveness of US firms, both across different states of the US as well as in comparison to other countries. Here is my IdeaCHECK on the report: http://cite.org.au/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=573.