Abstract This study presents a dynamic general equilibrium model with an explicit employment period and investigates economic fluctuations to a temporary productivity shock. Numerical experiments indicate oscillatory responses of new hiring and employment to the shock which are not observed in a standard flexible price model. The explicit employment period constructs an overlapping structure of employment which results in the oscillatory response. This study also examines the effects of change in employment period to economic fluctuations and shows that the variations in new hiring are higher when the employment period is long.
{"title":"Economic fluctuations in a model with an overlapping structure of employment","authors":"Toyoki Matsue","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.3.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.3.2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study presents a dynamic general equilibrium model with an explicit employment period and investigates economic fluctuations to a temporary productivity shock. Numerical experiments indicate oscillatory responses of new hiring and employment to the shock which are not observed in a standard flexible price model. The explicit employment period constructs an overlapping structure of employment which results in the oscillatory response. This study also examines the effects of change in employment period to economic fluctuations and shows that the variations in new hiring are higher when the employment period is long.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"24 1","pages":"5 - 15"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87704753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The literature on financial sustainability is scattered in such a way that a synthesis is indispensable. The present study on an annotated bibliography of financial sustainability seeks to fill this particular gap by presenting a collation of published literature in the sphere. The sectorial analysis depicted that ability to cover the costs from its own resources and ability to pay debt were the key dimensions to measure financial sustainability. The majority of the studies were found in the public sector covering local governments and central governments particularly in such European countries as Spain, Italy and England. Earning enough resources, asset sustainability and the ability to repay obligations are the three dimensions to assess financial sustainability. The study also pointed out the key research areas, variables and analytical tools among other trends in the literature. The present study assists the future researchers in reviewing the literature on financial sustainability and developing research methodology.
{"title":"Financial sustainability: An annotated bibliography","authors":"Shivam Kakati, Arup Roy","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The literature on financial sustainability is scattered in such a way that a synthesis is indispensable. The present study on an annotated bibliography of financial sustainability seeks to fill this particular gap by presenting a collation of published literature in the sphere. The sectorial analysis depicted that ability to cover the costs from its own resources and ability to pay debt were the key dimensions to measure financial sustainability. The majority of the studies were found in the public sector covering local governments and central governments particularly in such European countries as Spain, Italy and England. Earning enough resources, asset sustainability and the ability to repay obligations are the three dimensions to assess financial sustainability. The study also pointed out the key research areas, variables and analytical tools among other trends in the literature. The present study assists the future researchers in reviewing the literature on financial sustainability and developing research methodology.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"1999 1","pages":"35 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90439963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The aim of the paper is to examine the impact of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) responsibility on the short- and long-term cost of debt. Linear regression was applied to a unique dataset on CSR and cost of debt for 300 companies recognized in 2017 by Corporate Knights as the most sustainable companies in the world. The question about the link between CSR and cost of debt is important as there is still ongoing debate as to whether business should undertake activities in the field of CSR—managers and other stakeholders are still unsure of the outcomes. The findings show that the involvement in environmental issues decreases the cost of long-term debt whereas the involvement in social issues brings benefits to short- and long-term debt. Surprisingly the greater the involvement in corporate governance, the higher the cost of debt in all time horizons. Managers should expect a lower cost of debt from environmental and social activities mostly in the long run. Corporate governance expenditures may in turn be seen as a waste of company resources, cost of forgone opportunities, or—optionally—as an over-investment. The main novelty is the breakdown of CSR into three dimensions while examining various term structures of corporate debt.
{"title":"The impact of environmental, social and corporate governance responsibility on the cost of short-and long-term debt","authors":"Piotr Ratajczak, Grzegorz Mikołajewicz","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.6","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The aim of the paper is to examine the impact of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) responsibility on the short- and long-term cost of debt. Linear regression was applied to a unique dataset on CSR and cost of debt for 300 companies recognized in 2017 by Corporate Knights as the most sustainable companies in the world. The question about the link between CSR and cost of debt is important as there is still ongoing debate as to whether business should undertake activities in the field of CSR—managers and other stakeholders are still unsure of the outcomes. The findings show that the involvement in environmental issues decreases the cost of long-term debt whereas the involvement in social issues brings benefits to short- and long-term debt. Surprisingly the greater the involvement in corporate governance, the higher the cost of debt in all time horizons. Managers should expect a lower cost of debt from environmental and social activities mostly in the long run. Corporate governance expenditures may in turn be seen as a waste of company resources, cost of forgone opportunities, or—optionally—as an over-investment. The main novelty is the breakdown of CSR into three dimensions while examining various term structures of corporate debt.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"6 1","pages":"74 - 96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78431184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In economic studies researchers are often interested in the estimation of the distribution function or certain functions of the distribution function such as quantiles. This work focuses on the estimation quantiles as inverses of the estimates of the distribution function in the presence of auxiliary information that is correlated with the study variable. In the paper a plug-in estimator of the distribution function is proposed which is used to obtain quantiles in the population and in the small areas. Performance of the proposed method is compared with other estimators of the distribution function and quantiles using the simulation study. The obtained results show that the proposed method usually has smaller relative biases and relative RMSE comparing to other methods of obtaining quantiles based on inverting the distribution function.
{"title":"Small area quantile estimation based on distribution function using linear mixed models","authors":"Tomasz Stachurski","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.7","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In economic studies researchers are often interested in the estimation of the distribution function or certain functions of the distribution function such as quantiles. This work focuses on the estimation quantiles as inverses of the estimates of the distribution function in the presence of auxiliary information that is correlated with the study variable. In the paper a plug-in estimator of the distribution function is proposed which is used to obtain quantiles in the population and in the small areas. Performance of the proposed method is compared with other estimators of the distribution function and quantiles using the simulation study. The obtained results show that the proposed method usually has smaller relative biases and relative RMSE comparing to other methods of obtaining quantiles based on inverting the distribution function.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"97 - 114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81654451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract One-criterion decision making under uncertainty (1-DM/U) is related to situations in which the decision maker (DM) evaluates the alternatives on the basis of one objective, but e.g. due to numerous uncertain future factors some parameters of the problem are not deterministic. Instead of entirely known paramaters, a set of possible scenarios is available. Multi-criteria decision making under certainty (M-DM/C) concerns cases where the DM assesses particular options in terms of many objectives. The parameters are known. Therefore, scenario planning is redundant. Both issues are investigated by many researchers and practitioners, since real economic decision problems are usually at least uncertain or multi-objective. In the paper, numerous analogies between 1-DM/U and M-DM/C are revealed. Some of them have existed for many decades, but others, so far, have not been developed. A careful examination of all the similarities enables an improvement of existing methods and a formulation of new algorithms for 1-DM/U and M-DM/C. The article presents six pairs of similar procedures and contains the description of three novel approaches created by analogy to existing ones.
不确定条件下的单准则决策(one -criterion decision making under uncertainty, 1-DM/U)是指决策者在一个目标的基础上对备选方案进行评估,但由于未来的诸多不确定因素,问题的某些参数是不确定的。不是完全已知的参数,而是一组可能的场景。确定性下的多标准决策(M-DM/C)涉及决策管理根据许多目标评估特定选项的情况。参数是已知的。因此,场景规划是多余的。这两个问题都被许多研究人员和实践者调查,因为实际的经济决策问题通常至少是不确定的或多目标的。本文揭示了1-DM/U和M-DM/C之间的许多类比。其中一些已经存在了几十年,但其他的,到目前为止,还没有开发。仔细检查所有相似之处,可以改进现有方法,并制定1-DM/U和M-DM/C的新算法。本文介绍了六对类似的程序,并描述了通过类比现有方法创建的三种新方法。
{"title":"On some analogies between one-criterion decision making under uncertainty and multi-criteria decision making under certainty","authors":"Helena Gaspars-Wieloch","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract One-criterion decision making under uncertainty (1-DM/U) is related to situations in which the decision maker (DM) evaluates the alternatives on the basis of one objective, but e.g. due to numerous uncertain future factors some parameters of the problem are not deterministic. Instead of entirely known paramaters, a set of possible scenarios is available. Multi-criteria decision making under certainty (M-DM/C) concerns cases where the DM assesses particular options in terms of many objectives. The parameters are known. Therefore, scenario planning is redundant. Both issues are investigated by many researchers and practitioners, since real economic decision problems are usually at least uncertain or multi-objective. In the paper, numerous analogies between 1-DM/U and M-DM/C are revealed. Some of them have existed for many decades, but others, so far, have not been developed. A careful examination of all the similarities enables an improvement of existing methods and a formulation of new algorithms for 1-DM/U and M-DM/C. The article presents six pairs of similar procedures and contains the description of three novel approaches created by analogy to existing ones.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"88 1","pages":"17 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76826600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract First demonstrated by Staw (1976), escalation of commitment is the tendency for an individual to increase their commitment to a failing course of action when they are personally responsible for the negative consequences. An attempt was made to replicate this finding and test whether individual differences in numeracy and cognitive reflection could help explain such an effect. No evidence for escalation of commitment amongst the participants was found (N = 365). Participants simply invested more in more promising projects. Also, no evidence was found that numeracy or cognitive reflection predict escalation behaviour. The validity of escalation of commitment behaviour is discussed which suggests that future work should look to explore the boundary conditions of such an effect.
{"title":"Escalation of commitment is independent of numeracy and cognitive reflection. Failed replication and extension of Staw (1976)","authors":"Michał J. Białek, M. Węgrzyn, E. Meyers","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract First demonstrated by Staw (1976), escalation of commitment is the tendency for an individual to increase their commitment to a failing course of action when they are personally responsible for the negative consequences. An attempt was made to replicate this finding and test whether individual differences in numeracy and cognitive reflection could help explain such an effect. No evidence for escalation of commitment amongst the participants was found (N = 365). Participants simply invested more in more promising projects. Also, no evidence was found that numeracy or cognitive reflection predict escalation behaviour. The validity of escalation of commitment behaviour is discussed which suggests that future work should look to explore the boundary conditions of such an effect.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"9 1","pages":"5 - 16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85302672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Implementation of health protection requires effective quantitative methods of its evaluation. Assessment could be based on usage of synthetic indices which aggregate couple input variables into a single measure. In this paper, the exploitation of a new synthetic index (by the author called HAI—the Healthcare Aggregated Index) was proposed with the aim of the assessment and long-term interstate comparisons of healthcare systems of the EU countries. Using taxonomic methodology, HAI involves three variables: the number of hospital beds, the number of physicians and the public expenditures on healthcare. HAI utilisation includes dynamic interstate comparisons of national healthcare systems of the different exploitations of human, physical and financial resources. The HAI application to assessment of twenty European Union Member States’ healthcare systems revealed an effect of substitution between health-care resources within the slight international differentiation of the health protection level and the minor dynamic of changes in time series.
{"title":"The EU Member States’ national healthcare systems compared using the single synthetic index","authors":"M. Jankowiak","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Implementation of health protection requires effective quantitative methods of its evaluation. Assessment could be based on usage of synthetic indices which aggregate couple input variables into a single measure. In this paper, the exploitation of a new synthetic index (by the author called HAI—the Healthcare Aggregated Index) was proposed with the aim of the assessment and long-term interstate comparisons of healthcare systems of the EU countries. Using taxonomic methodology, HAI involves three variables: the number of hospital beds, the number of physicians and the public expenditures on healthcare. HAI utilisation includes dynamic interstate comparisons of national healthcare systems of the different exploitations of human, physical and financial resources. The HAI application to assessment of twenty European Union Member States’ healthcare systems revealed an effect of substitution between health-care resources within the slight international differentiation of the health protection level and the minor dynamic of changes in time series.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"45 1","pages":"37 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80269606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This study investigates the determinants of fiscal effort in sub-Saharan African (SSA) within the framework of fiscal reaction functions. Whereas previous studies focusing on SSA have mainly considered the economic non-debt determinants this study accounts for the role of conflict given its persistence in many SSA countries. It employs a variety of panel econometric methods that are applicable in tackling the problem of endogeneity. Specifically the study employs the instrumental variables fixed effects, the two-step generalised method of moments (GMM) and the traditional two-stage least squares techniques. Mainly the evidence shows that although SSA governments have made fiscal adjustments in response to the escalating levels of debt, conflict impacts negatively on this response in SSA. Furthermore, the results affirm the presence of fiscal fatigue in SSA’s fiscal reaction function. Recommendations based on these findings are discussed.
{"title":"Determinants of fiscal effort in sub-Saharan African countries: Does conflict matter?","authors":"Princewill U. Okwoche, Chimere O. Iheonu","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.2.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.2.5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study investigates the determinants of fiscal effort in sub-Saharan African (SSA) within the framework of fiscal reaction functions. Whereas previous studies focusing on SSA have mainly considered the economic non-debt determinants this study accounts for the role of conflict given its persistence in many SSA countries. It employs a variety of panel econometric methods that are applicable in tackling the problem of endogeneity. Specifically the study employs the instrumental variables fixed effects, the two-step generalised method of moments (GMM) and the traditional two-stage least squares techniques. Mainly the evidence shows that although SSA governments have made fiscal adjustments in response to the escalating levels of debt, conflict impacts negatively on this response in SSA. Furthermore, the results affirm the presence of fiscal fatigue in SSA’s fiscal reaction function. Recommendations based on these findings are discussed.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"55 1","pages":"50 - 73"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85239186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The main aim of the paper is to use the repeated weighting (RW) method on data from the National Census of Population and Housing 2011 (NCPH) and Labour Force Survey (LFS) to ensure consistency between margins of final tables derived from different statistical sources. This technique, based on different data sources, would ensure consistency between estimates in final output tables. This is the first application of the RW approach on data from official statistics in Poland. The results obtained by applying the RW method to data from the NCPH and additional surveys (e.g. LFS) may be used by Statistics Poland for the formulation of conclusions and recommendations for the upcoming census in 2021. The method may be also considered as an important step towards the production of timely and more detailed statistical information in Poland based on multi-source data infrastructure in general4.
{"title":"Repeated weighting in mixed-mode censuses","authors":"M. Szymkowiak, Kamil Wilak","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The main aim of the paper is to use the repeated weighting (RW) method on data from the National Census of Population and Housing 2011 (NCPH) and Labour Force Survey (LFS) to ensure consistency between margins of final tables derived from different statistical sources. This technique, based on different data sources, would ensure consistency between estimates in final output tables. This is the first application of the RW approach on data from official statistics in Poland. The results obtained by applying the RW method to data from the NCPH and additional surveys (e.g. LFS) may be used by Statistics Poland for the formulation of conclusions and recommendations for the upcoming census in 2021. The method may be also considered as an important step towards the production of timely and more detailed statistical information in Poland based on multi-source data infrastructure in general4.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"14 1","pages":"26 - 46"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73476373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In mathematical economics there is a number of so called “turnpike theorems” proved mainly on the basis of multiproduct models of economic dynamics. According to these theorems, all optimal paths of economic growth over a long period of time converge to a certain path (turnpike) in which the economy achieves the highest growth rate while remaining in a specific dynamic (von Neumann) equilibrium. The article refers to this trend and presents some properties of optimal growth processes in the Gale-type model of the stationary economy when the quality criterion of growth processes is not the utility of production—which is normally postulated in the turnpike theory—but the time needed by the economy to achieve the desired final state, e.g. the level of production or production value. According to the author’s knowledge, the idea of using time as a criterion for growth in turnpike theory (especially in Gale-type economy) is innovative. It has been proven that changing the growth criterion does not deprive the Gale economy of its asymptotic / turnpike properties.
{"title":"The minimal-time growth problem and turnpike effect in the stationary Gale economy","authors":"E. Panek","doi":"10.18559/ebr.2021.1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2021.1.2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In mathematical economics there is a number of so called “turnpike theorems” proved mainly on the basis of multiproduct models of economic dynamics. According to these theorems, all optimal paths of economic growth over a long period of time converge to a certain path (turnpike) in which the economy achieves the highest growth rate while remaining in a specific dynamic (von Neumann) equilibrium. The article refers to this trend and presents some properties of optimal growth processes in the Gale-type model of the stationary economy when the quality criterion of growth processes is not the utility of production—which is normally postulated in the turnpike theory—but the time needed by the economy to achieve the desired final state, e.g. the level of production or production value. According to the author’s knowledge, the idea of using time as a criterion for growth in turnpike theory (especially in Gale-type economy) is innovative. It has been proven that changing the growth criterion does not deprive the Gale economy of its asymptotic / turnpike properties.","PeriodicalId":41557,"journal":{"name":"Economics and Business Review","volume":"40 1","pages":"7 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81876495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}