Research in Economics最新文献

This paper studies the media coverage of the antitrust proceedings completed by the Italian Antitrust Authority between 1994 and 2019. The empirical analysis considers the news on antitrust investigations published in the top Italian newspapers by circulation. The data reveal that the newspapers favor the conclusion (against the start) of proceedings, antitrust cases regarding immaterial services and investigations that establish a violation of antitrust law. In addition, the probability of media coverage increases if foreign firms are involved in cartel proceedings. While the press equally covers cartels and abuses, the imposition of unfair conditions is the most mentioned antitrust offense. These results are important for the public dimension of antitrust law and antitrust enforcement. An unbiased media coverage of antitrust enforcement can in fact foster the crucial collaboration of third parties in reporting alleged antitrust infringements. In addition, policymakers can draw crucial information from completed antitrust investigations and consider the possible regulation, deregulation or re-regulation of industries and companies frequently involved in the antitrust cases.

In this paper, I show that the decomposition of intergenerational persistence indicators into their structural and positional components offers a clearer understanding of the determinants of heterogeneity in subnational mobility rates. This constitutes a departure from the current consensus in estimating mobility rates at the subnational level in economics. Applying this approach to the Mexican case, I show no significant differences in positional mobility across the country's regions. This contrasts with the existing results, particularly regarding intergenerational mobility in the country's southern region.

Empirical work examining the role of monetary policy on environmental issues are rather scarce. This study examines how inflation targeting (IT) relates to environmental pollution in samples of 22 Developed Market Economies (DMEs) and 25 Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) over the period 1980–2017. Using a parametric approach (two-step system-generalized method of moments), we find that IT significantly reduces emissions of polluting gases, specifically carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), methane (CH₄), and total greenhouse gases (GHG) in DMEs and EMEs. In order to take into account, the existence of a potential self-selection bias in the adoption of IT, we subsequently resorted to a non-parametric approach, namely propensity score matching. The results confirm those obtained in the parametric approach. Then, using structural equation modeling, we find that IT reduces environmental pollution mainly through the financial instability channel. In addition, based on the insights from the recent literature, we test the moderating role of financial development and financial stability. The results indicate that these variables reduce the “green effect” of IT. Ultimately, our findings provide an interesting empirical basis for policymakers to help them build a sound macroeconomic and financial framework that promotes more environmentally friendly financial behaviors.

Using the property rights approach, I investigate how two vertical chains consisting of an upstream and downstream firm choose to integrate when competing in a duopoly market. This shows that whether a vertical chain chooses to integrate depends on the relative sizes of two strategic effects on quantity and investment. If the negative effect of decreasing investments is larger (smaller) than the positive effect of alleviating an intense quantity competition, vertical separation (integration) is chosen. I illustrate that vertical separation or integration appears in equilibrium depending on the degrees of market competitiveness and investment effectiveness.

This paper develops a uniform-quadratic cheap-talk setting of Crawford add Sobel (1982), in which the sender may be uninformed and cares about his reputation for competence (that is, for being informed). We establish the existence of a partition equilibrium with two messages and show how this equilibrium is affected when we change the exogenous parameters: the sender’s bias, the initial belief that the sender is competent and the sender’s reputational concerns. We also show that if the reputational concerns are high enough and the sender’s initial reputation is extremely low or extremely high, there exists a fully informative equilibrium in which the competent sender perfectly reveals the state. Possible extensions of the setup are discussed. One possible application of our model might be the interaction between media provider and the public.

I estimate a transition probability matrix associated with a two-state Markov process of emerging market economies (EMEs) volatility. The different states of EMEs volatility, generate switches in central bank preferences between approximated constant relative risk aversion and increasing relative risk aversion expected utility. Therefore, I construct and propose constrained portfolio selection frameworks with skewness, for the currency composition of FX reserves over different EMEs volatility states for Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa. These EMEs have constituted as part of the “Fragile Five”. Thus, I propose progressive risk management procedures for these EMEs. These portfolio selection frameworks satisfy Pratt–Arrow measures of risk aversion and are constrained by each country’s currency composition of foreign debt. Using different methods of computing expected FX reserves returns, traditional strategic FX reserve assets and different maturity structures, I simulate optimal FX reserve weights for each EME and validate my proposal.

The paper provides accurate theoretical results regarding the consequences of heterogeneities between the preferences or between the structural parameters of the member countries of a monetary union on monetary and fiscal policies, and on the stabilization of economic activity and inflation, in case of supply shocks. Economic activity and inflation are higher (smaller) in a country affected by a positive (negative) symmetric or asymmetric supply shock, despite the more contractionary (expansionary) fiscal policy in this country. In this context, we find that monetary unification could be more painful for a country with a small preference for stabilizing the budget deficit or economic activity, and on the contrary with a high preference for stabilizing inflation. Besides, regarding structural heterogeneities, monetary unification could be more painful for a country with strong transmission mechanisms of monetary policy or with a small budget multiplier. Membership in a monetary union could also be more painful for a country with a high (if the shock is symmetric) or small (if the shock is asymmetric) sensitivity of national prices to foreign prices. Regarding symmetric supply shocks, it could also be more painful for a country with a high sensitivity of national prices to national economic activity, or with a small sensitivity of its demand to foreign activity.

Since 2015, several U.S. states have begun granting professional or occupational licenses to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In this study, we examine the differences in the issuance of such licenses at the state level to estimate their effect on the labor market outcomes of DACA recipients. Using data from the Current Population Survey spanning the period from 2012 to 2020, we find that granting access to occupational licensing has had a significant positive impact on the wages of DACA recipients, raising them by 12.5 percent. We also observe that this wage premium is greater for male recipients than for female ones. Furthermore, we find that the wage premium and increased hours of work resulting from access to licenses are most pronounced for recipients over 24 years of age who have completed their formal education and have already established their careers. These findings suggest that access to occupational licenses can improve the labor market outcomes of Dreamers. Therefore, expanding access to public benefits, such as licensing, can substantially benefit DACA recipients in states where such access has been broadened.

This study analyzes the effects of firm performance on CEO compensation and CEO pay ratio (the ratio of CEO compensation and the median employee's salary) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 4410 observations from S&P 1500 firms from 2018 to 2021, we find that CEO compensation and CEO pay ratio increased during the COVID-19. Firm performance, measured by return on assets and log term of firm's sales, positively affect CEO compensation and CEO pay ratio. However, the effects are the same before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.