Bulletin of Economic Research最新文献

The optimal reserve price of the third-price auction with two bidders differs from that with more than two bidders, whereas the optimal reserve price of the second-price auction is the same regardless of the number of bidders. We generalize this result to the kth-price multiunit auctions with single-unit demand, and introduce a new kind of shill-bidding incentive of bidders in order to lower the reserve price. Alongside budget constraints caused by overbidding, this may explain why third-price auctions are rare in practice.

The relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and military spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is complex and multifaceted. High levels of military spending can deter foreign investors, as it creates an uncertain and potentially volatile investment climate. However, countries that invest in their military infrastructure and capabilities may be seen as more stable and secure, which can attract foreign investors. Taking into account several factors that can influence this relationship, including political stability, security concerns, and economic factors, this work analyzes whether military spending attracts foreign capital into the region. Using a dynamic panel data methodology along with other relevant macroeconomic variables, results show that the military expenditure has a positive and significant impact on FDI inflows into the MENA region. The paper highlights the fact that policymakers in the region must carefully balance military spending with investments in other areas of the economy in order to create a stable and favorable investment climate that attracts foreign investors and contributes to long-term economic growth and development achieving both security and welfare.

We examine the problem of how much risk-averse agents would be willing to bet on events where there are multiple possible winners but only one will actually win. We describe how this problem can be solved for concave utility functions and illustrate the properties of the solution. The optimal betting strategy is more aggressive than strategies derived from considering each outcome separately such as the Kelly criterion. The strategy also recommends sometimes placing bets with negative expected returns because they act as hedges against losses on other bets. While this strategy maximizes the bettor's subjective expected utility, if betting odds incorporate a profit margin and reflect underlying probabilities correctly, then this more aggressive approach loses more money and results in lower realized utility.

Much of the economic literature on education models the process of acquiring human capital as a “black box.” While such models have many interesting uses, they are of little use when a student is considering how much teaching she needs and how her time at university is allocated between study and attending class. Considering such questions requires us to “open up” the black box. Our paper shows what one such model would look like by explicitly modeling how students choose to learn. We believe that this framework can inform the current debate about teaching in higher education.

This paper shows that an increase in the ratio of household assets to gross domestic product (GDP) predicts higher GDP growth in the short term, but lower growth in the long term. It is also associated with lower consumption, investment, and employment rates in the future. The result is robust to controlling for various economic indicators including credit spreads, household debt to GDP ratio, and leverage ratio. Finally, we estimate a structural vector autoregressive model and find that an increase in the interest rate is associated with a decrease in the household assets to GDP ratio, in contrast to the findings of Galí and Gambetti (2015, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 7(1), 233–257). This appears to support the conventional view of monetary policy.

In today's globalization and rapid technological development, market integration has an important impact on the competitiveness and innovation ability of enterprises. Market integration includes the integration of factor markets and goods markets, aiming to optimize resource allocation and expand market size, thus promoting economic growth and technological innovation. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of market integration on technological innovation. Using a two-stage least-squares (IV-2SLS) model and combining the data of Chinese stock market and accounting research from 2012 to 2021, it is pointed out that market integration has a significant impact on innovation ability. Research shows that the integration of factor and goods markets promotes innovation through market expansion, innovation in emerging technologies, and increased competitiveness of firms. However, there are also differences in the way that region, type of enterprise ownership, and economic sector influence market integration innovation. Factor market integration effectively promotes technological innovation by reducing government intervention and optimizing resource allocation. The results of the study provide an important reference for enterprises to make strategic decisions, especially in the face of the different effects of market integration on innovation.