Purchasing Power Parities of Currencies and Real Expenditures from the International Comparison Program: Recent Results and Uses

The International Comparison Program (ICP) is a worldwide statistical initiative designed to estimate purchasing power parities (PPPs) that can be used as currency converters to compare the performance of countries around the world, thereby providing in-depth views of the distribution of resources worldwide. The 2011 round of the ICP was leveraged on the successful outcome of the 2005 round that included 146 countries, introducing various methodological improvements. The summary report and results from the 2011 round were released in April 2014 and provided PPPs, price levels indices, and expenditures in PPP terms for the GDP and major aggregates for 199 participating countries. More detailed results were released in June 2014 and a final comprehensive report in October 2014. The final report provided a more in-depth analysis of volume and per capita indices. The results stirred a strong debate among the user community because of their finding that the world has become more equal than previously thought. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the main results and findings of ICP 2011, its governance framework and partnership with the Eurostat-Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) PPP program, and the major methodological innovations that were implemented. The paper reviews the major uses of the PPPs generated by the ICP 2011 and the Eurostat-OECD PPP program, and concludes with thoughts about the future of the ICP.     

Governance structures of socially complex knowledge flows: Exchange, entitlement and gifts

The intangible aspects of knowledge transfer in multinational corporations (MNCs) continue to be a crucial area of research in social science research and raise the issue of knowledge governance structures. The purpose of this conceptual note is twofold. Firstly, we believe that there is more than one governance structure for successful knowledge transfers and flows. We provide a typology of three governance structures: “exchange,” “entitlement,” “gifts.” Secondly, most MNCs will need to take advantage of all three or a combination of these three socially complex governance structures.     

Robust decisions in power system investments

The Turkish electrical system has been studied, particularly for the near term investment programme. The objective of the study was to determine the most likely investment alternatives for the next ten-year period, from a cost effectiveness point of view. A dynamic linear programming model was used in representing the national energy system, with special emphasis on the electricity sector. Hydro, coal, nuclear and oil-fired power plants as well as their interconnection investments were modelled. A 27-year planning horizon was defined. The scenario approach was utilized in establishing the effects of different factors, such as foreign currency requirements of projects, nuclear plant costs and nuclear fuel costs, demand growth rates for electricity as well as other fuels, availability of foreign currency and skilled manpower, and the development rates of coal mines, coal power plants and nuclear power plants. After analyzing the results of 24 different scenarios, robust plans for developing the power system are suggested. Other investments that are subject to the realization of certain conditions are also indicated.     

On expected sample range from heterogeneous symmetric distributions

It is shown that for independent (but not necessarily identically distributed) random variables with distributions symmetric about the respective medians (means), the expected value of the sample range is a minimum when these means are all equal.     

Conceptualization of power sharing between partners in couple relationships: a scale development study in Turkey

In this study, the Power Sharing in Couple Relationships Scale (PSCRS) was developed to measure the distribution of power as experienced by individuals in heterosexual marriages or cohabiting relationships. Three sets of participants partook in the study: 27 individuals were in the pilot group; 400 individuals (female = 200, male = 200) were in the exploratory factor analysis group and 242 persons (female = 139, male = 103) were in the confirmatory factor analysis group. Factor analyses resulted in a structure consisting of 30 items and five dimensions, namely, friendship, power over, reactivity to relational stress, openness to influence, and making a relational claim. Results showed evidence for satisfactory psychometric properties.     

Sustaining Small Entrepreneurs Through a Microcredit Program in Penang,Malaysia: A Case Study

Microcredit has been recognized as one of the most efficient tools for alleviating poverty by the United Nations considering its significant contribution in terms of job creation and revenue generation for governments. Microcredit programs can change the lives of people and revitalize communities in the world’s poorest as well as the richest countries. This study looks at 350 entrepreneurs who joined the scheme of various microcredit programs in Penang, Malaysia. In this study, findings have been obtained that show that microcredit loans have successfully increased entrepreneur income, have positive impacts on business, and fulfill basic needs of entrepreneurs.     

The New Toll on Higher Education and the UK Student Revolts of 2010–2011

This profile gives an overview of the student protests and university occupations of the winter of 2010–2011 against the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government's higher education bill. In particular, the lifting of the cap on annual higher education tuition fees to £9000 pa was widely perceived by students (and lecturers) as unjust, unfair and a very real barrier to higher education. In order to understand the political dynamics of these student mobilisations, I argue both that we need to consider the network structure that exists on university campuses and how it facilitates political mobilisations, and to see the protests as a moral economy directed against a new toll on higher education.     

Stock Market and Aggregate Investment Behavior in Malaysia: An Empirical Analysis

The present paper analyzes the role of stock market, more specifically real stock prices and stock market uncertainty/volatility, on aggregate investment behavior for an emerging market, Malaysia. Employing the autoregressive distributed lags approach to cointegration test, the paper establishes a long run equilibrium that ties the aggregate investment to its determinants—real income, real stock prices, real lending rate and stock market volatility. In the long run, we document a positive relation between aggregate investment and real stock prices and a negative relation between aggregate investment and stock market volatility. These results are further supported by our analyses of their dynamic interactions based on Granger causality and impulse-response functions. Based on the results, the real stock market prices, which has yet reached the level recorded prior to the crisis, may have explained the low investment in Malaysia after the Asian crisis. Moreover, the stock market volatility can also post a threat to the investment performance.