BIDDING FOR TALENT IN SPORT

We present a novel microstructure for the market for athletes. Clubs simultaneously target bids at the players, in (Nash) equilibrium internalizing whether—depending on the other clubs' bids—a player not hired would play for the competition. When talent is either scarce or has low outside options, we support—and generalize to heterogeneous players—the Coasian results of Rottenberg (1956) and Fort and Quirk (1995): talent allocation is efficient and independent of initial “ownership” and revenue sharing arrangements. We also characterize equilibria when talent is abundant (or has a high outside option). The analysis uses a nonspecific club objective with an endogenously derived trade‐off between pecuniary and nonpecuniary benefits.(JEL J4, L1, L2)     

Effect of the content of a news item on Spaniards’ attitudes towards Palestinians and Israelis / Efecto del contenido de una noticia sobre la actitud de los españoles hacia palestinos e israelíes

Based on the effects of framing on audience opinion, the attitudes towards Palestinians and Israelis are evaluated when a news item reports on a violent event between the two sides. To do so, a short inter-group experiment was conducted. A 3 (manipulation of the news item) x 2 (group evaluated) design was applied. Three news formats were presented: (1) about a Palestinian attack on Israel; (2) about an Israeli attack on Palestine; (3) no news item. Half of the participants evaluated the Israelis while the other half evaluated the Palestinians. The results of the study, which was performed with a Spanish sample (N = 319), showed that there were no differences in the evaluation of the group according to the group evaluated, although there were differences according to the manipulation of the news item: in both conditions in which one group attacked another, the group evaluated was rated more negatively than the control group. The results also showed that both emotions and stereotypes mediated the effects of framing on prejudice. These results suggest that the participants’ attitude seems to depend more on the violent framing of the news items than on the role assigned to each group and that emotional processes and stereotypes are what regulate these attitudes.     

Evaluating the impact of lean practices on environmental performance: evidences from five manufacturing companies

Abstract

Previous evidence suggests that lean practices help organizations to enhance environmental performance. However, the impact of lean practices on the environment is still unclear. This study, therefore, aims to analyse the relationship between lean and environmental performance in two main stages: first, a review of the relevant literature was developed, followed by a multiple case study analysis conducted in five manufacturing companies. Onsite data were collected from the firms during a 5 years’ time span of research and developing semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate that the environmental performance of the companies analysed is generally enhanced in the long-term after the implementation of lean. Moreover, the results suggest that the environmental performance of the firms investigated is mainly improved by using JIT and TQM practices in a lean transformation context. The research findings provide further results remarking the possible negative impact of Kanban deliveries, 5S and TPM on various environmental performance indicators.     

Bayesian estimation of a flexible bifactor generalized partial credit model to survey data

Item response theory (IRT) models provide an important contribution in the analysis of polytomous items, such as Likert scale items in survey data. We propose a bifactor generalized partial credit model (bifac-GPC model) with flexible link functions - probit, logit and complementary log-log - for use in analysis of ordered polytomous item scale data. In order to estimate the parameters of the proposed model, we use a Bayesian approach through the NUTS algorithm and show the advantages of implementing IRT models through the Stan language. We present an application to marketing scale data. Specifically, we apply the model to a dataset of non-users of a mobile banking service in order to highlight the advantages of this model. The results show important managerial implications resulting from consumer perceptions. We provide a discussion of the methodology for this type of data and extensions. Codes are available for practitioners and researchers to replicate the application.     

Demographic drivers of Norway rat populations from urban slums in Brazil

Urban Ecosystems - The Norway rat is a globally distributed pest, known for its resilience to eradication and control programs. Efficient population control, especially in urban settings, is...     

Bayesian inference and forecasting in the stationary bilinear model

A stationary bilinear (SB) model can be used to describe processes with a time-varying degree of persistence that depends on past shocks. This study develops methods for Bayesian inference, model comparison, and forecasting in the SB model. Using monthly U.K. inflation data, we find that the SB model outperforms the random walk, first-order autoregressive AR(1), and autoregressive moving average ARMA(1,1) models in terms of root mean squared forecast errors. In addition, the SB model is superior to these three models in terms of predictive likelihood for the majority of forecast observations.     

非裔巴西人宗教中的入巫、出神与着魔——一位来自马拉尼昂的mineiro的故事

Tambor de Mina 是盛行于马拉尼昂（巴西北部的一个州）的一个融非洲宗教、天主教以及当地元素于一体的传统宗教。文中所述内容,在有关非裔巴西宗教的著作中很少被提及。文章基于作者在吉马良斯（马拉尼昂州的一个村子）进行的长期访谈,记载了当地一位米内罗（ mineiro ）所说的话。作者遵循“民族志应当反映当地人的观点”的基本原则,通过编辑、选择和再组织受访者讲话的方式,展示了人类学家在话语选择和权威建立方面所应扮演的角色,从而对民族志及民族志写作中的主观性和虚构性进行反思。     

Poverty status probability: a new approach to measuring poverty and the progress of the poor

Poverty measurement and the analysis of the progress (or otherwise) of the poor, whether it is societies, families or individuals, is beset with difficulties and controversies surrounding the definition of a poverty line or frontier. Here, borrowing ideas from the mixture model literature, a new approach to assigning poverty-non poverty status is proposed which avoids specifying a frontier, the price is that an agent’s poverty status is only determined to the extent of its chance of being poor. Invoking variants of Gibrat’s law to give structure to the distribution of outcomes for homogeneous subgroups of a population within the context of a finite mixture model of societal outcomes facilitates calculation of an agent’s poverty status probability. From this it is straightforward to calculate all the usual poverty measures as well as other characteristics of the poor and non poor subgroups in a society. These ideas are exemplified in a study of 47 countries in Africa over the recent quarter century which reveals among other things a growing poverty rate and a growing disparity between poor and non poor groups not identified by conventional methods.     

The (Un)Happy Objects of Affective Community

Affect permeates understandings of racial and cultural mixture as well as racial democracy in Brazil. Sentiments of interconnectedness, harmony and conviviality shape the ways in which Brazilians of diverse races/colours feel identity and belonging. These sentiments also drive hopeful attachments to possibilities for moving beyond race, influencing how people encounter and relate to racism and inequality. However, studies of race in Brazil tend to either take the affective for granted as positive unifying force or ignore its role in shaping the appeal of dominant racial discourses on identity, nation and belonging. Through an examination of the different ways people feel, experience and live orientations towards mixture and racial democracy as the dominant affective community, this paper analyzes the role the affective plays in constituting racial ideologies and shaping anti-racist action. I explore the ways histories of race, racism, privilege and disadvantage generate unequal attachments to and experiences of mixture and racial democracy as what Sara Ahmed calls ‘happy objects’, those objects towards which good feeling are directed, that provide a shared horizon of experience, and that shape an affective community with which all are assumed to be aligned. Not everyone attaches themselves to the same objects in the same way and for the same reasons – the affective community involves positive, hopeful attachments for some and an unhappy, alienating and unequally shared burden for others. These affective states demonstrate that histories of race and racism cannot be wished away through commonly asserted attachments to abstract ideals of shared belonging. At the same time, examining these affective states provides deeper understanding of the ways unequal attachments move people towards action or inaction in relation to race, racism and discrimination.