How social comparison influences reference price formation in a service context

What is the influence on reference price when the source of price information is anonymous versus social? This article investigates the formation of reference prices given an observed sequence of past prices in a service context. An experimental study suggests that, considering the same price information, if the source is social (i.e., the prices paid by colleagues), then consumers want to pay less. More specifically, social comparison changes the way individuals weigh information, attributing more importance to the lowest historical prices and to the range in price variations.     

The numerical evaluation of the distribution function of a bilinear from to a quadratic from with econometric examples

This paper considers a general and computationally convenient method of evaluating the distribution function of statistics that are the ratio of a bilinear form to a quadratic form. Numerous Economemc applications of the method are given.     

Identifying Latent Structures in Panel Data

This paper provides a novel mechanism for identifying and estimating latent group structures in panel data using penalized techniques. We consider both linear and nonlinear models where the regression coefficients are heterogeneous across groups but homogeneous within a group and the group membership is unknown. Two approaches are considered—penalized profile likelihood (PPL) estimation for the general nonlinear models without endogenous regressors, and penalized GMM (PGMM) estimation for linear models with endogeneity. In both cases, we develop a new variant of Lasso called classifier‐Lasso (C‐Lasso) that serves to shrink individual coefficients to the unknown group‐specific coefficients. C‐Lasso achieves simultaneous classification and consistent estimation in a single step and the classification exhibits the desirable property of uniform consistency. For PPL estimation, C‐Lasso also achieves the oracle property so that group‐specific parameter estimators are asymptotically equivalent to infeasible estimators that use individual group identity information. For PGMM estimation, the oracle property of C‐Lasso is preserved in some special cases. Simulations demonstrate good finite‐sample performance of the approach in both classification and estimation. Empirical applications to both linear and nonlinear models are presented.     

Impatience versus Incentives

This paper studies the dynamics of long‐term contracts in repeated principal–agent relationships with an impatient agent. Despite the absence of exogenous uncertainty, Pareto‐optimal dynamic contracts generically oscillate between favoring the principal and favoring the agent.     

Using Panel Data to Understand the Dynamics of Human Behavior in Response to Flooding

Insights into the dynamics of human behavior in response to flooding are urgently needed for the development of effective integrated flood risk management strategies, and for integrating human behavior in flood risk modeling. However, our understanding of the dynamics of risk perceptions, attitudes, individual recovery processes, as well as adaptive (i.e., risk reducing) intention and behavior are currently limited because of the predominant use of cross-sectional surveys in the flood risk domain. Here, we present the results from one of the first panel surveys in the flood risk domain covering a relatively long period of time (i.e., four years after a damaging event), three survey waves, and a wide range of topics relevant to the role of citizens in integrated flood risk management. The panel data, consisting of 227 individuals affected by the 2013 flood in Germany, were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to utilize the unique temporal dimension of the data set. Results show that attitudes, such as the respondents’ perceived responsibility within flood risk management, remain fairly stable over time. Changes are observed partly for risk perceptions and mainly for individual recovery and intentions to undertake risk-reducing measures. LCGA reveal heterogeneous recovery and adaptation trajectories that need to be taken into account in policies supporting individual recovery and stimulating societal preparedness. More panel studies in the flood risk domain are needed to gain better insights into the dynamics of individual recovery, risk-reducing behavior, and associated risk and protective factors.     

不同阶段研发投资对企业绩效的动态效应研究:基于中国上市公司的面板数据分析

研发投资是提高企业绩效的重要途径,不同阶段的的研发投资对于企业绩效的改善存在着差异化作用。本文构建了不同阶段研发投资对企业绩效影响效应的理论模型,并以我国103家上市公司2010-2016年的相关数据为样本,从动态效应的实证分析阶段和开发阶段两个阶段的投资强度对企业绩效影响的异同,结果发现:研究阶段和开发阶段的投资对企业绩效影响均具有正向的积极影响作用,开发阶段的投资在当期对企业绩效的影响较强但不可持续,研究阶段的投资具有滞后效应并且对企业绩效的提升有比较长远的影响。因此过多关注开发阶段的投资并不能有效提高企业绩效,企业应加大研究阶段的投资,以更好地实现其在提高企业绩效中的长效作用。     

贸易开放对中国水环境污染影响的实证研究

文章基于2004-2013年中国31个省市的面板数据,采用动态面板模型和差分GMM估计方法,分别选取化学需氧量排放和氨氮排放作为水环境污染的有机污染物和无机污染物的排放指标,对贸易开放的结构效应引致的中国水环境污染排放进行了实证研究.研究结果表明,经济增长的规模和技术效应是影响水环境污染排放的主要因素,直接结构效应对中国水污染排放的影响不显著,贸易开放的结构效应也在一定程度上加剧了中国水环境污染的排放.通过引入贸易开放的相关交叉项进一步对决定贸易结构效应的比较优势来源进行识别,结果发现,对于中国水环境污染排放并不存在所谓的“污染天堂效应”和“要素禀赋效应”.贸易的结构效应会导致西部经济欠发达地区的水污染排放降低,而对中东部经济相对发达地区,贸易的结构效应会引致其水污染排放量的增大和排放强度的加剧.     

Unspanned Macroeconomic Factors in the Yield Curve

In this article, we extract common factors from a cross-section of U.S. macro-variables and Treasury zero-coupon yields. We find that two macroeconomic factors have an important predictive content for government bond yields and excess returns. These factors are not spanned by the cross-section of yields and are well proxied by economic growth and real interest rates.     

空间面板杜宾模型的Bootstrap Wald-COMFAC检验研究

将共同因子约束(COMFAC)的Wald检验问题引入到空间面板模型中,讨论空间面板杜宾模型与空间面板误差模型的识别问题。蒙特卡洛模拟表明:在有限样本下,基于渐近临界值的Wald检验有着良好的检验功效,但存在着较为严重的尺度扭曲。进一步采用残差Bootstrap方法,在不损失检验功效的前提下,能够显著地降低检验的尺度扭曲。因此,残差Bootstrap方法是更为有效的检验方法。     

互联网驱动产业结构高级化效应分析

经济新常态下,互联网已经成为中国经济转型升级的重要引擎。基于中国2003—2013年30个省市(区)的省级面板数据,实证分析互联网发展对中国产业结构高级化影响效应。研究结果表明:在静态上,互联网发展对产业结构升级具有显著的正向影响;互联网发展对产业结构高级化的溢出效应表现出地区差异;产业结构高级化受其前一期的显著影响,表明产业结构高级化进程具有显著的惯性。