Which food prices were more vulnerable to the COVID-19 blockade regulations in China? Comparison between perishable and storable vegetables

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupeng Wang ◽  
Satoru Shimokawa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Dependence ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Panel Var ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how differently the COVID-19 blockade regulations influence the prices of perishable and storable foods. The authors focus on the cases of the 2020 blockade at Hubei province and the 2021 blockade at Shijiazhuang city in China, and the authors examine how the blockade influenced the prices of Chinese cabbages (perishable) and potatoes (storable) within and around the blockade area.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the fixed effects model, the panel VAR (PVAR) model, and the spatial dynamic panel (SPD) model to estimate the impacts of the blockade on the food prices. It constructs the unique data set of 3-day average prices of Chinese cabbages and potatoes at main wholesale markets in China during the two urban blockade periods from January 1 to April 8 in 2020 and from January 1 to March 1 in 2021.FindingsThe results from the SPD models indicate that the price of Chinese cabbages was more vulnerable and increased by 7.1–9.8% due to the two blockades while the price of potatoes increased by 1.2–6.1%. The blockades also significantly influenced the prices in the areas adjacent to the blockade area. The SPD results demonstrate that the impacts of the blockades would be overestimated if the spatial dependence is not controlled for in the fixed effects model and the PVAR model.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the research focuses on the cases in China, the results may lack generalizability. Further research for other countries is encouraged.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the importance of considering food types and spatial dependence in examining the impact of the COVID-19 blockades on food prices.

The elephant in the room of mutual forbearance

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burak Cem Konduk
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Performing ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mutual Forbearance ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how a multi-market firm develops the motivation to forbear from competition.Design/methodology/approachA two-way fixed effects model with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors investigates the research question with panel data collected from the US scheduled passenger airline industry.FindingsThe results demonstrate that although the interaction of multi-market contact with strategic similarity impairs a firm’s forbearance from competition, the same interaction promotes it as firm performance deteriorates, supporting the hypotheses.Research limitations/implicationsPerformance explains not only how forbearance emerges out of coincidental multi-market contact but also reconciles the mixed evidence for the impact of the two-way interaction between multi-market contact and strategic similarity on forbearance.Practical implicationsAntitrust authorities should pay more attention to low performing firms than to high performing firms in their investigations. Also, managers of multi-market firms should identify multi-market rivals with low performance as targets for the initiation of forbearance.Originality/valueThis study revises the mutual forbearance theory to align it with the accumulating empirical evidence that otherwise refutes its assumption and thereby improves theory’s descriptive and predictive power.

A big data approach to examining social bots on Twitter

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Information Distortion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Brand Reputation

Purpose Social bots are prevalent on social media. Malicious bots can severely distort the true voices of customers. This paper aims to examine social bots in the context of big data of user-generated content. In particular, the author investigates the scope of information distortion for 24 brands across seven industries. Furthermore, the author studies the mechanisms that make social bots viral. Last, approaches to detecting and preventing malicious bots are recommended. Design/methodology/approach A Twitter data set of 29 million tweets was collected. Latent Dirichlet allocation and word cloud were used to visualize unstructured big data of textual content. Sentiment analysis was used to automatically classify 29 million tweets. A fixed-effects model was run on the final panel data. Findings The findings demonstrate that social bots significantly distort brand-related information across all industries and among all brands under study. Moreover, Twitter social bots are significantly more effective at spreading word of mouth. In addition, social bots use volumes and emotions as major effective mechanisms to influence and manipulate the spread of information about brands. Finally, the bot detection approaches are effective at identifying bots. Research limitations/implications As brand companies use social networks to monitor brand reputation and engage customers, it is critical for them to distinguish true consumer opinions from fake ones which are artificially created by social bots. Originality/value This is the first big data examination of social bots in the context of brand-related user-generated content.

Can non-CEO inside directors add value? Evidence from unplanned CEO turnovers

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-482
Author(s):  
Laurie Krigman ◽  
Mia L. Rivolta
Keyword(s):  
Succession Planning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Leadership Transition ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Inside Directors ◽  
Transfer Of Information ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the roles of non-CEO inside directors (NCIDs) in the new CEO-firm matching process using the context of unplanned CEO departures when immediate CEO succession planning becomes a sole board responsibility. Although critics argue that inside directors decrease the monitoring effectiveness of a board, inside directors arguably possess superior firm-specific experience and knowledge that can be beneficial during the leadership transition. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a comprehensive, manually collected data set of unplanned CEO departures from 1993 to 2012. Findings The authors find that NCIDs play an important role in the CEO transitioning process. They help firms identify qualified inside replacements and provide stability as the new permanent or interim CEO. In addition, NCIDs facilitate the transfer of information and help the new external CEOs succeed. They show that the longer the NCID stays with the company, the longer the tenure of the new CEO. They also document that the presence of NCIDs improves operating and stock performance; especially when the new CEO is hired from outside of the firm. Practical implications The impact of NCIDs is particularly important when the firm hires an outsider as the new CEO. These results suggest that board composition affects frictions in the CEO labor market. Originality/value The literature has predominantly focused on the downside of having inside directors. Too many inside directors on a firm’s board is often associated with ineffective boards and entrenchment. To the contrary, the authors focus on a potential benefit of having inside directors.

Board gender diversity and US corporate bonds

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 771-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee M. Oyotode-Adebile ◽  
Zubair Ali Raja
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Propensity Score ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Women Participation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of board gender diversity on bond terms and bondholders’ returns. Design/methodology/approach The authors perform pooled OLS regression, simultaneous regressions and propensity score matching to a panel data set of bond data for 319 US firms from 2007 to 2014. Findings The authors find that firms with gender-diverse boards have lower yields, higher ratings, larger issue size and shorter maturity. They also find that bondholders require fewer returns from firms with gender-diverse boards. However, the effect is more pronounced when women, constitutes at least 29.67 percent of the board. Originality/value This analysis supplements the findings that board gender diversity is essential for bondholders. It shows that bondholders should look at board gender diversity as a criterion to invest because bonds issued by firms with gender-diverse board have less risk. For practitioners, this study shows that more women participation on boards leads to a reduction in borrowing costs.

scholarly journals The relationship between debt and a firm’s performance: the impact of institutional factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1272-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Forte ◽  
José Miguel Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance, by focusing on the influence of the institutional framework on this relationship and on the role of macroeconomic variables in explaining performance. Design/methodology/approach The present work is based on a large sample of 48,840 manufacturing firms from nine European countries covering the 2008–2013 period and uses a fixed effects model. Findings Results show that the impact of debt on a firm’s performance depends on the measure of debt (short-term debt positively affects a firm’s performance, whereas long-term debt presents a negative relationship) and that the institutional framework is indeed affecting the relationship between debt and a firm’s performance: the positive effect of debt on a firm’s performance tends to be higher the greater the “efficiency of the legal system” and the greater the “credit market regulation.” Macroeconomic variables also play a key role in explaining performance. Originality/value Unlike most of the existing studies, which focus only on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance in a single country, the present work uses a sample of firms from nine countries with the purpose of filling a research gap and bringing new empirical evidence to this research area.

Firm-level agreements, employment strategies and temporary workers

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-212
Author(s):  
Saverio Minardi
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of two-tier firm-level collective agreements on firms’ propensity to use temporary employment, accounting for the process of self-selection of firms into different bargaining levels in the Italian context. It further examines which firm-level characteristics drive this process of selection. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis uses a panel data set of Italian firms for the years 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015. Estimations are produced and compared through ordinary least square regression, random-effects and fixed-effects models. Findings Results show that enterprises adopting two-tier firm-level agreements (TTFA) are associated with lower levels of temporary workers. However, a longitudinal analysis suggests that introducing a TTFA does not impact firms’ propensity to employ temporary workers. This novel finding highlights the presence of a selection process based on firm-level time-constant characteristics. The paper argues that these characteristics refer to management orientation toward high-road rather than low-road employment strategies. Further evidence is brought in support of this claim, showing that firms’ propensity toward the provision of training for their labor force partially explain the process of selection. Originality/value The study is the first to analyze the impact of secondary-level collective agreements on firms’ reliance on temporary employment, offering new evidence on the causes of the expansion of temporary employment. It further highlights the relevance of employers’ strategies in shaping the impact of the bargaining structure.

Product diversification, business structure, and firm performance in Taiwanese property and liability insurance sector

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Ying Lee
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Product Diversification ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Business Structure

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze product diversification, business structure and insurer performance with a comprehensive look at the property-liability (P/L) insurance operations. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel data, this study employs an ordinary least squares regression model, fixed effects model and random effects model to examine the impact of product diversification and business structure on the performance of P/L insurers. The study assesses insurer performance using both risk-adjusted return on assets and risk-adjusted return on equity. Findings The study finds that product diversification is significantly negatively related to the performance of P/L insurers. The results are consistent with the diversification discount theory. The empirical results reveal that business lines have significant impacts on firm performance, particularly on the lines of fire and marine insurances. Furthermore, the interaction between product diversification and firm size implies that product diversification significantly increases the performance of large-sized insurance firms. Originality/value The study provides some valuable insights into the effects of diversification and business structure on the performance of P/L insurers in a developing country. The study’s findings suggest that management of P/L insurers should clarify their objectives and carefully assess the company’s resources when dealing with product diversification and business structure. The results have practical implications for the financial services industry in Taiwan.

scholarly journals Governance and Domestic Investment in Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chimere Okechukwu Iheonu
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Domestic Investment ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
World Governance Indicators ◽  
The Impact

The study empirically examined the impact of governance on domestic investment in 16 African countries with a balanced panel data set, between the years 2002 and 2015. The study employed six unbundled governance indicators from the World Bank, World Governance Indicators and constructed three bundled governance indicators using the Principal Component Analysis. The Driscoll and Kraay Fixed Effects model which accounts for serial correlation, groupwise heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence were employed with empirical results revealing that all the indicators of governance positively and significantly influence domestic investment in Africa, except for government effectiveness which happens to be insignificant. Also, Voice/Accountability and the Control of Corruption exert more influence on domestic investment as indicated by their coefficient values. Furthermore, economic growth is also an important factor in explaining domestic investment in Africa. Policy recommendations are discussed.

The impact of corruption on sport demand

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Amenta ◽  
Paolo Di Betta
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Negative Externalities ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
Systemic Corruption ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe article presents an empirical analysis that evaluates the effects of a systemic corruption scandal on the demand in the short and the long run. In 2006, the Calciopoli scandal uncovered the match rigging in the Italian soccer first division. The exemplary sportive sanction of relegating the primary culprit to the second division imposed further negative externalities on the other clubs. Should we prefer the sportive sanction on the team or the monetary fines for the club?Design/methodology/approachWe estimated two log-linear models of the demand side (stadium attendance) using a fixed effect estimator, on two panel data set made of all the Italian soccer clubs in the first and second division (Serie A and Serie B) for the seasons 2004/2005 to 2009/2010, considering the relegation of the Juventus as the event which impacted the demand for soccer.FindingsRelegating Juventus to Serie B caused an immediate decrease of 18.4% in the attendance for all the teams, both in Serie A and in Serie B, for the three seasons considered, and 1% decrease when all the seasons are considered to measure the fallout of the scandal on the fans' disaffection.Originality/valueThe effect of corruption in sport on demand is an important issue, and there are few studies already published. As for sports economics and management, our results are of interest for sport-governing bodies – as a case study that can help in designing a more effective sanctioning system to prevent corruption episodes.

Transport infrastructure, accessibility and residential property values: evidence from Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayantha Wadu Mesthrige ◽  
Tayyab Maqsood
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Property Values ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Residential Property ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Residential Properties ◽  
Residential Property Values

PurposeHong Kong, like many other developed cities and countries, invests heavily in transport development. This study investigates whether the speculative benefits of future improvements in accessibility, brought about by impending transport development, will be capitalized into nearby residential property values even prior to the opening of the development.Design/methodology/approachDeviating from the standard hedonic price approach, the present study employed a fixed-effects model with a large data set of residential property transactions in the vicinity of three-stations situated along a newly proposed mass-transit-railway line in Hong Kong.FindingsThe results suggest that the values of residential properties close to stations do reflect the accessibility enhancements to be brought about by transport improvements even before the opening of the line. Results revealed a 6.5% of property value premium after the announcement of construction; and higher up to 6.7% after the operation of the line. This indicates that forthcoming new transport-infrastructure development produces changes in spatial price-gradients for neighbouring residential properties. Findings indicate that potential buyers/investors recognized the positive benefits of the planned transportation development, even before completion of the project, and are ready to pay a premium for those properties close to railway stations, representing clear evidence that residential property prices/values, near stations, reflect anticipated accessibility enhancements brought about by transport improvements.Originality/valueThis study, using a novel approach – a fixed-effects model to capture the speculative benefits of future improvements in transport infrastructure – provides a positive hypothesis that expected benefits of future improvements in accessibility are capitalized into property values.

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