Vertical and Horizontal Networks and Export Performance in the Spanish Wine Industry

Wineries in the “old world” export almost 40% of their production. This study analyzes the influence of vertical and horizontal networks on export performance. We draw on a sample of 183 Spanish wineries and examine the main independent variables using a two-step Heckman model. We find positive effects of horizontal networks and—at a somewhat lower level—downstream vertical networks on export performance. (JEL Classifications: L66, M16, Q13)

The valuation effects of hotel mergers

This study aims to evaluate the merger effect of hotel mergers between 1981 and 2019 and assess which theoretical framework mergers in the lodging industry would conform. Previously, no work has been done about the nature of hotel mergers using the combined return, while this lack of thoroughness in assessing the motivation of those mergers has triggered different interpretations. The design of this study follows the traditional framework of an event study by assessing various types of cumulative abnormal returns around the announcement date. The key finding of this study suggests that the nature of hotel mergers strongly supports the synergy hypothesis. In order to explore the causal inferences of this result by bidder and target, an additional analysis was conducted by regressing the cumulative abnormal returns on accounting measures as well as merger- and hotel industry–specific variables. This panel data analysis showed that in a merger where both the bidder and target are affected, the amount of total debt, being engaged in the casino business, and whether the merger was involving a stock swap sent out positive signals to the market, whereby longer duration and higher deal value lifted the undervalued target. JEL Classifications: G34 (Mergers; Restructuring; Corporate Governance)

Marriage, Quarrels, and Lovemaking

The frequency of lovemaking minus the frequency of quarrels is claimed to predict marital stability. Here, we set up a family economics model using insights from evolutionary psychology to ground this ad hoc formula. JEL Classifications: D10, D91, J12

Estimating Supply Functions for Wine Attributes: A Two-Stage Hedonic Approach

A vast body of literature exists on estimating hedonic price functions, which relate the price of wine to its attributes. Some existing literature has employed producer-specific variables such as quantity sold and producer reputation in hedonic functions to potentially capture supply influences on prices. This practice is inconsistent with the original Rosen (1974) hedonic theoretic foundation. To overcome this deficiency, we extend the literature by using the Rosen two-stage approach, employing data from multi-markets for similar wines to estimate inverse supply functions. The application to Australian produced wines sold in different countries demonstrates the importance of a wine's quality and age as attributes in inverse supply functions. Results imply the additional costs of producing better quality and older wines are increased as both quality and age are increased. Estimates also suggest that lower marginal costs for attributes are associated with a smaller producer size and older more established producers. (JEL Classifications: C21, Q11)

Textbook Economics from Ameritrade’s Joe Ricketts

This article reviews the history of Ameritrade founded and developed by Joe Ricketts into a spectacularly successful discount brokerage enterprise. It, as such, represents another example of a risk-taking innovator who achieves success by filling a need in a free-enterprise market. The main takeaway is that free-enterprise works best from the bottom-up, that is, when individuals or individual companies ‘creatively destruct’ existing markets or generate new markets for goods or services through the implementation of innovative ideas and technology. The article also delineates the workings of the free-enterprise market by pointing out how familiar textbook economic principles are illustrated in the Ameritrade experience. JEL Classifications: A10, D01, E02, G10

A New Method of Identifying Key Industries: A Principal Component Analysis

This article using the principal components analysis identifies key industries and groups them into particular clusters. The data come from the US benchmark input-output tables of the years 2002, 2007, 2012 and the most recently published input-output table of the year 2019. We observe some intertemporal switches of industries both between and within the top clusters. The findings further suggest that structural change is a slow moving process and it takes time for some industries to move from one cluster to the other. This information may be proved important in the designation of effective economic policies by targeting particular industries and also for the stability properties of the economic system.JEL classifications: B24, B51, C67, D46, D57, E11, E32

Willingness to Pay for Wine Bullshit: Some New Estimates

As part of a classic article in this journal, Richard Quandt identified 123 wine descriptors that he deemed to be bullshit. In this paper, I examine whether wine consumers are willing to pay any more (or less) for wine if it is described by one of those “bullshit” descriptors. I use three methods to examine that. The first method involves applying a hedonic regression to a dataset of prices and expert descriptions for about 50,000 wines. The second method involves applying a matching estimator to the same dataset. The third method involves a stated-preference survey of about 500 wine consumers. The three methods suggest that for most of the descriptors Quandt deemed to be bullshit, most consumers’ marginal willingness to pay for a descriptor is zero or near-zero. Yet, for some of the descriptors, some consumers do seem to have a non-zero marginal willingness to pay, perhaps because the descriptors shape a consumer's subjective experience or because they signal objective aspects of wine. (JEL Classifications: D12, D83, L66)

The Role of Social Capital on the Searching Behaviours of a Job Seeker in the Multiple Labour Markets

This study aims to build a two-stage theoretical model to analyse the role of social capital on the searching behaviours of a job seeker in two different markets. As the advantage of the social capital in either market triggers the reservation wages in both two markets equally, the job seeker should prioritize his or her resources enhancing a larger amount of the social capital in a particular market. Consequently, the job seeker tends to search more intensively in the market where she or he has a higher level of social capital. That is the seeker can shorten the expected searching time. The proposed model also explains why the job seeker sometimes chooses the 2nd highest wage offer instead of the highest one. JEL Classifications: C02, D83, J64

A “Sideways” Supply Response in California Winegrapes

This paper explores growers’ supply response to the 2005 “Sideways effect” demand shock (Cuellar, Karnowsky, and Acosta, 2009) triggered by the 2004 release of the movie Sideways. We use a modified difference-in-difference approach to evaluate the supply response in California and regional supply response differences within California. We use U.S. Department of Agriculture data for the period 1999–2012 and find evidence of a supply response in the post-release period that is consistent with the “Sideways effect” on wine demand. The positive supply response for Pinot Noir is stronger than the negative response for Merlot and concentrated in lower value Central Valley vineyards. (JEL Classifications: D25, Q12)

Wages and Firm Ownership: A Study of the Manufacturing Sector of India

From an ownership viewpoint, we analyse the determinants of significant wage differences for India’s manufacturing sector. We use data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s Prowess database from 2000–2015. Using fixed-effects and Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method, we confirm that foreign firms pay higher wages and salaries than domestic firms. Most importantly, productivity, participation in the export market, firm size, firm age and profit margin explain the inter-firm and intra-firm differences in labour intensity for the manufacturing firms in the Indian economy. The wage gap seems higher for intra-firm than the inter-firm, indicating that demand for labour is higher within the sector. JEL Classifications: E24, G32, L6, C13