{"title":"The Movement of Industrial Production Indices in 2017: The Same Trends Persist","authors":"A. Kaukin, E. Miller","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3131567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3131567","url":null,"abstract":"In early 2017, the movement of indices in the majority of industries continued to display the trend observed in late 2016 – that of a low positive growth rate. At mid-year, there was a slowdown in the production growth pattern and its downward slide towards stagnation. Over H2, the trend component in the extractive industry pointed to a decline in Q3. The movement of the trend components across several sectors of the manufacturing industry demonstrated some growth, which was still insufficient to push manufacturing production, overall, upwards from its zero growth rate.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114233291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Reinsurance Network Among U.S. Property-Casualty Insurers: Microstructure, Insolvency Risk, and Contagion","authors":"Hua Chen, J. Cummins, T. Sun, Mary A. Weiss","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2560324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2560324","url":null,"abstract":"Reinsurance is the primary source of interconnectedness in the insurance industry. As such, reinsurance connectivity provides a transmission mechanism for financial shocks and potentially exposes insurers to contagion and systemic risk. In this paper, connectivity within the U.S. property-casualty (P/C) reinsurance market is modeled as a network. We model the network of all primary insurers and reinsurers in the market. We analyze all bilateral reinsurance counterparty relationships (domestic and foreign) of U.S. P/C insurers, and we model both intra- and inter-group transactions. We extend the prior literature by providing a detailed examination of the reinsurance network structure, including network density, network components, centrality of individual insurers, and sub-network analysis for top insurers and for insurance groups. Our analysis of contagion and insolvency risk reveals that even the failure of the top 10 in-degree or in-strength insurers with 100 percent loss given default would not lead to widespread insolvencies in the U.S. P/C insurance industry.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129374604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Market Share and Market Concentration of Nepalese Life Insurance Industries","authors":"Rabindra Ghimire","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3164920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3164920","url":null,"abstract":"The paper aims to examine the pattern of premium income, explore market share of the different types of premium income, trend of the income and growth pattern and correlation among the first, renewal and single premium for the five year period based on the secondary data. Trend, average, standard deviation and concentration ratio has been used to interpret the variables. The study concludes that Nepalese life insurance market has satisfactory growth, large variation on market structure among the insurance carriers, renewal premium is major sources of income, the characteristics of the market is oligopoly. The correlation matrix reveals that first premium is more correlated with rest of two kind of premium. Performance of some companies has been found the below the satisfactory level while very few have shown enthusiastic performance. The paper tries to draw attention of the concerned authorities to take the proper initiation on the right time to enhance the capacity of the poor performing insurer in order to protect the rights of the policyholders by different means of the evacuation.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123742759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Honesty, Diligence and Skill: Risk Sharing and Specialization in the Kiryu Silk Weaving Cluster, Japan","authors":"Masaki Nakabayashi","doi":"10.1111/rode.12282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12282","url":null,"abstract":"Many economies have seen growth in industrial clusters during their industrialization, and the relational contracts between manufacturers and subcontractors are often the organizational basis of clusters. We predict that, if manufacturers form relational contracts with subcontractors and if manufacturers closely collude when trading with subcontractors, then premium subcontractors suffer more from market volatility than ordinary subcontractors and hence it is optimal for manufacturers to shield premium subcontractors against the risk. We then study Kiryu, a kimono weaving cluster that expanded from the late nineteenth century with the development of new synthetic dyeing techniques. We show that premium subcontracting weavers were allowed long-term relational contracts and specialization, which shielded already honest weavers against market volatility and induced them to be diligent and to acquire skills.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116936570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Temporary De-Embedding Buyer-Supplier Relationships: A Complexity Perspective","authors":"Fabian J. Sting, Merieke Stevens, Murat Tarakci","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3058630","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3058630","url":null,"abstract":"Research on buyer-supplier relationships has debated the advantages and disadvantages of embedded relationships. We join this debate by developing theory on the performance implications of relaxing embedded buyer-supplier relationships for a limited period of time — a previously neglected phenomenon we refer to as temporary de-embedding. To capture this phenomenon’s dynamic and complex nature, we use a combined-method approach. First, we conducted a longitudinal case study of the relationship between Nissan and a strategic first-tier supplier. This case study suggests that temporary de-embedding reinvigorates search and leads to higher performance for both the buyer and supplier. Second, we built a computational simulation model using the search perspective from complexity theory to complement the theory grounded in our case study. Our simulations confirm the case findings while shedding additional light on how frequency, duration, and intensity of de-embedding affect supply chain performance.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125274719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Who Gains from Better Access to Credit? Credit Reform and Reallocation of Resources","authors":"J. Arnold, Lisandra Flach","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3058567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3058567","url":null,"abstract":"Brazil's 2005 bankruptcy law reform strengthened creditor protection, resulting in a substantial acceleration of credit expansion and business investment growth. In this paper, we go beyond average effects and examine to what extent the pro-creditor reform affected the allocation of resources across firms. We find evidence that the reform was particularly effective in alleviating credit constraints for high productivity firms. After the reform, better access to credit allowed these firms to thrive on the expense of others. Our results suggest that better access to credit can improve the allocation of resources across firms, thus raising aggregate productivity.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126165500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Dynamics of Online Hotel Prices and the EU Booking.Com Case","authors":"A. Mantovani, C. Piga, Carlo Reggiani","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3049339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3049339","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyses the dynamics of hotel prices listed on Booking.com in the period 2014-16. This period is characterised by the most important antitrust decisions regarding the use of price parity clauses by online travel agencies (OTAs) in the EU. First, we document the dynamics of hotel prices on Booking.com in tourism regions of three EU member states: France, Italy, and Spain. The evidence suggests that prices decreased in 2015, the year in which the major antitrust decisions took place, whereas they bounced back in 2016. Second, we provide both a comprehensive explanation of the previous evidence and a rationalisation based on a theoretical model of the OTA sector. Overall, our overarching analysis of the price dynamics on Booking.com allows to explain both the impact of removing price parities and the possible response of the OTAs.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123752370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Home Bias in Global Employment","authors":"Chen Liang, Y. Hong, B. Gu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3049357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3049357","url":null,"abstract":"We study the nature of home bias in online employment, wherein the employers prefer workers from their own home countries. Using a unique large-scale dataset from a major online labor platform, we identify employers’ home bias in their online employment decisions. Moreover, we find that employers from countries with high traditional values, lower diversity, and smaller (user) population size, tend to have a stronger home bias. Further, we investigate the nature of employers’ home bias using a quasi-natural experiment wherein the platform introduces a monitoring system to facilitate employers to keep track of workers’ progress in time-based projects. After matching comparable fixed-price projects as a control group using propensity score matching, our difference-in-difference estimations show that the home bias does exist in online employment, and at least 40.93% of home bias is driven by statistical discrimination.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"91 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126580405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guarantor Financing in a Four-Party Supply Chain Game with Leadership Influence","authors":"Weihua Zhou, Tiantian Lin, G. Cai","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3021510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3021510","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates manufacturer guarantor financing (MG) and third-party logistics (3PL) guarantor financing (LG) in a four-party supply chain game that features a manufacturer, a 3PL, a capital-constrained retailer, and a bank. The manufacturer or 3PL can act as the guarantor for the retailer who borrows bank credit. Two different leadership structures are investigated, namely, Nash game and manufacturer leadership Stackelberg game, where the manufacturer and 3PL decide simultaneously and sequentially, respectively. The supply chain under both leadership structures prefers guarantor financing to traditional bank financing when the supply chain is sufficiently cost-efficient. In the Nash game, however, firms encounter a free-rider dilemma when choosing between MG and LG, wherein both potential guarantors prefer the other to be the guarantor. This free-rider dilemma can be resolved in the Stackelberg game. We also observe the follower–guarantor advantage in the Stackelberg game, wherein all firms favor the follower to provide guarantor financing. Our analysis shows that the supply chain under guarantor financing with a longer decision hierarchy (i.e., the Stackelberg game) can be conditionally more effective than that with a shorter one (i.e., the Nash game). By further analyzing different cost structures, pricing mechanism, and retailer’s initial capital, we find that most of our qualitative results remain accurate under more sophisticated conditions. These findings enhance our understanding of the value of guarantor financing in a capital-constrained supply chain and the impact of leadership structure on financing decisions.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127023312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vertical Integration and the Importance of Comprehensive Pipeline Construction Policies in Japan's Natural Gas Industry","authors":"Satoru Hashimoto","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2974357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2974357","url":null,"abstract":"Japan’s natural gas industry is reliant on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) that normally requires regasification prior to consumption. Unbundling of the industry has not been enforced and while some local distribution utilities purchase gas via pipelines that is regasified by the seller, others choose LNG from tanker trucks with subsequent regasification occurring in-house (vertical integration). Estimating the determinants of vertical integration with an empirical transaction cost economics analysis, I deduce the importance of pipeline network plans.","PeriodicalId":172652,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Market Structure (Topic)","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121622263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}