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Purpose: This paper analyses the impact of institutional proximity, cognitive proximity and geographical proximity (in the form of agglomeration economies) on the firm-level productivity of foreign-owned firms in Ireland. The analysis of agglomeration economies, consisting of internal economies of scale, localization economies, related variety and urbanization economies, has a strong pedigree in regional economics literature. Increasingly, however, alternative explanations of firm-level productivity performance have been explored with institutional and cognitive proximity often identified as other important determinants of performance. This paper presents an analysis of the importance of agglomeration economies (based on geographical proximity) versus institutional and cognitive proximity (which may be a-spatial). Design/methodology/approach: A series of measures capturing regional level agglomeration economies are generated as well as measures of institutional and cognitive proximity. The impact of these effects on foreign-owned firm-level productivity is analysed using data from the Irish Census of Industrial Local Units 2009. The estimation method employed is general method of moments (GMM) which allows for the potential endogeneity of variables within the system of analysis. Findings: The results reveal that institutional proximity has a positive impact on productivity. A possible reason for this result is that local units of the same nationality are sharing knowledge in relation to successfully conducting business in Ireland. However, cognitive proximity is found to be statistically insignificant. Agglomeration economies are also important with urbanization economies and the availability of skilled labour having a positive effect on productivity. Originality/value: The key contributions of this paper are as follows; firstly, the paper provides the first test of the institutional and cognitive proximity hypotheses on productivity while also controlling for a series of internal and external agglomeration economies. Secondly, the analysis considers, firm level, regional level and national level indicators as determinants of firm's productivity. In combining micro and macro level indicators, the paper attempts to answer the call of Van Oort et al. (2012) for such analyses. Thirdly, the paper provides the first detailed examination of the role of 'proximity' on foreign-owned manufacturing firms in the Irish context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The literature of financial economics documents a causal relationship between the level of information asymmetry in the firm and its dividend policy. Nevertheless, this relationship suffers endogeneity problems arising from reverse causality and omitted variable bias. The purpose of this study is to examine how the dividend policy reacts to changes in asymmetric information in an exogenous research setting. Design/methodology/approach: To overcome endogeneity concerns, the authors employ the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the US in 2002 as a source of an exogenous variation in the level of information asymmetry to study the potential effect that this variation might have on the dividend policy. In doing so, we utilize a difference-in-differences research design, in which the treatment group is US publicly traded firms that were exposed to the policy and the control group is publicly traded companies in the UK where SOX was not enacted. Both countries have similar institutional settings and enforcement of laws, which makes them comparable in this research context. Findings: The authors' findings show that, compared to UK companies, US firms increase their dividend payments following a reduction in asymmetric information as a result of the SOX enactment. Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature of financial economics by showing that policy makers can mitigate agency conflicts and protect shareholders by improving the corporate information environment and reducing asymmetric information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper seeks to contribute to the study of the relationship between savings and investment in a panel of five South Asian countries. Design methodology approach -- A number of unit root tests such as Levin, Lin, and Chu or LLC, Breitung, Im, Pesaran, and Shin or IPS, Fisher-type tests using ADF and Fisher-type tests using PP tests are conducted that confirm the non-stationarity of data. Then the paper applies maximum likelihood-based panel cointegration method to examine the relationship between savings and investment using data on investment and savings for five South Asian developing countries, namely, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka over the period 1973-2007 compiled from the World Development Indicator (WDI) Database 2008 CD-ROM. Findings -- The results obtained suggest that savings and investment are cointegrated, which implies that the Feldstein-Horioka (F-H) puzzle does not hold in this region. It is also found that most of these countries have maintained an international solvency condition. Originality value -- This is another contribution that would enrich the existing literature on the F-H puzzle. The paper includes data that involve the longest sample period. No other study, as of now, has employed the panel cointegration method to study the savings investment relationship in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Within the area of economics, the value attached to highly-ranked journal publications, such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Quarterly Journal of Economics, in tenure, promotion, and merit pay processes is often several times greater than that of second-tier publications, such as Economic Inquiry and the Southern Economic Journal. As a result one would expect that author(s) will put forth relatively more production "effort" in order to gain acceptance in a top-tier journal. The additional production effort may come in the form of making the manuscript available to a larger number of outside readers, perhaps via seminars and conferences. This study aims to examine whether the economics research production process differs between top- and second-tier journal outlets. Design/methodology/approach - Data are collected from feature articles published in two top-tier and two second-tier economics journals for the period 1995-1999, inclusive. Means difference tests on various "production statistics" across journals are conducted/presented. Findings - Tests presented in this study indicate that the fraction of the "scientific team" whose contributions are recognized in the acknowledgment footnote of research articles appearing in top-tier economics journal outlets is, on average, greater than that of articles appearing in second-tier economics journal outlets. Originality/value - By examining within-discipline aspects of intellectual property rights assignment in economics, our study extends the work of Laband (2002), which examined interdisciplinary differences (i.e. agricultural economics versus economics) in the assignment of intellectual property rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Completing the internal market, the opportunities of the single market, the challenges of 1992; these phrases are common currency in many sectors of the media. The UK Department of Trade and Industry has promoted an 11m campaign to increase awareness of the impact of a single European market (SEM) on the UK business community. Debate is growing over the implications of the SEM for the future economic system of the European Community (EC). The plan to harmonise the VAT and excise duties systems of member countries has brought the issue of the SEM before a wide audience. It has also become clear that the SEM is not something which happens in 1992. Rather that 1992, or more accurately 1 January 1993, is an agreed date by which time it is hoped that the necessary steps will have been taken to remove the barriers preventing an SEM from emerging. Already over 130 of the proposed 279 necessary changes outlined in the White Paper have been agreed by the Council of Ministers. A great deal of activity is being generated in many sectors in "covering" the 1992 move. There have, however, been few serious studies of the economic impact of the SEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates several articles on the economics of British colonialism. Contention regarding the acquisition of colonies as the consequence of the development of capitalism; Political motives behind British colonial expansion; Economic factors in British annexation; Implications of British dependence on its colonies for raw materials and markets; Link between commercial interest and British colonial policy.

Though Keynes wrote prodigiously, his position in economics is based on The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936). Significant changes have occurred since then in almost every country's economy, and there have been many developments in economic theory. Have these been as great as to render The General Theory obsolete? Or are there still valuable lessons to be learnt from it? It is argued that what Keynes advocated as economic policy has been ignored in the US during the 1970s and 1980s. The policies he advocated have not been employed. Consequently, the experience of those years does not provide evidence for rejecting his theories. In fact, it is claimed that the US economy performed well when Keynesian policies were adopted, and performed progressively poorly as they were abandoned. The search for alternative macroeconomic theories has been misguided and should be abandoned. Instead, The General Theory should be re-examined and its theoretical framework developed. It is argued that the more fundamental methodological considerations that motivate Shackle are overlooked. Such issues as the way in which economic actors acquire knowledge and the nature of economics as a social science are important to him. A more meaningful way of assessing his views is to consider whether they are in sympathy with Keynes's views in such matters. Shackle's methodological perspective and the way in which this has influenced his interpretation of Keynes is examined, followed by a similar look at aspects of the latter's views on methodology. Finally, the argument is taken a stage further by considering Keynes's views on macroeconomic policy. It is suggested that Keynes saw a more limited role to short-term stabilisation policy than many of his subsequent supporters have. Banks, Central Banks, Economic Theory, Keynesian School, United Kingdom The statements made by the central bankers to the Radcliffe Committee are utilised to show how, frequently, they have tak... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that from this issue of the Journal of Economic Studies, Max Steur of the London School of Economics will be the new editor of the journal. Under Max, the journal is inviting papers on the theme of "Making Poverty History."