Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lutfi Erden Author-Name: Ibrahim Ozkan Author-Name: Burak Gunalp Title: What Do Productivity Shocks Tell Us About the Saving-Investment Relationship? Abstract: This study is a contribution to the empirical literature on the significance of productivity shocks in explaining a high saving-investment correlation, using data from a panel of 21 OECD countries over the period 1970-2003. The study looks at the distributional properties of the productivity shocks in order to test if productivity shocks can relate saving to investment. To this end, we divide the countries into three groups with respect to the distributional characteristics of productivity shocks in each country with an application of the Fuzzy-c-means (FCM) clustering technique. The results provide some support for the productivity shock argument, indicating that the saving retention coefficients are greater for the countries subject to large productivity shocks in magnitude. Keywords: Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle, Productivity Shocks, Fuzzy Clustering, International Capital Mobility, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Statistics Classification-JEL: C23, C40, F21, F41 Pages: 195-208 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=349.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/349 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:349:p:195-208 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/349 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lukáš Vácha Author-Name: Jozef Barunik Author-Name: Miloslav Vošvrda Title: Smart Agents and Sentiment in the Heterogeneous Agent Model Abstract: In this paper we extend the original heterogeneous agent model by introducing smart traders and changes in agents' sentiment. The idea of smart traders is based on the endeavor of market agents to estimate future price movements. By adding smart traders and changes in sentiment we try to improve the original heterogeneous agents model so that it provides a closer description of real markets. The main result of the simulations is that the probability distribution functions of the price deviations change significantly when smart traders are added to the model, and they also change significantly when changes in sentiment are introduced. We also use the Hurst exponent to measure the persistence of the price deviations and we find that the Hurst exponent is significantly increasing with the number of smart traders in the simulations. This means that the introduction of the smart traders concept into the model results in significantly higher persistence of the simulated price deviations. On the other hand, the introduction of changing sentiment in the proposed form does not change the persistence of the simulated prices significantly. Keywords: market structure, Hurst exponent, heterogeneous agent model, smart traders Classification-JEL: C15, D84, G14 Pages: 209-219 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=350.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/350 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:350:p:209-219 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/350 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: David M. Levy Author-Name: Dalibor Roháč Title: Praiseworthiness and Endogenous Growth Abstract: This paper demonstrates that increasing returns to scale can be sustained when agents care about praiseworthiness of their conduct. Unlike the desire to attain approbation from external sources, the notion of praiseworthiness seems to have been neglected by contemporary economic literature. Yet the relevance of praiseworthiness as an internal motivational force was stressed by a number of classical economists. We construct an endogenous growth model in which agents derive utility not only from their consumption but also from praiseworthiness of their action. In such a setting, the motivation by praiseworthiness is able to generate positive and accelerating growth of output per labourer in steady state. The main implication of our model is that the existence of increasing returns depends critically on presence of sufficient approbation attributed to creativity. Furthermore, the presence or the absence of these rewards may be susceptible to explain the cross-sectional differences in growth rates, growth miracles and growth disasters. Keywords: endogenous growth, approbation, praiseworthiness, research and development Classification-JEL: B12, N00, O31, O41 Pages: 220-234 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=351.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/351 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:351:p:220-234 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/351 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Kamila Fialová Author-Name: Martina Mysíková Title: Labour Market Participation: The Impact of Social Benefits in the Czech Republic and Selected European Countries Abstract: This paper aims to quantify the impact of social benefits on labour market participation in the Czech Republic and provides a comparison with selected European countries. It applies the logistic regression to estimate the probability of labour market participation depending on social benefits related to net wage of the individuals, controlling for individual and household characteristics. Our results indicate that the work disincentives via social benefits do exist in most of the included countries and they proved to be relatively strong in the Czech Republic. When trying to understand the reasons for recently decreasing participation rate in the Czech Republic, the often called "generous" Czech social benefit system appears to be relevant. Keywords: social benefits, inactivity trap, labour market participation Classification-JEL: I38, J21 Pages: 235-250 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=352.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/352 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:352:p:235-250 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/352 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Petr Mariel Author-Name: Susan Orbe Title: Nonparametric Approach to Patent Citations Abstract: The present article reexamines some of the issues regarding the benchmarking of patents using the NBER data base on U.S. patents by generalizing a parametric citation model and by estimating it using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) methodology. The main conclusion is that the estimated effects differ considerably from sector to sector, and the differences can be estimated nonparametrically but not by the parametric dummy variable approach. Keywords: GAM, patent benchmarking, USPTO Classification-JEL: C14, O3 Pages: 251-266 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=353.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/353 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:353:p:251-266 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/353 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jérôme Ballet Author-Name: Philippe Meral Author-Name: Dawidson Razafimahatolotra Title: Altruism, Paternalism and Transfers Abstract: Discussions regarding the form that state transfers should take generally focus on the relative efficiency of transfers in kind vis-á-vis transfers in cash. This article, however, proposes a different approach - to determine the optimal structure of a donation, i.e. its optimal composition. Hence, the problem no longer lies in attempting to figure out whether a donation in kind is either more or less efficient than a donation in cash, but rather, to determine, through various hypotheses relative to the agent's behaviour, the most preferable structure for the donor. Keywords: altruism, transfer, paternalism Classification-JEL: D64 Pages: 267-282 Volume: 2009 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=354.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/354 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2009:y:2009:i:3:id:354:p:267-282 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/354