Showing papers by "Stockholm School of Economics published in 1970"

How Do Contact Systems Affect Regional Development

Abstract: The paper reports on theoretical and empirical studies of contact systems. It refines and extends the framework, and consequently the implications, of such systems. This framework forms a base for extensive empirical studies, the results of which are used to suggest how contact systems are resolved and how they affect the quantitative and qualitative aspects of regional development. The analysis aims to determine how control of the course of development can be exerted by planning bodies at various levels.

A Family of Strictly Proper Scoring Rules Which Are Sensitive to Distance

Abstract: An assessment which is “further away” from the “true” event than another assessment should receive a lower score. A definition of distance (from the true event) is considered as well as the sensitivity of scoring rules to distance. A family of scoring rules for n × n cost-loss ratio decision situations with incomplete knowledge is defined and is shown to be strictly proper. These scoring rules are modified to give a family of strictly proper scoring rules which are also sensitive to distance.

Born Virtuals and Avapreneurship: A case study of achieving successful outcomes in Peace Train – a Second Life organization

Abstract: Borrowing from the international entrepreneurship business literature that uses the term “Born Globals,” I label organizations that have been created to discover and exploit opportunities primarily within virtual worlds as “Born Virtuals.” While relatively easy to establish, the challenge for Born Virtuals and avapreneurs, or entrepreneurial avatars, is to accomplish the critical task of coordinating the actions of multiple actors to achieve important outcomes – a challenge that has been repeatedly documented in research on virtual teams and organizations with geographically dispersed members. As such, this paper’s intent is to investigate two research questions: RQ1) What are the challenges for avapreneurs to achieving successful organizational outcomes in Born Virtuals? and RQ2) How can collective competence be developed such that these challenges can be overcome? To answer these questions, this paper presents a study of Peace Train, one Born Virtual organization created in Second Life. Peace Train was founded by three social avapreneurs interested in promoting peace in the world, and together with more than 100 volunteers, Peace Train organized during the course of eleven months PeaceFest 08, one of the largest fund-raising events to date in virtual worlds. This event attracted 8,000 to 10,000 unique avatars and raised 870,000 Linden dollars from approximately 3,000 individuals from across the globe, which were then donated to 10 real world charitable organizations.

Fiscal policy as a tool of economic stabilization—comments to an oecd report

Abstract: SUMMARY The paper discusses the use of fiscal policy as a tool of economic stabilization in seven OECD countries since the mid-fifties. It draws on a recent empirical study, with attached fiscal policy recommendations, made by an expert group within the OECD, in which the author was a member. The method of analysis in the paper is to compare on one hand the ‘direct’ impact on aggregate demand of fiscal policy changes with on the other hand the timing of the business cycle. Among the countries included in the study, the U. K. and Sweden seem to have most systematically tried fiscal policy as an instrument of economic stabilization. It seems quite clear that the policy in the U. K. has been rather unsuccessful against the background of domestic economic conditions, whereas the experiences in Sweden are considerably more promising. In other countries fiscal policy has been used at particular occasions for economic stabilization, such as in Germany and Belgium during some periods with tendencies to recessions (1958 and 1962), in the U. S. to move the economy closer to full capacity utilization (1964-65) and at several occasions in various countries as part of a policy package to avoid balance of payments crises. It does not seem that forecasting mistakes have been the main obstacle to a more efficient stabilization policy. Time lags in the decision-making procedure, as well as lack of determination and firmness in policy, seem to have been more important obstacles. Another important complication has been conflicts of goals. Sometimes the policy has been more geared to the external than to the internal economic situation. At other times when the policy has been directed to influence the development of prices, unemployment problems have arisen, particularly as the price variable usually seems to lag the business cycle of the volume components. There has also been a tendency to let the expansionary actions during recessions last too long a time, thereby giving the next boom a ‘flying start’.

Size Distributions and the Optimal Size of Firms

Abstract: In this chapter, we will turn to a different topic, namely the size distribution of firms 1) This is methodologically related to the subject treated in chapter 3, since — to a large extent — the same tools have been used to explain existing distributions, and there is also a further connection since one might take the size distribution of income as a staring point in order to explain income distribution as will be shown in the end of this chapter.