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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Jozsef Sakovics; Jakub Steiner |
| Abstract: | We consider a common investment project that is vulnerable to a self-fulfilling coordination failure and hence is strategically risky. Based on their private information, agents { who have heterogeneous investment incentives - form expectations or "sentiments" about the project's outcome. We find that the sum of these sentiments is constant across different strategy profiles and it is independent of the distribution of incentives. As a result, we can think of sentiment as a scarce resource divided up among the different payoff types. Applying this finding, we show that agents who benefit little from the project's success have a large impact on the coordination process. The agents with small benefits invest only if their sentiment towards the project is large per unit investment cost. As the average sentiment is constant, a subsidy decreasing the investment costs of these agents will "free up" a large amount of sentiment, provoking a large impact on the whole economy. Intuitively, these agents, insensitive to the project's outcome and hence to the actions of others, are influential because they modify their equilibrium behavior only if the others change theirs substantially. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous Agents, Global Games, Poverty Traps, Strategic Complementarity, Representative Agent. |
| JEL: | C7 D8 O12 |
| Date: | 2008–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:esedps:190&r=ppm |
| By: | Diane P. Dupont (Department of Economics, Brock University) |
| Abstract: | Canadian provinces have become increasingly concerned with possible contamination of water from upstream agricultural activities. Many see watershed-based source protection, so called “source-to-tap†programs, as a means of improving water quality. A key factor in the success of these programs is the extent to which they provide incentives to farmers to undertake actions that ultimately result in a reduction of non-point source pollution. One type of program is cost-sharing whereby farmers are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses relating to best management practices which are expected to reduce runoff into water courses. Given increasing reliance on these types of programs, it is necessary from a public policy perspective to identify design features leading to the greatest likelihood of farmer participation. This paper examines Ontario’s Rural Water Quality Program for the Grand River using data from the first seven years of its operation, along with data from Agricultural Canada’s Farm Census, to model and estimate participation rates. Significantly positive determinants include: the maximum grant available and performance incentives, although both with diminishing returns. Projects with a one-time capital subsidy alone are much less likely to encourage participation than projects that combine a subsidy with a performance incentive. |
| Keywords: | cost-sharing; non-point source pollution; best management practices; economic incentives; |
| JEL: | Q25 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:brk:wpaper:0905&r=ppm |
| By: | Aghion, Philippe; Hemous, David; Kharroubi, Enisse |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates whether the cyclical pattern of fiscal policy can affect growth. We first build a simple endogenous growth model where entrepreneurs can invest either in short-run projects or in long-term growth enhancing projects. Long-term projects involve a liquidity risk which credit constrained firms try to overcome by borrowing on the basis of their short-run profits. By increasing firms' market size in recessions, a countercyclical fiscal policy will boost investment in productivity-enhancing long-term projects, and the more so in sectors that rely more on external financing or which display lower asset tangibility. Second, the paper tests this prediction using Rajan and Zingales (1998)'s diff-and-diff methodology on a panel data sample of manufacturing industries across 17 OECD countries over the period 1980-2005. The evidence confirms that the positive effects of a more countercyclical fiscal policy on value added growth, productivity growth, and R&D expenditure, are indeed larger in industries with heavier reliance on external finance or lower asset tangibility. |
| Keywords: | counter-cyclicality; financial dependence; fiscal policy; growth |
| JEL: | E32 E62 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7359&r=ppm |
| By: | Lee, Lena; Wong, Poh Kam |
| Abstract: | While existing studies have provided many insightful discussions on the antecedents to innovative collaborations and the benefits of collaborative behavior, few studies have focused on the mediating role of innovative collaborations in enhancing the firm’s technological innovative performance. In this paper, we investigate the mediating role of the firm’s innovative collaborations in the relation between government innovation support and the firm’s product and process innovation intensities. As a mediating factor in the innovation process, innovative collaborations form part of the innovative inputs that contribute to the firm’s product and process innovation intensities. Using arguments derived from the resource-based theory, we found that while receipts of government innovation support help increase the firm’s level of innovative inputs as observed in its collaboration intensity, it is equally important for firms to internalize management practices that encourage maximum leverage of government innovation support for pursuits of innovative collaborations. In a similar vein, while innovative collaborations are necessary for realizing innovative outputs including product and process innovations, it is not a sufficient condition for achieving strong innovative performance. The firm’s internal capabilities as observed in its learning, R&D, resource allocation, manufacturing, marketing, organizing, and strategic planning abilities have a positive influence on the relationship between innovative collaborations and innovative outputs. |
| Keywords: | Innovative Performance; Innovative Collaboration; Firm’s Contextual Factors |
| JEL: | D23 M1 O32 |
| Date: | 2009–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:16193&r=ppm |
| By: | Joaquín Alegre (Universitat de València); Ricardo Chiva (Universitat Jaume I) |
| Abstract: | La orientación emprendedora es susceptible de tener un impacto positivo sobre el desempeño de la empresa. Sin embargo, empíricamente esta relación directa no es completamente consistente. Proponemos el desempeño innovador como una variable intermedia y, además, argumentamos que la relación entre orientación emprendedora y desempeño innovador no es incondicional, sino dependiente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo. Utilizamos modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para contrastar nuestras hipótesis sobre la industria cerámica italiana y española. Los resultados sugieren que (1) el desempeño innovador actúa como una variable mediadora entre la orientación emprendedora y el desempeño de la empresa; (2) la orientación emprendedora puede ser considerada como un antecedente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo; y (3) la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo juega un papel importante en la determinación de los efectos de la orientación emprendedora sobre el desempeño. Finalmente, señalamos las limitaciones del estudio y proponemos futuras líneas de investigación. Entrepreneurial orientation is considered to have a positive impact on firm performance. However, this direct relationship does not seem to be empirically conclusive. In our research we consider innovation performance as an intermediate variable, and explain that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance is not unconditional, but subject to organizational learning capability. Structural equation modeling has been used to test our research hypotheses on a data set from the Italian and Spanish ceramic tile industry. Results suggest that (1) innovation performance acts as a mediating variable between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance; (2) entrepreneurial orientation can be considered as an antecedent of organizational learning capability; and (3) organizational learning capability plays a significant role in determining the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on innovation performance. Finally, we highlight our study¿s limitations and we posit avenues for future research. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning capability, performance. Orientación emprendedora, capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo, desempeño. |
| JEL: | L26 L61 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasec:2009-08&r=ppm |
| By: | Rachna Program |
| Abstract: | INHP-II promoted a set of simple interventions to influence neonatal outcomes, including antenatal tetanus toxoid, clean delivery and core care, early and exclusive breastfeeding and thermal care, as well as the identification and intensive home care of the low birth weight and premature babies. Implementation strategies included mainly the strengthening of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program and the programs of the Health Department, particularly at the frontline and supervisory levels, emphasizing timely home visits and counseling during late pregnancy and immediately at and after childbirth. All interventions were implemented at the full project scale of 78 districts across nine states. This paper describes the results and lessons from this experience. |
| Keywords: | Care; Neonatal Health; Mortality; RACHNA; Periodic Rapid Assessment; Baseline survey; Endline survey; Antenatal; Antenatal Tetanus Toxoid; Childbirth; Newborn Care |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2116&r=ppm |