This paper investigates whether Japanese banks had been following herd behavior in the domestic loan market from 1975 through 2002. Applying the technique developed by Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishny (LSV) (1992, J. of Fin. Econ.) to the data of loans outstanding to different types of borrowers, we obtain evidence indicative of the existence of herding. Consistent herding during the entire sam...

The common approach in empirical capital structure research has been to study the determinants of optimal leverage by studying the association between observed leverage and a set of explanatory variables. This approach has two major shortcomings. First, the observed leverage need not necessarily be the optimal leverage. Second, the empirical analyses, being effectively non-dynamic, are unable t...

This article derives three dynamic models of worker effort determination, based on a shirking efficiency wage model, a compensating differentials model, and a union-firm bargaining model. It shows that all of these three models have the same long-run comparative statics but differ in their short-run dynamics. We use these different predictions about the dynamics as a basis for testing the model...

Although a considerable literature exists on determinants of managerial compensation, much of it focussing on the role of incentives, there is much less known about the im-pact of managerial remuneration and quality upon attainment of organizational goals. In this paper we use a novel panel data set from the German premier soccer league (Bundesliga) as a case to show how variations in manageria...

Innovations in technology and service design have increasingly enabled firms to incorporate self-service technology to augment or substitute for " traditional " employee-provided service channels. Although it is clear that self-service can reduce cost, less is known about how customers utilize self-service channels in a multi-channel service delivery system and the resulting impact on firm perf...

We contribute a novel approach to the existing literature on the effects of restructuring on R&D investment by focussing on a single industry, chemicals. The chemical industry is very research intensive and has experienced thorough restructuring since the early 1980s. By focussing on a single industry we are able to identify the technological and R&D features of its segments. This is important,...

We use nonparametric production function methods to decompose farm-level labor productivity growth into components attributable to efficiency change, technical change, and factor intensity. The estimation is accomplished using balanced panel data drawn from the Kansas Farm Management Association for the period 1993 to 2007. We find that labor productivity growth is primarily driven by factor in...

Ð Analysis of rural households and environmental resources is beset by inadequate data, especially in Africa. Using purpose-collected panel data from Zimbabwe, we demonstrate seven empirical regularities in the rural poverty-environment relationship. Most important, environmental resources make a signi®cant contribution to average rural incomes. Poorer households also depend heavily on these re...

This paper investigates the relationship between capital structure and firm performance, paying particular attention to the degree of industry competition. The paper applies a novel measure of competition, the Boone indicator, to the leverage-performance relationship. Using panel data consisting of 257 South African firms over the period 1998–2009, this paper examines the effect of capital stru...

Recent studies in the tradition of Schmookler have re-emphasised the potential role of demand in stimulating innovation. Here, we reconsider the role of ‘home’ and ‘export’ market demand in stimulating manufacturing innovation using comparable panel data for two small open economies – Ireland and Switzerland. Our analysis is based on the estimation of reduced form innovation production function...