T his paper investigates the heterogeneous reaction of Iranian exporters to the tariff rate changes, how export prices are influenced differently by the increase or decrease in foreign importers’ tariff rate. Using the Iranian transaction level export data and firm level data during the period 2002-2015, we find that tariff pass through for Iranian firms are incomplete and exporters ...

Like all digital products, software is fungible, has low marginal replication costs, and has a relatively high fixed cost of initial investment in development. As larger segments of economic goods become digitized, it is important to understand how software-producing firms can protect and leverage value from their R&D investments. We consider alliances as a mechanism for protecting and leveragi...

This study examines how the Chinese state-owned banks allocate loans to private firms. We find that the banks extend loans to financially healthier and better-governed firms, which implies that the banks use commercial judgments in this segment of the market. We also find that having the state as a minority owner helps firms obtain bank loans and this suggests that political connections play a ...

This paper investigates the impact of an increase in the cost of firing employees on the performance of manufacturing firms in Indonesia. This analysis uses difference-indifferences analysis to measure the impact of the policy change on the output, employment, wages, and input mix of firms. The new law applied to all formal sector firms in Indonesia. So, in order to identify treatment and contr...

We compared two MR imaging sequences, fast inversion recovery for myelin suppression (FIRMS) and echo-planar FIRMS (EP-FIRMS), for depicting gray/white matter contrast. In 18 patients, the frequency bandwidth (BW) was optimized for each sequence; in nine patients, the BW was held constant. In the BW-optimized group, the mean contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) was three times higher with the FIRMS se...

By analyzing the survey data from 1211 firms across 14 industries and across various ownerships in Shanghai, the study examines factors that influence information technology (IT) usage in Chinese firms applying a technology – organization environment framework and institutional theory. This study provides an in-depth investigation into the government’s role in promoting Chinese firms’ IT advanc...

This paper studies discretionary charges, which I define to be fees and levies that are collected at the discretion of local officials, as firm output distortions. I document that there is an inverted-U relationship between size of firms and discretionary charges paid by firms in China. I build a simple political economy model that captures interactions between firms and local officials. These ...

This paper used data from firms operating in twenty Latin American countries to evaluate whether firms’ perceptions about the nature and predictability of governments’ regulatory policies, the prevalence of intervention in the domestic economy, and the degree to which corruption served as an obstacle to business activity influenced firms’ growth. The paper also tested whether firms’ size or mul...

The economics of small group insurance makes offering health benefits to employees a risky business. Surveys of employers from 1989 to 2003 reveal that more rapid premium increases are forcing small firms to impose higher cost-sharing. In 2003, premiums for small firms (3-199 workers) increased 15.5 percent, outpacing the 13.2 percent increase for large firms (200+ workers). From 2000 to 2003, ...