•This work highlights challenges of service operations in the sharing economy.•Empirical evidence of peer effects and externalities is presented.•Data was gathered from Brazilian libraries through ...big data analysis.•This work provides detailed insights to the economics of the sharing economy.•This work extends knowledge on service operations in the sharing economy.
Information and operations management in libraries presents a unique opportunity to provide insights for the sharing economy. Libraries correspond to a special type of sharing goods, named common-pool resources. Such resources have two characteristics: they are non-exclusive, but rival to each other. Service operations in libraries involve thousands of operations every year, making them a perfect context for the use of big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) to provide real-world evidence on the potential existing challenges in the sharing economy. Employing a novel dataset related to 723,798 library transactions, made by 16,232 individual users during a 10-year period (2006–2015), we estimate peer effects among users via regression analysis, considering the number of books each user borrows. Our main results suggest that a rise in the number of loans among a user’s peer group correlates with her own loans, an evidence of positive peer effects. However, a closer look at the data suggests a high degree of heterogeneity, in terms of behavioral patterns. First, we suggest that peer effects do not occur in the case of users who are not subject to monetary fines. Second, peer effects vary according to users’ category (student or non-student), and area of study (management, accounting, economics, and other courses). Third, there is evidence of different magnitudes of peer effects according to time in school, which suggests the existence of learning effects in a library setting. The results reported in this paper highlight the important role of big data analytics capabilities to uncover new challenges of the sharing economy, having important implications, both in theoretical and practical terms.
Abstract This note provides evidence on inattention in an information commons. Employing a large dataset compiling daily transactions in libraries, we compare a specific compliance behavior of ...library users over weekdays. If inattention affects rule compliance, then one would plausibly expect greater return delays in periods of potentially higher inattention, such as the day before weekends, holidays, and exam weeks. We found robust evidence of a day of the week effect: inattention, as approximately measured by delays in returning checked out books, is consistently higher on Fridays. Meanwhile, there is no evidence of such an inattentive behavior in dates near holidays, or exam weeks.
The present article describes recent developments related to the study of libraries in the field of economics. In terms of scope, there is considerable variation in economic applications, with ...research themes ranging from cost–benefit analyses to the impacts of libraries on educational outcomes, for example. In terms of approaches, the vast majority of articles in the field correspond to empirical studies employing library data, although there is some variation in terms of aggregation. In general, a first look at this burgeoning literature divides its main contributions into two broad sets: (1) one focused on the long-term effects of public libraries over economic outcomes and (2) another focused on the use of libraries as naturally occurring laboratories for the test of economic theories. Although there is not a common theme underlying the majority of contributions here surveyed, there are still sizable opportunities for economists – and social scientists, in general – who want to explore the research potential of libraries.
This note provides a narrow replication of Fisman and Miguel’s (Journal of Political Economy, 2007a; 115(6): 1020–1048) original findings about estimating negative binomial count models to study ...corruption practices among United Nations diplomats. We present estimates based on zero-inflated count models, given the possible presence of excessive zero counts in the dependent variable of the main specifications. Our results confirm Fisman and Miguel’s original findings. However, they also suggest the importance of considering distinct generating processes for zero outcomes. We cannot reject hypotheses favoring the use of zero-inflated negative binomial models over its simpler versions in this context.
More than that, the preparation of such reports is unpaid and can be time-consuming for those involved in such a task (Chetty, Saez, and Sándor, 2014; Gerhardt et al., 2014). ...when scholars must ...decide how to divide their time into various academic tasks such as class preparation, research activities or committee participation, among others, it makes sense to imagine that the preparation of referee reports may not be one of their priorities (Berk, Harvey & Hirshleifer, 2017; Hamermesh, 1992, 1994; Tosi, 2009). ...if the reviewers’ value perception of the evaluation process is not positive, there could be some distortions along the way (Bedeian, 2003; Tosi, 2009). ...the treatment group subject to the social incentive (that is, which had their names published on the journal's website) presented a reduction of median review time of 2.5 days.
Abstract There has been a heated debate related to the effects of business background on ethical behavior. According to some authors, students majoring in business courses - such as accounting, ...economics, and management - would be more likely to free ride or defect from coalitions in collective action situations, given the emphasis of such courses on individualistic values. Other authors have challenged that view, presenting empirical evidence that questions the link between business education and opportunistic behavior. The present paper revisits this debate, by studying the impact of business education on rule compliance in a specific type of information commons (libraries). Employing a novel dataset related to more than 700,000 library transactions during a 10-year period (2006-2015), I correlate business background with users’ compliance behavior, while controlling for their time-invariant characteristics. I find no evidence of a significant effect of business education on rule compliance in this specific setting. In fact, some of the estimates here reported suggest a negative correlation between business background and compliance behavior. These results have important implications for ethical theories in economics, suggesting that compliance behavior is context-dependent.
Resumo Nos últimos anos, tem ocorrido um acalorado debate relacionado aos efeitos da formação na área de negócios sobre o comportamento ético. Segundo alguns autores, alunos formados em cursos da área de negócios - como administração de empresas, ciências contábeis e ciências econômicas - estariam, em princípio, mais propensos a pegar carona ou se desviar de coalizões em situações de ação coletiva, dada a ênfase desses cursos em valores individualistas. Outros autores contestaram essa visão, apresentando evidências empíricas que questionam a ligação entre formação em negócios e comportamentos oportunistas. O presente artigo revisita esse debate, estudando o impacto da formação acadêmica na área de negócios sobre o cumprimento de regras em um tipo específico de information commons (bibliotecas). Empregando uma nova base de dados, relacionada a mais de 700.000 transações de bibliotecas ocorridas durante um período de dez anos (2006-2015), a pesquisa busca correlacionar a formação em negócios com o comportamento de conformidade dos usuários, controlando para características invariantes no tempo. Em termos de resultados, não são encontradas evidências de um efeito significativo da formação em negócios sobre o cumprimento de regras nesse contexto específico. De fato, algumas das estimativas econométricas relatadas sugerem uma correlação negativa entre esse tipo de formação e comportamentos de conformidade. Os resultados reportados neste artigo têm importantes implicações para teorias éticas em economia, sugerindo que comportamentos de conformidade dependem do contexto considerado.
Our article explores an underused mathematical analytical methodology in the social sciences. In addition to describing the method and its advantages, we extend a previously reported application of ...mixed models in a well-known database about corruption in 149 countries. The dataset in the mentioned study included a reasonable amount of zeros (13.19%) in the outcome variable, which is typical of this type of research, as well as quite a bit of social sciences research. In our paper, present detailed guidelines regarding the estimation of models where the data for the outcome variable includes an excess number of zeros, and the dataset has a natural nested structure. We believe our research is not likely to reject the hypothesis favoring the adoption of mixed modeling and the inflation of zeros over the original simpler framework. Instead, our results demonstrate the importance of considering random effects at country levels and the zero-inflated nature of the outcome variable.
The present paper measures external effects in a specific type of common-pool resource, an information commons. Employing a novel dataset related to more than 700,000 transactions in distinct ...libraries during a 10-year period (2006–2015), we estimate the external effects of actions of library users who were subject to a non-monetary sanction (professors and university employees) on users who were subject to a monetary sanction (students). Additionally, we estimate peer effects among users, considering the number of items they borrow from the library. When investigating externalities, we uncover a “crowding-out” effect: for an additional unity in professors and employees' counts, there is an approximate one-to-one decrease in students' counts. In the case of peer effects, we find a positive influence of group behavior on individuals: for every 100 books borrowed by a user's peer group, there is a rise of three books per user, on average. The results reported in this paper have important implications for theories based on common-pool resource management, as well as public goods provision.
ResumoO comportamento de índices de preços em frequências cíclicas constitui um importan te critério de julgamento de teorias macroeconômicas alternativas. Especificamente, Kydland e Prescott (1990), ...analisando dados norte-americanos relacionados ao período pós-guerra, chamaram atenção para a ocorrência de um padrão contracíclico dos preços, o que constituiria um "mito monetário", segundo os autores, dada a crença anterior mente generalizada de que os preços exibiriam um padrão procíclico no curto prazo. Por conta disto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar o padrão cíclico de distintos índices de preços relacionados à economia brasileira ao longo do período 1980:01/2013:04 (dados trimestrais), atentando para a possível ocorrência de um "mito monetário" no caso do contexto nacional. Os resultados obtidos demonstram, à primeira vista, que não é possível registrar um padrão definido de direção dos preços para este período amostral. Por outro lado, quando são considerados os períodos anterior e posterior à instauração do Plano Real, verifica-se a vigência de padrões diametralmente opostos, com a ocorrência de um padrão contracíclico no primeiro período (1980:01/1994:02) e procíclico no segundo (1994:03/2013:04). Estes resultados são robustos à utilização de diversos métodos de filtragem, à definição de periodicidades alternativas para os ciclos de negócios, assim como ao emprego de distintos índices de preços. Em última instância, resultados nestes moldes chamam atenção para mudanças no ambiente macroeconômico nacional ao longo das últimas décadas.
AbstractThe behavior of price indexes over cyclical frequencies represents an important judgment criterion for alternative macroeconomic theories. Analysing post-war data, Kydland and Prescott (1990) uncovered a result where prices display a countercyclical pattern, which they termed 'monetary myth', as opposed to prevailing business-cycle theories of the time. The main goal of this paper is to study the cyclical pattern of different price indexes in Brazil during the 1980:01/2013:04 period (quarterly data), trying to verify if a 'monetary myth' is valid in this context. Results obtained show that, in a first moment, there is no defined pattern for prices during the sample period. However, when we split the sample in two sub-periods, before and after the introduction of Plano Real (an stabilization plan), prices display a countercyclical pattern during the first period (1980:01/1994:02) and a procyclical pattern during the second period (1994:03/2013:04). Our results are robust to the utilization of alternative detrending methods, business cycle periodicities, as well as different price indexes. These results are important for showing that significant changes occurred in Brazil's macroeconomic scenario over the last decades.
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