Tobit Estimation Research Articles

A friend indeed to friends in need? China's trade regime and Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy

Employing newly available data on Chinese Covid-19 vaccine deliveries for a cross-section of 157 countries, we examine if China's vaccine diplomacy is driven by altruistic, enlightened self-interested motives or by purely strategic motives. According to the enlightened self-interested logic, China's vaccine supply would coincide with helping countries dependent on China for trade, i.e. its trading friends, while the strategic logic would entail providing vaccines to countries important commercially to China. In other words, the gravity of the Covid situation would be leveraged by China for strategic gain. Utilizing the logit estimator on probability of receiving vaccines from China and Tobit estimator on vaccine purchases and donations, we find that developing countries that are important to China's trade, and thereby, China's own commercial interests were less likely to get vaccines compared with countries that are more dependent on China. Furthermore, we find that countries more dependent on China are also likely to receive vaccine donations rather than purchases, suggesting that vaccine diplomacy was unlikely to be for commercial and strategic gain. Our results taken together signify that vaccine deliveries by China were not manipulated by trade interests in Beijing. The results suggest instead that China supplied vaccines to countries needing them and with whom Chinese goodwill reflects a more normal course of diplomacy—to service friends in need.

Exploring the impact of agricultural digitalization on smallholder farmers' livelihoods in Ghana

With the government's pursuit of a digitalization agenda, Ghana is at the forefront of championing digital transformation in Africa. However, people in rural areas are being left behind in harnessing the immense benefits of digitalization for their livelihoods. This study contributes to policy efforts aimed at bridging that gap by investigating the drivers of agricultural digitalization (AD) as well as its effects on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 525 rural farmers across northern, middle and southern Ghana was employed. The study used the probit and tobit estimators to analyze the drivers and intensity of adoption of digital technologies in agriculture and the inverse probability weighting and regression adjustment estimator to mitigate endogeneity concerns. The results show that while female farmers trail male farmers in the intensity of applying digital technologies, higher educational attainment, better perception of digitalization, group/cooperative membership, number of economically active household members, and access to reliable electricity, internet and mobile money services significantly promote the use of digital technologies in agricultural activities. The results further show that AD is significantly associated with perceived improvements in livelihood assets, and ultimately livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. These findings highlight the importance of investing in rural digital infrastructure by policymakers, the private sector and other stakeholders, so as to expand access to and the uptake of digital technologies in agriculture to bolster rural development in Ghana.

Effects of economic freedom and ease of doing business on trade in global value chains: Evidence from sub‐Saharan Africa

AbstractInspired by the recent drastic shift in international trade from traditional to global value chains, this study analyzed the effects of economic freedom and ease of doing business on participation and position of sub‐Saharan Africa in global value chains. Panel data from 41 sub‐Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2018 were used. The study utilized a tobit estimator along with a fixed effects estimator. The findings show that economic freedom—namely, better regulation and sound money—positively influence the countries' participation in global value chains. Moreover, improving ease of doing business, such as by decreasing customs duties and simplifying procedures to register new businesses, enhances the countries' level of participation and their efforts to move upstream along the global value chains. The results are robust to different specifications. Therefore, sub‐Saharan African countries should promote economic freedom and ease of doing business to participate in and reap benefits offered by the current wave of globalization. Specifically, sub‐Saharan African countries should further reduce the number of procedures required to register new businesses, decrease tariffs and non‐tariffs barriers to trade in global value chains to enhance their participation and position along global value chains.

A Long Run Look at FBS Football Attendance

Abstract: A balanced panel (99 teams over 40 years) is used to estimate three regression models: average attendance via fixed and random effects plus Tobit estimation of percent of capacity. Variables are either stationary or cointegrated. Estimation makes adjustments for serial correlation and endogeneity between several variables. Independent variables measure economic conditions, demographic characteristics, and team performance. Attendance is a normal good. Travel cost is insignificant in two models but positive in one. Weak evidence suggests undergraduate enrollment and county population exert a positive impact. Three team performance measures and power ranking scores exert consistent positive impacts. Stadium renovations that increase capacity also increase attendance while those that reduce capacity are insignificant except in the percent of capacity equation. Attendance responses vary, either in sign or significance, across Power Five and Group of Five teams for eight of 10 independent variables. Specification tests suggest that random effects estimation is preferred.

Business Groups and Export Performance: The Role of Coordination Failures and Institutional Configurations

AbstractWe explore the nature of business groups (BGs) and their affiliates in emerging markets through the lens of the coordination failures associated with economic development. We propose that BGs develop distinct economic and political capabilities that provide affiliates with access to the complementary resources required for successful exporting. We further argue that these capabilities are context‐specific, based on the market and political institutions of the home country. We propose that the BG advantage in supporting affiliate exporting increases as market institutions strengthen but is reduced (strengthened) as political systems become more democratic (autocratic). We apply Tobit estimation methods to a large sample of firms from emerging and developing countries at different stages of institutional development and find consistent evidence in favour of our hypotheses. We develop a framework to analyse alternative BG internationalization paths in a comparative institutional context.

Peer effects of digital innovation behavior: an external environment perspective

PurposeThe use of digital technology in firms has drawn attention of innovation management scholars and policy-makers, especially the imitation of digital technology and competition among peer firms. Drawing on dynamic competition theory, this paper examines how firms react to their peers' digital innovation behavior and the effect of external environment mechanisms on the magnitude of peer effects.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes a text mining method to construct a baseline model with a Tobit estimator using data obtained for Chinese listed firms.FindingsThe findings suggest that peer effects on digital innovation behavior are robust and significant positive in China. Moreover, peer effects on digital innovation participation are positively magnified by firms' strong social network and high Fintech development. However, peer effects are relatively higher in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), low-profitability and high R&D firms.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' findings contribute to the digital management literature by showing that firms need digital technological imitation and diffusion of innovations in the digital era.Practical implicationsManagers should provide insights into firms' imitation of their peers' acts to preserve competitive parity. Besides, firms should integrate employees within the organization and communicate digital innovation concepts and behaviors to external peer firms.Originality/valueFirst, this paper contributes to explaining how firms change their digital innovation strategy through the influence of peers' digital innovation behavior. Second, this paper fills the literature gaps related to the moderating effects of external environment factors in peer effects of digital innovation behavior.

The physician CEO advantage and hospital performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: capacity utilization and patient satisfaction

PurposePrior studies have shown that physician-led hospitals have several advantages over non-physician-led hospitals. This study seeks to test whether these advantages also extend to periods of extreme disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which affect bed availability and hospital utilization.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilize a bounded Tobit estimation to identify differences in patient satisfaction rates and in-hospital utilization rates of top-rated hospitals in the United States.FindingsAmong top-rated US hospitals, those that are physician-led achieve higher patient satisfaction ratings and are more likely to have higher utilization rates.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the COVID-19 pandemic generated greater demand for inpatient beds, physician-led hospitals improved their hospitals’ capacity utilization as compared with those led by non-physician leaders. A longitudinal study to show the change over the years and whether physician Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are more likely to improve their hospitals’ ratings than non-physician CEOs is highly recommended.Practical implicationsRecruiting and retaining physicians to lead hospitals, especially during disruptions, improve hospital’s operating efficiency and enhance patient satisfaction.Originality/valueThe paper reviews prior research on physician leadership and adds further insights into the crisis leadership literature. The authors provide evidence based on quantitative data analysis that during the COVID-19 pandemic, physician-led top-rated US hospitals experienced an improvement in operating efficiency.

If You Rebuild It, Will They Come? The Impact of Renovated Sports Facilities on Total Revenue and Attendance

The novelty effect has a long history in sport facility research with most research examining new facility construction. The present study explores the impact of renovated facilities, specifically the novelty effect, as it pertains to revenue and secondarily attendance. Within, we also explore four different renovation types as classified by the U.S. National Registry of Historic Places to look at any individual impact or revelation using institutions participating in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Results from ordinary least squares and Tobit estimations from a sample period covering 1993 through 2017 conclude a novelty effect associated with renovations does exist for attendance. However, the effect is shorter in duration and delayed by a few seasons based upon the type of renovation. As for revenues, we find some positive impact on revenues. Those impacts are delayed are on based on certain types of renovation.

Firm size‐specific trade effects of regional trade agreements: Estimating extensive and intensive margins of trade

AbstractWe estimate the impacts of Korean firms’ participation in regional trade agreements (RTAs) on the extensive and intensive export margins by identifying exporting firms based on their firm size—small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) at the 5 399 HS six‐digit commodity level—and specifying characteristics of RTAs from 2004 to 2015. We apply the EK Tobit estimation technique to control zero trade and the OLS estimation with importer‐product and time fixed effects to alleviate the endogeneity problem. We find that firm size, product type, and depth of RTA significantly matter. Specifically, we find that deeper RTAs with larger, developing, and closer members significantly enhance the export creation effects of SMEs and LEs. Regarding the firm size‐specific effects, we find that SMEs are less sensitive to exploiting RTA participation but more sensitive to the import market size, bilateral and relative trade costs, and the RTA characteristics. LEs’ export creation is mainly driven by the intensive margin, while SMEs’ export creation is driven by extensive and intensive margins (slightly more by the extensive margin). For the product‐specific effects, we find that Korea's major exportable products such as chemicals, basic metals, motor vehicles, and transport equipment generate significantly strong export creation effects for both LEs and SMEs through their participation in RTAs.

Capital controls and capital flow volatility during global shocks: Indian experience

This paper examines the issue of capital controls in India and their effectiveness in stabilizing the capital flow volatility in the economy. It documents the evolution of the capital controls regime in India since its economic liberalization in 1991 and focuses on India’s experience with capital controls in the period leading up to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 until the taper tantrum aftermath in 2013. We construct a capital controls index based on data from the IMF’s Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (AREAER). The index shows careful ease of capital controls by Indian policymakers in the financial sectors, i.e., the capital market, money market and direct investment, over the 2001–2008 period. The index further shows that the process of decontrol in the capital market stagnated during 2009–2014 due to the GFC to insulate the Indian economy from global shocks. This paper further explores the impact of capital controls in managing capital flow volatility in the context of the GFC. Using the tobit estimation approach, we show that capital controls effectively reduce capital flow volatility in the pre-GFC period followed by a limited impact post-GFC. This complements the capital account liberalization process during pre-GFC period. Our findings support India’s prudent approach to capital account management as financial markets evolve to manage risk efficiently in a large economy.

The Impact of Environmental Certification on Hotel Performance Ranking

The importance attached by companies to the environment has been growing, due to increasing pressure from the population. Also, in tourism industry there has been an increased concern for environmental issues, and the hotel companies are working to improve their environmental responsibility through the requirements that environmental certification entails. However, it is not known whether the impact of this decision contributes to an improvement in the performance of these companies. The aim of this study is to find whether hotel companies with environmental certification are better positioned in the financial performance ranking. Based on a TOBIT estimation of the performance ranking of Portuguese hotel companies, calculated using the TOPSIS methodology, it is possible to conclude that the characteristics of the hotel industry influence financial performance. In particular, this study show that environmental certification positively affects the performance ranking of companies, so that companies with environmental certifications are better positioned in the financial performance ranking. The result seems to evidence that companies with environmental friendly hotels have higher performance, which may be related to the fact that consumers are willing to prefer these hotels over others.

The impact of objective and subjective valuations on behaviours: A case study of a rare earth processing plant

Despite the importance of rare earth elements in modern technologies, the establishment of rare earth plants often faces strong opposition from the community due to a fear of environmental impacts. This study examines information about actual and perceived pollution produced by a rare earth plant in Malaysia, Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP), and the community's response to it. A survey of 570 respondents reveals that LAMP is perceived to have a high environmental impact in the long run, although its pollution levels are mostly below the limit set by the authorities. About 18% of respondents have undertaken averting behaviours (AB) such as protest, reduction in outdoor activities, and increased health expenditure. The estimated averting expenditure, excluding migration cost, is about 0.06% of household monthly income. Logit estimations show that perception is a significant determinant of AB, while Tobit estimations indicate that young, male, non-Malays and those exposed to poor surrounding air quality, low levels of trust and perceived high levels of environmental impact will incur additional cost. Rare earth companies and the authorities should therefore find ways to communicate with and gain trust from the locals to reduce their fear and to avoid unnecessary protective actions.

FAMILY SAVINGS OF THE WORKING POPULATION IN MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

<p>The study was conducted to understand the saving behavior of the working population in Mindanao using the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) datasets covering the periods 2003 to 2015. The study determined the factors which influence the families to save using Tobit regression and compared the levels of family income, expenditures, and savings of the regions of Mindanao. The study revealed that the real value of family savings increases as the family head gets older, but it eventually declines as the head nears retirement age. Tobit estimates revealed that in Mindanao, the age of the family head, household tenure, wages from agricultural and non-agricultural activities, income from entrepreneurial activities and cash assistance from abroad positively influence families to save; while sex of the family head, educational attainment, and the number of young dependents negatively influence the families to save. Moreover, the family size, marital status and geospatial location of the family heads have shown both positive and negative influences on family savings for different years. Meanwhile, the ANOVA results revealed that in 2015 there were significant variations between and among the income, expenditure, and savings of families in all regions of Mindanao. However, the Tukey-Kramer HSD test revealed that family savings in some regions in Mindanao have statistically the same means such as the Zamboanga Peninsula and CARAGA, Northern Mindanao and Davao Region, and SOCCKSARGEN and ARMM, while other regions vary significantly from each other. Overall, the ANOVA results revealed that for 2015 the Davao Region has the highest mean family income and expenditure, while Northern Mindanao recorded the highest mean family savings. The ARMM region showed the least value of mean income, mean savings and mean expenditures of families among the regions of Mindanao.</p><p> </p><p><strong>JEL</strong>: C34, D14, D15, E21</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0571/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

What Determines Saudi Arabia's Development Finance? An Empirical Approach

Purpose: This paper empirically examines determinants of Saudi Arabia’s development finance allocation and seeks implications.
 Design/methodology/approach: Based on the OLS and Tobit estimation, this paper analyzes a dataset covering Saudi Arabia’s 111 bilateral aid recipient countries during the time period 2015 to 2020.
 Findings: This paper finds that Saudi’s aid allocation considers both donors’ interest (DI) and recipients’ needs (RN) given that less populous and relatively lower income developing countries, with strong commercial ties with the Kingdom tend to receive more aid from Saudi Arabia. This result is robust across all the analyses, supported by statistical significance.
 Research limitations/implications: Geopolitical factors also matter considering that Arab countries are, on average, receive more aid from the Kingdom while other countries do not, and this confirms Arab solidarity. The Kingdom places a high importance on their non-interference policy in nation states’ sovereignty and their territorial integrity. The Kingdom has a short history as an aid donor. As such, bilateral data is available only since 2015, which is a major caveat in this study.
 Originality/value: Existing literature mostly deals with OECD DAC countries in examining aid determinants. This is one of the first studies in this field of literature empirically examining Saudi Aid. This study is expected to shed light to other emerging donors and promote effective South-South cooperation.

Role of income and government responsiveness in reducing the death toll from floods in Indian states

Floods are the most commonly occurring natural disasters in India due to India’s unique geographical location and socioeconomic conditions. Frequent flooding causes enormous loss of human lives and damage crops and public utilities. Furthermore, floods adversely affect economic development and increase the government's financial burden by increasing spending on various disaster mitigation measures. Recent empirical literature based on cross-national comparisons shows that disaster fatalities and damages are monotonically decreasing in per capita income. We challenge this view on the monotonic negative relationship between income and flood damages. We examine the non-monotonic (inverted U-shaped) relationship between per capita income and flood impact in terms of deaths, people affected, and damages due to floods in 19 major Indian states from 1980 to 2011, using Poisson and Tobit estimation methods. In particular, deaths and the population affected by floods increase with a turning point of income up to 882 US$ and 578 US$, respectively, and diminishes thereafter. Our results confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and fatalities and the population affected by floods. In addition to income, we argue that government responsiveness plays an essential role in mitigating the risk of floods. We employ the fixed-effect Poisson estimation method to examine the government's role in protecting people against disaster risk, focusing on regional differences in India. Deaths from floods remain non-linear and follow the inverted U-pattern with respect to government responsiveness. However, the effect of government responsiveness on flood fatalities and flood damages is statistically insignificant. Our results further suggest that high-income states experience a lower death toll from floods. The high-income (rich) states are capable of incurring a higher threshold level of income and higher natural calamity expenditure to reduce flood fatalities and protect the population affected by floods than the low-income (poor) states. The poor states have minimal resources and face severe financial constraints to reduce the death toll from floods. From the perspective of public policy, the poor states, in particular, require an increase in income, better governance, and effective disaster management policies to mitigate flood impact.

Latent Exports: Almost Ideal Gravity and Zeros

Abstract Export promotion at the extensive margin is a key concern of governments. We develop measures of how far firms in origin sectors are from break-even entry in destination markets. The measure is based on Almost Ideal gravity featuring heterogeneous price and income elasticities. Tobit estimation of 2006 trade flows for 75 countries and 25 sectors generates Latent Trade Bias (LTB) – the latent (projected) trade share of non-partners minus the as-if-frictionless trade share. Explained LTB variance decomposition shows that variable trade costs (distance and tariffs together) account for zero flows more than do fixed trade costs (entry cost) and income variation.

The Efficiency of Indonesian Commercial Banks: Does the Banking Industry Competition Matter?

This study examines the effect of banking industry competition on the efficiency of commercial banks in Indonesia from 2010 to 2019. First, using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the results showed that the commercial banks in Indonesia are moderately efficient. Second, this study uses H-statistics, obtained through the Panzar–Rosse model, to measure the level of competition. The results showed that the banking industry competition in Indonesia is a monopolistic market. In addition, this study also analysed other factors affecting bank efficiency, namely non-performing loans (NPL), loan to deposit ratio (LDR), capital adequacy ratio (CAR), bank size, and economic growth. This study used the Tobit estimation method to analyse the effect of competition and other variables. The results showed that tighter competition in the banking industry reduces the commercial banks’ efficiency. The results of this study support the competition-inefficiency hypothesis. Other variables such as CAR, LDR, and economic growth had a significant effect on bank efficiency. Meanwhile, the NPL variable and bank size had no significant effect.

Moral Hazard and the Demand for Dental Treatment: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey in Thailand.

Even though there are examples in the health economics literature of evidence investigating moral hazard in health insurance provided by general healthcare services, studies of moral hazard in dental care in developing countries are still scarce, especially when it comes to nationally representative data on dental care demand and expenditure. Using Thailand as a case study, we investigate here whether moral hazard in dental insurance exists and, if so, the extent to which it affects different dental insurance on the demand for dental care in developing countries. We use a nationally representative sample of 269,206 individuals to quantify the impacts of dental care insurance on four sets of dependent variables describing demand for dental care. They are: (i) dental care utilization, (ii) numbers of dental care visits, (iii) dental care expenditure, and (iv) each type of dental care. Our probit and tobit estimations show that there is no evidence of the existence of moral hazard in terms of dental care utilization and dental care expenditure. However, there is a moral hazard of dental insurance existence on the number of dental care visits and type of dental care. People with generous dental benefits coverage tend to use preventive dental treatments along with necessary treatment but also use costly restorative dental treatments more than do those with lower coverage. It can thus be concluded that, in the case of developing countries, dental care insurance is found to increase the use of dental care, especially for preventive care.

A New Tobit Ridge-Type Estimator of the Censored Regression Model With Multicollinearity Problem

In the censored regression model, the Tobit maximum likelihood estimator is unstable and inefficient in the occurrence of the multicollinearity problem. To reduce this problem's effects, the Tobit ridge and the Tobit Liu estimators are proposed. Therefore, this study proposes a new kind of the Tobit estimation called the Tobit new ridge-type (TNRT) estimator. Also, the TNRT estimator was theoretically compared with the Tobit maximum likelihood, the Tobit ridge, and the Tobit Liu estimators via the mean squared error criterion. Moreover, we performed a Monte Carlo simulation to study the performance of the TNRT estimator compared with the previously defined estimators. Also, we used the Mroz dataset to confirm the theoretical and the simulation study results.

남편의 지원이 기혼여성의 노동시장 참여에 미치는 영향

This paper analyzed the effect of husband's support on the labor supply of married women by using data from the KLIPS 17th (2014) survey and additional survey. In the analysis of labor supply, the employment status and working hours model were used, and then the factors of husband's participation in housework sharing were examined. The probit estimation was applied to the employment status model, and the tobit estimation method was applied to the working hours and husband's household share rate model because women's working hours and men's housework hours had the characteristics of left-censored data. As a result of the estimation, it was found that the couple's perception of the progressive gender role and the sharing of domestic labor among men had a positive effect on married women's participation in the labor market. On the other hand, the stronger men's perception of the fair sharing of household labor, the higher the participation rate of household labor. In order to increase Korean women's participation in the labor market, it seems necessary to improve men's perception of gender roles and to allow men to participate in housework sharing. In addition, it seems necessary to expand national childcare so that women can participate in the labor market without worrying about their children.