Prospect theory predicts that loss averse agents who fear they will not reach their reference utility level are more apt to adopt risky strategies to avoid that painful possibility compared to agents who are more sure of their relative standing. This paper tests this theory with data from...

This paper interprets Knight’s views of the firm from the standpoint of his theory of human agency. Focusing on the coordination perspective, this paper argues that Knightian firms are institutions which deal with intersubjective uncertainty. The fundamental principle underlying an organized...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to benchmark alternatives of decision problems that include risk and uncertainty considering different risk attitudes via a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) decision model. Design/methodology/approach A new utility function of strict bounds is applied in a...

Purpose – While behavioral economic experiments have uncovered a wealth of insights concerning how people decide in the face of risk and uncertainty, the implications of these insights for the demand for agricultural insurance are under-explored. The purpose of this paper is to report on...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether empirical evidence for scale economies can be found across countries and if so, whether this evidence varies across the stage of development. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses statistical methods to make comparisons between...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the contribution of capital formation, labor, and technological progress to the growth of the Vietnamese economy, the impact of economic reforms ( doi moi ) since the end of 1986, and the rates of returns to capital and labor....

Purpose – This study sets out to highlight how a leading manufacturer of tooling, with its continuous improvement drive, has leveraged DMAIC Six Sigma potential to realize cost savings and improved quality on their shopfloor. The study examines one of the shopfloor chronic quality issues which...

The outsourcing decision considers the issue of whether an organization should perform certain activities internally or purchase these services from third parties. One of the key issues in outsourcing is the potential for cost reduction. This paper suggests the use of total cost of ownership...

The paper offers a new view of the role of state based on recognition of the economic ability of the state as a separate factor of production. Recognizing the state’s economic ability is as a fifth factor of production and correspondingly gives indirect taxes the status of factor income as...

Purpose – Contrary to the view that the subsistence economy is some minor residue persisting in only a few peripheral enclaves of modern economies, the purpose of this paper is to begin to chart the importance and prevalence of subsistence work across the contemporary economic landscape and...