Errata

Ohne Zusammenfassung The online version of the original article can be found at     

Promotion of Electricity from Renewable Energy in Europe Post 2020—The Economic Benefits of Cooperation

The availability of renewable energies differs significantly across European regions. Consequently, European cooperation in the deployment of renewable energy potentially yields substantial efficiency gains. However, for achieving the 2020 renewable energy targets, most countries purely rely on domestic production. In this paper, we analyze the benefits of cooperation compared to continuing with national renewable energy support after 2020. We use an optimization model of the European electricity system and find that compared to a 2030 CO₂-only target (?40 % compared to 1990), electricity system costs increase by 5 to 7 % when a European-wide renewable energy target for electricity generation (of 55 %) is additionally implemented. However, these additional costs are 41 to 45 % lower than the additional costs which would arise if the renewable energy target was reached through national support schemes (without cooperation). Furthermore, the cost reduction achieved by cooperation is quite robust with regard to assumptions about interconnector extensions and investment cost developments of renewable energy technologies. In practice, however, administrative issues and questions concerning the fair sharing of costs and benefits between the Member States represent major obstacles that need to be tackled in order to reach renewable energy targets at the lowest costs possible.     

Implicit consumer preferences and their influence on product choice

Recent theories in social psychology assume that people may have two different attitudes toward an object at the same time—one that is explicit and corresponds with deliberative behavior, and one that is implicit and corresponds with spontaneous behavior. The research presented in this article tested this assumption in the consumer domain with an experimental approach. Participants whose explicit and implicit preferences regarding generic food products and well‐known food brands were incongruent were more likely to choose the implicitly preferred brand over the explicitly preferred one when choices were made under time pressure. The opposite was the case when they had ample time to make their choice. On the basis of these results, the discussion stresses the importance of impulsive behavior and implicit measures for research in the area of consumer behavior. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An analysis of the implications of diversity for students' first level accounting performance

The present study investigates the impact of student diversity on performance of first-year undergraduate accounting students. The paper is motivated by (i) increasing diversity amongst the accounting student cohort because of the trend to internationalise education services in industrialised countries; and (ii) inconsistent and inconclusive prior evidence on the determinants of accounting student performance. The major contribution of the present paper is to provide a theoretical framework from the published educational literature that can explain much of the variation in the findings of prior studies. We employ this framework to develop and test several propositions in relation to students’ prior content and metacognitive knowledge. The results indicate students studying on-campus significantly outperform students studying by distance education. On average, international students studying on-campus perform better than domestic students (studying either on- or off-campus), with international students studying off-campus performing worst of all. Prior high school accounting, tertiary entrance score and motivation (reflected by both major of study and tutorial attendance) also influence student performance.     

Beyond the Stalemate of Economics versus Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Discourse of the Organizational Self

The purpose of this paper is to advance research on CSR beyond the stalemate of economic versus ethical models by providing an alternative perspective integrating existing views and allowing for more shared dialog and research in the field. It is suggested that we move beyond making a normative case for ethical models and practices of CSR by moving beyond the question of how to manage organizational self-interest toward the question of how accurate current conceptions of the organizational self seem to be. Specifically, it is proposed that CSR is not a question of how self-interested the corporation should be, but how this self is defined. Economic and ethical models of CSR are not models of opposition but exist on a continuum between egoic and post-egoic, illusory and authentic conceptions of the organizational self. This means that moving from one to the other is not a question of adopting different paradigms but rather of moving from illusion and dysfunction to authenticity and functionality, from pathology to health.     

Derivatives use and financial instrument disclosure in the extractives industry

This article documents the use and disclosure of derivatives in the Australian extractives industry. We find that derivatives are used by 23 per cent of our sample, with mitigation of commodity risk and foreign exchange risk being the most common purposes for which derivatives are used. The most common types of derivatives used in the sector for hedging purposes are forward rate agreements and options. Results indicate that derivative use is positively associated with financial risk and firm size. We also examine the relation between firm characteristics and the extent of financial instrument disclosure, using a disclosure index based on the additional requirements in IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures. Empirical results reveal that large firms with higher leverage, which use derivatives, and are audited by a Big 4 auditor provide more extensive disclosure of financial instruments.     

Job machine,think tank,or both: what makes corporate spin-offs different?

One way through which knowledge and technology transfer can take place is through the foundation of new firms by former employees of incumbent private firms. In this paper, we examine whether knowledge transferred from the incumbent causally affect employment growth and post-entry innovation activities of the new firm. We focus on start-ups for which a new idea (a new product, technology, production process, or management concept), which the founder developed during her work as an employee, was essential for setting up the new business. These firms are denoted corporate spin-offs. Using data from German start-ups founded in the period from 2005 to 2008, we apply nearest-neighbour propensity score matching. We find that corporate spin-offs outperform other start-ups founded by former employees of incumbent private firms that are not based on an essential idea in terms of post-entry innovation activities. However, we cannot show that corporate spin-offs benefit from the transferred idea in terms of employment growth. We conclude that a transferred idea is primarily an input factor and a stimulus for subsequent post-entry innovation activities of corporate spin-offs.     

Consumer and managerial goals in assortment choice and design

In many domains, consumers must deal with an increasing number of choices—spanning where, when, what, and how many items to buy; how many and which options to consider; and how best to weigh the pros and cons of these options. This paper considers how consumer and managerial goals and the ensuing tradeoffs affect the optimal design of assortments in order to help enhance our understanding of assortment choice, identify issues that merit particular attention, review some of the recent research in pertinent areas, and suggest directions for future research.     

Defaults and advice in self-customization procedures of insurance

The customization of insurance products is a crucial factor for the success of many insurance companies because it allows customers to tailor the insurance according to their specific needs. Customization can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Focusing on two vertical customization methods, by-attribute and by-alternative customization, we experimentally analyze the influence of defaults. Moreover, we compare the effect of defaults to the influence of stated advice. Our results demonstrate that defaults enhance the likelihood of choosing premium insurance compared to a situation without defaults for both the by-attribute customization and the by-alternative customization. However, the customization process itself has no influence on default acceptance. If insurance companies combine a default with extensive advice (i.?e., advice that provides an explanation for why the advice is given), customers are most likely to choose the premium insurance.     

Work incentive and other effects of social assistance and unemployment benefit policy in the Czech Republic

In this paper we provide an account of most of the passive labor market policies (unemployment compensation, social assistance, state social support and the pension system) in the Czech Republic during the 1990–1996 period. The eligibility requirements and benefit levels are described in great detail. Using Labor Force Survey data, we compare the characteristics of unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits with those receiving social assistance and those not receiving any benefits and we find significant differences in their characteristics. Finally, we provide an analysis of the work disincentive effects of the unemployment and social assistance benefits by comparing these benefits to market wages and by analyzing the effect of being in the system on the duration of unemployment of two cohorts of unemployed in 1994 and 1995. We find that social assistance benefits are fairly generous for low income families with more children, individuals with these characteristics have a higher probability of receiving social assistance and they tend to stay unemployed longer than those people with relatively fewer dependants. We conclude that the social assistance scheme seems to be having some disincentive effects for at least one group in the population.