Where are the big bills? Escaping the endogenizer’s dilemma

The continual expansion of rational choice theory to a greater range of social phenomena—from markets to politics and institutions—is a testament to its success. Each further application, however, simultaneously forecloses a potential source of inefficiency in economic systems. Abdicating efficiency considerations impairs economics’ explanatory power as much as its normative relevance. In this paper I explore the interconnected roles of subjectivism and knowledge problems in accounting for inefficiency. I conclude that the knowledge-generating properties of institutions allow for efficiency comparisons, but only in the embrace of a thoroughgoing subjectivism.     

A Cautionary Tale About Control Variables in IV Estimation

Many instrumental variable (IV) regressions include control variables to justify (conditional) independence of the instrument and the potential outcomes. The plausibility of conditional IV independence crucially depends on the timing when the control variables are determined. This paper works through different IV models and discusses the (conditions for the) satisfaction of conditional IV independence depending on whether the control variables are measured prior to or after instrument assignment. To illustrate the identification issues, we consider the Vietnam War draft risk as instrument either for veteran status or education to evaluate the effects of these variables on labour market and health outcomes. Our empirical analysis based on the ‘Young Men in High School and Beyond’ survey suggests that commonly used conditional IV strategies to estimate the impact of draft induced military service or education may be severely biased due to the use of improper controls.     

On consistency of redescending M-kernel smoothers

M-estimators and M-kernel estimators with a redescending ψ-function are not in general consistent. This is often handled by means of coupling the estimator to a consistent one. Coupling the estimator to the (inconsistent) starting point improves the jump preserving properties. However, the consistency depends heavily on the shape of the density of the residuals. This paper shows inconsistency under convenient conditions as well as consistency – even at jump points – under somewhat stronger conditions. Research supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and by grant Mu 1031/4-1/2 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

Beratungserfolg – eine Betrachtung des State of the Art der Ansätze zur Messung und Erklärung des Erfolges von Beratungsleistungen

This paper deals with the actual question of how to measure and to evaluate the success of consulting services. It provides an overview of existing models and concepts concerning the measurement of consulting success and discusses the applicability and limits of these concepts. We show that there are very different perspectives which can be classified according to their research interest and object of investigation. Moreover, we describe their practical implications as well as their limitations. Finally we assess the different perspectives and provide advice on possible future research.     

Analysing Social Capital and Product Innovativeness in the Relationship Evolution of Born-Global Companies the Mediating Role of Knowledge Acquisition

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Relatively little is known about how born-global companies (BGs) innovate abroad during their lifecycle or about how the international...     

Welfare Effects of Changing Technological Efficency in Regulated Open-Access Fisheries

Environmental and Resource Economics - Small-scale fisheries often operate under conditions of regulated open access; that is, the fishery is subject to natural or regulatory constraints on fishing...     

Global Income Divergence, Trade, and Industrialization: The Geography of Growth Take-Offs

This article formalizesthe theoretical interconnections among four post–industrialrevolution phenomena—the industrialization and growth take-offof rich northern nations, massive global income divergence, andrapid trade expansion. In stages-of-growth model, the four phenomenaare jointly endogenous and are triggered by falling trade costs.In the first growth stage (with high trade costs) industry isdispersed internationally, and growth is low. In the second (mediumtrade costs), the North industrializes rapidly, growth take-off,and the South diverges. In the third (low trade costs), highgrowth and global divergence become self-sustaining. In the fourthstage, when the cases of ``trading' ideas decreases, the Southquickly industrializes and converges.