The Value‐relevance of Equity Accounted Carrying Amounts and Disclosed Fair Values of Listed Associates

Equity accounting is a controversial accounting treatment. Although fair value measurement represents a potential alternative measurement base, information content may be lost under a pure fair value measurement approach. This study investigates the value‐relevance of equity accounted carrying amounts and disclosed fair values of listed associates, using a sample of the largest firms listed in South Africa, Australia and the UK. The main finding is that the alternative measurement bases are incrementally value‐relevant during the sample period of 31 December 2005 to 31 December 2011, implying that equity investors do not blindly accept either measurement base. Rather, investors include their own assessment of the intrinsic value of an entity's listed associates in their valuations.     

Regelgebundene Fiskalpolitik und Schuldenkommissionen

Die Staatsschuldenkrise im Euroraum kann kurzfristig nicht gel?st werden: Die finanzielle Unterstützung für die Schuldnerstaaten reicht nicht aus, deren Austerit?tsprogramme wirken zu restriktiv und die Mitgliedsl?nder sind nicht bereit, auf Fiskalkompetenz zu verzichten. Die Autoren stellen hier ein Konzept vor, das zu h?heren sWachstumsraten und niedrigeren Schuldenquoten in den betroffenen L?ndern führt.     

Within-person variation in affective commitment to teams: Where it comes from and why it matters

Teamwork is crucial to organizational success and commitment to teams is an important predictor of team-related behaviors. However, theorists and researchers have typically assumed that commitment levels are generally stable within-persons, increasing or decreasing as a result of substantial organizational changes. This position is at odds with the evidence of systematic and regular intraindividual fluctuations in personal attributes and workplace behaviors. We draw upon affective events theory to present a model explaining how certain events and dispositions produce vacillations in affective reactions which, in turn, are likely to create within-person variation in affective commitment to teams (WPVC_teams). We further propose that WPVC_teams enhances prediction and explanation of intraindividual fluctuations in work behavior and, interindividually, moderates the relationship between level of commitment and behavior.     

Modelling Impacts of Wildlife Tourism on Animal Communities: A Case Study from Royal Chitwan National Park,Nepal

This paper describes the development of a generic model which allows for the analysis of wildlife-tourism interaction impacts in the natural environment. The development of a computer system to facilitate the collection of data and the use of this model is described, using data collected on large mammals in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. The computer system stores parameters describing wildlife tours and animal characteristics for an area and plots regions of disturbance and non-disturbance for the animal in that area. Predictions can then be made regarding the potential impacts of tourism on the animal species for the area. Applications for this model and computer system include the management of high tourism areas at sustainable levels so that tourist enjoyment is maintained and animal disturbance is minimised.     

Die neuen Leitlinien für EU-Regionalbeihilfen 2014 bis 2020 aus ökonomischer Sicht

This article analyses the European Commission’s Guidelines on Regional State Aid for 2014–2020 that were passed in late June 2013. The author argues that some elements of these guidelines are neither in line with economic theory nor with related guidelines and communications of the Commission. Before applying the guidelines, some rules, e.g. on market delineation and foreclosure, should be defined more clearly.     

How real people make long-term decisions: The case of retirement preparation

Large variations in retirement wealth are common, with some households accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars and others accumulating next to nothing. We examine to what extent formal planning or simple rules of thumb contribute to these differences in wealth accumulation. In particular, we investigate whether those who follow simple rules of thumb or those who come up with more complete plans accumulate more wealth than those who take an unsystematic approach. We test this empirically using a specifically designed survey about retirement preparation. We find that people who rely on a rule of thumb behave like literal planners. However, people without any systematic approach save substantially less. Our results, taken together with evidence from psychology, suggest that financial planning advice based on simple rules of thumb may be helpful for those who currently take no systematic approach.     

Selection Tournaments, Sabotage, and Participation

This paper studies sabotage in tournaments with at least three contestants, where the contestants know each other well. Every contestant has an incentive to direct sabotage specifically against his most dangerous rival. In equilibrium, contestants who choose a higher productive effort are sabotaged more heavily. This might explain findings from psychology, where victims of mobbing are sometimes found to be overachieving. Moreover, sabotage equalizes promotion chances. The effect is most pronounced if the production functions are linear in sabotage, and the cost functions depend only on the sum of all sabotage activities: in an interior equilibrium, who will win is a matter of chance, even when contestants differ a great deal in their abilities. This, in turn, has adverse consequences for who might want to participate in a tournament. Because better contestants anticipate that they will be sabotaged more strongly, it may happen that the most able stay out and the tournament selects one of the less able with probability one. I also study the case where some contestants are easy victims, that is, easier to sabotage than others.     

Aufstocker – Kein Indiz für ein Niedriglohnproblem

Immer mehr Erwerbst?tige erhalten zus?tzlich zu ihrem Einkommen Leistungen durch den Staat. Um welche Leistungen handelt es sich dabei? Welche Familiensituation liegt bei diesen Aufstockern vor? Wodurch ist der Anstieg der Aufstockerzahlen verursacht? Dr. Hendrik Luchtmeier, 38, ist Referent im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie; Johannes Ziemendorff, 27, M.Sc. Wirtschaftswissenschaften ist Stipendiat am Deutschen Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.