Measuring the Returns to Networking and the Accumulation of Social Capital: Any Evidence of Bonding,Bridging, or Linking?

This article presents analyses of individual investment in social capital using both the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the UK Time Use Survey (2000) (UKTUS). We suggest a general theoretical framework that could possibly explain individual investment in various forms of social networking. Measures of social capital are then constructed in an attempt to capture the extent of individual investment in bonding, bridging, and linking networks. These measures, together with other socioeconomic indicators, are used as explanatory factors in wage equations, estimated using ordered probit, OLS, and instrumental variable approaches. We are unable to identify any consistent returns from investment in bonding and bridging networks. In contrast, the evidence suggests that any returns to investment in the development of linking social capital simply derive from the positive signals that group membership may transmit to potential employers. Our results underline the contrast between studies that consider social capital as an attribute of communities, as opposed to individuals, in that we find a negative return to social activity at the level of the individual.     

What happens after a single surgical intervention for hidradenitis suppurativa? A retrospective claims-based analysis

Objective Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is often treated by surgery. The risk of recurrence after surgery is common and the consequences are substantial, but neither has been quantified using a claims database. This study aimed to estimate the burden associated with non-curative surgery in HS patients.

Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of health insurance claims data from Q1 1999 to Q2 2011 in a US claims database. The analysis included 2668 adults with ≥1 diagnosis of HS and ≥1 claim for skin surgery within 6 months after diagnosis. Healthcare resource utilization and medical costs were compared using multivariate regressions.

Results Overall, 46% of HS patients had ≥1 indicator of non-curative surgery. The incidences of inpatient, emergency department, and outpatient visits were 88%, 40%, and 30% higher, respectively, for patients with non-curative surgery vs patients without indicator of non-curative surgery (all p?<?0.001). Average medical costs were $11,858 and $6427 for patients with and without indicators of non-curative surgery, respectively. The difference of $4185 (p?<?0.001) was mainly driven by inpatient costs (difference = $2685; p?<?0.001).

Limitations Indicators of non-curative HS surgery were defined based on an empirical algorithm.

Conclusions Non-curative HS surgery occurred in almost half of all cases and represents a significant burden on patients and payers in terms of resource utilization and costs.     

The Dilemma of Enlargement for the European Union's Regional Policy

The integration of the former communist countries of central and eastern Europe into the European Union creates a dilemma for the EU's regional policy. The EU's expenditure on regional policy (its ‘active’ regional policy) has been guided by political reactions to deepening or enlarging the EU, not by a rational strategy for regional policy. In contrast, the strong EU instrument of state aid control, developed for competition policy (its ‘reactive’ regional policy) has been relatively successful in avoiding a national race of regional subsidies among the member states. We show that a shift from active regional policy to reactive, competition‐oriented, regional policies is the preferred way for the established member states to handle the challenge of enlargement. At the same time, however, this shift is politically difficult for the accession countries to accept, despite the fact that this shift might prove better for them economically. This regional policy dilemma is one of the major obstacles for the full integration of the accession countries into the EU.     

New technology, the labour process and employment relations in the provincial newspaper industry

This article examines the question, using 'mobilisation theory' of whether the NUJ can regain its former position of influence within provincial newspapers, particularly with the new statutory mechanisms to gain union recognition. It concludes that there is some potential for this but that this will not be an easy task.     

How Costly is Financial (Not Economic) Distress? Evidence from Highly Leveraged Transactions that Became Distressed

This paper studies thirty-one highly leveraged transactions (HLTs) that become financially, not economically, distressed. The net effect of the HLT and financial distress (from pretransaction to distress resolution, market- or industry-adjusted) is to increase value slightly. This finding strongly suggests that, overall, the HLTs of the late 1980s created value. We present quantitative and qualitative estimates of the (direct and indirect) costs of financial distress and their determinants. We estimate financial distress costs to be 10 to 20 percent of firm value. For a subset of firms that do not experience an adverse economic shock, financial distress costs are negligible.     

Energiewende und Übertragungsnetzausbau: Sind Erdkabel ein Instrument zur Steigerung der gesellschaftlichen Akzeptanz des Leitungsbaus? Eine empirische Untersuchung auf Basis der Kontingenten Bewertungsmethode

Transmission network development has led to protests throughout Germany. Many studies present underground cables as a means to increase public agreement to transmission line construction and network development. This paper verifies this thesis analyzing the willingness-to-pay of private households for underground cable employment, which allows for a distinct analysis of strategic behavior and opportunity costs that is omitted in classic questionnaire designs. The results of a contingent valuation study conducted in November and December 2012 in four regions of Germany, which are affected by transmission line development in different ways, are presented. At first glance, an analysis of 1.003 household responses confirms common findings with a majority of households favoring underground cables (about 60 %), albeit preferences vary strongly between sample regions. Willingness-to-pay, however, relativizes this result. A near share of 50 % of households voting for underground cables is not willing to accept an increase in electricity prices to finance respective projects (free riders). The fact that positive willingness-to-pay does not correlate positively with increasing lengths of underground cables in 60 % of cases underlines that underground cables are not supported unconditionally. All-in-all, a flat public approval of underground cable technology cannot be presumed based on WTP-evaluation. Preferences about underground cables and corresponding WTP are explained with demographic characteristics and attitudes using regression models. Fundamental thoughts on energy- and environmental policies do not serve to explain responses. Instead, regional factors and subjective opinions on how to finance such kind of infrastructure measures influence preferences for underground cables.     

The spectre of deflation: a review of empirical evidence

Abstract What explains the widespread fear of deflation? This article reviews the history of thought, economic history, and empirical evidence on deflation, with a view to answering this question. It also outlines informally the main effects of deflation in applied monetary models. The main finding is that – for both historical and contemporary deflations – there are many open, empirical questions that could be answered using the tools economists use to study inflation and monetary policy more generally.     

Concentration on the nearby contract in financial futures markets: A stochastic model to explain the phenomenon

A stochastic model is developed to explain how the early unwinding propensity of market participants in financial futures markets can lead to a strong concentration of the trading volume on the nearby contract. In this model the position closing behavior of the market participants is captured by three distribution functions. The concentration process works under many realistic specifications of these distribution functions. The authors would like to thank Wolfgang Bühler (University Mannheim) and Michael Brennan (UCLA/Los Angeles) for valuable discussion and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for financial support.