Karl Pearson and the Scandinavian School of Statistics

The relationship between Karl Pearson and the Scandinavian statisticians was more of a competitive than a collaborative nature. We describe the leading statisticians and stochasticists of the Scandinavian school, and relate some of their work to the work of Pearson.     

Two currencies,one model? Evidence from the Wall Street Journal forecast poll

We use the foreign exchange forecasts of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll to analyze the expectation formation process of forecasters for the exchange rates of the euro and the yen vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar for the period 1999–2005. We also compare the expectation formation process with the actual exchange rate process. We find that most forecasters have contrarian exchange rate expectations, but our results also indicate significant heterogeneity between forecasters. While the actual exchange rate process of the yen/dollar exchange rate shows negative autocorrelation, the dollar/euro exchange rate exhibits positive autocorrelation.     

Die Moskauer Nachschrift der Vorlesungen von Adam Smith

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Corporate morality called in question: The case of Cabora Bassa

This article presents a case study of a big German enterprise (Siemens) facing a large wave of public critique and protest activities. The public was concerned about the political circumstances surrounding the construction of the Cabora Bassa hydroelectric dam in Mozambique in which Siemens was largely involved.This study reports the escalating protest against the firm over three years (1970–1972) and the firm's responses during that period. The analysis of the case focusses on the behaviour of the firm which is interpreted in the light of the business social responsibility doctrine. The article proposes that the firm experienced a legitimation crisis and responded by reorienting its philosophy of business.Georg Schreyögg is Professor of Management at the Department of Business at Fern Universität Hagen. He has written five books on Quality of Working Life, Organizational Theory and Business Strategy, and several articles, published in various business journals. His recent research has addressed strategic control.Horst Steinmann is Professor of Management at the faculty of business at Universität Erlange-Nürnberg. He has written several books and a number of articles. His most recent research interest focusses on business ethics and the philosophy of dialogue.Our case is based on an analysis of documents and on interviews. Because the project received wide public interest, many documents, handbills, memoranda, articles, etc. were available. In addition, we had access to internal Siemens documents (letters, internal memoranda, policy statements, delivered opinions, etc.). Much of the material was filed in the Cabora Bassa archive of Siemens which was kindly opened to the researchers. Reconstructing the flow of events was facilitated by interviews with Siemens managers then responsible for the project. The company approved of the publication of the internal memoranda and data cited. Special thanks are due to Wilhelm Forstmann for his support and his willingness to answer all our questions in a series of interviews.     

Ausweitung der Arzthaftung als Einfallstor für neue Formen der Arzthaftpflichtversicherung?

In a recent case, the Austrian Supreme Court remarkably extended medical liability of a gynaecologist for inadequate information about a possible mental handicap of an unborn child. On this occasion, the paper outlines the modified risk exposure of physicians and analyses a possible impact of case-law on the availability and affordability of liability insurance. It raises the question whether a liability crisis could be possible in Austria and briefly explains the underlying U.S. legal and regulatory framework that led to liability crises in the past. In the U.S., alternative risk transfer by means of Risk Retention Groups (RRGs) has been crucial in improving availability and affordability of liability insurance and to rein in liability crises. The Austrian legal and regulatory framework as it stands now would allow for self insurance solutions like Risk Retention Groups but the economic necessity for alternative solutions to traditional insurance schemes seems to be lacking.