FOOL THE MARKETS? CREATIVE ACCOUNTING,FISCAL TRANSPARENCY AND SOVEREIGN RISK PREMIA

We investigate the effects of official fiscal data and creative accounting signals on interest rate spreads between bond yields in the European Union. We find that two different measures of creative accounting indeed both increase the spread. The increase of the risk premium is stronger, if financial markets are unsure about the true extent of creative accounting. Moreover, fiscal transparency reduces risk premia. Instrumental variable regressions confirm these results by addressing potential reverse causality problems and measurement bias.     

Price Discrimination in Russian Wheat Exports: Evidence from Firm‐level Data

Russia emerged as an important wheat exporter in recent years raising the question of how this will affect international wheat markets. In particular developing countries – the main destination of Russian wheat exports – could be harmed by aggressive pricing behaviour. This article analyses the exertion of price discrimination by Russian wheat exporting firms based on Krugman's pricing‐to‐market hypothesis. We apply Knetter's panel model to a firm‐level dataset and find evidence for price‐discriminating behaviour by Russian firms in 25 out of 61 destination countries over the period 2002–2011.     

Wunden schmerzarm versorgen

Schmerzintensit?t ist entscheidend für die Lebensqualit?t — Schmerzen geh?ren zu den unangenehmsten Begleiterscheinung von chronischen Wunden. Sie besitzen erhebliche Auswirkungen auf das Wohlbefinden und die Selbstwahrnehmung des Patienten und auch auf seine Einstellung zur Wunde.     

Mangelernährung einschätzen

Ursachen und Diagnostik-Pflegekr?fte sollten alle Faktoren kennen, die eine Mangelern?hrung begünstigen. Denn gerade bei Patienten mit chronischen Wunden gilt es, den Ern?hrungszustand einzusch?tzen und eine eventuelle Malnutrition zu diagnostizieren.     

A comparative study of stakeholder risk perception and risk communication in Europe: a bovine spongiform encephalopathy case study

The ‘Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Roadmap’ was published by the European Commission on 15 July 2005. The TSE Roadmap proposes the relaxation of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) measures in the short, medium and long term. According to the Roadmap, any relaxation of BSE measures following the scientific assessment should be initiated by an open discussion with all stakeholders and supported by a strong communication strategy. This paper discusses the risk perception, risk communication and risk management of TSEs in Europe, exemplified by the TSE Roadmap. The main conclusion is that in general, BSE is no longer a ‘hot’ topic for stakeholders, but there are slight differences between countries with respect to specific measures. Another important conclusion is that the TSE Roadmap is a very effective tool for risk communication with stakeholders.     

Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Performance: What Exactly Constitutes a “Critical Mass?”

The under-representation of women on boards is a heavily discussed topic—not only in Germany. Based on critical mass theory and with the help of a hand-collected panel dataset of 151 listed German firms for the years 2000–2005, we explore whether the link between gender diversity and firm performance follows a U-shape. Controlling for reversed causality, we find evidence for gender diversity to at first negatively affect firm performance and—only after a “critical mass” of about 30 % women has been reached—to be associated with higher firm performance than completely male boards. Given our sample firms, the critical mass of 30 % women translates into an absolute number of about three women on the board and hence supports recent studies on a corresponding “magic number” of women in the boardroom.     

Did globalization drive convergence? Identifying cross-country growth regimes in the long run

This paper is the first to apply a finite mixture model to a sample of 64 nations to endogenously analyze the cross-country growth behavior over the period 1870–2003. Results show that growth patterns were segmented in two worldwide regimes, the one characterized by convergence in per capita income, and the other by divergence. Interestingly, when three historical epochs are distinctly analyzed, in order to investigate the empirical link between globalization and convergence, the dynamics which dominated over the whole period seem to have emerged only during the post-1950 years. In contrast, the First Global Wave was marked by persistent heterogeneities.