Working-time reduction and employment: experiences in Europe and economic policy recommendations

The paper seeks to evaluate the evidence on the employment effectsof the collective working-time reductions in Europe over thepast 20 years. While theoretical analyses produce contradictoryassessments, most empirical studies show positive employmenteffects but take insufficient account of these conditions underwhich the reductions in working time were implemented. Theseconditions for the success of collective working-time reductionsinclude an active training policy designed to minimise skillshortages in the labour market, the modernisation of work organisation,wage increases in conjunction with productivity gains and amore equal income distribution.     

Rivaroxaban for non-valvular atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism in the Netherlands: a real-world data based cost-effectiveness analysis

Background: Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been included in international guidelines as important alternatives to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and stroke prevention in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, NOACs are widely used next to VKAs. The objective of this study is to estimate the cost-effectiveness of treatment with rivaroxaban compared to VKAs in NVAF and VTE patients in the Netherlands, using data from international prospective observational phase IV studies.

Methods: Two models were developed to represent NVAF and VTE patients, populated with patients from the XANTUS (NCT01606995) and XALIA (NCT01619007) international prospective observational studies. The 1-year cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban use, compared to VKAs, was explored in a population consisting of NVAF and VTE patients (base case) as well as for four scenarios with sub-populations: NVAF patients only, VTE patients only, NVAF patients with unstable international normalized ratio (INR), and NVAF patients using an INR self-measuring device.

Results: In the base case, rivaroxaban saved €72,350 and gained 21 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in a simulation of 2,000 patients over the use of VKAs. Ergo, rivaroxaban was dominant over VKAs. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed a probability of 85% for rivaroxaban being dominant and 100% at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €20,000/QALY. Rivaroxaban appeared to be dominant in all scenarios as well, except for the NVAF-patients-only scenario where the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was €157/QALY.

Conclusions: In patients with NVAF or VTE, rivaroxaban treatment is likely to be cost-effective and a potentially cost-saving alternative to VKA in the Netherlands.     

From univariate- to multivariate analysis

This paper is intended for those who are interested in the didactics of multivariate analysis. The problem studied is: how can the transition from univariate - to multivariate analysis be made as simple as possible? Here we provide a simple “codingkey”, which works logically and is easy to remember and to handle. Some of the notations are adopted from lecture-notes by L. C. A. Corsten .     

Economic Risk and Water Quality Protection in Agriculture

Producers' and consumers' risk perceptions and preferences can affect perceived costs and benefits of agricultural water quality protection. Many studies find that integrated pest management actually reduces economic risks to farmers. Results from crop rotation and conservation tillage studies are mixed, while nutrient management studies indicate a potential for higher risk compared with conventional practices. Uncertainty about pollution damages to water resources is likely also to increase the perceived benefits of a given quantity of water quality protection practices. Public policies to reduce uncertainty about the costs and benefits of water quality protection practices may produce net social benefits.     

Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining: What Types of Pay Bargaining Can Foster Positive Pay Equity Outcomes?

Using data from interviews and collective agreements in five European countries, this article analyses the relationship between collective bargaining and the minimum wage. In a context of changing minimum wage policy and competing government objectives, the findings illuminate how pay bargaining strategies of trade unions and employers shape the pay equity effects of minimum wage policy. Two general forms are identified: direct responses to a changing national minimum wage, and responses to the absence or weakness of a national minimum wage. The article explains how particular intersections of minimum wage policy and collective bargaining, together with country and sector contingencies, shape the form of pay bargaining and pay equity outcomes.     

PORTFOLIO CHOICES,CONSUMPTION, AND PRICES IN A MARKET WITH DURABLE ASSETS

Recent research in investments has focused almost exclusively on financial assets such as corporate stocks. Although durable assets constitute an important part of investors' holdings, little effort has been made to explore their role in individuals' investments decisions and on assets pricing. This paper establishes results concerning the role of durable assets in the determination of optimum portfolio choices. The paper explores the effect of consumption considerations related to the service flows generated by durable assets on optimum portfolio considerations and asset prices. The main result is tied to the existence, or lack thereof, of efficient rental markets. In the absence of rental markets (or with restrictions on renting), investors' portfolio choices are not independent of consumption considerations as they are assumed to be in the standard CAPM. Individuals may thus hold different portfolios, and prices reflect the owner's inability to trade consumption flows. Under perfect market assumptions with unrestricted rental markets, optimum portfolio choices are undistinguishable from those implied by the standard CAPM in the sense that they are mean-variance efficient and identical for all individuals. Consumption is adjusted by trading service flows in the rental market. Prices, and the price of risk, however, reflect the existence of durable assets service flows as well as the risks involved in trading these flows in the rental market. In the model, risky rental income is introduced by uncertain rental costs. Equilibrium rental rates, an important part of the return expected from holding durable assets, are determined in the context of the mean-variance framework as a function of return and undiversifiable risk.