Ein verallgemeinerter Geburten- und Todesprozeß zur Erklärung der Entwicklung des deutschen Volkseinkommens, 1851–1939

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Value-Added Trade and Empirical Distributions of RCA Indices

Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indices aid in identification of the sectors in which countries reveal comparative advantage or disadvantage. Apart from serving such a dichotomous measure, the RCA indices are frequently employed as cardinal or ordinal measures over time. Application of the indices for comparative analyses calls attention towards the distributions of RCA indices, which must reasonably be stable over time, sectors and countries. Stability of index distributions facilitates the usage of indices as cardinal or ordinal measures over time. The present paper therefore analyses the empirical distributions of RCA indices to determine their suitability. However, such an analysis would be incomplete if the implications for RCA indices due to growing significance of global supply chains are not recognized. Hence apart from analyzing the distributions of gross trade based RCA indices, the distributions of domestic value-added in export based indices are also examined, and the differences are noted. Similar extensive analyses on the distributions of RCA indices are lacking in the literature. In this sense, the present paper makes an important contribution to the existing literature on RCA indices.

     

Predicting Internet banking adoption in India: a perceived risk perspective

The emergence of Internet banking has transformed the banking systems across the globe. As a channel to market, Internet banking allows geographical constraints to be overcome by offering various products and services at lower customer costs. An understanding of the factors influencing customer adoption of Internet banking is both relevant and timely. This study integrates technology acceptance model and perceived risk theory in understanding Internet banking acceptance among Indian bank account holders. Specifically, this study categorizes perceived risk as external risk and internal risk, and examines its influence on customer beliefs and adoption of Internet banking. Using two-step predictive analytics of structural equation modeling and artificial neural network analysis, the 270 responses reveal that both external risk and internal risk inhibit customer acceptance of Internet banking. More importantly, neural network analysis reveals that perceived ease of use and external risk are two important factors determining how well Internet banking is accepted by customers. The implications of the study findings and future research directions are presented.     

Nonparametric tests of efficiency of portfolio investment

The author likes to sincerely thank an anonymous referee for most helpful comments and suggestions.     

Managing low‐skill workers: a study of small UK food manufacturing firms

Low‐wage work is of growing significance in the UK. This article tests the model of the low‐skills equilibrium (LSE) through a study of 27 small firms in a sector, food manufacturing, widely identified as being in an LSE. Three hypotheses are tested. (1) There will be a single, fixed equilibrium. We find more variety, reflecting the specific circumstances of firms. (2) An equilibrium is sustained by weak support institutions and a product market dominated by low value‐added goods. The expectation about institutions is supported, but the product market permitted some, albeit weak, opportunities to escape the LSE. (3) Skills will be low, and workplace regimes will be characterised by work intensification. Some firms were developing employee skills. Work intensification was rare, reflecting the absence of Taylorisation and the importance of face‐to‐face relationships. Overall, some firms had the will to escape the LSE, but weak institutional support and a ready supply of labour substantially reduced the incentives to do so.     

Trust in financial services: Retrospect and prospect

Fostering and maintaining high levels of trust in the financial services sector is seen as crucial because of the characteristics of many financial service and in order to promote consumer engagement in the sector. In this article, we report evidence from a body of work and other commentary to provide an insight into trends in consumer trust in the sector as a whole, in comparison with other organisations and how different types of financial services provider have performed relative to each other. We show that the financial services sector as a whole is trusted more than some comparator institutions, and that aggregate levels of trust in the sector have fluctuated a relatively small amount subsequent to the financial crisis. However, important differences between provider types are apparent and these differences have become more profound in the recent past. We provide suggestions as to how trust in the sector may be improved and provider an analysis of current initiatives to improve trust levels in the sector in general and in banking in particular.     

Pricing of off‐balance sheet debt: how do bond market participants use the footnote disclosures on operating leases and postretirement benefit plans?

In this study, we examine whether the public debt market prices information on off‐balance sheet debt arising from operating leases and postretirement plans. We find that bond‐rating agencies price off‐balance sheet debt arising from operating leases and the coefficient on off‐balance sheet debt measure of operating leases is similar to that of capital leases on the balance sheet. Regarding postretirement benefit plans, we find that bond‐rating agencies do price postretirement benefit obligations that are reported in balance sheet but do not price such obligations disclosed in footnotes. We find similar results when we examine corporate bond yields on new debt issues.