Temporary Separations and Firm Size in the German Labour Market

We estimate the duration of out-of-work periods in the German labour market from 1980–90 and their relationship with employment protection legislation. We distinguish between Employment Interruptions that are legally protected and ordinary Layoffs. We investigate the question of whether the size of employer has an impact on the choice of the type of temporary separation. We find that firm size does matter, in both the type and the duration of temporary separations, and we examine the complex re-hiring process.     

Order Choices: An Intraday Analysis of the Taiwan Stock Exchange

This paper employs order-, trade-, and quote-level data to examine the determinants of order choices and the impacts of order choices on execution quality by various investor types in the Taiwan Stock Exchange. We find marketable-quote orders have a higher degree of price aggressiveness, larger order size, higher trade value, shorter duration, and higher fill rate than behind-the-quote orders. There exists a transient order serial correlation. Different types of investors have their own preferences in order choices, while market microstructure factors, such as transitory volatility, spread, market depth, and trading interval, significantly influence stock traders’ order choices. Findings show that marketable-quote orders tend to perform better in terms of order duration. Moreover, institutional investors spend less time on completing their trades than do individuals, particularly for foreign investors after controlling all other factors.     

Contingency relationships of firm size,TQM duration,unionization, and industry context on TQM implementation—A focus on total effects

Past TQM literature has been inconclusive in resolving the validity of the universalistic approach versus the contingency approach of TQM implementation. In this paper we contribute to the resolution of this debate by using a total effects approach within the contingency perspective. We propose a culture-quality system design-outcomes framework for TQM implementation. We then use this framework to study the differences in total effects relationships among TQM constructs across four contingencies, firm size, TQM duration, unionization, and industry type. Data from a sample of 394 plants (SIC codes 20 through 39) are used to test the validity of our contingency model. Our results revealed that firm size, TQM duration, and industry type moderate the influence of total effects of culture (top management commitment, customer focus, and trust) on final outcomes (process quality, product quality, and customer satisfaction). These contingencies also moderate the influence of total effects of quality system design (design management, training, empowerment, quality information usage, supplier quality management, and process quality management) on final outcomes. The strongest contributor to variation in total effects across groups was industry type, followed by size and then TQM duration. To a lesser extent, unionization was a moderator in total effects relationships. These findings uniquely contribute to the emerging contingency theory of TQM implementation.     

Asymptotics of likelihood ratio statistic for non-inferiority testing under exponential distribution with fixed censoring times

We discuss the problem of testing the non-inferiority of a new treatment compared with several standard ones in a survival model where the underlying distribution is exponential and censoring times are fixed. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the likelihood ratio statistic for k-samples. We construct a testing procedure with asymptotic size α based on the likelihood ratio statistic.     

Simulation‐based Finite Sample Linearity Test against Smooth Transition Models*

In this paper, we use Monte Carlo (MC) testing techniques for testing linearity against smooth transition models. The MC approach allows us to introduce a new test that differs in two respects from the tests existing in the literature. First, the test is exact in the sense that the probability of rejecting the null when it is true is always less than or equal to the nominal size of the test. Secondly, the test is not based on an auxiliary regression obtained by replacing the model under the alternative by approximations based on a Taylor expansion. We also apply MC testing methods for size correcting the test proposed by Luukkonen, Saikkonen and Teräsvirta (Biometrika, Vol. 75, 1988, p. 491). The results show that the power loss implied by the auxiliary regression‐based test is non‐existent compared with a supremum‐based test but is more substantial when compared with the three other tests under consideration.     

Drug testers versus nontesters: Human resources managers’ perceptions and organizational characteristics

Survey responses from 134 human resources managers (50 from drug testing and 84 from nontesting organizations) indicated that representatives from drug testing organizations were no less likely than their counterparts from nontesting organizations to know that drug tests cannot assess performance impairment. However, awareness of this limitation of drug testing was associated with greater perceptions of testing as invasive of privacy and unsound for dealing with drug use in the workplace. The prevalence of drug testing was related to organizational size and industry type, but unrelated to perceptions of employee’s drug use. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Cointegration in Panel Data with Structural Breaks and Cross‐Section Dependence

The power of standard panel cointegration statistics may be affected by misspecification errors if structural breaks in the parameters generating the process are not considered. In addition, the presence of cross‐section dependence among the panel units can distort the empirical size of the statistics. We therefore design a testing procedure that allows for both structural breaks and cross‐section dependence when testing the null hypothesis of no cointegration. The paper proposes test statistics that can be used when one or both features are present. We illustrate our proposal by analysing the pass‐through of import prices on a sample of European countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Test of the Conditional Independence Assumption in Sample Selection Models

Identification in most sample selection models depends on the independence of the regressors and the error terms conditional on the selection probability. All quantile and mean functions are parallel in these models; this implies that quantile estimators cannot reveal any—per assumption non‐existing—heterogeneity. Quantile estimators are nevertheless useful for testing the conditional independence assumption because they are consistent under the null hypothesis. We propose tests of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov type based on the conditional quantile regression process. Monte Carlo simulations show that their size is satisfactory and their power sufficient to detect deviations under plausible data‐generating processes. We apply our procedures to female wage data from the 2011 Current Population Survey and show that homogeneity is clearly rejected. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inference on factor structures in heterogeneous panels

This paper develops an estimation and testing framework for a stationary large panel model with observable regressors and unobservable common factors. We allow for slope heterogeneity and for correlation between the common factors and the regressors. We propose a two stage estimation procedure for the unobservable common factors and their loadings, based on Common Correlated Effects estimator and the Principal Component estimator. We also develop two tests for the null of no factor structure: one for the null that loadings are cross sectionally homogeneous, and one for the null that common factors are homogeneous over time. Our tests are based on using extremes of the estimated loadings and common factors. The test statistics have an asymptotic Gumbel distribution under the null, and have power versus alternatives where only one loading or common factor differs from the others. Monte Carlo evidence shows that the tests have the correct size and good power.     

统计效力和效应量的估计方法与应用

如果假设检验不能告诉我们差异的大小与犯β错误的概率,应将统计效力和效应量作为补充文章介绍了统计效力和效应量的含义、估计方法与应用。     

Forecast Evaluation Under Asymmetric Loss: A Monte Carlo Analysis of the EKT Method

This paper contributes to the literature on forecast evaluation by conducting an extensive Monte Carlo experiment using the evaluation procedure proposed by Elliott, Komunjer and Timmermann. We consider recent developments in weighting matrices for GMM estimation and testing. We pay special attention to the size and power properties of variants of the J‐test of forecast rationality. Proceeding from a baseline scenario to a more realistic setting, our results show that the approach leads to precise estimates of the degree of asymmetry of the loss function. For correctly specified models, we find the size of the J‐tests to be close to the nominal size, while the tests have high power against misspecified models. These findings are quite robust to inducing fat tails, serial correlation and outliers.     

Ethnic polarization and the duration of civil wars

In this paper we analyze the relationship between ethnic polarization and the duration of civil wars. Several recent papers have argued that the uncertainty about the relative power of the contenders in a war will tend to increase its duration. In these models, uncertainty is directly related to the relative size of the contenders. We argue that the duration of civil wars increases the more polarized a society is. Uncertainty is not necessarily linked to the structure of the population but it could be traced back to the measurement of the size of the different groups in the society. Given a specific level of measurement error or uncertainty, more polarization implies lengthier wars. Our empirical results show that ethnically polarized countries have to endure longer civil wars than ethnically less polarized societies.     

Specification Sensitivity in Right‐Tailed Unit Root Testing for Explosive Behaviour

This article aims to provide some empirical guidelines for the practical implementation of right‐tailed unit root tests, focusing on the recursive right‐tailed ADF test of Phillips et al. (2011b). We analyze and compare the limit theory of the recursive test under different hypotheses and model specifications. The size and power properties of the test under various scenarios are examined and some recommendations for empirical practice are given. Some new results on the consistent estimation of localizing drift exponents are obtained, which are useful in assessing model specification. Empirical applications to stock markets illustrate these specification issues and reveal their practical importance in testing.     

Contract duration and indexation in a period of real and nominal uncertainty

A large sample of Canadian union contracts is used to study the determinants of key provisions such as their duration and elasticity of indexation. Over the last two decades the former has doubled and the latter has halved in size. Techniques, which account for the interaction between duration and indexation and a latent elasticity of indexation are used. The period studied (1976–2000) includes high and low inflation and substantial fluctuations in real and nominal uncertainty, allowing these variables to influence contracts. Results suggest that these variables account for the secular and cyclical changes in contract provisions.     

The Effect of School Size on Exam Performance in Secondary Schools

This paper investigates the relationship between school size and the exam performance of school pupils in their final year of compulsory education. Previous studies of this relationship have been seriously constrained by lack of appropriate data, but the publication of the School Performance Tables for all publicly-funded schools in England since 1992 permits the construction and testing of a multivariate model which includes school size as one of the explanatory variables. After controlling for factors such as type of school, teaching inputs and eligibility for free school meals, the partial effects of school size on exam performance are estimated. The primary result is that there is a non-linear relationship (in the form of an inverted-U) between school size that maximizes the exam performance of schools is estimated to be about 1,200 for 11–16 schools and 1,500 for 11–18 schools. These estimates are considerably higher than the current mean size of schools.     

Canadian and American Reactions to Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs in the Workplace

We investigated U.S. and Canadian reactions to workplace drug and alcohol testing programs. Canadian truck drivers (n = 183) deemed drug and alcohol testing policies less fair, and were less accepting of these policies, than their American counterparts (n = 153). We also compared the perspectives of recipients versus third-party observers with regard to their reactions to a drug testing program. Unlike the pattern observed among American observers, the responses by Canadian observers were highly similar to those of the recipients. Canadian observers were more inclined to file a formal protest regarding the implementation of a drug and alcohol testing program than were U.S. observers. The results also showed that procedural and interactional justice principles contributed to the program's fairness, acceptance, and lower levels of protest intentions in both Canada and the United States. We propose that scholars and practitioners can gain a better understanding of multinational reactions to drug and alcohol testing by considering not only cultural but also historical, social, political, and other environmental factors that can shape reactions to personnel practices.     

The Flexible Fourier Form and Local Generalised Least Squares De‐trended Unit Root Tests*

In two recent papers Enders and Lee (2009) and Becker, Enders and Lee (2006) provide Lagrange multiplier and ordinary least squares de‐trended unit root tests, and stationarity tests, respectively, which incorporate a Fourier approximation element in the deterministic component. Such an approach can prove useful in providing robustness against a variety of breaks in the deterministic trend function of unknown form and number. In this article, we generalize the unit root testing procedure based on local generalized least squares (GLS) de‐trending proposed by Elliott, Rothenberg and Stock (1996) to allow for a Fourier approximation to the unknown deterministic component in the same way. We show that the resulting unit root tests possess good finite sample size and power properties and the test statistics have stable non‐standard distributions, despite the curious result that their limiting null distributions exhibit asymptotic rank deficiency.     

The union response to employer-initiated drug testing programs

The testing of employees for drugs has become a major workplace issue in the late 1980s. By all accounts, many firms have implemented, or at least considered, some sort of drug screening program. While various experts have debated the importance and necessity of initiating such programs, there has been only limited investigation of the differences between union and nonunion workplaces in how such programs are initiated and administered. This article investigates some questions related to those differences. The first part examines the differences between union and nonunion workplaces and their implementation of drug screening programs. We present differences derived primarily from the fact that nonunion employers are constrained only by constitutional and statutory law in their introduction and implementation of drug screening programs. Unionized employers, on the other hand, are constrained by collective bargaining and the grievance resolution process. The second part of the article examines union responses to employer-initiated drug testing programs. The third part examines arbitration decisions on drug testing provisions in unionized workplaces. We outline the major areas in which arbitrators have rendered decisions, including definitions of behavior that could trigger reasonable suspicion testing and whether the employer has the right to unilaterally institute or expand drug testing programs.     

Analysis of job‐training effects on Korean women

We analyse job‐training effects on Korean women for the period January 1999 to March 2000, using a large data set of size about 52,000. We employ a number of estimation techniques: Weibull MLE and accelerated failure time approach, which are both parametric; Cox partial likelihood estimator, which is semiparametric; and two pair‐matching estimators, which are in essence nonparametric. All of these methods gave the common conclusion that job training for Korean women increased their unemployment duration. The trainings were not cost‐effective in the sense that they took too much time ‘locking in’ the trainees during the training span, compared with the time they took to place the trainees afterwards. Despite this negative finding, some sub‐groups had positive effects: white‐collar workers trained for finance/insurance or information/communication. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.