Trade protection and the role of non-tariff barriers

Review of World Economics - A growing share of modern trade policy instruments is shaped by non-tariff barriers (NTBs). Based on a structural gravity equation and the recently updated Global Trade...     

Does corruption matter for sources of foreign direct investment?

Review of World Economics - The paper provides a cross-country empirical analysis of the impact of corruption on foreign direct investment flows. The gravity model augmented with joint effects of...     

Income Tax Progressivity: Trends and Implications

This paper discusses how the structure of the tax system affects its progressivity. It suggests a measure of progressive capacity of tax systems, based on the Kakwani index, but independent of pretax income distributions. Using this and other progressivity measures, the paper (i) documents a decline in progressivity over the last decades and (ii) examines the relationship between progressivity and economic growth. On this relationship, regressions do not reveal a significant impact, suggesting that efficiency costs may be small – at least for degrees of progressivity observed in the sample. Finally, the paper finds that increasing tax progressivity reduces pretax inequality.     

Advice-seeking and advice-utilization for hiring decisions: An investigation of a partially outsourced recruitment process for rank-and-file managers

We study a large-scale, partially outsourced recruitment process. A specialized consultancy assesses applicants' soft-skills on behalf of a client firm, who retains agency over the hiring decision. We conceptualize this collaboration as an advice-seeking, advice-utilization process and analyze the effectiveness of hiring recommendations provided in influencing the client's hiring decisions. Two external HR specialists not only differ in their soft skill ratings, but also differ in their aggregation of these ratings into their hiring recommendations. The consultants' recommendations are particularly helpful in separating very suitable from clearly unsuitable candidates but are less effective in the mid-tier of the skill distribution.     

Does model fit matter for hedging? Evidence from FTSE 100 options

This study implements a variety of different calibration methods applied to the Heston model and examines their effect on the performance of standard and minimum‐variance hedging of vanilla options on the FTSE 100 index. Simple adjustments to the Black–Scholes–Merton model are used as a benchmark. Our empirical findings apply to delta, delta‐gamma, or delta‐vega hedging and they are robust to varying the option maturities and moneyness, and to different market regimes. On the methodological side, an efficient technique for simultaneous calibration to option price and implied volatility index data is introduced. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:609–638, 2012     

Revisiting the effectiveness of the German accounting enforcement reforms: a replication study

Management Review Quarterly - In this paper, we replicate and extend the study “Economic Consequences of Accounting Enforcement Reforms: The Case of Germany” published by Ernstberger,...     

Distance Metrics and Clustering Methods for Mixed‐type Data

In spite of the abundance of clustering techniques and algorithms, clustering mixed interval (continuous) and categorical (nominal and/or ordinal) scale data remain a challenging problem. In order to identify the most effective approaches for clustering mixed‐type data, we use both theoretical and empirical analyses to present a critical review of the strengths and weaknesses of the methods identified in the literature. Guidelines on approaches to use under different scenarios are provided, along with potential directions for future research.     

DO INVESTORS CARE ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL COMPANY‐SPECIFIC TWEETS?

When the president of the United States tweets, do investors respond? We analyze the impact of tweets from President Donald J. Trump's official Twitter accounts from November 9, 2016 to December 31, 2017 that include names of publicly traded companies. We find that these tweets move company stock prices and increase trading volume, volatility, and institutional investor attention, with a stronger impact before the presidential inauguration. There is some evidence that the initial impact of the presidential tweets on stock prices is reversed in the next few trading days.     

Migrants’ well-being during the global financial crisis: Economic and social predictors

This paper investigates the economic and social predictors affecting the well-being of temporary migrants before, during and after the financial crisis. Exploiting unique panel data which cover migration spells from Tajikistan to Russia between 2001 and 2011, we find that migrants earn less but stay longer in the destination during the crisis; at the same time, they become more exposed to illegal work relations, harassment and deportation through the Russian authorities. The overall income loss can be attributed to wage cuts and to rising illegal employment that is generally poorly paid. Despite the similarities in the demographics and jobs of migrant workers, we find substantial heterogeneity in how the financial crisis affects their well-being. Migrants who experience wage losses during the crisis rationally stop migrating.