Explaining the US–EU productivity growth gap: Structural change vs. intra-sectoral effect

This paper proposes a decomposition of labour productivity growth in the EU15 and the the US since the mid 1990s. The results suggest that the EU's relative slowdown is due to modest “pure” gains of productivity within sectors.     

A within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis of panitumumab compared with bevacizumab in the first-line treatment of patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer in the US

Abstract

Aims: This analysis investigated the cost-effectiveness of panitumumab plus mFOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin) compared with bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6 in the first-line treatment of patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Materials and methods: The cost-effectiveness analysis was developed from a third-party payer perspective in the US and was implemented using a partitioned survival model with health states for first-line treatment (progression-free), disease progression with and without subsequent active treatment, and death. Survival analyses of patients with wild-type RAS mCRC from the PEAK head-to-head clinical trial of panitumumab vs bevacizumab were performed to estimate time in the model health states. Additional data from PEAK informed the amount of each drug consumed, duration of therapy, subsequent therapy use, and toxicities related to mCRC treatment. Literature and US public data sources were used to estimate unit costs associated with treatment and duration of subsequent active therapies. Utility weights were calculated from patient-level data from panitumumab trials in the first-, second-, and third-line settings. A life-time perspective was taken with future costs and outcomes discounted at 3% per annum. Scenario, one-way, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results: Compared with bevacizumab, the use of panitumumab resulted in an incremental cost of US $60,286, and an incremental quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of 0.445, translating into a cost per QALY gained of US $135,391 in favor of panitumumab. Results were sensitive to wastage and dose rounding assumptions modeled.

Limitations: Progression-free and overall survival were extrapolated beyond the follow-up of the primary analysis using fitted parametric curves. Costs and quality of life were estimated from multiple and different data sources.

Conclusions: The efficacy of panitumumab in extending progression-free and overall survival and improving quality of life makes it a cost-effective option for first-line treatment of patients with wild-type RAS mCRC compared with bevacizumab.     

Hours worked in selected OECD countries: an empirical assessment

In this paper, we empirically assess the evolution of the aggregate hours worked, with a particular emphasis on their age structure, in a sample of OECD countries, along the period 1970–2007. We show that the age composition of the workforce has a large and statistically significant effect on hours worked volatility. To exploit the multilevel structure of our data, we use a Mixed Linear Model to investigate the consequences of (i) demographic change, (ii) sector-specific, and (iii) country-specific factors on hours worked by ‘young’ (aged 15–29) and ‘prime-aged’ (29+) individuals. We show that changes in workforce demographics, captured by the ratio between population older than 29 and population younger than 29, are strongly and significantly correlated with the amount of hours worked by ‘young’ individuals. We also document the impact of sectoral capital intensity and profitability on the dynamics of (aggregate) hours worked. Finally, we show that productive public expenditure, here proxied by the public investment in ICT, is beneficial for the hours worked both by young and prime-aged individuals.     

Should HR managers allow employees to use social media at work? Behavioral and motivational outcomes of employee blogging

Abstract

There is a dilemma for HR executives concerning social media policies: Should HR managers allow employees to use social media while at work? The question has no easy answer because there are conflicting views on the matter. However, the conflicting views can be resolved if we focus on the individuals with whom an employee interacts through social media. Building on data on the blogging activity of 269 employees working for a Canadian health-care provider, the paper reveals a new problem: The extent to which employees engage in personal blogging with outsiders – individuals who do not work for the organization – is negatively related to intrinsic work motivation and to proactive behavior. After having introduced the problem, the paper shows a solution. If employees engage in blogging with coworkers, the negative effects turn positive: Blogging with coworkers positively affects intrinsic work motivation and proactive behavior. Finally, the paper offers a recommendation for HR managers to leverage the solution. Through social job design and increasing formal interaction requirements, HR executives can reinforce the association between social media use and blogging with coworkers. Overall, the paper helps HR executives to clarify the outcomes of social media, find a problem, suggest a solution, and recommend how to achieve it.     

Domesticating the Euro

Intereconomics - „We find the litmus test is whether governments gain access to a safe source of funding in a ‘domestic’ currency. Of the list of solutions considered, both Purple...     

Strategic accessibility competition

We analyze the effect of competition in market-accessibility enhancement among quality-differentiated firms. Firms are located in regions with different ex-ante transport costs to reach the final market. We characterize the equilibrium of the two-stage game in which firms first invest to improve market accessibility and then compete in prices. Efforts in accessibility improvement crucially depend on the interplay between the willingness to pay for the quality premium of the median consumer and the ex-ante difference in accessibility between regions. From the social standpoint, also the accessibility investment depends on such a comparison. Finally, we endogenize quality choice and check the robustness of the result to some natural modifications of our assumptions.     

Family ownership and environmental performance: The mediation effect of human resource practices

Previous literature has found that listed family firms underperform their nonfamily counterparts in terms of environmental performance, but has not explained why this occurs. We address this research gap by hypothesizing that training and development practices (i.e., managerial practices devoted to providing training and development for the workforce) mediate the relationship between family blockholders and environmental performance. Using a sample of 33,901 firm‐year observations from 2002 to 2016 distributed across 56 countries and employing the structural equation model technique, we find that investment in training and development practices explains almost half of the negative relationship between family blockholders and environmental performance. Our study contributes to the agency theory debate on principal–principal problems by explaining why family blockholders could damage other blockholders and minority shareholders.     

The relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation,Market Orientation and Performance in University Spin-Offs

The paper aims to examine the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Market Orientation (MO) and performance in University Spin-Offs (USOs). Initially, the paper, assesses the existence of a moderating effect of MO in the relationship between EO and performance, next, it analyses the mediation role of MO between EO and performance. To strengthen paper results, we test our hypotheses on a cross-sectional sample of 162 Italian USOs using both perceived and objective performance. Findings suggest that there is no synergistic effect of MO and EO as mutually independent constructs. Instead, our evidences support the idea that EO and MO in USOs occur within the same learning process. Both EO and MO support USO performance, but MO cannot occur without EO as an antecedent condition. At the same time, a significant portion of the EO contribution to performance occurs through MO.

     

Balanced sampling of boxes from batches for assessing quality of fruits and vegetables in EU countries

Quality & Quantity - The best evaluation for the proportion of defective units in a batch of fruits and vegetables can be achieved by an exhaustive checking of all the boxes in the batch, that...