Benefit shifting: The case of sickness insurance for the unemployed

This study describes the probability of transition from unemployment with unemployment insurance (UI) to sickness insurance (SI), using a proportional hazard duration model and a large register-based dataset. The combination of limited UI duration and the fact that SI rights do not depend on remaining UI, creates an incentive to use SI to effectively extend UI. The separate effects of elapsed unemployment duration and of UI duration on hazard rates are identified through a reform of the UI system. The estimated hazard rate for transition from unemployment to SI increases sharply the last months before UI exhaustion. The spikes are larger for diagnosis for mental illness, and vary across individuals, but are present for all groups and all diagnoses.     

The external networking behaviour of public managers - the missing link of weak ties

There has been an increasing focus on managerial external networking behaviour within public administration. While most previous quantitative research has analysed such behaviour one dimensionally, we suggest a two-dimensional conceptualization based on the concepts of weak and strong ties. Utilizing measures resembling previous research, we explore the utility of the approach in an exploratory study of Danish local government. Our findings suggest that the two dimensions of external networking behaviour are distinct. We discuss our approach compared to previous approaches and argue that a conceptualization based on the distinction between strong and weak ties provides a promising framework for future research.     

Estimating Loan‐to‐Value Distributions

We estimate a model of house prices, combined loan‐to‐value ratios (CLTVs) and trade and foreclosure behavior. House prices are only observed for traded properties and trades are endogenous, creating sample‐selection problems for existing approaches to estimating CLTVs. We use a Bayesian filtering procedure to recover the price path for individual properties and produce selection‐corrected estimates of historical CLTV distributions. Estimating our model with transactions of residential properties in Alameda, California, we find that 35% of single‐family homes are underwater, compared to 19% estimated by existing approaches. Our results reduce the index revision problem and have applications for pricing mortgage‐backed securities.     

The Transnational State and the Infrastructure Push

In 2010, the G20, in cooperation with major international organisations, launched a comprehensive effort – here labelled the infrastructure push – to promote infrastructure investments around the world. Using selected transnationalised elements from historical materialism, this is explained as a transnational state initiative to secure general material conditions for capitalist growth in a manner that is profoundly shaped by power relations. The infrastructure problem was allowed to grow during neoliberalism because of the hegemony of finance; the push is a result of and reflects a weakening of finance and strengthening of industrial interests in the transnational power bloc, as well as a strengthening of the emerging economies. This potential hegemonic project has gained the support of the global labour movement, while also has been subject to serious criticism from civil society organisations, speaking for the most vulnerable subaltern social forces. The empirical analysis also shows that the transnational state in this policy area works as a flexible, networked cooperation of G20 states and leading international organisations in ongoing dialogue with non-state actors, especially transnational business. In this cooperation, the international organisations have a relatively autonomous role in line with a historical materialist understanding of state apparatuses.     

Which bank is the “central” bank?

Liquidity flows through a financial network cannot be accurately described using external processing constraints alone. Behavioral aspects of participants also matter. A method similar to Google's PageRank procedure is used to produce a ranking of participants in the Canadian Large Value Transfer System in terms of their daily liquidity holdings. Accounting for differences in banks’ processing speeds is essential for explaining why observed distributions of liquidity differ from the initial distributions, which are determined by the credit limits selected by banks. Delay tendencies of banks are unobservable in the data and are estimated using a Markov model.     

Incentive and entrenchment effects in European ownership

In a large sample of European firms we analyze the value discount associated with disproportional ownership structures first documented by Claessens et al. (2002). Consistent with a theoretical model of incentive and entrenchment effects, we find higher value discount in family firms, in firms with low cash flow concentration, and in industries with higher amenity value. Furthermore, the discount is higher in countries with good investor protection and higher for dual class shares than for pyramids. We find no impact on operating performance, likelihood of bankruptcy, dividend policy, or growth. Finally, we discuss policy implications of these findings.     

Evaluating the bases of supplier segmentation: A review and taxonomy

A taxonomy of segmentation bases is presented which builds a multi-disciplinary approach to the categorization of suppliers. Supplier segmentation, from a purchasing perspective, still appears to be in the early stages of providing a coherent strategic intent behind supplier assessment. Whilst fragmentary in nature, current portfolio models are grouped into two principal taxonomic constructs of power and dependence and relational factors. In particular, the prevalent use of transaction cost economics (TCE) in portfolio modelling provides a foundation for purchasers to appraise risks from supplier opportunism. We augment existing approaches with reference to inter-organisational theory and the resource-based view to show different modes of inter-firm value creation that act as constituents of a strategic intent for segmentation. Our resulting taxonomy draws together a holistic view of supplier segmentation covering supply market conditions, product/service characteristics, supplier characteristics, buyer characteristics, and buyer-supplier relational factors.     

Public private partnerships as a tool for stimulating investments in broadband

The paper is concerned with PPP in the telecommunications area and more specifically with the combination of public and private investments in upgrading broadband infrastructures. Following the liberalization of the telecommunications area, investments were primarily left to the private sector – though public investments have continued to take place in specific areas such as research and education networks and rural and otherwise underserved areas. Lately, however, governments have upgraded their public investment plans in broadband infrastructures. The question is whether we are witnessing a simple quantitative change or whether this quantitative change includes a qualitative evolvement in the view on the role of the public sector in expanding broadband infrastructures. At the present time, the most likely answer is that increasing public investments in broadband infrastructures signal a combination of concerns raised by the economic crisis and the growing awareness of the social and economic importance of efficient broadband infrastructures.     

Improved likelihood ratio tests for cointegration rank in the VAR model

We suggest improved tests for cointegration rank in the vector autoregressive (VAR) model and develop asymptotic distribution theory and local power results. The tests are (quasi-)likelihood ratio tests based on a Gaussian likelihood, but as usual the asymptotic results do not require normally distributed innovations. Our tests differ from existing tests in two respects. First, instead of basing our tests on the conditional (with respect to the initial observations) likelihood, we follow the recent unit root literature and base our tests on the full likelihood as in, e.g., Elliott et al. (1996). Second, our tests incorporate a “sign” restriction which generalizes the one-sided unit root test. We show that the asymptotic local power of the proposed tests dominates that of existing cointegration rank tests.     

Regulation of international roaming data services within the EU

Europe has been the first region to intervene on the market for international roaming services. The first regulation was introduced in 2007 and has since then been revised several times. The latest revision took place in the summer 2012. This paper discusses the new legislation in view of recent market developments from a technological, economic and a regulatory perspective. The paper concludes that roaming charges have been reduced substantially since the introduction of prices caps, but still the charges are far above a level, which can be justified by the production costs. A number of alternatives to tradition roaming have been developed, but so far their impact on competition have been limited, and it will take some years before the present regulation can be lifted.