Goodness-of-fit tests for discrete models based on the integrated distribution function

This paper presents a new widely applicable omnibus test for discrete distributions which is based on the difference between the integrated distribution function Ψ(t)=∫_t ^∞ (1−F(x))dx and its empirical counterpart. A bootstrap version of the test for common lattice models has accurate error rates even for small samples and exhibits high power with respect to competitive procedures over a large range of alternatives. Received: July 1998     

A dynamic view on interactions between academic spin-offs and their parent organizations

Literature on academic spin-offs gives evidence of different modes of interaction between spin-offs and their parent and their relative role in different modes of knowledge production. In this article, we examine the development of interactions between academic spin-offs and their parent organizations over a mid- to long-term period (4–15 years), drawing on a series of 25 case studies of spin-off/parent pairs from France and Switzerland. We show that the relational trajectories can be captured by four major dynamic patterns. These patterns range from an early cut-off of interactions in line with a linear model of innovation to sustained interactions supporting joint production of knowledge. Some patterns even include a change in the mode of knowledge production over time. In addition, we identify a number of determinants, internal or external to the pair, affecting the dynamic pattern. We conclude that management of spin-off processes and support policies for academic spin-offs should embrace this dynamic diversity.     

Ein Modell für existenzsichernde Beschäftigung

Die hohe Langzeit-Arbeitslosigkeit ist nach wie vor ein schwerwiegendes wirtschaftspolitisches Problem. Die aktuellen Regelungen an der Schnittstelle zwischen Transferund Arbeitseinkommen haben bisher nur unzureichend zu seiner L?sung beigetragen. Die verschiedenen diskutierten Kombilohnmodelle sind dagegen oft nicht praxistauglich. Die Autoren stellen hier das Modell für eine existenzsichernde Besch?ftigung des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Technologie vor. Dr. Walther Otremba, 55, ist Staatssekret?r im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie; Dr. Daniela B?nstrup, 34, ist dort Referentin im Referat für Arbeitsmarktpolitik.     

The changing union and bargaining landscape: union concentration and collective bargaining trends

Unions in Western Europe have tended to merge in larger organisations, straddling across traditional bargaining demarcations. Despite the trend towards union concentration, cross‐national differences remain in the degree of fragmentation and the balance across private and public sectors. In the past years, wage moderation was common to nearly all bargaining systems, partly as a result of coordinated incomes policies or pattern‐setting wage settlements. Tripartite concertation has proven more difficult because of increased dissatisfaction with modest pay increases and insufficient employment effects.     

Wie viel Fertilität und Migration braucht Deutschland?

In der Diskussion um die demografische Entwicklung in Deutschland wird immer wieder danach gefragt, welche Maßnahmen möglich bzw. erforderlich sind, um den Bevölkerungsumfang bzw. die Altersstruktur der Bevölkerung auch längerfristig auf einem für die Stabilität der Gesellschaft angemessenen Niveau zu halten. In welchem Umfang wird die Bevölkerungsentwicklung durch ihre drei wichtigsten Komponenten Fertilität, Mortalität und Migration beeinflusst?Prof. Dr. Eckart Bomsdorf, 61, lehrt und forscht an der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln; Bernhard Babel, 27, Dipl.-Kaufmann, ist Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Seminar für Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistik der Universität zu Köln.     

IPO underpricing,signaling, and property returns

This paper investigates whether IPO signals reveal proprietary information about the prospects of an issuing firm’s underlying industry. By analyzing a sample of European property company (EPC) IPOs from 1997 to 2007, we take advantage of a heterogeneous set of industry performance measures, i.e., yields and total returns of direct property investments in various European property markets that can be clearly assigned to each individual IPO. The results reveal that the main signal of interest, underpricing, is in fact positively related to average property yields for a 12-month post-IPO period; a result that supports our assumption. Other signals, as proposed in previous research, do not appear to contain any information about the prospects of the IPO firm’s target property investment market. We also show that total returns seem to be a biased measure for direct property performance. Further tests for the signaling model’s preconditioned presence of information asymmetry among EPCs reveal that underpricing levels are a function of company-specific ex ante uncertainty proxies. In contrast, property-specific ex ante uncertainty proxies do not explain underpricing levels.