Is corporate governance risk valued? Evidence from directors' and officers' insurance

We find that common equity firms pay lower D&O insurance premiums than income trusts, an alternative and riskier ownership form. This result has wide-ranging implications for investors insofar as the information provided by D&O insurers provides investors with an unbiased signal of the firm's governance risk. The signal is unbiased because it comes from an entity (i.e. the insurer) that has a direct financial incentive to correctly assess an organization's governance risk, in contrast to other ad hoc governance measures and indices.     

Ist die Rente mit 67 ein Rentenkürzungsprogramm? Auf die Sichtweise kommt es an!

Die schrittweise Anhebung der Regelaltersgrenze auf 67 Jahre wird von vielen kritisiert. Argumentiert wird, dass die Rentner zukünftig niedrigere Renten erhalten, entweder weil sie (h?here) Abschl?ge in Kauf nehmen müssen oder weil sie ihre Rente nun weniger lange bekommen. So oder so sei die Rente mit 67 ein Rentenkürzungsprogramm. Doch ist das wirklich so? Die Antwort lautet: Es kommt darauf an — vor allem auf die Sichtweise.     

基于核心竞争力的企业无形资产信息披露核心指标的构建

文章以 Hamel与Prahalad核心能力理论为基础，揭示了要素和核心竞争力的相互作用机理，厘清了无形资产构成要素与核心竞争力的关系，确认和识别了核心竞争力；测度了核心竞争力和企业无形资产的价值；最后基于核心竞争力的视角，构建了无形资产信息披露的核心指标，对企业财务报告能有效地披露无形资产信息提供了一种可行方法。     

Finance,growth and (macro)prudential policy: European evidence

Empirica - This paper examines the interactions between financial development, economic growth and (macro)prudential policy on a sample of 12 euro area countries. Our main takeaway is that active...     

TECHNOLOGICAL LEARNING AND LABOR MARKET DYNAMICS

The search‐and‐matching model of the labor market fails to match two important business cycle facts: (i) a high volatility of unemployment relative to labor productivity, and (ii) a mild correlation between these two variables. We address these shortcomings by focusing on technological learning‐by‐doing: the notion that it takes workers' time using a technology before reaching their full productive potential with it. We consider a novel source of business cycles, namely, fluctuations in the speed of technological learning, and show that a search‐and‐matching model featuring such shocks can account for both facts. Moreover, our model provides a new interpretation of recently discussed “news shocks.”     

Should Welfare Administration be Centralized or Decentralized? Evidence from a Policy Experiment

The 2005 reform of the German welfare system introduced two competing organizational models for welfare administration. In most districts, a centralized organization was established where local welfare agencies are bound to central directives. At the same time, 69 districts were allowed to opt for a decentralized organization. We evaluate the relative success of both types in terms of integrating welfare recipients into employment. Compared to centralized organization, decentralized organization has a negative effect on employment chances of males. For women, no significant effect is found. These findings are robust to the inclusion of aspects of internal organization common to both types of agencies.     

Response Rate and Response Quality of Internet-Based Surveys: An Experimental Study

This study examines the effect of the timing of follow-ups, different incentives, length, and presentation of the questionnaire on the response rate and response quality in an online experimental setting. The results show that short questionnaires have a higher response rate, although long questionnaires still generate a surprisingly high response. Furthermore, vouchers seem to be the most effective incentive in long questionnaires, while lotteries are more efficient in short surveys. A follow-up study revealed that lotteries with small prizes, but a higher chance of winning are most effective in increasing the response rate. Enhancing questionnaires with visual elements, such as product images, lead to a higher response quality and generate interesting interaction effects with the length of the questionnaire and the incentives used. Finally, the timing of the follow-up has no significant influence on the response rate.     

Kapitalprivatisierung der Deutschen Bahn AG

Die geplante materielle Privatisierung der Deutschen Bahn AG kann als logischer Schritt der formalen Bahnprivatisierung vom 1.1.1994 angesehen werden. Welche Privatisierungsmodelle werden gegenw?rtig diskutiert? Sollte die Deutsche Bahn AG mit oder ohne ihr Betriebsnetz an die B?rse gehen? Ist die Deutsche Bahn AG überhaupt b?rsenf?hig?     

Weak Investment Poses a Threat to Industry in Europe

The global industrial structure has been in a constant state of change for some time now. While China’s share has steadily grown, Western industrialised countries have mostly experienced losses in industrial market share. Within Europe, the fates of the established industrialised nations have all played out very differently. For example, France and the UK have suffered massive losses, while Germany was able to noticeably re-expand production following the 2009 crisis. Industry in Europe is likely to fall further behind in the coming years — not only to catching-up countries like China, but also to other industrialised nations. The US, for example, exhibits far more dynamic industrial investment, outpacing not only France and the UK but also Germany.