The expansion of early childcare and transitions to first and second birth in Germany

We use quasi-experimental expansion of publicly funded childcare slots for children under the age of three from Germany and exploit regional variations of this large-scale expansion to account for endogenous and selective fertility decisions. To account for left and right censoring, we implement this quasi-experimental framework into the setting of the semiparametric Cox hazard model. By using spatial data on childcare provision at the level of counties and microdata from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 1998 to 2012, we find a significant increase in the transition probability to first birth by 11.9% for native childless couples who were in the labor force before childbearing. With regard to transition to the second birth, however, no significant effect is found from the increase in childcare slots. With a particular focus on the transition to first birth, the effects are demonstrated not to be driven by selective residency choices and internal migration patterns. Furthermore, a large set of robustness checks is applied to show that highly educated mothers react the most, while effects are not attributable to the upper decile of income distribution.     

Does financing strategy accelerate corporate energy transition? Evidence from green bonds

With energy transition becoming an urgent priority for companies worldwide, practitioners and policymakers are urging them to finance climate-friendly projects. This paper investigates how the issuance of green bonds affects firms' carbon emissions and environmental performance. Our results show that green bond issuance significantly improves firms' overall environmental performance and their capacities to create new environmental technologies and processes. However, green bond issuance has a less clear effect on carbon emissions intensity and requires additional time (one or more years) before being able to improve the emissions intensity. Taken together, our study's findings clearly highlight the importance of green bonds in financing energy transition in the corporate sector and provide evidence to encourage policymakers to strengthen the legal framework relating to their issuance.     

Community development using a sustainable tourism strategy: a case study of the Jordan River Valley touristway

This paper presents the results of a 10‐year collaboration among Yarmouk University, the University of Arkansas and the Jordanian government to develop a sustainable tourism strategy against the backdrop of political and economic uncertainty. It reports our efforts to develop a touristway through the Jordan River Valley that integrates the valley's heritage, archeology, and Christian and Islamic religious sites. It also analyses our community development work in Umm Qais, the touristway's northern anchor, and how our plan contributes to Northern Jordan's economic development. We conclude with a discussion of the specific insights gained from our experiences that may serve others addressing similar issues. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do Egocentric information networks influence technical efficiency of farmers? Empirical evidence from Ghana

Journal of Productivity Analysis - We investigate the impact of farmers’ egocentric information network on technical efficiency and its distribution in the network, using observational data...     

Corporate social responsibility and corporate tax avoidance: The channel effect of consumer awareness

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate tax avoidance and the impact of consumer awareness on the constructs. We show that consumer awareness has the effect of decreasing the positive relation between CSR ratings and tax avoidance levels. Our findings are robust to various measures of our constructs. Collectively, the findings of this study lend credence to the risk-management view of CSR and demonstrate that consumer awareness acts as a behavioral intervention and governance mechanism to help mitigate corporate hypocrisy.