Geologisches Risikomanagement für Versicherungen

The application of Geoinformationsystems under geological, hydrological and hydrogeological aspects for the risk management is a further development of the geographical underwriting of the insurance industry. The knowledge of the geology, hydrology and hydrogeology is fundamental for the understanding and spatial analysis of insured objects before and during loss events for example with contaminations of the aquifer. Furthermore possible loss scenarios could be prevented or minimized if the subsurface geology and hydrogeology are already known and integrated in the initial insurance appraisal. The modelling and classification of the geoscientific knowledge also enables the definition of Action Zones, which allow a better appraisal and assessment of the insurable objects. This leads to an optimized and transparent premium calculation for both, the insurance and the policyholder (Münchener Rück 2002). The visualization of the geoscientific subsurface information in Geoinformationsystems is simple and economical feasible, it is quick to analyze and combinable with additional information and gives important insights in the subsurface structures. The paper describes a workflow how such Action Zones could be assessed and the additional information for the premium is generated.     

ENDOGENOUS GROWTH, HUMAN CAPITAL, AND INDUSTRY WAGES

Lucas' model (1988) of external effects of human capital formation is taken as a starting point for looking at the impact of human capital on wages. Even though most empirical tests of New Growth Theory are made using time-series and cross-sections of countries — with good reasons — I suggest a microeconometric approach in order to test Lucas' basic assumption of external effects of human capital. As a first step, internal effects of education are filtered out by using wage functions for individuals in Austria. In the second step, resulting industry wage premiums are regressed on industry-specific characteristics and, above all, on average human capital in the industry to account for external effects of human capital.     

Structural factors associated with primary fiscal balances in developing countries

The study explores the conditions under which a government in a developing country is likely to run a balanced or surplus budget. We contend that primary fiscal deficits are likely to persist where the economy is too saving constrained to raise private sector investment. To conduct the investigation, a logit model is applied to a sample of developing countries to see whether the saving constraints are associated with the fiscal stance of governments. Accordingly, income level, growth, external current account balance and foreign direct investment are used as indicators of the saving constraint. With the exception of economic growth, positive developments in these variables turned out to be significant to the likelihood of the government adopting a surplus budget.     

Towards a hierarchical theory of shopping motivation

Shopping motivation is one of the key concepts in research on consumer shopping behavior and continues to be vividly discussed. Providing a revised theoretical perspective on this issue, the authors propose three hierarchical levels including purpose-specific, activity-specific, and demand-specific shopping motivation. A hierarchical model of shopping motivation is developed based on the theoretical properties introduced by corresponding research in the areas of social and organizational psychology and tested by means of a cross-contextual survey design. Evidence for the mediating nature of the established framework is provided and the findings reveal the dynamics of how purpose-specific shopping motivation predicts activity-specific motivation, which, in turn, determines demand-specific motivation. The moderating impact of the shopping context is tested, demonstrating in which way the relationship between activity and demand-specific motivation is more idiosyncratic in nature than the interrelation of purpose and activity-specific motivation. The utility of the study for future research and its managerial implications are discussed.     

Legislation and the American Dialysis Industry:

A bstract Monopoly power in the dialysis industry in the United States is linked to Public Lau'92-603 (section 2991) of the Social Security Amendments of 1972 under which 90 percent of all patients with end-stage renal disease became eligible for Medicare coverage In effect, Congress spawned a new government enterprise by removing the constraining factor of price to the consumer and legalizing government-subsidized monopoltes in renal care which were empowered with the right to supply renal care services within designated areas without competition Those who suffer from renal insufficiency encounter monopoly on the supply side of the product (dialysis units) market, and the labor market (kidney specialists) since outside nephrologists are not permitted to treat patients'assigned' to "closed staff" units     

What constitutes a “good assortment”? A scale for measuring consumers' perceptions of an assortment offered in a grocery category

This research investigates how consumers form subjective judgments of what constitutes “a good grocery assortment”. By conducting three exploratory focus groups and a field study, we develop a multi-item scale that reflects consumers' cue utilization processes in forming perceptions of a grocery assortment. Our findings suggest that consumers use only a limited number of informational cues to form perceptions about four higher-level assortment dimensions: (1) the assortment's pricing, (2) its quality, (3) its variety, and (4) its presentation. In line with the attitude theory, we found that consumers integrate these higher-level assortment dimensions into a summary evaluation of the grocery category's attractiveness. Accordingly, we derive the grocery assortment perception (GAP) scale as a second-order construct composed of four first-order factors. Significant positive relationships between the GAP scale and customer satisfaction as well as loyalty intentions provide empirical support for the scale's predictive ability and nomological validity. In the last section of this article, we discuss how the GAP scale will support category managers in their assortment decisions and provide directions for further research.     

Project management in retailing: integrating the behavioral dimension

The retail environment is globalizing, requiring high levels of consistent experimentation. Project management can be used to help retailers test new ideas and implement the most successful ones. Unfortunately, project management in the retail setting often delivers unsatisfactory results. Project management has traditionally focused on conventional planning tasks. The people dimension is often overlooked as a key to project management success. However, human behavior is particularly important in the retail setting, where projects are generally focused on testing new concepts, increasing collaboration, and implementing new technologies. This research examines the role of the behavioral dimension in retail project management and supports the view that the behavioral dimension is central to retail project management success.     

The structure of the South African labor market, 1970–83

The structure of the labor market in the Republic of South Africa over 1970–83 is strongly linked to the Natives Land Act of 1913, No. 27, which dispossessed blacks of their legal right to land ownership. One of the intended results of this act was to increase the supply of cheap black labor to South Africa’s predominantly white-owned industry. Thus, over the 1970–83 period, as before, blacks occupied the lowest ends of the educational, occupational, employment, and income distributions among all races in South Africa. On the other hand, the white minority lived at a standard equal to that of Americans and Scandanavians. However, even within these constraints, the demographics of South Africa are such that over the next decade or more, and even in the absence of major political upheaval, blacks may comprise an increasing percentage of the workforce and occupy positions which have been mainly occupied by whites to date.