Heterogeneous treatment effects: Instrumental variables without monotonicity?

Imbens and Angrist (1994) were the first to exploit a monotonicity condition in order to identify a local average treatment effect parameter using instrumental variables. More recently, Heckman and Vytlacil (1999) suggested the estimation of a variety of treatment effect parameters using a local version of their approach. We investigate the sensitivity of the respective estimates to random departures from monotonicity. Approximations to the respective bias terms are derived. In an empirical application the bias is calculated and bias corrected estimates are obtained. The accuracy of the approximation is investigated in a Monte Carlo study.     

International entrepreneurship in the network economy: Internationalization propensity and the role of entrepreneurial orientation

This study aims to analyze the conditions of the initial internationalization decision in the network economy. Based on the information systems, international entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship literature, factors, which constitute the internationalization propensity, are elicited. The results of this study suggest that a holistic perspective including the founder, business model, and the firm should be considered when explaining the internationalization propensity of entrepreneurs. Our analysis also shows that, depending on the entrepreneur’s entrepreneurial orientation, the internationalization propensity varies. Data were obtained by conjoint analysis experiments conducted with German network economy entrepreneurs.     

A Critical Appraisal of the Current Use of Transaction Cost Explanations for Government Make-Or-Buy Choices: Towards a Contingent Theory and Forms of Tests

Abstract

This article aims at contributing to the extant literature on government make-or-buy choices building on transaction cost economics (TCE) by explicitly theorizing about transaction alignment and its relation to performance. It is argued that current theoretical and empirical models of government make-or-buy choices are not able to make predictions that corroborate theory. They are dependent upon the assumption of perfect competition that is ill-suited for the public sector setting. Instead, contingent models that take performance differences into account constitute a more valid model of TCE in this setting. In this article, theoretical models and empirical approaches for such a research agenda are developed.     

Questionnaire based mortality assessment: an exploratory analysis of NHANES III

The need for speed and efficiency in life insurance underwriting has never been greater. With increasing acquisition costs, the need for timeliness to complete the sales process, and the need for accurate mortality prediction a great deal of resources have been devoted to the development of non-traditional underwriting processes and criteria in hopes of streamlining the process. In this paper, we describe an exploratory analysis of mortality linked data from the US NHANES III study. Our goal for this analysis was to identify mortality predictors that would be good candidates for further investigation in insurance applicants, especially in the context of simplified issue products which focus on younger age applicants. We identified aerobic exercise, dental health, alcohol beverage type and quantity, and dietary components and patterns as factors that may hold promise as mortality predictors in persons age 17-65. Though the limitations of this analysis preclude the immediate use of these factors as underwriting criteria, it does appear that several of these hold promise, and should be tested in an insurance application context. Focus groups, market testing, or even insertion as non-actionable questions in a subset of applications may be ways to collect further data on them.     

The Norwegian shareholder tax reconsidered

S?rensen (Int. Tax Public Finance 12(6):777–801, 2005) gives an in-depth account of the new Norwegian Shareholder Tax, which allows the shareholders a deduction for an imputed risk-free rate of return. S?rensen’s positive evaluation appears as reasonable for a closed economy where the deduction for the imputed return is capitalized into the market prices of corporate shares. We show that in a small open economy where no capitalization occurs, the Norwegian shareholder tax is likely to leave the distortions caused by the corporate income tax unaffected, and to add new distortions to shareholders’ portfolio decisions.     

How to Steer the IT Outsourcing Provider

IT executives entering into information technology (IT) outsourcing arrangements seek various strategic, economic, and technological benefits. However, although several cases of IT outsourcing are considered successful, cases of failure can also be observed. Problems and challenges associated with IT outsourcing often not only relate to the strategic decision whether or not to outsource, but to the operational level as well. Especially organizations with little experience of implementing larger IT outsourcing programs face problems with the steering of external outsourcing providers. In this paper, we propose a reference framework that structures the required processes for an effective steering of IT outsourcing relationships. The research is based on the design science paradigm in information systems research. In a first step, we derive a framework from related literature and knowledge in this particular area. We then undertake extensive fieldwork, including expert interviews and field studies to evaluate our framework and to develop it further. The suggested framework proves to be a viable instrument to support the systematic analysis of current processes and the definition of suitable target processes for the steering of IT outsourcing programs. This paper??s primary contribution therefore lies in providing an applicable instrument for practitioners as well as in extending the existing body of knowledge on IT outsourcing governance.     

Cluster Analysis of Smart Metering Data

The introduction of smart meter technology is a great challenge for the German energy industry. It requires not only large investments in the communication and metering infrastructure, but also a redesign of traditional business processes. The newly incurring costs cannot be fully passed on to the end customers. One option to counterbalance these expenses is to exploit the newly generated smart metering data for the creation of new services and improved processes. For instance, performing a cluster analysis of smart metering data focused on the customers’ time-based consumption behavior allows for a detailed customer segmentation. In the article we present a cluster analysis performed on real-world consumption data from a smart meter project conducted by a German regional utilities company. We show how to integrate a cluster analysis approach into a business intelligence environment and evaluate this artifact as defined by design science. We discuss the results of the cluster analysis and highlight options to apply them to segment-specific tariff design.     

Die Verteilung der Abstimmungsmacht im Bundesrat

Die Stimmanteile der Bundesl?nder im Bundesrat basieren auf einem Stufenmodell in Abh?ngigkeit von der Einwohnerzahl. Da die Abstimmungsmacht nicht dem relativen Stimmanteil eines Bundeslands entspricht, analysieren die Autoren die Verteilung der Abstimmungsmacht im Bundesrat mit Hilfe von Machtindizes. Sie untersuchen darüber hinaus, wie sich die Abstimmungsmacht ver?ndert, wenn die Abstimmungsregel variiert wird oder es zu L?nderfusionen kommt.     

Optimal Mechanisms for Heterogeneous Multi-Cell Aquifers

Standard economic models of groundwater management impose restrictive assumptions regarding perfect transmissivity (i.e., the aquifer behaves as a bathtub), no external effects of groundwater stocks, observability of individual extraction rates, and/or homogeneous agents. In this article, we derive regulatory mechanisms for inducing the socially optimal extraction path in Markov perfect equilibrium for aquifers in which these assumptions do not hold. In spite of the complexity of the underlying system, we identify an interesting case in which a simple linear mechanism achieves the social optimum. To illustrate potential problems that can arise by erroneously imposing simplifying assumptions, we conduct a simulation based on data from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.