Late Entry in Swedish Tertiary Education: Can the Opportunity of Lifelong Learning Promote Equality Over the Life Course?

In this article, I investigate the relation between economic inequality and the decision to take up studies at the tertiary level late in life. Who exactly decides to enrol? Is it advantaged or disadvantaged groups in terms of current earnings rank, occupation, unemployment experience and social origin? Using unique register data of university applications and discrete time hazard regression models, the results show the likelihood of a late entry to be especially high for individuals who are disadvantaged to a moderate extent in terms of current earnings rank and also with some unemployment experience. Class differences in the transition to tertiary education decline with age. This suggests, with a moderate amount of simplification, that lifelong learning tends to promote both intra‐ and intergenerational equality.     

Mergers and acquisitions in the global food processing industry in 1986–2006

Food systems around the world experienced increased merger and acquisition (M&A) activity over the past decades. Based on a sample of 13,911M&A attempts worldwide during 1986–2006, this study provides an analysis of major determinants of M&A completion in the food processing industry. Friendly attitude, cash payment and experience with M&As emerge as strong deal facilitators. Bidding competition, pursuit of parallel transactions, target subsidiary status and acquirer public status are the most important deal breakers. Unlike the lenient antitrust approach of the Reagan administration, the 1998 UK Competition Act and various directives and regulations on food safety and quality associated with the completion of the internal European market in 1992 facilitated M&A completion. In contrast, the beginning of the Economic and Monetary Union, as marked by the introduction of the Euro in 1999, had a strong negative effect on completion likelihood. This study identifies substantial regional differences. Completion of M&As that involve Asian firms depends on distinct factors. Results for NAFTA are mostly in line with predictions derived from general economic theory, compared to other regions.     

Reger Austausch von Wissenschaftund Praxis zur Zukunft des Controllings

PRAXIS | Magazin

Reger Austausch von Wissenschaftund Praxis zur Zukunft des Controllings Konferenz-Preview     

Reserve risk estimation in a linear model

This paper presents the linear model, a framework for stochastic modeling of known methods as well as for the development of new methods of loss reserving. The linear model allows the determination of optimal predictors of non-observable cumulated and incremental losses and thus the derivation of optimal reserves by minimization of the expected squared prediction error.     

Pflegereform 2010: Karenzzeiten in der Sozialen Pflegeversicherung

As current research as well as current data reveal, the German long-term care insurance (LTCI) is expected to run a deficit in 2012. Additionally, further expenses will result due to the newly conceptualized definition of long-term care needs—in future, five instead of three care levels are to meet the needs of LTC patients. Accounting for the demographic turbulence ahead, the German LTCI is in urgent need of a broad reform. The paper suggests a reasonable transition from the current pay-as-you-go system to a partly funded strategy thereby accounting for the burden each generation is confronted with. With the help of generational accounting, we demonstrate that a certain waiting period (Karenzzeit) until LTC benefits are granted achieves an intergenerational balance. This reform proposal stems from the analysis of the length of stay in LTC.     

The internationalization of Chinese companies: Firm characteristics, industry effects and corporate governance

A prominent issue in the internationalization of Chinese firms is that many are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and that corporate governance in China is highly idiosyncratic. This paper identifies firm characteristics, industry effects and corporate governance mechanisms that foster internationalization. We find that Chinese cross-border mergers create shareholder value, but not more than domestic expansions. Corporate governance mechanisms matter, jointly and individually. While state-ownership predicts fewer cross-border mergers, a favourable board structure and corporate transparency explains higher M&A returns. As in more mature markets, firm- and industry-specific determinants also affect M&As in China.     

Labor Market Integration and Its Effect on Child Labor

This note demonstrates that when developing countries remove barriers to migration and integrate their labor markets, children may be driven out of schools and into informal or paid employment in the comparatively rich countries. In industrialized countries, the same mechanism might drive families into social security or government-subsidized jobs.     

Choice in Interactive Environments

In the early 21st century, firms are thinking seriously and practically about an interactive marketing paradigm—one that integrates mass scale with individual responsiveness. The focus of this paper is on how this interactive environment is changing the customer decision-making process. With the increased amount of information available, the existence of sophisticated decision aids such as intelligent agents, and more latitude in how to interact beyond the basic desktop and laptop computers (e.g., personal digital assistants, cellular phones, tablet computers), customers have more choices than ever about how, when, and how much to interact with companies and each other. In this paper, we attempt to cover a few of the major areas of research on how customers make decisions in these environments.