Why Do Recent Graduates Enter into Flexible Jobs?

Flexible jobs make up a larger share of the Dutch labour market than in almost any other Western country. Recent graduates in the Netherlands are particularly likely to take flexible jobs. In this study we examine why recent graduates enter into temporary contracts and whether flexible jobs offer a poorer match for graduates’ qualifications than permanent jobs. We find that recent graduates that enter into flexible jobs face large wage penalties, a worse job match and less training participation than graduates who take permanent jobs, even after correcting for differences in ability. When the labour market situation for a particular field of education deteriorates, more recent graduates are forced into flexible jobs, threatening their position on the labour market in the long run. Flexible work among recent graduates is unrelated to their willingness to take risks. Only for university graduates is there any indication that flexible jobs may provide a stepping stone to permanent employment.     

A new method for generating approximation algorithms for financial mathematics applications

This paper describes a new technique that can be used in financial mathematics for a wide range of situations where the calculation of complicated integrals is required. The numerical schemes proposed here are deterministic in nature but their proof relies on known results from probability theory regarding the weak convergence of probability measures. We adapt those results to unbounded payoffs under certain mild assumptions that are satisfied in finance. Because our approximation schemes avoid repeated simulations and provide computational savings, they can potentially be used when calculating simultaneously the price of several derivatives contingent on the same underlying. We show how to apply the new methods to calculate the price of spread options and American call options on a stock paying a known dividend. The method proves useful for calculations related to the log-Weibull model proposed recently for empirical asset pricing.     

The potential for mutually beneficial trade negotiations between the United States and advanced LDCs

Zusammenfassung Das Potential für beidseitig vorteilhafte Zollverhandlungen zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und fortgeschrittenen Entwicklungsl?ndern. — Dieser Aufsatz versucht, das Potential für beidseitig vorteilhafte Zollsenkungen zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und einer Auswahl ihrer gr?\ten Handelspartner unter den Entwicklungsl?ndern zu bestimmen. Ein partielles DreiL?nder-Gleichgewichtsmodell wird benutzt, um die direkten und indirekten Wirkungen auf den Au\enhandel abzusch?tzen, wenn die Zolls?tze bei den Gütern gesenkt Єrden, für die jedes Land Hauptlieferant ist. Diese Sch?tzungen best?tigen die bedeutenden potentiellen Vorteile von Zollsenkungen; jedoch zeigt eine eingehende Produktanalyse, da\ die Mehrheit der in Betracht kommenden Güter von amerikanischen Politikern bereits als ?import-sensibel? angesehen wird.

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Résumé Le potentiel des négociations mutuellement béneficiares sur le commerce extérieur entre les Etats Unis et les PVD avancés. — Ce papier essaie de déterminer le potentiel des réductions tarifaires mutuellement béneficiaires entre les Etats Unis et un échantillon des ses partenaires commerciaux les plus grands parmi les PVD. Nous appliquons un modèle de trois-pays et d’équilibre partiel pour estimer les effets commerciaux directs et ?spill-over? des réductions tarifaires pour des biens offerts principalement par chaque pays. Ces estimations documentent les bénéfices potentiels significatives des réductions tarifaires cependant les analyses détaillées de bien révèlent une majorité des produits négociables déjà considérés comme sensitifs aux importations par les politiciens des Etats Unis.

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Resumen El potencial para negociaciones comerciales mutuamente beneficiosas entre los EEUU y los países en desarrollo más avanzados. — En este articulo se trata de determinar el potencial de reducciones tarifarias mutuamente beneficiosas entre los EEUU y una muestra de sus socios comerciales más importantes. Un modelo de equilibrio parcial de tres países es usado para estimar los efectos comerciales directes y de ?spill-over? de reducciones tarifarias sobre items en los cuales cada país es el principal oferente. Estas estimaciones documentan los beneficios potenciales significativos de las reducciones tarifarias; sin embargo, un análisis detallado por productos revela que la mayoría de los productos negociables ya han sido considerados como sensibles a la importación por los formuladores de políticas de los EEUU.

     

THE ESTIMATION OF MORTGAGE PREPAYMENT RATES

This paper uses a model in which prepayment rates on large pools of mortgages are a function of the differential between the prevailing market rate for mortgages and the contract rate at which the mortgages were originally issued. The empirical part of the paper shows a significant inverse relationship between the interest-rate differential and prepayment rates. The relationship is most elastic whenever the current market rate for mortgages is between one and three percent below the contract rate of the pool. For a given interest-rate differential, the estimated prepayment rate generally decreases and the elasticity increases as the contract rate rises.