How Can We Better Understand Current and Future Workforce Values in the Global Business Environment?

Our study tested the predictive power of socioeconomic development theory and age differences theory to explain work values across cultures and across age groups. We compared the values orientations of future managers, business students under the age of 25, with those of current managers and professionals, who we split into three decade groups (30 to 39, 40 to 49, and 50 to 59). Our respondents (n = 1,518) come from six diverse societies: Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, the United States, and Vietnam. Our findings indicate that both theories contribute to our understanding of work values and behaviors. One implication is that while socioeconomic development theory makes an important contribution, it is clearly not sufficient by itself to explain work values/behavior differences in the global context. The study findings and the discussion of them will hopefully provide multinational managers with a clearer assessment of current and future workforce values/behavior. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Information Externalities,Neighborhood Characteristics and Home Mortgage Pricing and Underwriting

Theories of rational redlining suggest thinness in housing markets should lead to greater uncertainty in house price appraisals, increasing mortgage denial rates or pricing. Empirical tests found support for this theory in mortgage underwriting using 1990s data. Using 2006 data and bank‐specific regression models, we revisit this topic in light of two developments leading to the recent mortgage bubble: the widespread securitization that allowed banks to shift loan risk to investors and the advent of risk‐based pricing. Consistent with expectations, we find that information externalities have become economically very small and have shifted from underwriting to pricing decisions.     

Methods and tools for integrated assessment of land use policies on sustainable development in developing countries

For stimulating sustainable development in developing countries, land use patterns and land use changes are considered critical, and therefore effective and efficient land use policies are needed. In this paper we present a methodological framework that has been developed in a joint European and developing countries project (LUPIS – Land Use Policies and Sustainable Development in Developing Countries), to assess the impact of land use policies on sustainable development in developing countries. An illustrative application is presented for a case study in China, where water pollution due to agriculture in Taihu Basin is a major problem.     

Risks Matrixes Risks Assessment Tools of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises： The Case of Latvia

The enterprises need to assess the risk dynamic of financial instability and its impact on small and medium-sized enterprises＇ development, because it is important for enterprises to extend commercial activity and to open a new structural subdivision. We have researched types of risks, their identification, classification, and assessment possibilities in activities of small and medium-sized enterprises. We have used our own algorithm of identification, classification, and assessment of enterprises＇ risks. The goal of this research is to study the economic and financial risks＇ impact on small and medium-sized enterprises＇ development in Latvia. For study purpose, we have carried out the questionnaire of representative small and medium-sized enterprises about the economic and financial risks＇ impact on enterprises＇ development in Latvia. We have created classification of Latvian services sectors＇ economic and financial risks in the period from 2011 to 2012. Those risks have been included in the questionnaire. The risks matrix is a quantitative assessment tool of risks. We have created Latvian service sector economic and financial risks matrix. We have arranged risks by their sizes of possible losses for enterprises. For each risk has been assessed its probability of realization. We have created Latvian accommodations （hotel） and food services technological process risks map. Several parts of the risk map （segments） make it possible to assess each type of the risk separately in its segment. Risks matrix can be used to choose enterprises＇ strategy of risk management. Enterprise＇s strategy of risk management is developed by analysing zones of risk level.     

Two‐sample nonparametric estimation of intergenerational income mobility in the United States and Sweden

We estimate intergenerational income mobility in the US and Sweden, using a new nonparametric approach. The approach addresses several empirical issues raised in the literature and applies when other estimators are infeasible. We argue that previous estimates of income mobility conceal the heterogeneous nature of the transmission mechanism by keeping mobility constant across families. The striking differences we find between mobility patterns across family backgrounds, captured by father's education, lead us to question the conventional result that intergenerational transmission of earnings is weaker in Sweden than in the United States, for important parts of the population.     

What do Russians think about transition?1

We use data from the 2006 round of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey to describe perceptions of the Russian population about the transition process and the role of the state compared with that of free markets. We find that about one‐half of the Russian population is disappointed with transition and a large majority is in favour of high state regulation and state provision of goods and services. High demand for government regulation and increased state intervention coexists with a low level of trust in government institutions and recognition of high and rising levels of corruption. The findings are consistent with the theory developed by Aghion et al. (2009) . In an environment with poor social capital, private business imposes negative externalities on the society and society chooses to demand more state regulation and tolerate corruption to reduce these externalities. We also find that individual perceptions of social capital and corruption co‐vary with the demand for regulation, as predicted by the theory.     

Correlations in emerging market bonds: The role of local and global factors

This paper empirically assesses co-movements in emerging market bond returns and disentangles the roles of external and domestic factors during episodes of heightened market volatility. The conceptual framework, set in the context of asset allocation, allows us to describe the channels through which shocks originating in a particular emerging or mature market are transmitted across countries and markets. We show that a simple measure of cross-country correlations, when presented together with the more commonly used average correlation coefficient, can be more informative during episodes of heightened market volatility. Data for the period 1997–2008 are analysed for evidence of true contagion and common external shocks.