Do the skilled and prime-aged unemployed benefit more from training? Effect heterogeneity of public training programmes in Germany

This study analyses the treatment effects of public training programmes for the unemployed in Germany. Based on propensity score matching methods, we extend the picture that has been sketched in previous studies by estimating the treatment effects of medium-term programmes for different skill and age groups. Our results indicate that programme participation has a positive impact on employment probabilities and earnings for almost all sub-groups. We find little evidence for the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects, and the magnitude of the differences is quite small. Our results thus – at least in part – conflict with the strategy to provide training increasingly to individuals with better employment prospects.     

On the Market for Principles of Economics Textbooks: Innovation and Product Differentiation—A Response

E. A. Ross was fired from Stanford University in 1900 because he had angered Jane L. Stanford, the surviving cofounder of the university, for violating her alleged prohibition of faculty participation in partisan political activity. The author argues that this prohibition may never have been written and that the injustice in the firing of Ross may have been compounded by deception.     

DIVISION HEADQUARTERS GO ABROAD - A STEP IN THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION*

Why are division headquarters of multinational corporations in some cases located abroad? In the multinational corporation the physical location of division headquarters is a problematic issue because of the need for close links both to corporate headquarters and the foreign subsidiaries. This paper develops a model explaining this location as a consequence of power relations associated with the internationalization of the corporation and tests it on a sample of divisions of Swedish multinationals. the results support the view that power relations have an impact on location of division headquarters. One interesting result is the clear indication of countervailing forces, consisting of an attraction force of foreign dominant subsidiaries and a resisting force related to the interests of corporate headquarters.     

Different open book accounting practices for different purchasing strategies

Extant studies of open book accounting focus primarily on data disclosure in long-term, committed purchasing arrangements. We extend research beyond that context by exploring the association between open book practices (in terms of nature and uses of disclosed data as well as conditions of data disclosure) and two different purchasing strategies. Three case studies are performed. Results indicate that within market procurement characterized by a transactional purchasing strategy, cost data primarily serve to reduce purchase price. Therefore, data disclosure is limited in scope and scale, occurs primarily during supplier evaluation and selection, and is characterized by an adversarial atmosphere. Incentives for suppliers to open their books focus on short-term tangible gains. Within a hybrid exchange arrangement characterized by a relational purchasing strategy, data disclosure supports cost reduction, e.g., through joint product development, and is more comprehensive. The atmosphere is less adversarial and suppliers reap long-term benefits.     

New‐Keynesian Models and Monetary Policy: A Re‐examination of the Stylized Facts*

Using an empirical New‐Keynesian model with optimal discretionary monetary policy, we estimate key parameters—the central bank's preference parameters; the degree of forward‐looking behavior in the determination of inflation and output; and the variances of inflation and output shocks—to match some broad characteristics of U.S. data. The parameterization we obtain implies a small concern for output stability but a large preference for interest rate smoothing, and a small degree of forward‐looking behavior in price‐setting but a large degree of forward‐looking in the determination of output. Our methodology also allows us to carefully examine the consequences of alternative parameterizations and to provide intuition for our results.     

On heterogeneity in non-life insurance. Part II

Abstract

Extract

While in some linear estimation problems the principle of unbiasedness can be said to be appropriate, we have just seen that in the present context we will have to appeal to other criteria. Let us first consider what we get from the maximum likelihood method. We do not claim any particular optimum property for this estimate of the risk distribution: it seems plausible however that one can prove a large sample result analogous to the classical result on maximum likelihood estimation.     

Short-term persistence in hybrid mutual fund performance: The role of style-shifting abilities

Our study analyzes the performance of hybrid mutual funds. Based on two extended Carhart models we determine total fund performance by comparing fund returns to investable fund-specific style benchmarks. Using daily returns and a quarterly measurement interval, we present an innovative return-based approach to decompose total performance into in-quarter abnormal performance and style-shifting performance. In addition, we split total style-shifting performance into active and passive components. In this context, we confirm possible benefits of these performance measures by analyzing several simulated investment strategies. Our empirical study covers 520 hybrid mutual funds from 10/1998 to 12/2009 and shows that hybrid mutual funds (i) do not outperform their benchmarks on average, (ii) partially show positive in-quarter abnormal performance and style-shifting abilities, and (iii) exhibit short-term persistence in in-quarter abnormal performance but not in style-shifting abilities.     

Temperature models for pricing weather derivatives

We present four models for predicting temperatures that can be used for pricing weather derivatives. Three of the models have been suggested in previous literature, and we propose another model that uses splines to remove trend and seasonality effects from temperature time series in a flexible way. Using historical temperature data from 35 weather stations across the United States, we test the performance of the models by evaluating virtual heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) contracts. We find that all models perform better when predicting HDD indices than predicting CDD indices. However, all models based on a daily simulation approach significantly underestimate the variance of the errors.