Sports betting as a new asset class—current market organization and options for development

New asset classes are originally distributed via over the counter channels; mostly negotiated, traded, and settled on a bilateral and ad-hoc basis. Subsequently, the demand for organized market services grows alongside trading volumes, number of market participants, and distribution reach. This paper focuses on sports betting as a new asset class and uses the analogies between the development of traditional and new asset classes as a framework to extend market organization. The first section motivates sports betting as a new asset class based on its economic relevance. In Sect. 2, the European market is described by product design, distribution platforms, and regulatory environment. In Sect. 3, we discuss the dimensions of market model, technology, and regulation as prerequisites to develop organized markets. Against this background, we compare the value chain in financial and sports betting markets to identify and describe three options for development: a regulated market environment, an inter-bookmaker platform, and central counterparty clearing services.

Which employers regard the threat of dismissal as a suitable incentive to motivate workers?

Using German establishment data, this study finds that the share of blue-collar workers, an outdated production technology and a high-wage policy increase the probability that employers regard the threat of dismissal as a suitable incentive. A participatory human resource management policy, the incidence of a works council and difficulties in filling vacancies decrease the probability.     

Disease and development: The role of life expectancy reconsidered

This note estimates the causal effect of life expectancy on per capita income and tests the hypothesis of a non-monotonic effect using finite mixture models. The results confirm the hypothesis and qualify recent evidence for a negative effect by Acemoglu and Johnson (2007).     

COMPETITION IN PRODUCT DESIGN: AN EXPERIMENT EXPLORING INNOVATION BEHAVIOR

We experimentally investigate competition for innovations in a patent race scenario. Pairs of subjects compete as seller firms on a duopoly market, investing in risky search. Successful innovations resulting thereof are rewarded via temporary monopoly rents. Classifying investor types reveals that most of them invest according to objective investment criteria, such as probability of search success and cash flow, as well as to non‐pecuniary criteria, such as intensity of competition and relative performance. For a minority, however, no such correlation is ascertained.     

Estimation of a survival curve with randomly censored data in the presence of a covariate

This paper deals with the estimation of a survival curve in models with random right censoring and dependent censoring mechanism. We consider a specific dependent censorship model in which conditional on a covariate, the survival and censoring times are assumed to be independent. We investigate asymptotic properties of a corrected version of a survival curve estimator introduced by Cheng (1989). In particular we show uniform strong consistency and weak convergence to a Gaussian process. Comparisons of this estimator with the well-known Kaplan-Meier-estimator are included. Finally, some examples illustrate how the estimator performs. Received: February 2000     

Service industries and regional development: An analysis for eastern Germany

By using a shift-share regression approach the contribution of services to the development of employment in eastern Germany is analysed. The results obtained with highly differentiated data from the employment statistics show that services contributed more to a favourable path of development than other industries. This is due in part to general world-wide processes of structural change and the special situation in eastern Germany. Many subsidies were transferred to the East, which stabilises the special segment of the economy related to local demand. This segment is made up mostly of services in eastern Germany. Processes of industrial change can be explained using structural change approaches. It is shown that processes of de-concentration play a role in explaining regional disparities, since inverse localisation and positive urbanisation effects are visible. For the empirical analyses an augmented approach is applied which uses a generalisation of an econometric analogue from the common shift-share method. It combines the strengths of the traditional approach with all the advantages of theory-oriented modelling and regression analysis.     

What do they know? The effects of outside director acquisition experience on firm acquisition performance

This article contributes to the literature on board effectiveness by being perhaps the first to systematically examine how the nature of outside directors' prior experience, and resulting expertise, will influence the performance of a focal firm's strategic initiatives. Our theoretical model is grounded in the psychological literature on expertise and its role in group decision making effectiveness. We focus on outside director expertise in acquisition decision making, and its implications for the performance of the acquisitions of a focal firm. Our conceptual framework indicates that directors will develop expertise in making particular kinds of acquisition decisions (e.g., related or unrelated acquisitions or acquisitions in specific industries or product markets) through their past experiences at other firms with decisions about those specific types of acquisitions, and we predict that this experience and expertise will have positive effects on the performance of a focal firm's acquisitions. We extend our theoretical model to consider the conditions under which relevant director experience will prove most beneficial. Our model predicts that outside director acquisition expertise will deliver the greatest benefits when the focal firm's board is independent from management. We find empirical support for all of our hypotheses. In considering how and when director experience and resulting expertise may influence the performance of corporate acquisitions, our theory and results help to highlight a potential second main focus for research on the long‐standing question of what factors render boards of directors effective. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health-related quality of life,work productivity and costs related to patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Austria

Abstract

Objective

Inflammatory-Bowel-Disease (IBD) is a lifelong illness with significant impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The disease-burden causes work productivity impairment, such as sick-leave and restriction of leisure time activities. From a societal perspective, productivity loss often contributes significantly to the total costs. The aim of the study is to analyze the impact of disease-burden on work productivity, daily activities, and HRQoL.