Experience, instruction and knowledge acquisition: a study in taxation

This study examines the effects of direct work experience, gained through internships and cooperative educational experiences, on subsequent knowledge acquisition. In particular, theoretical and empirical research in education, cognitive psychology and accounting suggests that experienced individuals develop organizational knowledge structures which allow them to better assimilate new information into memory than inexperienced individuals. Consistent with this notion, the research investigates whether the benefits of prior direct work experience on knowledge acquisition is a function of the nature of the learning tasks (structured versus unstructured) used in subsequent educational experiences.As hypothesized, the results indicate that inexperienced subjects were assisted to a greater extent in the knowledge acquisition process by structure oriented tax return preparation tasks than by relatively unstructured tax research assignments. Also consistent with expectations, the opposite was true for experienced subjects. When experienced subjects were provided with instruction supplemented by unstructured tax research assignments, they demonstrated a greater level of tax knowledge than when assigned structured tax return problems. Further, the knowledge level of experienced subjects was found to be greater than that of inexperienced subjects only when unstructured tax research assignments were provided. These findings suggest that all benefits of direct work experience on the knowledge acquisition process cannot be realized without the specific consideration of such experiences on the design of educational and firm training materials. Finally, the study also indicates that the benefits of direct work experience on subsequent knowledge acquisition are generally greater for individuals with low versus high learning aptitudes.     

On the Effect of Skewness and Kurtosis Misspecification on the Hedging Error

Using a result in Angelini and Herzel (2009a) , we measure, in terms of variance, the cost of hedging a contingent claim when the hedging portfolio is re‐balanced at a discrete set of dates. We analyse the dependence of the variance of the hedging error on the skewness and kurtosis as modeled by a Normal Inverse Gaussian model. We consider two types of strategies, the standard Black–Scholes Delta strategy and the locally variance‐optimal strategy, and we perform some robustness tests. In particular, we investigate the effect of different types of model misspecification on the performance of the hedging, like that of hedging without taking skewness into account. Computations are performed using a Fast Fourier Transform approach.     

Public‐private partnership: Elements for a project‐based management typology

The polysemic concept of public‐private partnership (PPP) covers a great diversity of institutional arrangements. In this paper, we propose a typology based on the management of public projects that constitute partnerships with private firms. Our typology is founded on two key variables: (1) the proximity of the target and (2) the capacity to generate projects. We can then identify four distinct models of PPP: situational, elementary, symbiotic, and forward‐looking. The management challenges, the risks, and the major issues particular to each type of PPP are described in order to enlighten management teams and contribute to the production of useful knowledge in the field.     

Negative influences of working life on sustainable consumption

Working life can have negative influences on sustainable consumption. In order to promote environmentally and socially friendly consumption patterns and a sustainable society, these negative influences need to be identified and prevented. Research on sustainable consumption has considered different positive and negative influences of working life on sustainable consumption. However, with regard to work‐life‐research and its gained insights into the work‐life relationship, it can be assumed that significant work interferences that restrain sustainable consumption have been ignored so far. Therefore, this article proposes an integrated approach. An overview on sustainable consumption research and work‐life‐research regarding their insights into work interferences is first presented. On this basis, the article then integrates both research perspectives and shows that additional work interferences need to be considered in order to prevent restraints of sustainable consumption.     

Ageing and unused capacity in Europe: is there an early retirement trap?

We address the issue of how early retirement may interact with limited use of financial markets in producing financial hardship later in life, when some risks (such as long-term care) are not insured. We argue that the presence of financially attractive early retirement schemes in a world of imperfect financial and insurance markets can lead to an 'early retirement trap'. Indeed, Europe witnesses many (early) retired individuals in financial distress. In our analysis we use data on 10 European countries, which differ in their pension and welfare systems, in prevailing retirement age and in households' access to financial markets. We find evidence that an early retirement trap exists, particularly in some Southern and Central European countries: people who retired early in life are more likely to be in financial hardship in the long run. Our analysis implies that governments should stop making early retirement attractive, let retirees go back to work, improve access to financial markets and make sure long-term care problems are adequately insured.
— Viola Angelini, Agar Brugiavini and Guglielmo Weber     

Uncertainty across volatility regimes

We propose a nonrecursive identification scheme for uncertainty shocks that exploits breaks in the volatility of macroeconomic variables and is novel in the literature on uncertainty. This approach allows us to simultaneously address two major questions in the empirical literature: Is uncertainty a cause or effect of decline in economic activity? Does the relationship between uncertainty and economic activity change across macroeconomic regimes? Results based on a small‐scale vector autoregression with US monthly data suggest that (i) uncertainty is an exogenous source of decline of economic activity, and (ii) the effects of uncertainty shocks amplify in periods of economic and financial turmoil.     

Do Danes and Italians Rate Life Satisfaction in the Same Way? Using Vignettes to Correct for Individual‐Specific Scale Biases

Self‐reported life satisfaction is highly heterogeneous across similar countries, a phenomenon that may be explained by the different scales and benchmarks that people use to evaluate themselves. This study uses cross‐sectional data gathered from older populations in ten European countries to compare estimates from a model that assumes reporting styles are constant across respondents against estimates from a model in which anchoring vignettes help correct for individual‐specific scale biases. Variations in response scales explain much of the difference in the raw data. Moreover, the cross‐country ranking in life satisfaction depends significantly on scale biases.     

Small is beautiful but large is not to be belittled: a comment on Eijffinger et al. [Eur. J. Political Economy 18 (2002) 365–374]

Eijffinger et al. [Eur. J. Pol. Econ. 18 (2002) 365] find that the research performance of the National Central Banks (NCBs) of the European System of Central Banks is inversely related to their size, or that “small is beautiful”. Their analysis is based on journal articles published by NCB researchers. In the case of the Bank of Italy, their data does not reflect the true number of papers published. Their conclusions may accordingly require modification.