On a 2 × 2 factorial design where the use of randomized response is one of the factors

This paper discusses a survey where some respondents were asked sensitive questions directly and others were asked the same questions using randomized response. The use of randomized response was a factor in a 2 × 2 factorial design and dice were used to perform the randomization. First, the paper shows that the perturbation due to the dice can be described using the concept of misclassification and known conditional misclassification probabilities. Second, the paper formulates the likelihood for loglinear models and shows that latent class software can be used to analyse the data. An example including a power analysis is discussed.     

The long-term success of M&;A in the automotive supply industry: determinants of capital market performance

In the recent past, the automotive supply industry has been facing increasing merger activity. This paper examines the short- and long-term wealth effects of horizontal mergers and acquisitions on acquirers in the automotive supply industry. Based on a sample of 230 takeover announcements between 1981 and 2007, significant positive announcement returns to acquiring companies were determined. While these positive short-term returns to acquirers represent an outstanding attribute of this industry in terms of perceived synergy potential, this study also finds that acquirers are unable to sustain this exceptional position beyond a short-term horizon. A combination of the Fama-French-3-Factor model in calendar time and the control firm approach in event time consistently reveals significant value destruction of about 20% over 3years. In addition, the study determines a significant impact of internationalization, transaction volume, product diversification, and acquirer’s bidding experience on the long-term post-acquisition performance.     

Investment behavior and the biased perception of limited loss deduction in income taxation

We use a laboratory experiment to study the extent to which investors’ choices are affected by limited loss deduction in income taxation. We first compare investment behavior in the no tax baseline to a tax control setting, in which the income from investments is taxed. We find that investors significantly reduce their risk-taking as predicted by theory. Next we compare the baseline investment choices to choices under three different types of income taxation. We observe that risk-taking is significantly increased with partial and with capped loss deduction, but is unaffected by a tax system that allows no loss deduction. Since in all these treatments the after tax outcomes of the prospects were identical, we conjecture that investors have a positively biased perception of partial and capped loss deduction that promotes their willingness to take risks.     

Vertrauen als Gegenstand der ökonomischen Theorie

Der Beitrag vermittelt einen grundlegenden überblick über die Bedeutung des Vertrauens im Rahmen der ?konomischen Theorie. Zun?chst werden ausgew?hlte Ans?tze im Rahmen der betriebswirtschaftlichen Vertrauensforschung diskutiert. Um eine strukturierte Analyse zu erm?glichen, erfolgt eine differenzierte Betrachtung hinsichtlich der neoklassisch und institutionen?konomisch fundierten Perspektive einerseits sowie der sozio?konomischen Perspektive andererseits. Die Diskussion um den Stand der Forschung wird abgerundet durch einen überblick über empirische Ergebnisse der ?konomischen Vertrauensliteratur. Um noch offene Fragen im Rahmen der Forschung zu adressieren, werden im Anschluss die unterschiedlichen Objekte des Vertrauens analysiert, differenziert nach personalen Vertrauen und Systemvertrauen. Zum Abschluss gilt es die Verhaltensrisiken herauszuarbeiten, die mit Vertrauensbeziehungen einhergehen und die Grenzen des Vertrauens in Organisationen zu beleuchten.     

Inter-market competition for exchange traded funds

We examine how the different mix of informed and liquidity trading in the market for ETFs affects the nature of inter-market competition. We find that both the characteristics of the securities and the structures of the competing markets jointly determine the nature of inter-market competition. Given the superior execution quality on the ECNs and the low adverse selection costs in the ETF market, anonymous market such as the ECNs, attract both liquidity and informed traders. We also find that markets compete in a subset of ETFs. In addition, we find that quotebased competition is prevalent in the market for ETFs.     

The scheduling and organization of periodic associative computation: Essential networks

This paper defines and characterizes essential decentralized networks for calculating the associative aggregate of one or more cohorts of data. A network is essential if it is not possible to eliminate an instruction or manager and still calulate the aggregate of each cohort. We show that for essential networks, the graphs that depict the operations and data dependencies are trees or forests. These results assist in the characterization of efficient networks. Received: 15 October 1994 / Accepted: 6 March 1997     

A critical test of the choice questionnaire for collecting informed public opinions

In the Choice Questionnaire (Neijens et al. 1992) respondents have to choose between several policy options. Within this questionnaire they are provided with information about the consequences of each option. Until now, only indirect evidence as to whether or not respondents base their preferences on the information provided was available and plausible alternative explanations for the Choice Questionnaire's effect could not be ruled out. In the present study, we demonstrate that Choice Questionnaire respondents do base their preferences on the information provided: different information resulted in significantly different choices.     

VORACIOUS TRANSFORMATION OF A COMMON NATURAL RESOURCE INTO PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL*

I analyze a power struggle where competing factions have private financial assets and deplete a common stock of natural resources with no private property rights. I obtain a feedback Nash equilibrium to the dynamic common‐pool problem and obtain political variants of the Hotelling depletion rule and the Hartwick saving rule. Resource prices and depletion occur too fast, so substitution away from resources to capital occurs too fast and the saving rate is too high. The power struggle boosts output, but depresses sustainable consumption. Genuine saving is nevertheless zero in a fractionalized society. World Bank estimates may be too optimistic.