Women on the board and executive tenure

The participation of women in top‐level corporate boards is subject to intense public debate. Countries are considering binding quotas to increase the share of women on boards or have already implemented such rules. Although research on board diversity suggests positive effects on corporate governance and firm performance, the mechanisms through which these benefits materialize remain mostly speculative. This study focuses on boards of directors in a large sample of listed companies in 15 European countries and finds that female representation on nonexecutive boards is associated with reduced turnover, an increase in tenure, and also a higher performance‐turnover sensitivity of executives.     

The EMF uncertainty problem related to mobile phones: where do consumers place their trust?

This paper addresses the uncertainty problem, i.e. cases characterized by lack of knowledge or scientific uncertainty. In such situations, it can be hard for consumers to ‘voice’ or practise consumer power. One field characterized by the uncertainty problem is electromagnetic radiation. An explicit goal of this study has been to articulate Norwegian consumers' practices, attitudes and beliefs regarding electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones to public authorities and consumer policy makers. The study was based on 1000 telephone interviews collected in 2008. Today, experts disagree on the potential health effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF), as well as standards for safe limits of exposure to mobile phones, base stations and wireless telecommunication systems. In addition, complicated technology and extremely rapid product development and diffusion leave consumers' security considerations to their own beliefs and trust. Whether or not electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones constitutes a health hazard will not be addressed in this paper. Rather, it will focus on how consumers react to this situation of uncertainty. The material reveals four main ways in which consumers can solve what we have named the EMF uncertainty problem: the confident and comfortable way, the sceptical and cautious way, the responsible and good citizen way, and finally, the neglecting way. The paper also discusses the precautionary principle related to EMF. Who should be precautionary: the public authorities, the mobile phone industry or the consumers themselves? We believe that a consistent governmental precautionary policy in combination with consumers taking their own precautionary measures is a viable solution. In this way, all consumers would be addressed and aided when navigating this field of uncertainty.     

The effects of the external debts of Mexico,Brazil, Argentina,Venezuela, and the Philippines on the United States

The external debts of developing countries have become a major issue recently, prompting debate among both academicians and policy markers. In this paper, the author describes the origins and history of debt problem, summarizes proposals for policies for creditor nations, and estimates the effects of debt-related austerity in five major debtor nations on US imports, exports, net exports, and output in 1985. He concludes that debt-related austerity was responsible for 11.0% of the US merchandise trade deficit in that year, caused decreases in US net trade in 40 to 61 non-service industries studied and decreases in output in 46 industries, and caused a decrease of 0.5% in GNP.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

William Shakespeare (Hamlet, I. iii. 75)     

Estimating social travel demand of senior citizens in the Netherlands

Like many other countries, the Netherlands is experiencing a sharp rise in the ageing population. As age increases, people’s mobility may decrease. However, older people have more leisure time compared to their younger (working) counterparts, and potentially spend more time on social activities. Therefore, this group can possibly increase social travel demand. However, to date, the travel demand for social activities of senior citizens has received only little attention. This paper studies trip-making for social purposes, with a special focus on the demographic ageing factors. Using social activity diary data, models are estimated to predict the number of social trips, the travel distance and mode of transport for social trips. The results indicate that the elderly of today seem to be as mobile as their younger counterparts with respect to the number of social trips. High education and involvement in clubs on average result in more social trips and full time work is found to result in fewer social trips. With regard to trip distance the results show that the average travel distance does not decrease as people get older. Full time work is found to result in longer social trips. Shorter trips were found for people in urban as well as rural areas. Trips for the purpose of visiting or joint activities tend to be longer than average. With regard to transport mode choice the results indicate that older seniors (75+) are less likely to choose the bicycle, relative to driving. No other significant age effects were found. Significant effects were found for gender, household structure, education level, car ownership, having a disability, urban density, distance and the purpose of the social activity.     

Determinants of the Willingness to Use Mobile Location-Based Services

This article develops 11 hypotheses on impacts of six customer characteristics on an individual’s willingness to use mobile location based services (LBS). Hypotheses are tested in a sample of 217 mobile communications customers in Germany who participated in a standardized online-survey. PLS analysis suggests that reported frequency of “on the move” information needs, perceived assessment of LBS in a customer’s social environment and extent of past use of other mobile data services have statistically as well as practically significant effects on adoption intentions for pull LBS. Data privacy risks and cost/bill size concerns are only weakly or not related to such intentions.     

What makes growth sustained?

We identify structural breaks in economic growth in 140 countries and use these to define “growth spells:” periods of high growth preceded by an upbreak and ending either with a downbreak or with the end of the sample. Growth spells tend to be shorter in African and Latin American countries than elsewhere. We find evidence that growth duration is positively related to: the degree of equality of the income distribution; democratic institutions; export orientation (with higher propensities to export manufactures, greater openness to FDI, and avoidance of exchange rate overvaluation favorable for duration); and macroeconomic stability.     

Comparison of the washing efficiencies of a laboratory washing device (Launder‐Ometer) and of automatic household washing machines with horizontal drums

The objective of this study was to compare the cleaning result of a laboratory washing machine – Launder‐Ometer (LOM) – with that of drum‐type household washing machines, using detergent without bleaching agent, standard soiled fabrics and a colorimeter for assessing the washing result. The mechanical effect applied to the laundry in the household washers was not obtained in the LOM by increasing mechanical impact or the number of metal balls. Extended washing time did not improve removal of blood soil in the LOM, although it did increase removal of mayonnaise soil containing chlorophyll. However, in practice a washing time of 60–85 min is relatively long for a laboratory device considering the claimed time‐saving nature of these devices. None of the examined parameters affected removal of a red wine soil containing tannins, which was poor in all test combinations both in the household machines and in the laboratory washing machine. Bleaching agent is recommended for removal of this type of soil. In conclusion, conformity between washing results of the laboratory washing machine and the drum‐type household washing machines depends on the type of soiled test fabrics and other parameters in the washing process. Removal of blood soil differed most between the household machines and the LOM.     

Public-private partnership project success circumstances

The public-private partnership has been in use in the world for over 40 years, and has been growing at a varying rate and with mixed success in different countries. Based on the experience gained in selected countries, this article shows key success factors of the public-private partnership.     

Did monetary or technology shocks move euro area stock prices?

Using a Bayesian vector autoregressive (VAR) model, I investigate the impact of monetary and technology shocks on the euro area stock market. I find an important role for technology surprise shocks, but not monetary shocks, in explaining variations in real stock prices. Specifically, the pronounced boom?Cbust cycle of 1995?C2003 is largely due to technology surprise shocks. The identification method allows me to study the effects of technology news shocks. The responses are consistent with the idea that news on technology improvements has an immediate impact on stock prices. These findings are robust to several modelling choices, including the productivity measure, the specification of the VAR model, and the identifying restrictions.