Testing measurement invariance using multigroup CFA: differences between educational groups in human values measurement

This article applies the testing procedures for measurement invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). It illustrates these procedures by investigating the factorial structure and invariance of the Portraits Value Questionnaire (PVQ, Schwartz et al.: J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 32(5), 519–542 (2001)) across three education groups in a population sample (N  =  1,677). The PVQ measures 10 basic values that Schwartz postulates to comprehensively describe the human values recognized in all societies (achievement, hedonism, self-direction, benevolence, conformity, security, stimulation, power, tradition and universalism). We also estimate and compare the latent means of the three education groups. The analyses show partial invariance for most of the 10 values and parameters. As expected, the latent means show that less educated respondents attribute more importance to security, tradition, and conformity values.     

Winners and losers: a micro-level analysis of international outsourcing and wages

Abstract.  Our paper investigates the link between international outsourcing and wages utilizing a large household panel and combining it with industry-level information on industries' outsourcing activities from input-output tables. This approach avoids problems such as aggregation bias, potential endogeneity bias, and poor skill definitions that commonly hamper industry-level studies. We find that outsourcing has had a marked impact on wages. Applying two alternative skill classifications, we find evidence that a 1 percentage point increase in outsourcing reduced the wage for workers in the lowest skill categories by up to 1.5%, while it increased wages for high-skilled workers by up to 2.6%. This result is robust to a number of different specifications.     

Desiderata und Perspektiven der Forschung über parasoziale Interaktionen und Beziehungen zu Medienfiguren

Parasocial interactions and relationships are a frequently used framework for studies on media reception in communication research. In spite of its long tradition, however, the concept is still in need of several clarifications. Therefore, this article explores ways to increase the explanatory value of the concept. We briefly present major problems of the definition and conceptualization of parasocial interactions and relationships, namely the understanding of the key elements interaction, relationship, and persona, and suggest first ideas for their solution. Subsequently, opportunities are outlined to enhance the concept by integrating other theories and concepts on media reception and interpersonal perception, taking them from communication research and psychology. Finally, we discuss methodological problems in general and specific shortcomings of the quasi-standard measure, the Parasocial-Interaction-Scale.     

Upper echelons and portfolio strategies of venture capital firms

In this study we analyze how the composition of the top management team (TMT) influences the portfolio strategy choice in venture capital (VC) organizations. We develop a model of risk perception to investigate how education and experience of TMT members impact whether VC organizations invest with a focus on early stage ventures or not, specialize or diversify across industries, and invest with a broad or narrow geographic scope.Evaluation of data on TMTs and portfolio strategies of 136 European VC firms revealed that VC firms with higher proportions of TMT members with science/engineering education and entrepreneurial experience more likely invest with an early stage focus. Furthermore, TMTs with more management education diversify their portfolios more across industries. Finally, the more international experience TMT members of VC organizations have, the broader the geographic scope of investees. We discuss the implications of our findings for the VC literature.     

Trade liberalization and industrial restructuring through mergers and acquisitions

This paper analyzes mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a channel of industrial restructuring after trade liberalization. Using the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) of 1989 as a source of exogenous variation in trade barriers, I show that trade liberalization increased domestic Canadian M&A activity (Canadian firms buying other Canadian firms) by over 70%. There is no robust link between tariff reductions and either domestic U.S. or cross-border M&As. I also provide evidence that domestic M&As transferred resources from less to more productive firms and that the magnitude of the overall transfer was quantitatively important.     

Stock Externality vs. Symbiosis in a Forest-Air System

Stock externalities and ecological interaction have similar equilibrium effects. The influence on the dynamics of an ecosystem, however, is quite different. The different effects are laid out theoretically in the context of a forest-air model. We compare a centralized, welfare-maximizing policy and decentralized policies. Finally, we numerically simulate the dynamic differences between stock externalities and ecological interaction.     

Determinants of Firm Start-Up Size: An Application of Quantile Regression for Ireland

In this paper we provide empirical evidence on the determinants of firm start-up size using data for the manufacturing sector in Ireland, and compare our results with recent findings for Portuguese manufacturing industries (Mata and Machado, 1996). To allow for firm heterogeneity between firm entrants we use quantile regression techniques for our empirical estimation. We find that the determinants of start-up size differ in their importance for small and large-scale entrants. In particular, industry size and industry growth seem to affect large-scale entrants only.