UK Unionism and Innovative Activity: Some Cautionary Remarks on the Basis of a Simple Cross-country Test

Abstract : This paper offers a preliminary investigation of union impact on investment in intangible capital. We first report evidence on the raw correlation between union membership density and R&D intensity. This suggests that higher union density is associated with increased innovative activity among an important subset of British industry. Attention then shifts to a consideration of whether the 'stylized facts' are indicative of a causal relation or are instead an artefact produced by the concentration of unions in those sectors evincing greater scope for R&D. We offer a simple cross-country test in which German R&D outlays serve as the benchmark or comparator. No support is adduced for the notion that unions cause higher R&D.     

Lutz Erbring 65 Jahre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

More evidence on the puzzle of interindustry wage differentials: The case of West Germany

Zusammenfassung Mehr Evidenz zur interindustriellen Lohnstruktur in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. — Die Verfasser zeigen, da? in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland für Arbeitskr?fte mit ?hnlichen Qualifikationsmerkmalen branchenspezifische Lohnunterschiede existieren und da? die interindustrielle Lohnstruktur in der Bundesrepublik der interindustriellen Lohnstruktur in den Vereinigten Staaten gleicht. So sind der Stra?enfahrzeugbau und die Mineral?lverarbeitung in beiden L?ndern typische Hochlohnbranchen, das Bekleidungsgewerbe und das Ledergewerbe dagegen typische Niedriglohnbranchen. Diese ?hnlichkeit der interindustriellen Lohnstrukturen mu? überraschen, da sich die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen des Arbeitsmarktes in beiden L?ndern sehr stark unterscheiden. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, da? im Branchenquerschnitt die Verdienste von Besch?ftigten mit unterschiedlicher Qualifikation eng miteinander korreliert sind. Diese Ergebnisse sind nicht ohne weiteres mit den herk?mmlichen neoklassischen Arbeitsmarktmodellen zu vereinbaren.

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Résumé Plus d’évidence des différences inter-industrielles de salaire: Le cas de la RFA. — Cette étude représente l’évidence empirique de l’existence des différences inter-industrielles de salaire pour les ouvriers avec des qualifications similaires en RFA. La structure de salaire inter-industriel en RFA semble à celle aux Etats Unis. Dans tous les deux pays ce sont l’industrie d’automobiles et les raffineries de pétrol qui ont un typiquement haut niveau de salaire, tandis que les industries des textiles et de cuir ont un niveau bas. La similarité des structures inter-industrielles de salaire est un puzzle parce que ces deux pays ont des institutions complètement différentes en ce qui concerne le marché du travail. De plus, on a trouvé des corrélations fortes de salaire entre aucun de deux groupes d’ouvriers qualifiés sur toutes les branches en RFA. Ces résultats sont un défi pour les théories néoclassiques du marché du travail.

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Resumen Más evidencia empírica sobre el rompecabezas de las diferencias salariales interindustriales en Alemania Occidental. — En este trabajo se presenta evidencia empirica sobre la existencia de diferencias interindustriales en el nivel de salarios para trabajadores con calificación similar en Alemania Occidental. La estructura interindustrial de salarios de Alemania Occidental presenta el mismo perfil que la de los EE UU. En ambos países las ramas de salarios altos comúnmente son las de vehículos y refinación de petróleo, mientras que las ramas de salarios más bajos incluyen las de la vestimenta y cuero. La similitud de las estructuras interindustriales de ingresos indica la existencia de un rompecabezas, debido a que estos paises exhiben un marco institutional para el mercado laboral totalmente diferente. Además, se encuentra una correlación alta entre los salarios de dos grupos cualesquiera de trabajadores calificados pertenecientes a una misma industria. Estos resultados constituyen un reto a las teorías neoclásicas tradicionales del mercado laboral.

     

Relativ gute Aussichten für deutsche Wirtschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung Joachim Scheide ist Leiter des Prognosezentrums am Institut für Weltwirtschaft an der Universit?t Kiel     

Double Lookbacks

A new class of options, double lookbacks , where the payoffs depend on the maximum and/or minimum prices of one or two traded assets is introduced and analyzed. This class of double lookbacks includes calls and puts with the underlying being the difference between the maximum and minimum prices of one asset over a certain period, and calls or puts with the underlying being the difference between the maximum prices of two correlated assets over a certain period. Analytical expressions of the joint probability distribution of the maximum and minimum values of two correlated geometric Brownian motions are derived and used in the valuation of double lookbacks. Numerical results are shown, and prices of double lookbacks are compared to those of standard lookbacks on a single asset.     

The risk‐return paradox for strategic management: disentangling true and spurious effects

The concept of risk is central to strategy research and practice. Yet, the expected positive association between risk and return, familiar from financial markets, is elusive. Measuring risk as the variance of a series of accounting‐based returns, Bowman obtained the puzzling result of a negative association between risk and mean return. This finding, known as the Bowman paradox, has spawned a remarkable number of publications, and various explanations have been suggested. The present study contributes to this literature by showing that skewness of individual firm' return distributions has a considerable spurious effect on the empirically estimated mean‐variance relationship. I devise a method to disentangle true and spurious effects, illustrate it using simulations, and apply it to empirical data. It turns out that the size of the spurious effect is such that, on average, it explains the larger part of the observed negative relationship. My results might thus help to reconcile mean‐variance approaches to risk‐return analysis with other, ex‐ante, approaches. In concluding, I show that the analysis of skewness is linked to all three streams of literature devoted to explaining the Bowman paradox. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.