Neoclassical life-cycle consumption: a textbook example

Summary.   We present a simple neoclassical life-cycle model in continuous time, in which the effects of endogenous labor supply, uncertain lifetime, and family composition on consumption and income profiles are jointly analyzed. Due to a parsimonious specification, analytical solutions for consumption growth are available for constant intertemporal elasticity of substitution preferences. Without relying on borrowing constraints, the model can generate a hump in the consumption profile, and a comovement of consumption and income during working life. Received: June 9, 1999; revised version: October 4, 1999     

Determinants of Leisure Time Physical Activity Participation Among Latina Women

The goal of this study was to examine leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among Latina women and to determine factors influencing their LTPA participation. The ecological model was employed as a theoretical framework in order to examine attitudes, social support, and constraints affecting physical activity. Surveys and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Results showed that although women's LTPA participation was low, they had positive attitudes toward LTPA, and they believed they had high levels of support for LTPA. The most often mentioned constraints included lack of child-care and lack of time. Attitudes toward LTPA, social support for LTPA, and certain constraints were significant predictors of LTPA participation. Results of the in-depth interviews complemented the survey data.     

How Much Does Annuity Demand React to a Large Price Change?

In this paper, we present new evidence for the effect of changes in annuity prices on the decision to annuitize. We exploit an unprecedented change in policy in several Swiss occupational pension plans. There is an implied 8 percent reduction in the rate at which retirement capital is translated into an annuity, and this represents a net present value loss of CHF 18,500 (around US$ 20,000). To estimate the impact of this change, we use data from companies that changed their prices and from one large company that did not. We find that the price change reduces the propensity to annuitize among affected individuals by 16.8 percentage points.     

An Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage: Good for Employees,Bad for Stockholders?

International Advances in Economic Research -     

Regret and nonredemption of daily deals: Individual differences and contextual influences

The growth of online daily deal price promotions and the resulting consumer nonredemption of daily deal coupons is worthy of understanding from a psychological lens of nonconsumption. Whereas there is an emerging literature on daily deals and established literature on barriers to redemption, there exists a gap in where this scholarship intersects. This study provides a conceptual model explaining why consumers purchase daily deal coupons and do not redeem them. We explain consumers’ reasons for buying a daily deal upfront along with their reasons for not using it from theoretical lenses of reasons theory and social motivations theory. On testing the model empirically with qualitative and deepening insight via quantitative methods, the findings reveal that reasons for purchasing daily deals are rooted in individual consumer-level factors (i.e., price-consciousness, buying impulsiveness, and susceptibility to interpersonal normative influence). Further, reasons for nonredemption are explained by contextual elements of the daily deal (i.e., offer distinctiveness, the total number of daily deals sold, restrictions on using the deal, and low discount size). Our findings suggest that post-purchase regret ultimately explains a key reason deals go unused. Marketing implications are offered in the areas of characteristics of daily deal offers.     

Auf den Spuren meines Lebens

Reden über das Leben - Eine schwere Krankheit oder ein Unfall bringt Menschen in Ausnahmesituationen. Der biografische Ansatz in der Pflege, oft auch als „narrativer“ oder „educativer“ Ansatz bezeichnet, erweist sich dann als hilfreiches kommunikatives Instrument, das den ganzheitlichen Zugang zum Patienten im Klinikalltag erleichtert und sehr vielseitig eingesetzt werden kann.     

Frontier-free Europe: a study of female migrants in the banking sector

Legislation on 'freedom of movement' guarantees the recognition of qualifications between countries of the European Union (EU), and is meant to provide migrants with access to employment in all member states. This paper reports on a study undertaken of EU migrant women in the banking sector in Britain, Germany and Spain. The discusses the experiences of migrants with regard to access to employment and positions abroad comparable to those held prior to migration. Migrants in this case experienced obstacles in the access to such employment. Although their experiences influenced by labour-market needs, findings suggest that the determining factors for barriers encountered were differences in the education and training cultures of countries pre- and post-migration, and the values and attitudes attached to these in of expectations by employers and migrants themselves.     

Extreme Weather Events and the Critical Importance of Anticipatory Adaptation and Organizational Resilience in Responding to Impacts

Growing scientific evidence suggests that more frequent and severe weather extremes such as heat waves, hurricanes, flooding and droughts will have an increasing impact on organizations, industries and entire economies. These findings call for the development of theoretical and practical frameworks to strengthen the capacity of organizations to respond to such impacts. Yet despite the need to understand what is required to build anticipatory adaptation and organizational resilience to expected impacts, the organizational theory literature offers only limited insights. This paper proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework of organizational adaptation and resilience to extreme weather events for addressing the effects of ecological discontinuities in organizational research and strategic decision‐making. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Making a first impression as a start-up: Strategies to overcome low initial trust perceptions in digital innovation adoption

High failure rates of digital innovations by start-ups indicate that consumers' initial trust perceptions are make-or-break for their survival. Hence, start-ups have to design adequate business models to manage consumers' initial trust perceptions of digital innovations. Five experiments explore how start-ups can signal trustworthiness in order to overcome low initial trust perceptions and boost adoption. We find three specific design strategies of start-ups' digital business models – customer ratings, benefit communication, and revenue model – to be effective to overcome low initial trust perceptions and to increase adoption of digital innovations. The findings demonstrate that initial trust serves as a critical mediator in the relationship between these design strategies and consumers' adoption intentions. Additionally, the chosen revenue model has differential effects on privacy concerns, which mediate the relationship between revenue model and initial trust. The present empirical insights help start-ups to craft business model design strategies for successful digital innovation launch.     

Impact of volatility estimation method on theoretical option values

The volatility of an asset price measures how uncertain we are about future asset price movements. It is one of the factors affecting option price and the only input into the Black–Scholes model that cannot be directly observed. Thus, estimating volatility properly is vital. Two approaches to calculating volatility are historical and implied volatilities. Using index options listed on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, this paper focuses on historical volatility. Since numerous methods of estimating volatility may provide different results, this paper assesses the impact of volatility estimation method on theoretical option values.