Intergenerational Transfers in the New Dutch Pension Contract

De Economist - This paper measures intergenerational transfers through the solidarity reserve of the newly proposed Dutch occupational pension contract. Our first conclusion is that the role of the...     

Search engine advertisements: The impact of advertising statements on click-through and conversion rates

Search engine advertising has emerged as the predominant form of advertising on the Internet. Despite its increasing importance academic research on this topic is scarce. Several authors have called for more research on how the content of the ad influences its evaluation. This exploratory study builds on this call for more research and examines the impact of evidence type on click-through and conversion rates in a search engine advertising setting. We find that click-through rates are higher for advertisements involving expert evidence and statistical evidence than for advertisements involving causal evidence. On the contrary, we find that causal evidence results in higher conversion rates than other types of evidence. These findings help marketers to fine-tune their advertising in search engines. In particular, if their aim is to attract people to the website, expert evidence and statistical evidence should be used, while causal evidence works best if the main objective is to generate conversions.     

Note on ‘Loss of monetary discretion in a simple dynamic policy game’

Jensen (1994a) finds that loss of monetary discretion leads to lower welfare. However, by extending his model we show that if real base money holdings are relatively low, as is likely to be the case for modern economics, a zero-inflation rule may well be preferable to monetary discretion. If the emphasis on achieving the output and public spending targets falls, a zero-inflation rule is more likely to be preferred. The increased support for binding policy rules thus conforms with a less tolerant attitude towards inflation.     

Text Analysis for Knowledge Graphs

The concept of knowledge graphs is introduced as a method to represent the state of the art in a specific scientific discipline. Next the text analysis part in the construction of such graphs is considered. Here the ‘translation’ from text to graph takes place. The method that is used here is compared to methods used in other approaches in which texts are analysed.     

Class practices of dwellers in barrios populares: the struggle for the right to the city1

La résistance des habitants des quartiers populaires de Bogotá contre la construction d'une autoroute à travers leur voisinae, est le sujet de cet article. Cette 'Avenida de los Cerros' faisait partie d'un 'programme intégré de développement urbain' comprenant aussi la construction de centres médicaux, écoles, et autres infrastructures urbaines; le côut de 89 millions de dollars américains, étant financé par l'Intramerican Development Bank. Ce mouvement urbain est analysé en tant que pratique spécifique, particulière aux résidents des quartiers populaires. En tant que groupe sociale, leurs traits communs sont qu'ils vivent à l'intérieur d'un quartier strictement ségrégé géographiquement et socialement—le 'barrio', et qu'ils vendent leur force de travail sur un marché du travail dévalué, sans pour autant constituer une classe sociale homogène. Toutefois, comme sous-proletariat urbain ils partagent un intérêt commun dans la consommation collective et individuelle (déficiences en matières de logement, service, etc., et expérience de la pauvreté). La menace de l'Avenida de los Cerros dans ces deux domaines fût reconnue et causa une grande agitation parmi les habitants du 'barrio'. Le plan de construction fût abandonné après deux ans de protestations. Bien que le mouvement populaire eu de l'influence, cet abandon fut en grande partie causé par une conjoncture changeante quand les intérêts du bloc au pouvoir de la classe dirigeante se déplacèrent vers d'autres quartiers.     

In search of one set of categories

A method is described for transferring the categories as developed by several raters on the basis of the answers given to open-ended questions to one set of categories. This set covers all possible answers in an adequate way.     

Local Implications of Tourism: A Case Study from Western Norway

This article traces different types of tourism that developed in a municipality on the west coast of Norway and how these types of tourism interact with the local community. For the local community tourism represents both an opportunity, and a source of conflict. The paper shows how structures in the tourist sector changed over time and how two kinds of tourism developed - round-trip, coach based tourism in the main village, wintersports and biking in the mountains. While coach tourists hardly cause a problem for the local population, their short stay in the village at the same time makes it difficult for the local farmers to exploit the historical and cultural resources they possess.While the mountain area used to have mostly Norwegian winter tourists, over the last decade the cultural history of the railway has been used effectively to attract tourists also in summer. This traffic is the source of conflict between actors in the mountain area and the municipality in the main village, a conflict about reindeer hunting and, at the same time, a conflict about diverging identities and control over the area.     

Estimating Latent Variables and Jump Diffusion Models Using High-Frequency Data

This article proposes a new approach to exploit the informationin high-frequency data for the statistical inference of continuous-timeaffine jump diffusion (AJD) models with latent variables. Forthis purpose, we construct unbiased estimators of the latentvariables and their power functions on the basis of the observedstate variables over extended horizons. With the estimates ofthe latent variables, we propose a generalized method of moments(GMM) procedure for the estimation of AJD models with the distinguishingfeature that moments of both observed and latent state variablescan be used without resorting to path simulation or discretizationof the continuous-time process. Using high frequency returnobservations of the S&P 500 index, we implement our estimationapproach to various continuous-time asset return models withstochastic volatility and random jumps.     

Voluntary participation and intergenerational risk sharing in a funded pension system

We explore the feasibility of a funded pension system with intergenerational risk sharing when participation in the system is voluntary. Typically, the willingness of the young to participate depends on their belief about the future young's willingness to do so. We characterise equilibria with voluntary participation and show that the likelihood of their existence increases with risk aversion and financial market uncertainty. We find that mandatory participation is often necessary to sustain a funded pension pillar and to let participants benefit from intergenerational risk sharing.