Product liability and the virtues of asymmetric information

This paper analyzes a two-period setup in which firms differ with respect to costs of care and may use care-taking to signal type to consumers, who are able to observe precaution taken only ex post. Applying the refinement of the intuitive criterion to the concept of the perfect Bayesian equilibrium, we establish a unique separating equilibrium for every share of harm borne by firms. For low levels of victim compensation, we show that (i) firms choose weakly higher care in a setting in which customers do not know the firms’ type than in a setting in which they do, and (ii) the deviation in precaution taken due to asymmetric information on firm type is welfare-improving.     

Identifying the age profile of patent citations: new estimates of knowledge diffusion

Previous research studies the age profile of patent citations to learn about knowledge flows over time. However, identification is problematic because of the collinearity between application year, citation year, and patent age. We show empirically that a patent's ‘citation clock’ does not start until it issues, and propose a highly flexible identification strategy that uses the lag between application and grant as a source of exogenous variation. We examine the potential bias if our assumptions are incorrect, and discuss extensions into other research areas. Finally, we use our method to re‐examine prior results on citation age profiles of patents from different technological fields and application year cohorts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

有效的工作规划可以对停机事件进行优化

只有在停机维修工作的调度安排已经做出或已经开始执行之前，停机维修的规划已经做好了，才可以说停机维修工作是有成效的。进行停机维修规划时要特别关注确定停机维修任务、确定维修任务的范围、说明维修任务的危险性或可能出现的障碍，以及完成规划中要完成的维修任务四个问题。只有做好规划工作，才能对停机维修进行优化并有效地节约成本和资源。     

Are Too Many Private Equity Funds Top Quartile?

Assessing investment performance for private equity is inherently difficult due in large part to the nature of illiquid assets. Compounding this problem, investors and researchers alike are bedeviled by the existing lack of comprehensive, high‐quality data. The current state of affairs obscures answers to basic practical questions, leads to lack of standardization, and creates confusion. This paper examines measurements of “top quartile” performance, a status widely prized in the industry, especially in light of past research showing return persistence by funds raised by the same general partner. Using three popular data sources and applying metrics typically adopted in the industry, the authors demonstrate that even modest variations in methods can result in half of all funds being able to claim “top quartile” results. Sources of variation include methods of categorizing funds, definitions of vintage year, choice of the data source, specification of performance metrics, and treatment of geography and currencies.     

Focusing on individuals' ethical judgement in corporate social responsibility curricula

Adequate discussion of individuals' moral deliberation is notably absent from much of the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We argue for a refocusing on the role of the individual in that context. In particular we regard this as important in CSR course design, for practical, pedagogical and moral reasons. After addressing some of the theoretical background to our argument, and noting some respects in which individual action features in the context of CSR, we consider the usefulness (or otherwise) of academic ethical theory in relation to CSR issues and dilemmas in practice. It is suggested that, without dispensing entirely with ethical theory, emphasis should be placed on informed debate and moral judgement among members of organisations (or seminar groups) and some short case examples are provided. Finally we suggest that such approaches may be appropriate if trends towards ‘mainstreaming’ concern for CSR throughout business school curricula are realised.     

Hard evidence on soft skills

This paper summarizes recent evidence on what achievement tests measure; how achievement tests relate to other measures of “cognitive ability” like IQ and grades; the important skills that achievement tests miss or mismeasure, and how much these skills matter in life.Achievement tests miss, or perhaps more accurately, do not adequately capture, soft skills—personality traits, goals, motivations, and preferences that are valued in the labor market, in school, and in many other domains. The larger message of this paper is that soft skills predict success in life, that they causally produce that success, and that programs that enhance soft skills have an important place in an effective portfolio of public policies.     

A TV whitespace ecosystem for licensed cognitive radio

The paper looks at the role of cognitive radio in TV whitespace and suggests that European and US policy makers have limited its exploitation because of a predominant focus on cognitive radio as a device that is primarily suited for unlicensed opportunistic spectrum access. The paper suggests that markets for pragmatically conceived cognitive radios can be safely exploited within the confines of licensed spectrum, rather than solely in the domain of unlicensed opportunistic scenarios. Both European and US policy perspectives are analysed as they pertain to both cognitive radios and the TV whitespace, identifying the contradictions and opportunities therein. The analysis shows that regulators have already formulated many of the policy tools necessary to create a coherent ecosystem for license-based exploitation of TV whitespace by cognitive radios and that there are opportunities for broadening the regulation of TV whitespace.     

Last line of resistance or a golden opportunity: Australian trade union responses to globalization

This contribution concentrates on the response of the trade union movement in Australia to globalization. Firstly, it outlines the evidence of the effects of globalization on labour markets, including the impact on wage inequaliry employment securiry and collective bargaining. Secondly, it looks at the strategic union response to the effects of globalization in terms of trade policy responses, international labour cooperation and traditional industrial campaigns on globalization issues. It suggests that unions can employ a combination of international and domestic strategies to deal with globalization.     

Have community banks reduced home foreclosure rates?

Compared with mortgage brokers and universal banks, community banks have stronger incentives to originate high-quality residential home loans. Using the RealtyTrac database on residential foreclosures between 2005 and 2008, we show that county-level foreclosure rates are lower in counties with greater community bank presence. This finding is robust to a host of county-level economic and demographic control variables and after controlling for possible endogeneity of community bank presence.