How Issue Size, Risk, and Complexity are Influencing External Financing Costs: German IPOs Analyzed from an Economies of Scale Perspective

This paper is focused on the cost of raising capital in Germany. A cross-sectional analysis of flotation cost data for 117 IPOs over the years 1993–1998 is presented. We find average flotation costs to be 7.77 percent of gross proceeds, while underwriting fees average 5.01 percent. Our results extend the literature in two important directions. First, contrary to the conventional economies of scale view we find marginal spreads to be rather constant in gross proceeds and to be higher for more risky and more complex offerings. Fixed costs amount to 5 to 9 percent of underwriting fees. Second, by applying a principal component analysis we find issue size, an issuer risk factor, and an offering method complexity factor to have an economicaly meaningful impact on underwriting fees.     

Leaders,Values, and Organizational Climate: Examining Leadership Strategies for Establishing an Organizational Climate Regarding Ethics

This paper examines the critical role that organizational leaders play in establishing a values based climate. We discuss seven mechanisms by which leaders convey the importance of ethical values to members, and establish the expectations regarding ethical conduct that become engrained in the organizations climate. We also suggest that leaders at different organizational levels rely on different mechanisms to transmit values and expectations. These mechanisms then influence members practices and expectations, further increase the salience of ethical values and result in the shared perceptions that form the organizations climate. The paper is organized in three parts. Part onebegins with a brief discussion of climates regarding ethics and the critical role of values. Part two provides discussion on the mechanisms by which leaders and members transmit values and create climates related to ethics. Part three provides a discussion of these concepts with implications for theory, research, and practice.     

Explorations in intercultural work integrated learning: Educational process for a Topsy-Turvy world

This paper investigates how work integrated learning (WIL) can be re-imagined/re-enacted as collaborative playgrounds of networks. To do this we first establish the working context for these reflections by exploring fragments of biography and the immediate catalyst which was a recent seminar held over 5 days, beginning in the rural Swedish town of Ed and, for the last 2 days, at University West in Trollhättan. We then set out to explore the normative and theoretical context of our approach before finally moving to an exploration of the concept of WIL via CLA and scenarios. Our overall goal is to describe some features of an expanded concept of WIL as it relates to intercultural learning. In doing this we hope to generate processes that facilitate the kind of learning necessary if we are to enable teachers and students to build sustainable futures they can realistically aspire to.     

外出务工对流出地家庭生计策略的影响——来自西部山区的证据

本文首先基于可持续生计框架,引入劳动力迁移的视角,之后改进农户模型以分析劳动力外出务工对流出地家庭生计策略的影响机理,并利用陕西秦岭北麓地区1074户的调查数据进行验证。结果发现:外地打工虽然有利于家庭的资本积累,但会阻碍流出地非农生计活动的参与和劳动力供给;本地打工在促进资本积累的同时,对参与林(经济)作物种植、养殖和自营等生计活动有显著的促进作用,但过多的劳动力外出务工仍然会减少本地其它活动的收入水平。     

Jackknife estimation of stationary autoregressive models

This paper explores the properties of jackknife methods of estimation in stationary autoregressive models. Some general results concerning the correct weights for bias reduction under various sampling schemes are provided and the asymptotic properties of a jackknife estimator based on non-overlapping sub-samples are derived for the case of a stationary autoregression of order p$p$ when the number of sub-samples is either fixed or increases with the sample size at an appropriate rate. The results of a detailed investigation into the finite sample properties of various jackknife and alternative estimators are reported and it is found that the jackknife can deliver substantial reductions in bias in autoregressive models. This finding is robust to departures from normality, ARCH effects and misspecification. The median-unbiasedness and mean squared error properties are also investigated and compared with alternative methods as are the coverage rates of jackknife-based confidence intervals.     

Ownership unbundling of natural gas transmission networks: empirical evidence

The European Commission has intensively examined the mandatory separation of natural gas transmission from production and services. However, economic theory is ambiguous on the price effects of vertical separation. In this paper, we empirically analyze the effect of ownership unbundling of gas transmission networks, considered to be the strongest form of vertical separation, on the level of end-user prices. Therefore, we apply different dynamic estimators such as system GMM and the bias-corrected least-squares dummy variable estimator to an unbalanced panel consisting of 18 EU countries over 19 years, allowing us to avoid the endogeneity problem and to estimate the long-run effects of regulation. We introduce a set of regulatory indicators as market entry regulation, ownership structure, vertical separation and market structure, as well as account for structural and economic country specifics. Among the different estimators, we consistently find that ownership unbundling has no impact on natural gas end-user prices, while the more modest legal unbundling reduces them significantly. Furthermore, third-party access, market structure and privatization show significant influence, with the latter leading to higher prices.