Functional Upgrading and Value Capture of Multinational Subsidiaries

This paper investigates the relationship between the value capture of multinational subsidiaries and functional upgrading, which is defined as a diversification of employment from primary business functions to higher value adding activities such as ICT, R&D, marketing or logistics. By combining survey-based business function indicators with longitudinal accounting data for a representative sample of multinational subsidiaries located in six Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), we assess the impact of functional upgrading on foreign subsidiaries' value capture. The results provide robust evidence that the breadth as well as the scope of functional upgrading induces an upward shift of subsidiaries' value added. The effect of functional upgrading is stronger in the earlier phases after entry of the foreign investor, while the long-term growth trend remains unaffected.     

Revisiting the Association between Pornography Use and Risky Sexual Behaviors: The Role of Early Exposure to Pornography and Sexual Sensation Seeking

Among the suggested problems and harms associated with widespread pornography use among young people, risky sexual behaviors have been frequently mentioned. To further explore this public health concern, this article analyzed sexual sensation seeking (SSS) as a potential confounder of the association between pornography use and sexual risks using data collected in 2010 from a population-based sample of young Croatian adults aged 18 to 25 (n = 1,005). Significant, but small, correlations were found between the indicators of pornography use (age at first exposure, frequency of use in the past 12 months, and personal importance of pornography) and sexual risk taking. However, in a multivariate analysis, only age at first exposure to pornography remained a significant, albeit weak, predictor of sexual risk taking among both women and men. SSS, defined as the dispositional tendency toward the impulsive pursuit of sexual arousal and stimulation, neither confounded nor moderated this association. Overall, the findings do not support the notion that pornography use is substantially associated with sexual risk taking among young adults, but suggest that early exposure to sexually explicit material and high SSS are additive risk factors for sexual risk taking.     

The REBMIX Algorithm for the Multivariate Finite Mixture Estimation

The article extends the REBMIX to multivariate data. Random variables may follow normal, lognormal, or Weibull parametric families and should be independent within components. The initial weights and component parameters are not required. Preprocessing of observations folows the histogram, Parzen window, or k-nearest neighbor approach. The number of components, weights, and component parameters are gained iteratively by using information measures of the distance, such as the total of positive relative deviations and the information criterion. The number of classes or the number of the nearest neighbors can be optimized, as well. The REBMIX software is available on http://www.fs.uni-lj.si/lavek.     

The REBMIX Algorithm and the Univariate Finite Mixture Estimation

The REBMIX algorithm is presented and applied to estimation of finite univariate mixture densities. The algorithm identifies the component parameters, mixing weights, and number of the components successively. Significant improvement is achieved by replacing the rigid restraints with the loose ones, which enables improved modelling of overlapped components. The algorithm is controlled by the extreme relative deviations, total of positive relative deviations, and information criteria. It enables also the modeling of multivariate finite mixtures. However, the article considers univariate normal, lognormal, and Weibull finite mixtures solely. The REBMIX software is available on http://www.fs.uni-lj.si/lavek.     

Externalities in the wildland–urban interface: Private decisions,collective action,and results from wildfire simulation models for California

Property damage from wildfires occurs from spread into built-up areas, the wildland–urban interface. Fire spread occurs as embers from one burning structure ignite neighboring ones—but mitigation reduces the chances that fire spreads. In this study, we use a simulation model with realistic parameters for a neighborhood in California to illustrate patterns of marginal benefit from mitigation. We extend existing models of fire spread in two novel ways. We show how to describe the no-regulation equilibrium and social optimal levels of mitigation by incorporating data on a key factor, the distribution of house values in the community. We incorporate insurance in the model and show that it improves homeowner decision-making and insurance premium regulation. The fire spread simulations show that under plausible parameter values, there is a pattern in which mitigation's marginal benefit is low at low levels of community mitigation, rises to a maximum, and then falls quickly to a low level. We argue that the maximum marginal benefit is a guide to achieving optimal mitigation in a community. Owner mitigation decisions will depend on the distribution of house values in the neighborhood and other factors. In an illustration, we use the distribution of house values in a California community to illustrate the mitigation owners will choose under independent (Nash) investment decisions, and the efficiency-improving actions involving regulations or insurance premium subsidies that can lead to the social optimum.