Constructing the New Economy: A Discursive Perspective

The rise and fall of the 'New Economy' at the turn of the millennium, most visibly evidenced by the stellar rise and subsequent collapse of the Nasdaq composite index of technology stocks, represents one of the most significant business phenomena in recent times. This paper examines the 'New Economy' phenomenon as a culturally embedded discourse through an analysis of 133 print advertisements collected from the UK edition of the Financial Times between February and December 2000. It investigates the social construction of the concept 'New Economy' in a rapidly changing business environment. The contribution of the paper lies in the empirical study of discursive phenomena in late capitalist societies. From a discursive perspective, the 'New Economy' can be seen as a signifier that points to itself, whose form is its very content. The paper suggests the 'New Economy' must be understood in terms of its ability to accommodate multiple meanings, and it is this very ability which is profoundly ideological, in that it allows essentially socio-historical obsessions and anxieties (e.g. about novelty and change) to appear as seemingly 'natural' or logical behaviour.     

The illusion of independence: Spun-off firms’ risk-taking as a function of status and attachment to the parent firm

This paper examines the post-divestiture behavior of spun-off firms. Drawing on the spin-off literature and middle-status conformity theory, we argue that spun-off firms—as newly independent and publicly traded firms—tend to limit their risk-taking behavior to match the expectations of a crucial audience, i.e., security analysts. Following the logic of middle-status conformity theory, we hypothesize that firms with mid-level status are particularly susceptible to analysts' pressures, whereas high- and low-status firms are free to take greater risks. Crucially, however, we propose that this relationship is less pronounced for spun-off firms that are more attached to their parent firms, as formal and informal linkages between these two types of firms can endure beyond the separation and limit spun-off firms' independence. Using a dataset of 102 spin-off transactions occurring between 1995 and 2010, we find empirical support for a U-shaped relationship between spun-off firms' status and risk-taking. This relationship is attenuated when spun-off firms are more attached to their parents. We contribute to the spin-off literature by demonstrating that a spun-off firm's post-divestiture behavior is determined by the capital market audience's expectations and the attachment to the parent firm. In so doing, we also contribute to the literature on middle-status conformity theory by identifying a boundary condition of the theory. Additionally, we make a methodological contribution by combining ideas from the spin-off and institutional theory literature to develop a particularly comprehensive measure of attachment.     

Different Things Make Different People Happy: Examining Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being by Gender and Parental Status

This paper addresses a number of key challenges in current subjective well-being (SWB) research: A new wave of studies should take into account that different things may make different people happy, thus going beyond a unitary ‘happiness formula’. Furthermore, empirical results need to be connected to broader theoretical narratives. Using a re-examination of the social context of well-being as its case study, this article therefore resorts to sociological theory and fills a gap by investigating how social capital is correlated in different ways with the SWB of men, women, parents, and non-parents. Ordered logit and OLS regression analyses systematically examine slope heterogeneity using UK data from the European Social Survey. It turns out that civic engagement is not at all associated with higher life satisfaction for mothers, while the relationship is positive for men and strongest for childless women. Moreover, informal socialising is positively and more strongly associated with life satisfaction among women, although only when OLS is used. In sum, the social context of well-being varies considerably by gender and parental status. Mothers do not seem to benefit from formal social capital, indicating a “motherhood penalty” (see Correll et al., Am J Sociol 112(5):1297–1338 in 2007) regarding the psychological rewards usually associated with volunteering. Given the high levels of formal social capital among mothers, the findings also highlight the importance of the homo sociologicus concept. Consequently, SWB research can be successfully used to provide new insights into long-standing interdisciplinary theory debates such as the one on homo economicus versus homo sociologicus.     

Simultaneous confidence regions for the parameters of a Poisson INAR(1) model

The INAR(1) model (integer-valued autoregressive) is commonly used to model serially dependent processes of Poisson counts. We propose several asymptotic simultaneous confidence regions for the two parameters of a Poisson INAR(1) model, and investigate their performance and robustness for finite-length time series in a simulation study. Practical recommendations are derived, and the application of the confidence regions is illustrated by a real-data example.     

Do political connections affect bank leverage? Evidence from some Middle Eastern and North African countries

This study examines the association between political patronage and bank financing decisions in a sample of 34 commercial banks operating in the Middle East and North Africa for the period 2003–2014. We collected information manually about the profiles and biographies of individuals on the boards of banks to identify which banks had political connections, which is the novel contribution of the study. Linear and nonlinear panel data analysis was used to investigate this relationship. The results reveal that politically backed banks tend to be more leveraged. The indirect effect of political patronage on leverage was not found to be large, but was significant through its interaction with profitability; that is, politically backed banks with higher profitability are positively associated with leverage. Our findings imply that the privileges resulting from political ties make banks more profitable, and that this also leads to higher leverage. In line with the related literature, we found that a strong political presence on the boards of banks can be considered an important intangible asset, and one of the factors driving bank financing decisions.

     

Rational Versus Communicative: Towards an Understanding of Spatial Planning Methods in German Planning Practice

This paper considers the use of planning methods in German planning practice against the background of the ‘communicative turn’. The debate about concepts of rationality in Germany as well as in other countries can be said to have resulted in the paradigm of communicative actor-oriented planning achieving at least the same standing as the analytical rationality of the classical expert-based planning model. The inconsistent use of the term method in research corresponds to empirical findings indicating that the term is used ambiguously in practice. Nonetheless, planning methods fulfil a number of functions in practice. The notion of a relatively clear division between ‘analytical-rational’ methods on the one hand and ‘communicative’ methods on the other hand was relativized by experimental investigations. The setting in which the methods are applied seems of more importance; even apparently ‘analytical-rational’ planning methods can be implemented in a more or less communicative fashion.     

Modernisierungsverlierer,Cultural Backlash,Postdemokratie

In the debate about the causes for the rise of right-wing populism three central hypotheses can be identified: the losers of modernization hypothesis, the cultural backlash hypothesis and the post-democratization hypothesis. In his article (Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 69:209–232) Holger Lengfeld analyses if losers of the modernization process tend to vote for the party AfD (Alternative für Deutschland). Lengfeld found no empirical evidence for his assumption. The empirical data basis of his study is small and he also tests no alternative explanations. In the here presented paper we overcome these shortcomings using Allbus-Data from 1996, 2006 and 2016 to test two alternative hypotheses: the cultural backlash hypothesis and the post-democratization hypothesis. In addition we analyze also the question if the middle class shows a higher predisposition than other social classes. The cultural backlash hypothesis proves to be the strongest predictor for the intention to vote for AfD, nevertheless the two other aspects show significant influence. We found no evidence for a particular radicalization of the middle class.     

Efficacy of a Self-Help Treatment for At-Risk and Pathological Gamblers

Available evidence suggests that self-help treatments may reduce problem gambling severity but inconsistencies of results across clinical trials leave the extent of their benefits unclear. Moreover, no self-help treatment has yet been validated within a French Canadian setting. The current study therefore assesses the efficacy of a French language self-help treatment including three motivational telephone interviews spread over an 11-week period and a cognitive-behavioral self-help workbook. At-risk and pathological gamblers were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n = 31) or the waiting list (n = 31). Relative to the waiting list, the treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria met, gambling habits, and gambling consequences at Week 11. Perceived self-efficacy and life satisfaction also significantly improved after 11 weeks for the treatment group, but not for the waiting list group. At Week 11, 13% of participants had dropped out of the study. All significant changes reported for the treatment group were maintained throughout 1, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. Results support the efficacy of the self-help treatment to reduce problem gambling severity, gambling behaviour and to improve overall functioning among a sample of French Canadian problem gamblers over short, medium and long term. Findings from this study lend support to the appropriateness of self-help treatments for problem gamblers and help clarify inconsistencies found in the literature. The low dropout rate is discussed with respect to the advantages of the self-help format. Clinical and methodological implications of the results are put forth.     

Fun Seeking and Reward Responsiveness Moderate the Effect of the Behavioural Inhibition System on Coping-Motivated Problem Gambling

Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) predicts that the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) may relate to coping-motivated problem gambling, given its central role in anxiety. Studies examining the BIS-problem gambling association, however, are mixed. The revised RST posits that the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) may moderate the effect of the BIS on coping-motivated problem gambling. A concurrently strong BAS may highlight the negatively reinforcing effects of gambling, which may strengthen coping motives and increase gambling-related harms. We examined these interactive effects to clarify the moderators and mediators of the negative reinforcement pathway to problem gambling. Data came from a larger investigation of problem gambling among individuals with mood disorders. All participants (N = 275) met criteria for a lifetime depressive or bipolar disorder. During a two-day assessment, participants completed a diagnostic assessment and self-reports. Mediated moderation path analysis showed positive indirect effects from the BIS to problem gambling via coping motives at high, but not at low, levels of BAS-Reward Responsiveness and BAS-Fun Seeking. Enhancement motives were also found to mediate the associations of BAS-Fun Seeking and BAS-Drive with problem gambling. Reward Responsiveness and Fun Seeking facets of the BAS may strengthen coping gambling motives within the mood disorders.