Relations sociales et ajustements à la crise: une analyse microstatistique comparative franco‐britannique

Dans cette étude comparative sur la France et la Grande‐Bretagne, les auteurs analysent les liens entre relations professionnelles et ajustements (des effectifs et des salaires) face à la crise de 2007–2008, en s'appuyant sur deux enquêtes au niveau des établissements, fortement comparables, l'une britannique (WERS), l'autre française (REPONSE), collectées en 2010–2012. Malgré des contextes différents (composition du tissu productif, temporalité et impact de la crise), les liens entre relations sociales et stratégies d'ajustement semblent proches (la présence syndicale ne suffisant pas à empêcher les ajustements). La différenciation des systèmes de relations professionnelles ne permet donc pas d'expliquer les divergences de modes d'ajustement constatées au niveau macroéconomique.     

New Public Management et professions dans l’État : au-delà des oppositions, quelles recompositions ?

More and more reforms in public administrations are being conducted that are based on the principles and instruments of “new public management”. They have set off protest and collective actions by several professional groups in various sectors (health, education, justice, social work, research…), whence questions about the future of professional groups in public services, in particular about their autonomy, which these reforms threaten. The opposition between this new public management and certain professional groups, is not the final explanation to draw from an analysis of this situation. Should these changes be seen as the decline of professional groups and of their autonomy, as a mutation of professional models, an overhaul of professionalism, etc.? These questions, which current events in France and Europe have raised, are a matter for ongoing sociological thought. They are approached empirically, from the field, using varied scales of analysis and research. Forms of tension between this new public management and professional groups are explored.     

Rate of uniform consistency for nonparametric estimates with functional variables

In this paper we investigate nonparametric estimation of some functionals of the conditional distribution of a scalar response variable Y given a random variable X taking values in a semi-metric space. These functionals include the regression function, the conditional cumulative distribution, the conditional density and some other ones. The literature on nonparametric functional statistics is only concerning pointwise consistency results, and our main aim is to prove the uniform almost complete convergence (with rate) of the kernel estimators of these nonparametric models. Unlike in standard multivariate cases, the gap between pointwise and uniform results is not immediate. So, suitable topological considerations are needed, implying changes in the rates of convergence which are quantified by entropy considerations. These theoretical uniform consistency results are (or will be) key tools for many further developments in functional data analysis.     

Skew generalized extreme value distribution: Probability-weighted moments estimation and application to block maxima procedure

ABSTRACT

Following the work of Azzalini (1985 Azzalini, A. (1985). A class of distributions which includes the normal ones. Scand. J. Stat. 12:171–178.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and 1986 Azzalini, A. (1986). Further results on a class of distributions which includes the normal ones. Statistica 46:199–208. [Google Scholar]) on the skew-normal distribution, we propose an extension of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution, the SGEV. This new distribution allows for a better fit of maxima and can be interpreted as both the distribution of maxima when maxima are taken on dependent data and when maxima are taken over a random block size. We propose to estimate the parameters of the SGEV distribution via the probability-weighted moment method. A simulation study is presented to provide an application of the SGEV on block maxima procedure and return level estimation. The proposed method is also implemented on a real-life data.     

Nonparametric additive location-scale models for interval censored data

An nonparametric additive model for the location and dispersion of a continuous response with an arbitrary smooth conditional distribution is proposed. B-splines are used to specify the three components of the model. It can deal with interval censored data and multiple covariates. After a simulation study, the relation between age, the number of years of full-time education and the net income (provided as intervals) available per person in Belgian households is studied from survey data.     

Contribution of Motion Information to Maternal Face Discrimination in Infancy

The contribution of motion and feature invariant information in infants' discrimination of maternal versus female stranger faces was assessed. Using an infant controlled habituation–dishabituation procedure, 4‐ and 8‐month‐old infants (N = 62) were tested for their ability to discriminate between their mother and a female stranger in 4 different conditions varying whether motion or feature information about the faces was available. The faces were presented in a still or dynamic video image with either a positive or a negative contrast. In each condition, infants habituated to a stranger's face and then viewed, in 3 pairs of alternating novelty test trials, either a new stranger or their mother's face. Results show that motion information contributes to the 8‐month‐old infants', but not the 4‐month‐old infants' discrimination of maternal faces. These results are interpreted in relation to recent findings and models in the adult literature suggesting that there is an enhanced contribution of dynamic information in face recognition when the face is familiar. Our data confirm that from the outset, there is a complex interplay of feature and motion information in the discrimination of the mother's face when the viewing condition is not optimal.     

Corporate Governance: A New Limit to Real Options Valuation?*

Including real options in firms ’ value raises numerous difficulties. Limitations concerning the relevance of option pricing models outside financial markets are the most salient, but carrying out a valuation implies other assumptions, especially on firms’ governance. In particular, assessing whether a real option should be included within a firm’s boundaries and how its value should be shared, is difficult. Most of these issues result from the different property rights on real options: who creates and who can exercise the option? We discuss existing answers to these difficulties and propose a matrix based on property rights to help practitioners decide whether a real option can be valued appropriately or not by real options models. We support our discussion with a case study based on an R&;D firm valuation.     

The Culture–Performance Relationship in M&A: From Yes/No to How

Do cultural differences have an impact on the performance of M&A? Despite the widely accepted myth that they do, and in a negative way, a review of extant research provides contradictory findings. In this article, we explore reasons for this contradiction and propose solutions in the form of propositions and a theoretical framework. We begin with a brief overview of extant research on the culture‐performance relationship in M&A. In light of the contradictions emerging from this review, we move on to identifying three areas of complexity explaining this confusion, and for each one, we suggest propositions to guide future research. We then summarize our argument using a theoretical framework. Because of the long‐term and dynamic nature of the M&A process, we argue that instead of studying the simple performance impact of cultural differences in M&A, we should move on to thinking how cultural differences impact on the M&A process and its outcome.