Analyzing the Productive and Protective Dimensions of Welfare: Looking Beyond the OECD

Several theorists have argued that social policy in East Asia can be seen as representing a distinctive welfare ideal type based around ‘productive welfare’. However, we have contested such claims in earlier work (Hudson and Kühner 2009) and, in common with theorists such as Castells, have suggested that some of the welfare states of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) have a distinct bias towards the ‘productive’ rather than ‘protective’ dimensions of welfare. In this article, we build on our earlier work, utilizing fuzzy set ideal type analysis (FSITA) to explore the balance between ‘productive' and ‘protective’ dimensions of welfare state activity. Here we extend our analysis beyond the OECD, incorporating a range of nations on the ‘fringe’ of the OECD from Latin America, East Asia and the non‐OECD parts of Europe. In so doing, we contest simple notions of welfare regimes aligning with regional blocks. Primarily, however, we highlight the advantages of the ‘diversity‐orientated’ approach to data analysis that fuzzy set methods facilitate in comparison with standard quantitative techniques. In particular, we utilize FSITA to avoid data availability and reliability issues that have plagued quantitatively informed classifications of global welfare regimes. Not least, we argue FSITA allows for the contextualization of cases in a way that is sealed to quantitatively driven, comparative research. Thus, we argue FSITA has an important role to play in attempts to extend the inclusiveness of the ‘welfare modelling business’ in a manner that reflects diverse and highly significant cases beyond the Western lens that dominates the literature.     

Why does myopia decrease the willingness to invest? Is it myopic loss aversion or myopic loss probability aversion?

For loss averse investors, a sequence of risky investments looks less attractive if it is evaluated myopically—an effect called myopic loss aversion (MLA). The consequences of this effect have been confirmed in several experiments and its robustness is largely undisputed. The effect’s causes, however, have not been thoroughly examined with regard to one important aspect. Due to the construction of the lotteries that were used in the experiments, none of the studies is able to distinguish between MLA and an explanation based on (myopic) loss probability aversion (MLPA). This distinction is important, however, in discussion of the practical relevance and the generalizability of the phenomenon. We designed an experiment that is able to disentangle lottery attractiveness and loss probabilities. Our analysis reveals that mere loss probabilities are not as important in this dynamic context as previous findings in other domains suggest. The results favor the MLA over the MLPA explanation.     

State space modeling of multiple time series: a comment

This paper provides guidance in choosing k₁ andk₂ of the double k-class (KK) estimator such that it will improve upon both the ordinary least squares (OLS) and Stein-rule (SR) estimators in predictive mean squared error (PMSE). Asymptotic bias and mean squared error (MSE) results are derived for nonnormal and other cases. A simulation compares the KK estimator with the OLS and SR estimators.     

Asymptotic Analysis of Some Discrete Distributions by the Saddle Point Method

We present asymptotic formulas for the probability mass functions of three discrete distributions: the Neyman type A, the compound Poisson–Katz, and the convolution of negative binomial and Pólya–Aeppli. An approximation of the moments of the Neyman type A distribution is also given. All of these results are found by Hayman's encapsulation of the saddle point method.     

Unternehmensbewertung bei wertabhängiger und autonomer Finanzierungspolitik unter Berücksichtigung einer Kursgewinnbesteuerung

The German tax reform in 2009 entails the general taxation of realized capital gains. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of a differentiated taxation of dividend payments and capital gains on discounted cash flow valuations. We develop explicit und practical useful valuation formulas for the free cash flow approach in case of financing based on market values and the adjusted present value approach in case of autonomous financing. Furthermore it is shown how the required risk-adjusted cost of equity can be derived from a modified Tax-CAPM. Finally we discuss how the particularities resulting from the new German tax law can be taken into account in discounted cash flow valuations.     

A generalization of the matching distribution

The Matching Distribution converges to a Poisson Distribution with λ=1 as the parameter n converges to infinity. A generalization of the Matching Distribution is proposed. The properties of this Generalized Matching Distribution (GMD) turn out to be analogical to the case with λ=1.     

Orphanhood and Human Capital Destruction: Is There Persistence into Adulthood?

This article presents unique evidence that orphanhood matters in the long run for health and education outcomes in a region of northwestern Tanzania. We study a sample of 718 non-orphaned children surveyed in 1991–1994 who were traced and reinterviewed as adults in 2004. A large proportion, 19%, lost one or more parents before age 15 in this period, allowing us to assess permanent health and education impacts of orphanhood. In the analysis, we control for a wide range of child and adult characteristics before orphanhood, as well as community fixed effects. We find that maternal orphanhood has a permanent adverse impact of 2 cm of final height attainment and one year of educational attainment. Expressing welfare in terms of consumption expenditure, the result is a gap of 8.5% compared with similar children whose mothers survived until at least their 15th birthday.     

Raumspezifische Armutsgefährdung im Alter

The aim of this article is to investigate income poverty risks of older people in Austria considering spatial aspects. By comparing rural and urban regions it should be tested whether spatial variables exert a significant effect on the income poverty risk of older people and how such an effect can be explained. Thus, specific aspects of rural poverty among older people are discussed. The empirical analysis is based on EU-SILC 2004. A binary-logistic regression model is applied in order to test the effect of local population density and local population size on the poverty risk of older people. Results show that the poverty risk of both older people and retirees increases significantly if population density decreases. The effect of local community size, however, was insignificant. For the younger population (< 60), on the contrary, poverty risk increases significantly with both decreasing population density and local community size.     

Linking institutions and firm-level outcomes: the roles of diverse innovative capability profiles in Germany's economy

Traditionally, scholars of comparative capitalisms expect a solid link between institutions and outcomes, such as exporting and innovation. For Germany seminal approaches rely on an ideal-typical firm-level profile with strong innovative capabilities and high traditional institutional embeddedness. Current literature on firm-level diversity in Germany exposes that the empirical links between institutions, de facto firm-level profiles, and their outcomes are not well understood. An analysis of 988 German firms reveals no direct link between institutional variables and outcomes. A latent class analysis identifies five innovative capability profiles, which display diverse institutional embeddedness patterns and outcome levels. The prevailing profile conforms to several traditional expectations about the ideal-typical German firm-level profile. However, a second profile achieves similarly high export and innovation rates without traditional institutional embeddedness. The analysis shows the importance of diverse innovative capability profiles for the de facto links between institutions and firm-level outcomes within Germany's economy.