Testing for boundary conditions in case of fractionally integrated processes

Statistical Methods & Applications - Bounded integrated time series are a recent development of the time series literature. In this paper, we work on testing the presence of unknown boundaries...     

Chinese travel writing between (print) tradition and (digital) novelty: a transmedial approach to contemporary travel books and blogs

This article advances a transmedial comparison between several contemporary travelogues and travel blogs written by Chinese writers about China. The grounding assumption is that travel books and blogs are two mediated forms that realize the same generic matrix: travel writing. Building on research about classic Chinese travel writing and contemporary Internet Chinese literature, the article proposes a close reading of the texts with the aim, on the one hand, to understand how contemporary travel accounts – in print and online – follow and/or reinvent the genre, and, on the other hand, to bridge the gap between analogue and digital realms beyond their often over-accentuated differences. Findings suggest that contemporary Chinese travel books are much politicized. Contrary to traditional authors, who resorted to the genre in order to celebrate the status quo within the Middle Kingdom, today’s authors write about their travels in order to criticize the current political situation in China. Travel bloggers, instead, largely privilege a contemplative attitude towards their experiences; one that kindles a visually based and depoliticized writing that is very much in the spirit of classic texts.     

Italian Scientists Abroad in Europe's Scientific Research Scenario: High skill migration as a resource for development in Italy

In recent years, the brain drain issue has gained such momentum that it has become necessary to adopt tools and methods to take a picture of a phenomenon that is, by its very nature, dynamic and changeable (Portes, 1976 ; Meyer, 2001 ; Ackers, 2005 Scott, 2015 ). This particular study focuses on clarifying the reasons why Italian scientists choose to look elsewhere for the best place to conduct their scientific research, and in what way their scientific experience abroad shapes the image of the Italian scientific system. A first exploratory analysis involving 83 in‐depth interviews with Italian scientists (mathematicians, engineers and physicists) working in Europe was conducted based on qualitative and quantitative analytical methods, and the content emerging from these interviews was used for a systematic mapping of the situation that provided the foundations for our preparation of a second tool – a questionnaire – that was subsequently used to conduct a much more broad‐based survey that involved 602 respondents. While our findings add complexity to existing theories on the brain drain and brain circulation, they also confirm the potential of highly skilled migration to improve the national development of Italian academic system.     

BENIGN NEGLECT OF COVENANT VIOLATIONS: BLISSFUL BANKING OR IGNORANT MONITORING?

Theoretically, bank's loan monitoring activity hinges critically on its capitalization. To proxy for monitoring intensity, we use changes in borrowers' investment following loan covenant violations, when creditors can intervene in the governance of the firm. Exploiting granular bank‐firm relationships observed in the syndicated loan market, we document substantial heterogeneity in monitoring across banks and through time. Better capitalized banks are more lenient monitors that intervene less with covenant violators. Importantly, this hands‐off approach is associated with improved borrowers' performance. Beyond enhancing financial resilience, regulation that requires banks to hold more capital may thus also mitigate the tightening of credit terms when firms experience shocks. (JEL G21, G32, G33, G34)     

The Size and Power of Bootstrap and Bartlett-Corrected Tests of Hypotheses on the Cointegrating Vectors

In this paper we compare Bartlett-corrected, bootstrap, and fast double bootstrap tests on maximum likelihood estimates of cointegration parameters. The key result is that both the bootstrap and the Bartlett-corrected tests must be based on the unrestricted estimates of the cointegrating vectors: procedures based on the restricted estimates have almost no power. The small sample size bias of the asymptotic test appears so severe as to advise strongly against its use with the sample sizes commonly available; the fast double bootstrap test minimizes size bias, while the Bartlett-corrected test is somehow more powerful.     

Croissance économique,flexibilité du travail et qualité de l'emploi en Colombie de 2002 à 2011

Entre 2002 et 2011, le marché du travail colombien a connu une nette amélioration des possibilités d'emploi, assortie d'une montée de l'emploi atypique. Les auteurs étudient l'incidence de ces phénomènes sur la qualité de l'emploi au moyen d'un indice synthétique dérivé d'une analyse des correspondances multiples. Ils observent une amélioration, légère mais générale, de cette qualité, associée à l'augmentation des revenus, à l'extension de la protection sociale et au recul du sous‐emploi. Les principales bénéficiaires sont les travailleuses indépendantes. Toutefois, un important déficit qualitatif perdure, qui appelle à consolider les institutions du marché du travail et à stimuler la productivité et l'investissement.     

Did the Decline in Social Connections Depress Americans’ Happiness?

During the last 30 years US citizens experienced, on average, a decline in reported happiness, social connections, and confidence in institutions. We show that a remarkable portion of the decrease in happiness is predicted by the decline in social connections and confidence in institutions. We carry out our investigation in three steps. First, we run a happiness regression that includes various indicators of social connections and confidence in institutions, alongside with own income, reference income, and the usual socio-demographic controls. We find that indicators of social connections and confidence in institutions are positively and significantly correlated with happiness. Second, we investigate the evolution of social connections and confidence in institutions over time, finding that they generally show a declining trend. Third, we calculate the variation in happiness over time as predicted by each of its statistically significant correlates, finding that the decrease in happiness is mainly predicted by the decline in social connections and by the growth in reference income. More precisely, the sum of the negative changes in happiness predicted by the reduction in social connections and the increase in reference income more than offsets the positive change predicted by the growth of household income. Also, the reduction in happiness predicted by the decline in confidence in institutions is non-negligible, although substantially smaller than the one predicted by either social connections or reference income.     

The Insurance Industry in Jordan

This paper examines the structure and performance of the insurance industry in Jordan during the period of 2000–2005. The Jordanian insurance industry is free of state ownership in both primary insurance and reinsurance markets and has been spared the pervasive premium, product, investment, and reinsurance controls that have bedeviled the insurance markets of so many developing countries around the world. Despite these positive features, the insurance industry is not developed, which mainly reflects the underdevelopment of life insurance that has annual premiums of only 0.27 percent of GDP. In contrast, the level of general insurance is comparable to that of several other developing countries in the region. To overcome this situation a major modernization effort should be undertaken.