Welfarist evaluations of decision rules under interstate utility dependencies

We provide welfarist evaluations of decision rules for federations of states and consider models, under which the interests of people from different states are stochastically dependent. We concentrate on two welfarist standards, viz. that the expected average utility for a person in the federation be maximized or that the expected utilities for the different people be equal. We discuss an analytical result that characterizes the decision rule with maximum expected average utility, set up a class of models that display interstate dependencies and run simulations for different dependency scenarios in the European Union. We find that the results that Beisbart and Bovens (Soc Choice Welf 29:581–608, 2007) established for two types of models without interstate dependencies are fairly stable if interstate dependencies are switched on. There are exceptions, though: sometimes the way in which alternative decision rules shape the welfare distribution is significantly affected by such dependencies. These exceptions particularly include cases in which the interests of people from different states are partly anti-correlated.     

Experts in experiments

An ever increasing number of experiments attempts to elicit risk preferences of a population of interest with the aim of calibrating parameters used in economic models. We are concerned with two types of selection effects, which may affect the external validity of standard experiments: Sampling from a narrowly defined population of students (??experimenter-induced selection??) and self-selection due to non-response or incomplete response of participants in a random sample from a broad population. We find that both types of selection lead to a sample of experts: Participants perform significantly better than the general population, in the sense of fewer violations of revealed preference conditions. Self-selection within a broad population does not seem to matter for average preferences. In contrast, sampling from a student population leads to lower estimates of average risk aversion and loss aversion parameters. Furthermore, it dramatically reduces the amount of heterogeneity in all parameters.     

Ruin problem of a two-dimensional fractional Brownian motion risk process

This paper investigates ruin probability and ruin time of a two-dimensional fractional Brownian motion risk process. The net loss process of an insurance company is modeled by a fractional Brownian motion. The two-dimensional fractional Brownian motion risk process models the surplus processes of an insurance and a reinsurance company, where the net loss is divided between them in some specified proportions. The ruin problem considered is that of the two-dimensional risk process first entering the negative quadrant, that is, the simultaneous ruin problem. We derive both asymptotics of the ruin probability and approximations of the scaled conditional ruin time as the initial capital tends to infinity.     

Subjektivierung der Biographie. Lebensorientierungen und Anspruchshaltungen

Opposing the tendency within current analyses in the social sciences to draw a conclusion from present changes in people??s working and living conditions to corresponding social-psychic dispositions, this article both theoretically and empirically develops the thesis that people??by considering structural preconditions??put demands on themselves and structure their resources and possible courses of action. In order to understand how this is done, the article develops the concept of ??life-orientation??. By means of four exemplary typifications of life-orientations gained from a research project on employees?? demands on work, we will demonstrate that established beliefs about actual forms of subjectivity are in need of correction.     

Change Management Study of Horticulture 2015 — Conditions and Success Factors

The increasing organizational size, as a result of the industry's structural change, is leading to crises in German horticultural companies. Therefore, the present study examines the causes of fundamental change processes in horticultural companies, indicates the overriding trends and identifies the success factors of change initiatives. For this purpose, over 150 decision-makers with over 10 years’ experience in their respective organization were surveyed from May to December 2014. The megatrends are environmental issues, changed consumer behavior, resource shortages and the labor market. Currently, the reasons for change lie in a changing market strategy/sales approach, business succession and submission and external changes in the legal conditions. Among the most difficult problems occurring in the implementation of change processes are low willingness to take responsibility, interest and goal conflicts of the involved organization's members and a sacrifice of long-term actions for short-term profit improvements. The most important success factors of change processes include realistic, clear visions/goals and their communication, team spirit and motivation and a coordinated chronological procedure. Six factors of the psychological level of the change success are presented. The results of the study can help to recommend a design for change processes in companies within horticultural manufacturing.     

Chinese Parenting Behaviors,Adolescent School Adjustment,and Problem Behavior

The present research examined the relationship between supportive and controlling dimensions of parenting behaviors and Chinese adolescent outcomes (school adjustment and problem behavior). Researchers collected self-report data from 589 adolescents in Hangzhou, China. Results showed the factor structure for the Parent Behavior Measure in the Chinese sample was different from the factor structure based on Western research. Specifically, paternal support did not emerge as a viable factor. Parental monitoring and involvement predicted positive adolescent outcomes, whereas punitiveness and permissiveness predicted negative outcomes. Surprisingly, maternal support predicted more adolescent problem behavior, especially for boys. Guilt induction, love withdrawal, and positive induction did not predict any significant adolescent outcomes when other parenting behaviors were controlled. School adjustment mediated and gender moderated the relationship between parenting and adolescent problem behavior. The importance of considering parenting behaviors, adolescent school adjustment, gender, and cultural norms when examining adolescent problem behavior was discussed.     

The Distributive Impact of Reforms in Credit Enforcement: Evidence From Indian Debt Recovery Tribunals

It is generally presumed that stronger legal enforcement of lender rights increases credit access for all borrowers because it expands the set of incentive compatible loan contracts. This result relies on an assumption that the supply of credit is infinitely elastic. In contrast, with inelastic supply, stronger enforcement generates general equilibrium effects that may reduce credit access for small borrowers and expand it for wealthy borrowers. In a firm‐level panel, we find evidence that an Indian judicial reform that increased banks' ability to recover nonperforming loans had such an adverse distributive impact.     

The size-density hypothesis in Great Britain: Analysis of a deviant case

Recent studies have found size of territorial units to vary inversely with population density, the only exception to this regularity being Great Britain, where size and density were found to be unrelated. The present research accounts for this anomaly by demonstrating Britain's historical conformity to the size-density relation. The size-density hypothesis is further supported by direct test, made possible by a recent reorganization of british counties. Results show that reorganization has restored the expected inverse relation between size and density and has restructured the size and density of counties in a manner precisely specified by underlying theory.     

The Cost of Not Knowing the Score: Self-Estimated Credit Scores and Financial Outcomes

This study analyzes consumers’ knowledge of their own credit situation and tests whether a lack of knowledge affects financial outcomes. The unique dataset from survey and credit report data includes self-estimates of credit scores and actual scores from a low-to-moderate income sample. We argue and show empirically that many respondents don’t know their credit score and generally underestimate their creditworthiness. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that this biased self-assessment may explain differences in perceived credit constraints and credit contracts, specifically credit card interest rates. Our research suggests that an important aspect of financial literacy is self-assessment, and that it is important to encourage consumers to regularly check their credit reports and scores so as to better understand their actual creditworthiness.