Moving in or Breaking Up? The Role of Distance in the Development of Romantic Relationships

Most romantic relationships start with a living apart together (LAT) phase during which the partners live in two separate households. Over time, a couple might decide to move in together, to separate, or to remain together while maintaining their nonresidential status. This study investigates the competing risks that partners in a LAT relationship will experience the transition to coresidence or to separation. We consider the amount of time LAT partners have to travel to see each other to be a key determinant of relationship development. For our statistical analyses, we use seven waves of the German Family Panel Pairfam (2008/2009–2014/2015) and analyze couples in the age group 20–40 years. We distinguish between short-distance relationships (the partners have to travel less than one hour) and long-distance relationships (the partners have to travel one hour or more). Estimating a competing risks model, we find that couples in long-distance relationships are more likely to separate than those living in close proximity. By contrast, the probability of experiencing a transition to coresidence is lower for LAT couples in long-distance than for those in short-distance relationships. Interaction analyses reveal that distance seems to be irrelevant for the relationship development of couples with two nonemployed (unemployed, in education or other inactive) partners.     

Business visits,knowledge diffusion and productivity

We investigate whether labor mobility can be a distinct source of growth by studying the productivity impact of business visits (BVs), vis-à-vis that of other well-known drivers of productivity enhancement. Our analysis uses an unbalanced panel—covering on average 16 sectors per year in ten countries during the period 1998–2011—which combines unique and novel data on BVs sourced from the US National Business Travel Association with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data on R&D and capital formation. We find that mobility through BVs is an effective mechanism to improve productivity, being about half that obtained by investing in R&D. This relevant finding invites viewing short-term mobility as a strategic mechanism and prospective policy tool to overcome productivity slowdowns and foster economic growth.     

Effects of child support and welfare policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood

This paper is an assessment of the impact of child support enforcement and welfare policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood. We derive four hypotheses about the effects of policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood. We propose that teenage motherhood and school enrollment are joint decisions for teenage girls. Based on individual trajectories during ages 12–19, our analysis uses an event history model for nonmarital teenage childbearing and a dynamic model of motherhood that is jointly determined with school enrollment. We find some evidence that child support policies indirectly reduce teen motherhood by increasing the probability of school enrollment, which, in turn, reduces the probability of teen motherhood. This finding suggests that welfare offices may wish to place greater weight on outreach programs that inform more teenagers of the existence of strong child support enforcement measures. Such programs might reduce nonmarital teen motherhood further and thus reduce the need for welfare support and child support enforcement in the long run.

基于“三性”分析的商业银行经营绩效综合评价模型

流动性、安全性和盈利性(统称为“三性”是商业银行经营管理的基本原则。它们之间既相互依存又相互冲突和矛盾。协调处理这三者之间的关系,一直是评价商业银行经营绩效的难点。本文所建立的综合评价模型,其指标体系涵盖了流动性、安全性和盈利性三个方面,将银行经营绩效层层分解为具体的财务报表数据,合理解决了同一指标在对“三性”产生不同影响时的评分问题。将“三性”之间的制约矛盾量化为具体的模型。     

The how and why of a firm’s approach to CSR and sustainability: a case study of a large European company

This paper aims to analyse “how” and “why” a company engages in CSR and sustainability. The “how” concerns the features of the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach, defined in terms of a firm’s strategy (implemented issues, initiatives and activities) and organization (organizational structures and roles and managerial systems adopted). The “why” refers to the key determinants, both internal and external, of CSR and sustainability. Finally, how the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach evolves over time and the relation between CSR determinants in various stages of the CSR evolutionary path are also investigated. The research method is based on the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a large multinational company operating in the telecommunications industry in Europe. The analysis of the case study shows that sub-cultural differences in the approach to CSR and sustainability may occur across hierarchical levels and functional units. Moreover, embedding CSR and sustainability principles doesn’t follow a linear and continuous process, made by sequential stages. Indeed, it can be characterized by an up and down evolutionary path, based on different stages with a changing emphasis given to CSR and sustainability issues. Finally, we find that the firm CSR and sustainability approach is not an autonomous choice, but it is a consequence of the contingent role played by both the external and the internal drivers and by their relative importance during the company’s CSR history.     

Explaining the demand for structured financial products: survey and field experiment evidence

In many countries structured investment products are popular among retail investors. We explain the demand for these products using unique field data where we let subjects freely design their “favorite” structured product. Results suggest that the supply with capital protected products (guarantee certificates) might indeed be demand-driven. This does not seem to be the case for other product categories where marketing and sales practices might play a more important role. In a survey among financial practitioners we find furthermore that a demand for capital protected products can be explained by loss aversion and saving motifs, e.g. for buying a house.     

带有潜变量的结构方程模型在突发事件应急管理中的应用

如何使事件与机构挂钩是突发事件应急管理中的一个重要问题;通过带有潜变量的结构方程模型能够建立起事件与机构之间的定量联系,从而为进一步对机构作评价和制定考核标准提供依据。     

无偏好市场下制造/再制造系统最优生产决策

尽管再制造可以重新获得产品的附加价值,但是再制造产品和新产品具有一定的替代性,厂商在各期应该采用何种生产策略?本文选取单一制造厂商,首先讨论无偏好市场下两期再制造最优生产策略,建立厂商利润最大化的经济优化模型;然后给出了再制造成本节约临界值,以便厂商在不同的再制造成本区域内采取合适的价格和产量决策策略;进而将模型拓展,研究无限期的最优产量和定价策略。由于不同产品的再制造成本节约s的比例并不相同,本文通过优化所得的结论进行数据模拟,研究产品回收率和降级率对s*的影响,s对厂商的产量、定价决策及利润的影响,进而分析降级率对产量和价格的影响,为厂商制定产品设计、生产和回收决策提供依据。     

Conservative accounting as a signaling device in debt covenants

This paper provides a signaling explanation for benefits of conservative accounting in a debt contracting setting. It develops a model in which firms want to finance more or less risky projects through debt, which is private information. Creditors price the risk on average riskiness, which implies a relatively high interest rate for low-risk firms. These firms can signal their low-risk type by implementing a conservative accounting system. The accounting signal is used in a debt covenant that stipulates early repayment in case of a bad signal. Thus, the low-risk firms benefit from a lower interest cost, but at the cost of higher risk of being forced to liquidate a profitable project. The analysis establishes conditions for separating and pooling equilibria and determines their individual and social welfare implications. It shows that conservative accounting by low-risk firms can even increase social welfare if it mitigates underinvestment.