An application of negative binomial distribution of order k in sensitive surveys

This article is an attempt to generalize some of the recent papers on randomized response techniques by using the negative binomial distribution of order k to randomize the responses in the randomization design where respondents can report outcome of one of two binary devices depending upon their actual status. The relative efficiency results are observed to be better than those of many recent and relevant randomized response techniques. The results are also better than those of the base line model used in this study, providing the sensitive attribute is rare. An extra advantage of the proposed technique is that it does not require any additional sampling and administrative cost.     

A study on imbalance support vector machine algorithms for sufficient dimension reduction

Li et al. (2011 Li, B., Artemiou, A., Li, L. (2011). Principal support vector machine for linear and nonlinear sufficient dimension reduction. Ann. Stat. 39:3182–3210.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) presented the novel idea of using support vector machines (SVMs) to perform sufficient dimension reduction. In this work, we investigate the potential improvement in recovering the dimension reduction subspace when one changes the SVM algorithm to treat imbalance based on several proposals in the machine learning literature. We find out that in most situations, treating the imbalanced nature of the slices will help improve the estimation. Our results are verified through simulation and real data applications.     

Die europäische Schuldenkrise als Schub systemischer Vergesellschaftung: Von Partizipationsversprechen zu Partizipationszwang

The article presents a sociological conceptualization of the dealing with the recent sovereign debt crisis in the European Monetary Union (EMU), which is reconstructed as a push of “sociation” (vergesellschaftung in Simmel’s sense) that maneuvered populations of indebted states into de facto contractual obligations vis-à-vis their states’ creditors. Seen from this perspective, the sovereign debt crisis has led to an, if highly ambivalent, deepening of European “integration”. The article suggests a combination of Habermas’s distinction between system and life-world, which enables an interpretation of contract-like relationships as systemic mode of integration potentially harking back on the life-world, with David Graeber’s emphasis on the asymmetrical and hierarchical processes of sociation inherent in contractualized and marketized creditor-debtor relationships. Far from postulating an evolutionary development of processes of debt-related sociation that might be associated with the modernization-theoretical proclivities in Habermas’s theory, the article analyzes the role of financial market publics in creating a structure of legitimation that supported the political interpretation of the financial crisis as a sovereign debt crisis in the EMU, thus bestowing justification on the treatment of populations as “debtors of last resort”.     

Tax attractiveness and the location of German-controlled subsidiaries

This paper analyzes whether taxation has an influence on the location decisions of multinational enterprises. We employ a novel set of 22 tax variables, such as the taxation of dividends and capital gains, withholding taxes, the existence of a group taxation regime, and thin capitalization rules. Furthermore, we use the Tax Attractiveness Index, a new aggregate measure containing the 22 tax variables. Our count data regression analysis is based on a novel hand-collected dataset consisting of the subsidiaries of German DAX30 companies in 97 countries. Controlling for non-tax effects, we find that a country’s tax environment has a significantly positive effect on the number of German-controlled subsidiaries and, therefore, on the location decisions of German multinational enterprises. Specifically, our analysis reveals that German multinational firms place affiliates in countries that offer favorable statutory tax rates, withholding taxes, double tax treaty networks, and holding incentives. Additionally, we find that the Tax Attractiveness Index has explanatory power in subsidiary location decisions and, therefore, it can be used as alternative composite measure, for example, when 22 single tax variables are not at disposal.     

How to Spend Public Money Efficiently: A Cost-Effectiveness Model Illustrated Using the EU’s “Youth”-Program

Since it is crucial for public entities to spend the taxpayer’s money effectively and efficiently, we have analyzed the methods used to check for the two criteria in the European Union’s “Youth”-program. We find that the currently applied method is not theoretically sound and hardly politically justifiable. Therefore, we present a new approach which includes the important aspects that a public organization needs to respect. It is theoretically correct and fulfills economic standards; it is valid in political standards; it is feasible; and it is easily understandable for a large public. We singled out two factors which are readily observable and a good proxy for the decision if a project is worthy to be supported by public funds: the number of people reached and the quality of the program proposed.     

The Final Instance - Unemployment Insurance Going Private? A Study of a Future Social Security Scenario in the UK and Germany

This paper explores the scope for privatizing unemployment insurance in Britain and Germany. The research builds on two consecutive projects, undertaken in the two countries between 1996 and 2000. The studies investigated people's attitudes towards the welfare state and private insurance, and families' strategies to manage the financial risk of unemployment. About 6% of the working population of both Britain and Germany claimed to possess private unemployment insurance. A further 23% in Britain and 12% in Germany expressed an intention to acquire private unemployment insurance. Attitudes towards private unemployment insurance were influenced by perceptions of unemployment risk, household circumstances, private money management strategies, and perceptions of the welfare state and the efficiency and trustworthiness of its institutions. The risk of exclusion from insurance in the two countries, either voluntary or as a result of actuarial risk assessment, is investigated. There is at present little evidence of adverse selection, nor would an expansion of the private unemployment insurance market necessarily entail that risk. However, the study found some, albeit limited, evidence of moral hazard. Significant country-specific differences were apparent in all aspects of the study.