Cross-border mergers and the cross-border effect: the case of the automotive supply industry

In this paper we examine stock price reactions to cross-border mergers and acquisitions in a particular industry, the automotive supply industry. We show that cross-border transactions entail a pronounced value creation for the acquiring shareholders and that this value creation also holds for transcontinental transactions, which to our knowledge have not been investigated so far. Splitting the sample by different types of targets indicates that the value creation mainly stems from takeovers of subsidiaries. By examining differences between national and international takeovers in cross-section, we sustain the recent evidence of a negative cross-border effect (i.e., cross-border mergers and acquisitions entail lower announcement returns than national ones).

An exact two-sample test based on the baumgartner-weiss-schindler statistic and a modification of lepage's test

It is shown that the nonparametric two-saniDle test recently proposed by Baumgartner, WeiB, Schindler (1998, Biometrics, 54, 1129-1135) does not control the type I error rate in case of small sample sizes. We investigate the exact permutation test based on their statistic and demonstrate that this test is almost not conservative. Comparing exact tests, the procedure based on the new statistic has a less conservative size and is, according to simulation results, more powerful than the often employed Wilcoxon test. Furthermore, the new test is also powerful with regard to less restrictive settings than the location-shift model. For example, the test can detect location-scale alternatives. Therefore, we use the test to create a powerful modification of the nonparametric location-scale test according to Lepage (1971, Biometrika, 58, 213-217). Selected critical values for the proposed tests are given.     

Unemployed and their caseworkers: should they be friends or foes?

Summary.  In many countries, caseworkers in public employment offices have dual roles of counselling and monitoring unemployed people. These roles often conflict, which results in important caseworker heterogeneity: some consider providing services to their clients and satisfying their demands as their primary task. However, others may pursue their own strategies, even against the will of the unemployed person. They may assign jobs and labour market programmes without the consent of the unemployed person. On the basis of a very detailed linked jobseeker–caseworker data set for Switzerland, we investigate the effects of caseworkers' co-operativeness on the probabilities of employment of their clients. Modified statistical matching methods reveal that caseworkers who place less emphasis on a co-operative and harmonic relationship with their clients increase their chances of employment in the short and medium term.     

Validity,facts, and values sans closure: Reply to Messick,Reckase, Moss,and Zimmerman

Social Indicators Research -     

Individual Differences in Infant Skills as Predictors of Child-Caregiver Joint Attention and Language

Current research suggests that the extent to which child-caregiver dyads engage in interactions involving episodes of joint or coordinated attention can have a significant impact on early lexical acquisition. In this regard it has been recognized that individual differences in early developing child communication skills, such as capacity to follow gaze and early infant language, may contribute to these child-caregiver interactional patterns, as well as to subsequent language development. To address this expectation, 21 infant-parent dyads were recruited for participation in a longitudinal study. Early infant language, responding to joint attention skill, and cognitive development were assessed at 12 months of age. Child-caregiver joint attention episodes, as well as responding to joint attention skill and child language, were assessed at 18 months of age. Developmental outcome, using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, was assessed at 21 and 24 months of age. Consistent with previous findings, results indicated that individual differences in child-caregiver episodes of joint attention were related to language at 18 months. In addition, though, 12 month vocabulary and responding to joint attention skill were associated with some aspects of 18 month child-caregiver interaction, as well as subsequent language development. In general, 12 month child measures and 18 month child-caregiver interaction measures appeared to make unique contributions to language development in this sample. These results suggest the need to further consider the role of infant skills in the connections between child-caregiver joint attention episodes and language development.     

Organization and Supply of Long‐term Care Services for the Elderly: A Bird's‐eye View of Old and New EU Member States

This article provides an overview of the organization of formal long‐term care (LTC) systems for the elderly in ten old and 11 new EU member states (MS). Generally, we find that the main responsibility for regulating LTC services is centralized in half of these countries, whereas in the remaining countries, this responsibility is typically shared between authorities at the central level and those at the regional or local levels in both institutional and home‐based care. Responsibilities for planning LTC capacities are jointly met by central and non‐central authorities in most countries. Access to publicly financed services is rarely means tested, and most countries have implemented legal entitlements conditional on needs. In virtually all countries, access to institutional care is subject to cost sharing, which also applies to home‐based care in most countries. The relative importance of institutional LTC relative to home‐based LTC services differs significantly across Europe. Although old MS appear to be experiencing some degree of convergence, institutional capacity levels still span a wide range. Considerable diversity may also be observed in the national public–private mix in the provision of LTC services. Lastly, free choice between public and private providers exists in the vast majority of these countries. This overview provides vital insights into the differences and similarities in the organization of LTC systems across Europe, especially between old and new MS, while also contributing valuable insight into previously neglected topics, thus broadening the knowledge base of international experience for mutual learning.     

Die Mehrebenen-Analyse. Ihre praktische Anwendung und theoretische Annahmen

Multilevel analysis has become more common during the last ten years. A reason might be that this method allows us to analyse micro- and macro relationships in one step. Loosely, one can characterize it as a combination of variance analysis and regression analysis. Nevertheless, questions occur frequently concerning its practical application, the statistical requirements, the differences to OLS-Regression, and so on. Answering these questions, this paper has two particular aims. The first aim is to show the practical use and to give an idea of the possibilities of this method. The second aim is to discuss statistical requirements and frequently asked questions. For this purpose the application of a two level regression is illustrated by using data from ISSP and analysing the perception of vertical conflicts in an international view. This paper starts with a practical application. The random intercept model is discussed, where the intercepts vary among macro units and therefore regression lines run at different levels. Afterwards a random slope model is shown. Here, the regression coefficients also vary among countries. Among these practical applications other topics are discussed, e. g. model fit, minimum sample size, explained variance, estimation-methods, and standardisation of coefficients. Finally there is given a brief overview of this method and different software programs.     

Maximum Test versus Adaptive Tests for the Two-Sample Location Problem

For the non-parametric two-sample location problem, adaptive tests based on a selector statistic are compared with a maximum and a sum test, respectively. When the class of all continuous distributions is not restricted, the sum test is not a robust test, i.e. it does not have a relatively high power across the different possible distributions. However, according to our simulation results, the adaptive tests as well as the maximum test are robust. For a small sample size, the maximum test is preferable, whereas for a large sample size the comparison between the adaptive tests and the maximum test does not show a clear winner. Consequently, one may argue in favour of the maximum test since it is a useful test for all sample sizes. Furthermore, it does not need a selector and the specification of which test is to be performed for which values of the selector. When the family of possible distributions is restricted, the maximin efficiency robust test may be a further robust alternative. However, for the family of t distributions this test is not as powerful as the corresponding maximum test.