Wird die Relevanz von Ertragsteuern für die Unternehmensrechnung nach rechtlichen oder ökonomischen Kriterien beurteilt? Kommentar zum Beitrag von Franz W. Wagner und Reinhard Sill

Wagner/Sill investigate analytically and empirically whether income taxes are integrated in cost accounting (CA) and whether the German local business tax (LBT) is different from other income taxes from a CA perspective. Using a contribution margin model, they show that neither the LBT nor other income taxes are crucial. By contrast, the empirical study reveals that businesses and industry associations perceive the LBT quite differently. The theoretical irrelevance of income taxes is a consequence of the simplified contribution margin model. Using a multi-period cost definition would induce time effects of taxation and hence the relevance of income taxes. In the empirical analysis, it is not clear what the authors mean by “integration” of taxes and which type of CA they have in mind. Since regulation is an important issue for CA, it would be helpful to distinguish between regulated and non-regulated industries in the questionnaire.     

A catalogue of designs for partial profiles in paired comparison experiments with three groups of factors

A common strategy for avoiding information overload in multi-factor paired comparison experiments is to employ pairs of options which have different levels for only some of the factors in a study. For the practically important case where the factors fall into three groups such that all factors within a group have the same number of levels and where one is only interested in estimating the main effects, a comprehensive catalogue of D-optimal approximate designs is presented. These optimal designs use at most three different types of pairs and have a block diagonal information matrix.     

Count data models for demographic data∗

Key demographic variables, such as the number of children and the number of marriages or divorces, can only take integer values. This papers deals with the estimation of single equation models in which the counts are regressed on a set of observed individual characteristics such as age, gender, or nationality. Most empirical work in population economics has neglected the fact that the dependent variable is a nonnegative integer. In the few cases where this feature was recognized, the authors advocated the use of the Poisson regression model. The Poisson model imposes, however, the equality of conditional mean and variance, a restriction which is often rejected by the data. We propose a generalized event count model to simultaneously allow for a wide class of count data models and account for over‐ and underdispersion. This model is successfully applied to German data on fertility, divorces and mobility.     

Ordered response models

Summary We discuss regression models for ordered responses, such as ratings of bonds, schooling attainment, or measures of subjective well-being. Commonly used models in this context are the ordered logit and ordered probit regression models. They are based on an underlying latent model with single index function and constant thresholds. We argue that these approaches are overly restrictive and preclude a flexible estimation of the effect of regressors on the discrete outcome probabilities. For example, the signs of the marginal probability effects can only change once when moving from the smallest category to the largest one. We then discuss several alternative models that overcome these limitations. An application illustrates the benefit of these alternatives. We are grateful to an anonymous referee for valuable comments.     

Die Esser-Luhmann-Kontroverse als unbefriedigender Streit um die Grundlagen der Soziologie

The controversy about the foundations of Sociology between Hartmut Esser und exponents of the sociologic systems theory hasn't yet been satisfactorily settled. A basic reason for this point is that there is no systematic analysis from a distant comparative point of view, of what in the conceptions of Esser and Luhmann is meant by ?social“ as their central topic. The consequence is a debate in which both their social theories are discussed in a limited and superficial way. To avoid this kind of limitations and to come to a fruitful dispute, the theories have to be discussed comparatively starting with Esser's ?Model of Sociological Explanation“ and with Luhmann's concept of ?social system“. Starting with such a systematic comparison, not only deficits of the controversy can be detected, but essential problems and errors of the approaches become visible too. From such a starting point something else can be developed: that the controversial positions of their conceptualizing, of what they understand to be the central topic of Sociology, is much less different than is supposed to be. The proposed method can also be used to validate Esser's claim to have integrated in his conception the various theories of Sociology.