Social cohesion revisited: a new definition and how to characterize it

This paper provides a general overview on different perspectives and studies on social cohesion, offers a definition of social cohesion that is deeply rooted in current literature, and provides a framework that can be used to characterize social cohesion and help support resilient cities. The framework highlights the factors that play a substantial role in enabling social cohesion, and shows from which perspectives it can be fostered.     

Dual-class shares,external financing needs,and firm performance

Whereas the agency theory predicts that dual-class shares decrease firm performance, the stewardship theory predicts that dual-class shares increase firm performance. The cumulative findings on the performance consequences of dual-class shares have been weak and/or inconclusive. Because endogeneity is a constant challenge in empirical corporate governance studies, this study uses a unique law change in Switzerland as a source of exogenous variation in the fraction of firms with dual-class shares. Controlling for firm fixed effects and time-varying confounders, we find that dual-class shares neither harm nor benefit firm performance on average. However, dual-class shares increase firm performance if the firm requires external finance and dual-class shares decrease firm performance if the firm does not require external finance. External financing needs mitigate the agency costs between controlling and minority shareholders and create a context in which dual-class shares facilitate firm-specific investments instead of private perquisites. The study’s results have both managerial and policy implications.     

A survey of robust statistics

We argue that robust statistics has multiple goals, which are not always aligned. Robust thinking grew out of data analysis and the realisation that empirical evidence is at times supported merely by one or a few observations. The paper examines the outgrowth from this criticism of the statistical method over the last few decades. This research was supported in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Assessing goodness-of-fit for evaluation of dose-proportionality

For the clinical development of a new drug, the determination of dose-proportionality is an essential part of the pharmacokinetic evaluations, which may provide early indications of non-linear pharmacokinetics and may help to identify sub-populations with divergent clearances. Prior to making any conclusions regarding dose-proportionality, the goodness-of-fit of the model must be assessed to evaluate the model performance. We propose the use of simulation-based visual predictive checks to improve the validity of dose-proportionality conclusions for complex designs. We provide an illustrative example and include a table to facilitate review by regulatory authorities.     

Innovationsberatung: Ansätze für Veränderung und Neues

In this paper we argue that a systematic organizational consulting approach can be supportive in fostering innovation and change processes in companies. We discuss the consulting approach in three steps: First, we present a scientific meta-definition of the term “innovation”, which helps to identify the major challenges for companies in being innovative. Second, we raise urgent questions which companies have to face in order to address these major challenges. Third, we discuss tools from our organizational consulting experience that support companies in answering these questions on their way to innovation success, therefore providing a useful basis for innovation consulting.     

Reviews

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