Eligibility for Maternity Leave and First Birth Timing in Great Britain

This paper examines the impact of maternity leave legislation on first birth timing in Great Britain. When maternity leave was introduced in Great Britain in 1976, the eligibility requirement for full-time employees was to have been working for the same employer for at least 2 years. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), this paper examines whether women postponed first birth in accordance with tenure requirements for maternity leave. Higher transition rates to first birth are found for those who had acquired enough employer tenure to qualify for maternity leave than for those who did not yet qualify. However, the causal role of maternity leave legislation for first birth timing is uncertain, since transition rates to first birth began to diverge by employer tenure even before 1976.

Purchase timing models in marketing: a review

In this work we review various approaches to modeling the purchase behavior of consumers in marketing. Special emphasis is given to the timing of purchases. We also discuss in detail a new approach which models the hazard function in a flexible dynamic way thus yielding self-exciting phenomena. In particular our approach is able to incorporate seasonal and advertising effects and past purchase decisions. The method is applied to panel data for fast moving consumer goods.     

中国保险业的进入与退出壁垒研究

本文从保险业进入壁垒与退出壁垒的关联性分析了完善我国保险市场退出机制的重要性,认为只有在实行开放政策、降低保险业进入壁垒的同时,形成有效的市场退出机制,才能有助于我国保险市场竞争机制的充分发挥与保险业市场结构的优化,并论述了建立退出机制后,我国保险业的发展对策。     

基于信任和企业进入退出机制的产业集群规模演化研究

本文从信任演化的角度出发,以产业集群规模为研究对象,建立了基于信任和企业进入退出机制的演化模型,并利用计算机辅助语言,研究不同进入壁垒的集群规模演化的规律。结果发现,由于信任机制和进入壁垒对集群企业竞争与合作的调节作用,集群规模的演化呈现一定的规律性,演化过程可区分为生长、淘汰、震荡和稳定四个阶段,演化曲线呈倒"S"型,稳定成熟期规模的大小与进入壁垒的高低有关,且进入壁垒对企业进入和生存作用相反。     

试论打击国际恐怖主义犯罪的时机、依据及限制

打击国际恐怖主义犯罪,必须掌握好打击的时机、依据及限制。打击的准确时机是针对正在进行的国际恐怖主义犯罪行为,应对“预先防卫”或“滞后防卫”合法性进行分析。打击的依据当然是相关的国际法,必须处理好国际法与相关国内法的关系,同时必须防止“打击过当”,掌握好打击的必要性、相称性。     

中古音早期到晚期音变的时空性

根据中古音的变化特征,越来越多的学者认为中古音分早晚两期,论证中古音早晚两期说,一个重要的依据就是中古音早期到晚期音变的时空性。中古音变包括音值音变跟音类音变两类,音变或以文献为依据,或从唐代方言得到支持。     

Should You Order the Feedback Sandwich? Efficacy of Feedback Sequence and Timing

This study sought to investigate the efficacy of feedback sequence—namely, the feedback sandwich—and timing on performance. Undergraduate participants performed simulated office tasks, each associated with a feedback sequence (positive–corrective–positive, positive–positive–corrective, corrective–positive–positive, and no feedback), presented in a counterbalanced fashion. Half of the participants received individual verbal feedback delivered privately by the researcher immediately after each session, and the remaining participants received the same type of feedback immediately before each session. The aggregate data suggested no feedback was the most efficacious for participants who experienced feedback prior to performance, and the corrective–positive–positive sequence was the most efficacious for participants who received feedback following performance. Differences in feedback timing were not significant except for the no feedback condition. These results document that the feedback sandwich was not the most efficacious sequence, despite claims to the contrary.     

Older women public sector workers in Ireland: Decisions about retirement timing

Older women workers’ decision making around retirement is increasingly important given the increasing involvement of older women in paid employment. This article explores influences on the retirement decision making of older women workers in Ireland. It is based on a case study of 57 interviews with women in the Irish civil service exploring work-life decision making. It finds that retirement choices vary according to initial socioeconomic resources and/or life-course trajectories and are particularly affected by gendered caring norms, employment policy, job tenure, and place in organizational hierarchies. Those women with interrupted careers and low pay have fewer choices around retirement timing.     

代理人私人收益及其对风险投资时机的影响

文章基于风险投资过程中投资人(委托人)与创业投资家(代理人)之间的信息不对称建立期权博弈模型,从投资人的角度对代理人的私人收益进行分类研究,最终为风险投资的进入设计出最优契约。在存在委托代理问题的情况下,使委托人可以通过该契约约束代理人的期权执行时刻,避免其提前或推迟投资,错过最佳进入时机,并付给代理人报酬作为激励。     

The Timing of Capacity Investment with Lead Times: When Do Firms Act in Unison?

We study competitive capacity investment for the emergence of a new market. Firms may invest either in capacity leading demand or in capacity lagging demand at different costs. We show how the lead time and other operational factors including volume flexibility, existing capacity, and demand uncertainty impact equilibrium outcomes. Our results indicate that a type of bandwagon behavior is the most likely equilibrium outcome: if both firms are going to invest, then they are most likely to act in unison. Contrary to much received wisdom, we show that leader–follower behavior is very uncommon in equilibrium where firms do not have volume flexibility, and will not occur at all if lead times are sufficiently short. On the other hand, if there is volume flexibility in production, then the likelihood of this sequential investment behavior increases. Our findings underscore the importance of operational characteristics in determining the competitive dynamics of capacity investment timing.