In this paper, we compare standard approaches used to handle losses in logarithmic stochastic profit frontier models with a simple novel approach. We discuss discriminatory power, rank stability and precision of profit efficiency scores. Our new method enhances rank stability and discriminatory...

Structural funds are the most intensively used policy instrument by the European Union to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the process of convergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of European Structural Funds by means of a panel data analysis for...

Abstract In this paper we investigate pension preferences and the effect of individual freedom of choice on risk taking in the context of pension arrangements based on a representative survey of about 1000 Dutch citizens. The attitude towards pension schemes and portfolio choices is explained by...

Gibrat's law is a referent model of corporate growth dynamics. This paper employs Bayesian panel data methods to test for Gibrat's law and its implications. Using a Pharmaceutical Industry Database (1987-1998), we find evidence against Gibrat's law on average, within or across industries....

We examine the variance-covariance structure of log-wages over time and over the lifecycle of British men from 1975 to 2001, hereby controlling for cohort effects. Wage inequality has risen sharply during the 1980’s and early 1990’s and remained fairly constant in the second half...

Abstract In this paper I have analyzed ECB interest rate setting in the first 5 years of its existence. Contrary to popular belief and continuous ECB statements, the ECB has not acted has as an obsessed inflation fighter. By any measure, output considerations do play a significant role in the...

In various macro-studies, home-ownership is found to hamper job mobility and to increase unemployment. This paper addresses similar issues, but uses a microeconometric framework where both individual job mobility, as well as the probability of being homeowner are modeled simultaneously. Using a...

In the two-way flow connections model of the seminal paper by Bala and Goyal (2000a), the marginal benefit of obtaining the information of one more player is constant. However, it is plausible that the marginal benefit of such information is decreasing. This paper explores the consequences for...

In this article, we explain that, in Spain, a relatively minor reform in unemployment benefits regulation has introduced a system to dismiss at will. Therefore, the fairness of the dismissal is not important in practice, although the whole legal system requiring a fair cause for dismissals...

In the field of organization studies, two types of theories of the firm exist: “why†and “how†theories. “Why†theories use the instrument of comparative analysis to explain why firms exist despite various institutional alternatives. “How†theories, in...