infonet-economy

From school on we learn that conflict is bad. We are trained to avoid difficult conversations. In organizational life this translates into a pervasive culture of not telling each other what we really think. The problem is that collaborative and creative work depends on perspectives smashing into each other. How can we get comfortable with real conflicts and overcome “organizational…

We draw on a new data set on the use of Swiss francs and other currencies by European banks to assess the patterns of foreign currency bank lending. We show that the patterns differ sharply across foreign currencies. The Swiss franc is used predominantly for lending to residents, especially households. It is sensitive to the interest rate differential, exchange rate developments,…

As learners’ access to knowledge has changed, so have their expectations of what and how they expect to learn in hospitality and tourism degree programs. This paper explores experiences of digital natives in a flipped classroom environment supported by open source technology (MOOCS, Moodle & Mahara) and Team Academy methodology. Blended learning is explored and practical…

This study aims to examine the impact of an Integrated Financial System (ERP system) implementation on accountant profiles in Swiss public administrations. ERP systems are widely researched by authors and are described as a form of change driver. Conversely, the types of changes and, more specifically, the consequences on accountants’ profiles are not studied and are therefore the…

Der technische Fortschritt vernichtet Arbeitsplätze und schafft neue. Über die Entwicklung der Arbeitswelt sprachen Roger Nickl und Thomas Gull mit der Historikerin Brigitta Bernet und dem Ökonomen David Dorn.

Although MNCs are increasingly globalizing their R&D, we have an incomplete and inconsistent understanding of whether, and under what conditions, the knowledge accumulated from foreign R&D centers can improve the productivity of the parent firm. We address this issue by examining the factors that influence the extent to which reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) enhances the…

Behavioral robustness is essential in mechanism design. Existing papers focus on robustness as captured by dominant strategies. This paper studies the novel concept of externality-robustness, which addresses players' motives to affect other players' monetary payoffs. One example is externalities due to spite, which has been used to explain overbidding in second-price…

Many recent studies point to increasing inequality in mortality in the United States over the past 20 years. These studies often use mortality rates in middle and old age. We used poverty level rankings of groups of U.S. counties as a basis for analyzing inequality in mortality for all age groups in 1990, 2000, and 2010. Consistent with previous studies, we found increasing…