infonet-economy

The rise of the programmable web offers new opportunities for the empirically driven social sciences. The access, compilation and preparation of data from the programmable web for statistical analysis can, however, involve substantial up-front costs for the practical researcher. The R-package RWebData provides a high-level framework that allows data to be easily collected from the…

The Swiss Parliament is distinguished in historical international comparison by its tradition of non-professional public service. Although existing literature on interest groups (IGs) mainly treats the influence and pressure they have placed upon members of parliament (MPs), for Switzerland – particularly in light of this non-professional public service tradition – it also appears…

L'herméneutique se définit comme l'art de comprendre. Dès lors elle intervient à chaque moment de la vie humaine, dès l'enfance, puisque l'enfant grandit en cherchant à comprendre le monde dans lequel il vit. Ce livre cherche lui-même à comprendre comment fonctionne l'herméneutique, notamment lorsqu'elle a affaire avec la science en général et avec les…

According to F. A. Hayek, Keynes' General Theory neglects an analysis of the production structure. As a contribution to this research gap, we look at companies' decisions to finance investments and at their agility to adjust their capital structure. We thus study the relationship between capital structure to finance corporate production and shifts in aggregate demand.…

In order to promote risky behavior, it is a common practice that casinos incentivize their customers through the provision of free financial means, i.e., free play. Thereby, casino operators try to exploit what is known as the house money effect. However, evidence from the field is scarce and prior research provides explanations that predict different behavioral outcomes. This…

This paper analyzes the design of innovation contests when the quality of an innovation depends on the research approach of the supplier, but the best approach is unknown. Diversity of approaches is desirable because it generates an option value. In our main model with two suppliers, the buyer optimally uses a bonus tournament, where suppliers can choose between a low bid and a high…

The so-called "Rise of the Machines" has fundamentally transformed the organization of work during the last four decades. While enthusiasts are captivated by the new technologies, many worry that these machines will eventually lead to mass unemployment, as robots and computers substitute for human labor. Are computers just about to take over from humans? You will receive…