Publications des institutions partenaires
Optimal estimation of a large-dimensional covariance matrix under Stein’s loss
This paper introduces a new method for deriving covariance matrix estimators that are decision-theoretically optimal within a class of nonlinear shrinkage estimators. The key is to employ large-dimensional asymptotics: the matrix dimension and the sample size go to infinity together, with their ratio converging to a finite, nonzero limit. As the main focus, we apply this method to...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Resurrecting weighted least squares
This paper shows how asymptotically valid inference in regression models based on the weighted least squares (WLS) estimator can be obtained even when the model for reweighting the data is misspecified. Like the ordinary least squares estimator, the WLS estimator can be accompanied by heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC) standard errors without knowledge of the functional form of...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Do professional norms in the banking industry favor risk-taking?
In recent years, the banking industry has witnessed several cases of excessive risk-taking that frequently have been attributed to problematic professional norms. We conduct experiments with employees from several banks in which we manipulate the saliency of their professional identity and subsequently measure their risk aversion in a real stakes investment task. If bank employees...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
The lottery contest is a best-response potential game
It is shown that the n-player lottery contest admits a best-response potential (Voorneveld, 2000, Economics Letters). This is true also when the contest technology reflects the possibility of a draw. The result implies, in particular, the existence of a non-trivial two-player zero-sum game that is best-response equivalent to a game with identical payoff functions.
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Revenue ranking of optimally biased contests: the case of two players
It is shown that the equilibrium in the asymmetric Tullock contest is unique for parameter values r ≤ 2. This allows proving a revenue ranking result saying that a revenue-maximizing designer capable of biasing the contest always prefers a contest technology with higher accuracy.
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Smoking behaviour in Germany: evidence from the SOEP
As in most OECD countries, smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption have been decreasing in Germany since the early 2000s. This paper analyses whether smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption, as well as their development over time, differ between socio-economic subgroups. Identifying these differences provides insights into the effect of policy interventions on German...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Accounting for the new gains from trade liberalization
We measure the "new" gains from trade reaped by Canada as a result of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA). We think of the "new" gains from trade of a country as all welfare effects pertaining to changes in the set of firms serving that country as emphasized in the so-called "new" trade literature. To this end, we first develop an exact...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
The role of gender in employment polarization
We document that U.S. employment polarization in the 1980-2008 period is largely generated by women. Female employment shares increase both at the bottom and at the top of the skill distribution, generating the typical U-shape polarization graph, while male employment shares decrease in a more similar fashion along the whole skill distribution. We show that a canonical model of skill...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Poorly measured confounders are more useful on the left than on the right
Researchers frequently test identifying assumptions in regression based research designs (which include instrumental variables or difference-in-differences models) by adding additional control variables on the right hand side of the regression. If such additions do not affect the coefficient of interest (much) a study is presumed to be reliable. We caution that such invariance may...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Decision-making in multiple sclerosis: the role of aversion to ambiguity for therapeutic inertia among neurologists (DIScUTIR MS)
Objectives: Limited information is available on physician-related factors influencing therapeutic inertia (TI) in multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim was to evaluate whether physicians’ risk preferences are associated with TI in MS care, by applying concepts from behavioral economics.
Design: In this cross-sectional study, participants answered questions regarding the management...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Analysis of the precision of variable flip angle T1 mapping with emphasis on the noise propagated from RF transmit field maps
In magnetic resonance imaging, precise measurements of longitudinal relaxation time (T1) is crucial to acquire useful information that is applicable to numerous clinical and neuroscience applications. In this work, we investigated the precision of T1 relaxation time as measured using the variable flip angle method with emphasis on the noise propagated from radiofrequency transmit...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Maintaining efficiency while integrating entrants from lower performing groups: an experimental study
Efficiently growing a group often requires integrating individuals from lower performing entities. We explore the effectiveness of policies intended to facilitate such integration, using an experiment that models production as a coordination game. We create an efficient group and an inefficient one. We then allow individuals to move into the efficient group under different mechanisms...
Institution partenaire
English / 01/03/2017
Potenzielle Start-up-Gründer haben andere Karrierepläne
Institution partenaire
Deutsch / 24/02/2017
Organizational responses to uncertainty in the airline industry: : changes in patterns of communication networks
Changing environmental conditions introduce uncertainty into organizational operations, and airlines respond in various ways. Scholars traditionally explore responses to environmental uncertainty by drawing upon theories of communication networks, coordination, organizational resilience, and high reliability organizing. Yet, the research has competing communication predictions, which...
Institution partenaire
English / 20/02/2017
Nursing homes: : how can residents' experience be improved?
This study aims to analyze whether nursing homes residents are satisfied with the services and support they receive. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews with residents, families, and staff were conducted in Switzerland. The results indicate that the majority of the residents entered nursing homes due to a decrease in autonomy but also following a decision made by their relatives....
Institution partenaire
English / 14/02/2017
Firm boundaries, transaction costs economics, and capabilities of lodging corporations: : a conceptual model for the adoption of the asset light model
Why did lodging corporations opt for the asset light model in the first place and why did they adopt it at different times? The answer to such questions could not only help further explore the fundamental question in strategy of why do firms’ strategy differ, but also provide insights to managers as to the implications of such strategic choices on corporate performance. Built around...
Institution partenaire
English / 14/02/2017
Operator splitting algorithms for free surface flows: application to extrusion processes
We explore the benefits of operator splitting algorithms in the context of computational fluid dynamics. In particular, we exploit their capacity in handling free surface flows and a large variety of physical phenomena in a flexible way. A mathematical and computational framework is presented for the numerical simulation of free surface flows, where the operator splitting strategy...
Institution partenaire
English / 13/02/2017
Dopamine modulates the functional organization of the orbitofrontal cortex
Neuromodulators such as dopamine can alter the intrinsic firing properties of neurons, and may thereby change the configuration of larger functional circuits. The primate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) receives dopaminergic input from midbrain nuclei, but the role of dopamine in the OFC is still unclear. Here we tested the idea that dopaminergic activity changes the pattern of...
Institution partenaire
English / 08/02/2017
When satisfaction with work-family balance pays
This study examines the mechanism through which family supportive environments in organizations (i.e. family supportive supervisor behaviors and work-family friendly culture) relate to turnover intentions. In a sample of 340 individuals, analysis using structural equation modeling showed that satisfaction with work-family balance mediates the relation between family supportive...
Institution partenaire
English / 06/02/2017
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