Je t’aime, moi non plus: Bilateral opinions and international trade

This paper studies the relationship between bilateral trade patterns and opinions. It uses the Eurobarometer public opinion surveys published by the European Commission, which provide data on the share of the population in each EU member country in favor of each CEEC joining the EU. Our results first suggest that bilateral opinions have a statistically robust and relatively large effect on imports, even when standard and new covariates capturing proximity between countries are controlled for. We interpret this effect as reflecting a positive impact of “bilateral affinity” on trade patterns. We also show that it is possible to go some way towards explaining the variance in bilateral opinions among our sample. Last we provide some preliminary attempt to determine causality between bilateral opinions and imports.Gravity, bilateral opinions, enlargement

Exposure to foreign media and changes in cultural traits: Evidence from naming patterns in France

Free trade in audio-visual services has faced opposition on the grounds that foreign media undermine domestic culture, and ultimately, global diversity. We assess the media-culture link using name frequencies as a measure of tastes. Using a 47-year panel of French birth registries, we first show that names appearing on television shows, movies, or in songs are about five times more popular than other names. Most, but not all, of this relationship arises from endogeneity: song and script writers, as well as performers and their parents, select names that would be popular anyway. Using name attributes, fixed effects, and lagged popularity as controls, our regression results suggest that media affect choices by informing parents of unfamiliar names.Endogenous Tastes, Cultural transmission, Television, Cinema, Popular Music

Perceptions of Elderly Parents\u27 Generativity and the Quality of the Parent-Child-Relationship

In einer Fragebogenstudie wurde untersucht, inwieweit die Qualität der Beziehungen zwischen älteren Menschen und ihren Kindern damit zusammenhängt, wie sehr die Eltern aus Sicht ihrer Kinder zu Verhaltensweisen neigen, die Generativität indizieren. N = 299 Personen im Altersbereich zwischen 41 und 51 Jahren (M = 45.3 Jahre) gaben an, wie charakteristisch entsprechende generativitätstypische Verhaltensweisen für ihre Mutter bzw. ihren Vater sind. Zusätzlich beurteilten sie die Qualität der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung anhand verschiedener Indikatoren (Zuneigung, manifeste und latente Konflikte). Es fanden sich lineare, aber auch quadratische Zusammenhänge zwischen perzipierter Generativität der Elternperson und Beziehungsqualität, die teils durch die Wertschätzung elterlicher Ratschläge seitens der Kinder moderiert wurden. Die höchste kindseitige Zuneigung wurde bei einem mittleren Maß an Generativität berichtet, doch war dieses Maß auch gepaart mit einer moderaten manifesten Konflikthaftigkeit der Beziehung. Die Befunde sprechen gegen die Annahme, dass im Hinblick auf die Qualität von Generationenbeziehungen ein eindeutig definierbares Optimum elterlicher Generativität existiert. Sie legen vielmehr nahe, die Wirkungen generativitätstypischen Verhaltens unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Ambivalenz zu analysieren. (DIPF/Orig.)The questionnaire study explores middle-aged adults\u27 perceptions of their parents\u27 generativity and the interpersonal consequences of these perceptions in relation to the quality of parent-child-relationships. N = 299 subjects (M = 45.3 years) assessed behaviors indicating generativity of their mother or father and evaluated the parent-child relationship using several indicators such as affection, manifest and latent conflicts. Linear a well as curvilinear correlations between perceived generativity and the quality of the relationships emerged. Some of the relationships were moderated by the children\u27s positive regard for parental advice. Affection was highest at medium levels of perceived generativity, but was also paired with moderate levels of manifest parent-child conflict. The results of the questionnaire contradict the assumption of an \u27optimal level of generativity\u27 with regard to relationship quality. Instead, the results point towards an analysis of the effects of generativity under the aspect of intergenerational ambivalence. (DIPF/Orig.

How Different is Eastern Europe ? Structure and Determinants of Location Choices by French firms in Eastern and Western Europe

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of location choices of French multinational firms in Eastern and Western Europe. Our sample includes 1843 location choices in 19 countries from 1980 to 1999. We find important differences between the two regions of Europe regarding these determinants. Agglomeration effects are less strong in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) than in European Union (EU) countries. Location decisions are influenced significantly and positively by the institutional quality of the host country. We also investigate whether investors consider Western Europe and Eastern Europe as two distinct groups of potential host countries. We confirm the relevance of an East–West structure in the country location decision and show that this relevance decreases as the transition process advances, in CEE countries.http://econ.sciences-po.fr/sites/default/files/file/tmayer/JCE.pd

They Work with Data and Do Some Science: How Identity Conflict Turns Data Professionals away from Data Science

Data science is widely perceived as an attractive, lucrative, and prestigious emerging occupation. Research so far has focused on understanding data scientists’ practices and identity work associated with establishing and legitimizing this new occupation. This work, however, is not sufficient to explain a phenomenon we observed whereby professionals rejected the opportunity to adopt this new occupational identity. To understand why professionals may not want to be labeled data scientists, we analyzed 43 interviews with data professionals at an educational measurement company in the U.S. Despite a clear steer from management towards the data science label, many interviewees stuck to their established professional identities. In our preliminary findings, we use the literature on identity conflict as a lens to make sense of our observations. By identifying three types of conflicts: 1) task conflict, 2) role conflict, 3) tool conflict, we begin to explain what turns professionals away from data science

Je t'aime, moi non plus: Bilateral opinions and international trade

This paper studies the relationship between bilateral trade patterns and opinions. It uses the Eurobarometer public opinion surveys published by the European Commission, which provide data on the share of the population in each EU15 member country in favour of each CEEC joining the EU. Our results first suggest that bilateral opinions have a statistically robust and relatively large effect on imports, even when standard and new covariates capturing proximity between countries are controlled for. We interpret this effect as reflecting a positive impact of “bilateral affinity” on trade patterns. We also show that it is possible to go some way towards explaining the variance in bilateral opinions among our sample. Last we provide some preliminary attempt to determine causality between bilateral opinions and imports

A Social Network Approach to Blogs: Improving Digital Collaborative Learning

Blogs as digital collaboration tools are promising resources in higher education to impart knowledge, enhance collaboration and social interaction among students and thus, to increase their success. Despite the widespread use of blogs, little is known about blogs’ impact on students’ social networks and its effect on learning success. Therefore, based on a social network perspective, we empirically assess the change in the social network of 51 blog users. We are among the first to investigate the influence of the social network’s characteristics on students\u27 subjectively perceived performance and access to knowledge within a blog-learning environment. We find evidence that blogs significantly increase the students\u27 social networks, but are primarily a medium for reinforcing what the student has learned rather than influencing performance related outcomes. Our results yield important practical and theoretical recommendations on how blogs can be used to enhance students’ social networks and in turn increase their success

Exposure to foreign media and changes in cultural traits: Evidence from naming patterns in France

Free trade in audio-visual services has faced opposition on the grounds that foreign media undermine domestic culture, and ultimately, global diversity. Using a long panel of French birth registries, we assess the media-culture link using name frequencies as a measure of tastes. Controlling for the number of people who currently have a name and unobserved name effects, our regressions show that media influences choices via selective imitation. Parents are much more likely to adopt media names that they associate with youth. Using estimated parameters, we simulate our model of name choice to reveal that, absent foreign media, less than 5% of French babies would have been named differently. Our simulations also suggest a positive effect of foreign media on the welfare of parents