Auctions - A Survey

The importance of auction theory has gained increased recognition in the scientific community, the latest recognition being the award of the Nobel price to Vickrey and Mirrlees. Auction theory has been used in quite different fields, both theoretically and empirically. This paper connects recent developments in theoretical and empirical works, providing a survey about theoretical, empirical, and experimental results.Auction Theory, Information and Uncertainty, Asymmetric and Private Information

Temporary Help Services Employment in Portugal, 1995-2000

Whereas there is widespread belief that workers in temporary help services (THS) are subject to poorer working conditions, in particular pay, than comparable workers in the rest of the economy, there is little evidence on whether that is driven by the sector per se or by the workers' characteristics. The first aim of this analysis is to quantify the wage penalty, if any, for workers in THS firms. Secondly, we analyze the wage profile of workers right before and after spells of THS. Linked employer-employee data for Portugal enable us to account for observable as well as unobservable worker quality. Our results show that workers in THS firms earn lower wages than their peers and that this difference is mostly due to the workers' characteristics. We estimate that workers in THS firms earn on average 9% less than comparable workers in the rest of the economy if we control for the workers' observable attributes only. This difference is reduced to about 1% when we control for unobservable characteristics as well. However, interesting differences emerge across groups. Younger workers, both men and women, earn higher wages in TAW than their peers in other firms, while the opposite holds for prime-age and older workers. Moreover, for young workers THS firms is not associated with a stigma effect that slows their wage progression after they work for THS, as opposed to prime-age and older workers, in particular males. Also before entering THS the wage trends are different. Prime-age and older workers, both male and female, see their wages deteriorate relative to their peers before entering THS, suggesting that adverse labor market conditions may motivate them to search for a THS job. On the contrary, for young workers we do not detect any pre-THS wage trend.

Consumption Based Capital Asset Pricing and the Austrian Stock Exchange

Using data from the Vienna Stock Exchange we investigate three different types of consumption based capital asset pricing models: the well known two state model of Mehra and Prescott, the model of Rietz, which includes also a crash state, and an own four state model. The aim of this Vienna Stock Exchange during the 1980s into account. For all the models we calculate the risk premium in order to see whether the models could explain the empirically observed risk premium. For the calculation of risk premia we use estimators generated by the General Method of Moments.Consumption based Capital Pricing Models, GMM, Equity Premium Puzzle

Do current income and annual income measures provide different pictures of Britain's income distribution?

'Most UK surveys, including those used each year to derive the official UK income distribution statistics ('Households Below Average Income'), provide measures of current household income rather than annual household income, which is the measure used in most other countries. Using British Household Panel Survey data, we examine whether estimates of Britain's income distribution and its trends are sensitive to the choice between current and annual income measures. The main finding is that current and annual income measures provide remarkably similar results. The authors explore why.' (author's abstract)Die meisten angelsaechsischen Untersuchungen, einschliesslich jener, die jedes Jahr genutzt werden, um die offizielle Einkommensverteilungs-Statistik in Grossbritannien ('Households Below Average Income') abzuleiten, stellen Angaben zum gegenwaertigen Haushaltseinkommen bereit und weniger zum jaehrlichen Haushaltseinkommen, was die uebliche Vorgehensweise in den meisten Laendern ist. Die Autoren untersuchen anhand von Daten des 'British Household Panel Survey', ob Schaetzungen der britischen Einkommensverteilung und ihre Trends empfaenglich fuer die Wahl zwischen gegenwaertigen und jaehrlichen Einkommensmassen sind. Das Hauptergebnis lautet, dass gegenwaertige und jaehrliche Einkommensmasse bemerkenswert gleiche Resultate liefern. Die Autoren untersuchen die Gruende hierfuer. (ICIUebers)German title: Liefern gegenwaertige und jaehrliche Einkommensmasse unterschiedliche Bilder von Grossbritanniens Einkommensverteilung?Available from http://www.diw.de/deutsch/publikationen/diskussionspapiere/docs/papers/dp214.pdf / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Why are West African children underweight?

'The incidence of underweight amongst children under five in Western Africa has been increasing over the last decade (UNICEF, 2002). In Asia, where about two thirds of the world's underweight children live, the rate of underweight declined from about 36 per cent to some 29 per cent between 1990 and 2000. In sub-Saharan Africa, the absolute number of underweight children has increased and is now about 36 per cent. Using new data from Demographic and Health Surveys, I estimate the probability of underweight or a sample of West African children, controlling for selective survival.' (author's abstract)Die Untergewichtigkeit bei Kindern unter fuenf Jahren in Westafrika hat im Verlauf des letzten Jahrzehnts zugenommen (UNICEF 2002). In Asien, wo ungefaehr zwei Drittel der untergewichtigen Kinder auf dieser Welt leben, ist der Anteil untergewichtiger Kinder zwischen 1990 und 2000 von 36% auf 29% gefallen. Im Afrika suedlich der Sahara hat die Zahl untergewichtiger Kinder zugenommen, der Anteil liegt jetzt bei 36%. Auf der Basis neuer Umfragedaten wird in diesem Beitrag die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Untergewichtigkeit fuer eine Stichprobe westafrikanischer Kinder berechnet. (ICEUebers)German title: Warum haben Kinder in Westafrika Untergewicht?SIGLEAvailable from ftp://ftp.stat.uni-muenchen.de/pub/sfb386/paper274.pdf / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman