We estimate habit formation in voting—the effect of past on current turnout—by exploiting transitory voting cost shocks. Using county-level data on US presidential elections from 1952–2012, we find ...that rainfall on current and past election days reduces voter turnout. Our estimates imply that a 1-point decrease in past turnout lowers current turnout by 0.6–1.0 points. Further analyses suggest that habit formation operates by reinforcing the direct consumption value of voting and that our estimates may be amplified by social spillovers.
Asymmetries and Portfolio Choice Dahlquist, Magnus; Farago, Adam; Tédongap, Roméo
The Review of financial studies,
02/2017, Letnik:
30, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
We examine the portfolio choice of an investor with generalized disappointment-aversion preferences who faces log returns described by a normal-exponential model. We derive a three-fund separation ...strategy: the investor allocates wealth to a risk-free asset, a standard mean-variance efficient fund, and an additional fund reflecting return asymmetries. The optimal portfolio is characterized by the investor's endogenous effective risk aversion and implicit asymmetry aversion. In empirical applications, we find that disappointment aversion is associated with much larger asymmetry aversion than are standard preferences. Our model explains patterns in popular portfolio advice across both risk appetites and investment horizons.
Abstract
Despite a legacy of research that emphasizes contradictions and their role in explaining change, less is understood about their character or the mechanisms that support them. This gap is ...especially problematic when making causal claims about the sources of institutional change and our overall conceptions of how institutions matter in social meanings and organizational practices. If we treat contradictions as a persistent societal feature, then a primary analytic task is to distinguish their prevalence from their effects. We address this gap in the context of US electoral discourse and education through an analysis of presidential platforms. We ask how contradictions take hold, persist, and might be observed prior to, or independently of, their strategic use. Through a novel combination of content analysis and computational linguistics, we observe contradictions in qualitative differences in form and quantitative differences in degree. Whereas much work predicts that ideologies produce contradictions between groups, our analysis demonstrates that they actually support convergence in meaning between groups while promoting contradiction within groups.
Dr. Alfred Oberholz (1952-2012) Marshall, Rebekkah
Chemical Engineering,
03/2012, Letnik:
119, Številka:
3
Magazine Article, Trade Publication Article
Last month, the chemical process industries (CPI) lost an influential leader. Dr. Alfred Oberholz died Feb 2, 2012 unexpectedly. He was 59. As former chairman of Dechema e.V., Oberholz was often ...found at the center of a global stage. Dechema, after all, is the organizer of Achema, the world's largest exhibition-congress for chemical engineering, environmental protection and biotechnology; which takes place once every three years, including 2012. Whoever knew Oberholz immediately mentions his enthusiasm for innovation and his aspiration to think in unusual categories while also motivating others to do the same. Whether in his professional life or his many honorary engagements, he brought new things forward. He has left a large gap.
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