Working papers SES

Working papers SES
The Working Papers SES collection is a series of research papers authored by members of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). This series exists since 1980 and the themes investigated reflect the different scientific orientations of the Faculty: economics, business administration, computer management, quantitative methods, social sciences and media and communication sciences. The contents of the research papers are the sole responsibility of their authors.

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Université de Fribourg

Adverse Effects of Monitoring: Evidence from a field experiment

Herz, Holger ; Zihlmann, Christian

(Working Papers SES ; 522)

We conduct a field experiment with remote workers to assess potential adverse effects of monitoring. We find that monitoring reduces the average performance of workers, in particular among the intrinsically motivated workforce. Moreover, monitoring cultivates the average worker: There are fewer high performers and the variance in performance is significantly reduced. Importantly, we show that...

Université de Fribourg

Une analyse critique de la composition des exportations du canton du Tessin et une appréciation des risques d'une revalorisation du franc suisse

Massonnet, Jonathan

(Working Papers SES ; 420)

Afin d’apprécier les risques d’une revalorisation du taux de change du franc suisse pour l’économie du canton du Tessin, cet article débute par une analyse critique de la structure de ses exportations, selon une méthodologie que nous avons développée dans un article connexe relatif à l’économie fribourgeoise (Massonnet, 2011). Après avoir brièvement exposé la structure...

Université de Fribourg

Analyse des rémunérations des dirigeants de sociétés suisses cotées en bourse entre 2007 et 2012

Isakov, Dušan ; Parietti, Simone

(Working Papers SES ; 449)

Cet article analyse les rémunérations des dirigeants des sociétés suisses cotées en bourse entre 2007 et 2012. Dans un premier temps, nous exposons les différentes composantes du revenu ainsi que le rôle de chaque élément avant de jeter un regard critique sur le contenu informationnel des rapports de gestion en matière de rémunération. Nous présentons ensuite le contenu de la base de...

Université de Fribourg

Are Founding Families Special Blockholders ? An Investigation of Controlling Shareholder Influence on Firm Performance

Isakov, Dušan ; Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe

(Working Papers SES ; 428)

This paper examines how family and non-family ownership affects the performance of Swiss listed firms from 2003 to 2010. We distinguish between these two types of controlling shareholders since they have different objectives. We hypothesise that only family shareholders have a real incentive to reduce agency costs whereas non-family blockholders are similar to widely held companies. Our results...

Université de Fribourg

Are sociocultural factors important for studying a science university major?

Grossmann, Volker ; Osikominu, Aderonke ; Osterfeld, Marius

(Working Papers SES ; 460)

This paper examines the role of the sociocultural background of students for choosing STEM fields in university. We combine rich survey data on university graduates in Switzerland with municipality level information from the census as well as nationwide elections and referenda to characterize a student›s home environment with respect to religious and political attitudes towards gender equality...

Université de Fribourg

Assessing the effects of seasonal tariff-rate quotas on vegetable prices in Switzerland

Loginova, Daria ; Portmann, Marco ; Huber, Martin

(Working Papers SES ; 521)

Causal estimation of the short-term effects of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on vegetable producer prices is hampered by the large variety and different growing seasons of vegetables and is therefore rarely performed. We quantify the effects of Swiss seasonal TRQs on domestic producer prices of a variety of vegetables based on a difference-indifferences estimation using a novel dataset of weekly...

Université de Fribourg

Better roads, better off? : Evidence on improving roads in Tanzania

Dumas, Christelle ; Játiva, Ximena

(Working Papers SES ; 518)

Spatial isolation is considered as one of the main determinants of poverty. Therefore, many transport investments are undertaken with a stated objective of poverty reduction. In our paper, we evaluate a Tanzanian program that rehabilitated 2500km of major roads between 2008 and 2013. We deal with endogenous placement issues with a household fixed-effect strategy combined with a propensity score...

Université de Fribourg

Bezahlte Freiwilligenarbeit - ein Widerspruch ?

Gmür, Markus ; Gmür, Markus

(Working Papers SES ; 434)

In der Theorie zeichnet sich Freiwilligenarbeit dadurch aus, dass sie ohne Zwang und ohne eine entsprechende Bezahlung geleistet wird. In der Praxis zeigt sich jedoch, dass NPO für die Leistungen der Freiwilligen nicht selten ein Entgelt zahlen, das zwar deutlich unter marktüblichen Ansätzen liegt, aber in Summe einen signifikanten Betrag erreichen kann. Die Motivationsforschung warnt...

Université de Fribourg

Birth weight and long-term outcomes in a developing country

Baguet, Marie ; Dumas, Christelle

(Working Papers SES ; 465)

This paper analyzes the empirical relationship between endowment at birth and long-term outcomes. Birth weight has been shown to influence outcomes later in life, suggesting that in-utero shocks have long lasting consequences. However, traditional measures of human capital at birth (i.e. birth weight) are potentially measured with error and endogenous. We deal with such issues thanks to the use...

Université de Fribourg

Bounds on direct and indirect effects under treatment/mediator endogeneity and outcome attrition

Huber, Martin ; Lafférs, Lukáš

(Working Papers SES ; 514)

Causal mediation analysis aims at disentangling a treatment effect into an indirect mechanism operating through an intermediate outcome or mediator, as well as the direct effect of the treatment on the outcome of interest. However, the evaluation of direct and indirect effects is frequently complicated by non-ignorable selection into the treatment and/or mediator, even after controlling for...