Intergenerational inequality and old-age poverty are salient isuues in contemporary China. China's aging population threatens the fiscal sustainability of its pension system, a key vehicle for intergenerational redistribution. We analyze the positive and normative effects of alternative pension reforms, using a dynamic general equilibrium model that incorporates population dynamics and...
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Grandparents are regular providers of free child care. Similar to any other form of child care, availability of grandparent-provided child care affects fertility and labor market decisions of women positively. We find that women in Germany, residing close to parents or in-laws are more likely to have children and that as mothers they are more likely to hold a regular part-or fulltime job....
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Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2011 ; 2011ECO010.
The main goal of this thesis is to present and evaluate different procedures for modeling and forecasting volatility, and examine the relative accuracy of these forecasts using data from the light, sweet crude oil futures market traded at New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). First, we consider various volatility models and find that the models, which account for long memory, has the best...
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In: Energy economics, 2012, vol. 34, no. 5, p. 1484–1491
This paper estimates a US frontier residential aggregate energy demand function using panel data for 48 ‘states’ over the period 1995 to 2007 using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Utilizing an econometric energy demand model, the (in)efficiency of each state is modelled and it is argued that this represents a measure of the inefficient use of residential energy in each state (i.e....
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In: Journalism and mass communication quarterly, 2012, vol. 89, no. 3, p. 414-430
This quantitative content analysis applies the theory of instrumental actualization to Swiss newspaper coverage of smoking bans in public places. The theory holds that journalists' opinions affect news selection; it is studied here for the weighting and evaluation of arguments in news stories. The editorial stance of newspapers was related to the weighting of argumentative fields and the...
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This paper investigates tourists’ profile in relation to both intra-destination movement patterns and transportation mode choices at the destination through the use of bivariate probit models. The analysis is based on a field survey conducted among tourists visiting the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland. The results show a positive correlation between visiting more than one region and the use...
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Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2012 ; 2012COM004.
Il concetto di cultura è divenuto pervasivo nella descrizione della realtà sociale ed il suo ruolo nel determinare le relazioni tra gruppi sociali sembra aver acquisito una posizione di prominenza in particolare a seguito agli attentati dell’11 settembre 2001, confermando secondo alcuni autori la tesi dello scontro di civiltà avanzata da Huntington nel 1993 ed attribuendo un ruolo centrale...
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Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2012 ; 2012COM002.
Working together benefits from colleagues, team members, or peers being at the same place. With collaborating teams being more and more dispersed in an increasingly networked world, people and organizations turn to the Internet as a medium to work and learn together. Collaborative virtual environments (CVE) in general attempt to provide settings in which the users or participants feel...
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In this paper we investigate households demand for school meals using a stated preferences approach. Data are collected through phone-structured interviews to 905 residents with children in the German-speaking region of Switzerland during 2007. A Poisson model with random effects is used to explore factors affecting the demand for meals at school. The results show that meals price, household...
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Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2012 ; 2012ECO001.
The thesis focuses on the determinants of immigrant self-employment rates and self-employment transitions. The research is divided into three chapters. The focus of the first essay is on the effects of group characteristics and market conditions on self-employment propensity of immigrants. The results show that group characteristics such as linguistic ability and time elapsed since...
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