Maastricht University - Open Journals
Not a member yet
451 research outputs found
Sort by
Ethnic Group Representativeness and the Effect on Political Conflict
Get PDFAbstract. This paper looks at the relationship between the underrepresentation of ethnicminority groups in governments and the effect on violence and conflict that is initiated bythese groups. Ethnic minority groups that are underrepresented in political decision-makingare likely to express their opinions outside of the political routine, by means of conflict. Threepotential determinants of representation are analyzed. An increase in the effective number ofparliamentary parties is expected to lead to more ethnic groups being represented and thus to adecrease in conflict. A more proportional electoral system or electoral type should lead tomore parties in parliament and to a more proportionate depiction of society, thus includingethnic minority groups more adequately and decreasing conflict. An increase in the share ofseats of parties classified as ethnic relative to the share of the population held by ethnicgroups, the share ratio, yields more proportional representation and should therefore alsoresult in less conflict. Empirical analysis of a sample of 52 countries consistently supports thepredictions regarding the share ratio, while the rest of the theory cannot be supported reliably.The results should be evaluated with caution due to an apparent mismatch between ethnicgroups and ethnic parties
The Effects of Major Natural Disasters on Developing and Underdeveloped Countries: A look At The Savings Rate
Get PDFThis paper examines the effect of natural disasters on the savings rate in developing countries. There are different theories on the effects of natural disasters on economic factors. This paper contributes to the existing literature by testing these theories through a panel data analysis. Despite the scarcity of the data, the analysis revealed tendencies in the savings behavior following natural disasters in developing countries. It shows that households first suffer from the direct effect and dig into their savings, they than increase their savings rate in order to save money to rebuild what was destroyed or damaged, and after a few years, the savings rate falls again
Bootstrapping Realized Volatility in the presence of Intra-day Periodicity
No full textWhen looking at prices in the stock market, it becomes clear that these prices are rather volatile. This means that prices vary over the day. Estimating the degree of variation through the day is of great importance to practitioners in the financial markets, and has therefore become a popular topic in financial econometric literature. The more prices are observed throughout the day the more accurately one can estimate the daily volatility. However, as is the problem with any estimation, we cannot say with 100% certainty that the estimated value is equal to the true value. What we can do is construct a confidence interval around our estimate. A confidence interval states that the true value lies within a specified range with a certain probability. In order to do this we need two things: we need to know the variance of our estimator and we need to know its distribution. Although the first issue can be dealt with, the second issue proves itself to be difficult. The goal of my bachelor thesis was to investigate the effect of assuming an intra-day periodicity factor in the volatility of the stock price on the ability of the bootstrap methods to provide better confidence intervals
MaRBLe uncensored: An experience report of the MaRBLe adventure
No full textMarble: Maastricht Research-Based Learning, program for excellence. It sounds interesting, intriguing and challenging. Well, it really is all of that and more. Overall it is lots of fun! In the present article I will provide you with an overview of what Marble is. I will describe the different steps of the program, from ups to (occasional) downs. Furthermore, I will briefly explain my Marble study and results. When I first heard of Marble I did not quite know what it entailed. It did, however, sound tempting enough for me to find out more about it. Marble offers highly motivated and excellent students with research affinity the chance to improve their skills during an intensive research program. In a nutshell, you set up a study under supervision of an expert in the field, exchange and discuss ideas with fellow students, learn in depth about research skills and develop these skills yourself. If you want to apply, there are some requirements you should take into consideration. First, you need a grade point average of 7.0 and you have to write a letter of motivation. Please do not be discouraged if your GPA is slightly under 7.0. Strong motivation can squeeze you in anyway. I believe motivation and enthusiasm might be equally, if not more important than GPA. However, I am not the one deciding whether you may enroll. Secondly, you should be interested in research. If you are planning a career in research, or maybe strive for a PhD, Marble would be a great opportunity to develop and elaborate your research skills. Considering my ignorance when it comes to statistics I thought I would never be admitted when I applied. Our Marble coordinator Arie van der Lugt\u27s enthusiasm was contagious, though, and eventually I went home with an overload of motivation and self-esteem. Arie appeared to be an excellent captain of the Marble ship; committed and inspiring with a bunch of humour. Now that I was officially admitted, the next step was to think of a topic and to contact a supervisor
Supplier Innovation Drivers: Enabling the creative supplier to award the entire supply chain a competitive edge
Get PDFThe importance of added value stemming from supplier involvement during the innovation process of New Product Development has been highlighted by academics, press releases, and expert opinions. For businesses it is relevant to know how the innovation potential of their supplier can be accessed and developed. The focus of this paper, hence, is to provide a closer examination of the factors that buying firms can apply to encourage their suppliers to contribute value during the innovation process. A theoretical framework based on the findings of previous studies on the topic is developed. The model depicts what happens on both sides of the buyer-supplier relationship. A case study is designed and applied in order to investigate how the hypothesized factors and outcomes relate to reality. For this purpose a dual case design is chosen and implemented with a pair of firms which find themselves in a vivid buyer-supplier relationship with innovation efforts at the time of the study. Following a close examination it is reflected on the findings of the case study in order to transfer the results into managerial as well as research implications. The case study depicts trust as an essential component of the investigated partnership. Trust is seen as the basis for granting autonomy, for sharing information and for investing in the relationship in order to develop long term commitment and for providing lasting value to both parties. Furthermore, formally ensuring commitment as well as providing communication and feedback devices have proven as vitally shaping the relationship of the two cases examined. The resulting innovations have the potential to provide a source of competitive advantage and to improve the cost structure of the entire supply chain
Empirical analysis of procedures that schedule unit length jobs subject to precedence constraints forming in- and out-stars
Get PDFThis paper addresses the problem of scheduling unit length jobs subject to precedence constraints forming in- and out-stars. There are several different procedures that can be used to solve this problem and our aim in this paper is to compare these procedures empirically. We found that one algorithm that was thought to solve the problem optimally didn\u27t do so for the general set of instances and that all procedures that we tested did not perform well if the number of stars in the instance was close but below the number of machines in the instance
Investigating Correlation and Volatility Transmission among Equity, Gold, Oil and Foreign Exchange
Get PDFThe paper offers an investigation into the co-movement between the returns of the S&P 500 stock index, the price of gold, West Texas Intermediate crude oil and the exchange rate of the Swiss Franc to the US Dollar. The research finds significant evidence for a correlation between the returns of the time series as well as their volatilities. The input values for these volatilities is a univariate GARCH(1,1) process for each of the time series. Are more detailed insight into the correlations is provided by a dynamic conditional correlation model on each pair of assets. There is enough significant evidence to suggest that the returns are correlated and there is volatility transmission between the assets. Further, the fact that volatility and correlation can be modeled suggests they can also be forecasted. In combination this knowledge is crucial in areas of risk management, portfolio management or even speculation on volatility indices.
Preface
No full textFrom April 2013 to the end of June 2013 the current group of authors worked on the Maastricht Project of European Private Law, as the maRBLe for Excellence project is named. With various visits to Brussels, the group of authors engaged with Brussels-based stakeholders to test some of their ideas and presented their research results at the end of June in a full day student-organised seminar at the UM Campus Brussels. The results of the work are presented in this volume. A word of warm thanks goes out to all that have contributed to this issue, in particular to the students who worked so hard to present their views in the most optimal manner
Introduction
Get PDFThis essay collection marks the conclusion of the MARBLE (Maastricht University Research Based Learning) for Excellence project on Neurolaw in 2013. Its objective was to address some of the complexities arising from the intersection of law and science. In particular, our attention was focused on the possible contributions that neuroimaging and neuroscience in general could yield to the field of law. The consequent research addressed the issue from a variety of perspectives – legal philosophy, criminal procedure, as well as human rights and rehabilitation
On the Desirability of Bonus-payments in Public Sector Remuneration
Get PDFTwo-third of all OECD countries implemented a bonus system to reward their employees. This study identifies the two main arguments of the proponents of these bonus systems. First, bonuses would motivate public servants and second, new talented staff would be attracted to the public service. By means of Political Discourse Evaluation, this paper shows that whether these arguments are convincing, is determined by on one’s expectations of a public servant. If one supposes that public servants should be motivated by some intrinsic urge to make the world a better place instead of by monetary rewards, the argument becomes less acceptable. Furthermore, this analysis shows that the acceptability of the arguments depends on the doubtful assumptions that humans act fully rationally and suitable targets for public servants can be set