Search results

In antitrust class-action litigation, courts are increasingly unlikely to accept the presumption that all class members were harmed by price-fixing among a group of firms or by exclusionary behavior by a single firm. Econometric methods typically applied in antitrust and other settings estimate the average effect of the challenged conduct, but do not inform impact for individual class members. We present classwide econometric methods and statistical tests for detecting the existence (or lack thereof) of common impact and determining what proportion (if any) of the proposed class suffered injury in many class actions. We conclude that econometric tools can meaningfully inform the legal process, even when courts demand proof of common impact.

In class action antitrust litigation, the standards for acceptable economic analysis at class certification have continued to evolve. The most recent event in this evolution is the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1435 (2013). The evolution of pre-Comcast law on this topic is presented, the Comcast decision is thoroughly assessed, as are the standards for developing reliable economic analysis. This article explains how economic evidence of both antitrust liability and damages ought to be developed in light of the teachings of Comcast, and how liability evidence can be used by economists to support a finding of common impact for certification purposes. In addition, the article addresses how statistical techniques such as averaging, price-dispersion analysis, and multiple regressions have and should be employed to establish common proof of damages.

In 2009, the Third Circuit decided Hydrogen Peroxide, which announced a more rigorous standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) for assessing whether a putative class could establish antitrust injury. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court decided Comcast v. Behrend, a case that carries potentially broad implications for both antitrust cases and Rule 23(b)(3) class actions generally. A review of the case law starting with Hydrogen Peroxide and continuing through Comcast and its progeny reveals the new rigor in antitrust class action decisions and suggests what the future may hold, including the type of arguments that may provide defendants the most likely chance of defeating class certification. After Comcast, rigor under 23(b)(3) can no longer be avoided in assessing all class actions questions, and courts should now apply Daubert fully in the class setting concerning both impact and damages. Courts should also closely evaluate plaintiffs’ proposed methodologies for proving impact to determine if they apply to each class member. Finally, courts will inevitably have to determine how rigorously to scrutinize experts’ damages methodologies and whether Comcast requires or suggests more scrutiny in assessing common evidence for measuring damages.

The purpose of this paper is to test the merits of the view that the English language has emerged as the dominant language in international business. If there is merit to this view, then the ability to speak English and its role as a lingua franca in the global economy would imply that countries which have English as an official language should have a benefit over non‐English‐speaking countries vis‐à‐vis their abilities to undertake international business.

Within an augmented gravity model framework, the importance of the English language in explaining bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) data within the OECD is tested. In addition to English, all other common official languages within the OECD are also tested. Furthermore, the linguistic distance to English is used to test whether closeness of languages to English enhance international business activity.

The results indicate that English‐speaking countries within the OECD do have a benefit that comes with the English language. Furthermore, countries whose official languages are linguistically close to English benefit from the special role played by the English language. These results therefore highlight the importance of the English language in deploying multinational strategies, even in countries whose official language is not English.

These results therefore indicate the importance of the English language in international business. As such, having a proficiency with English within any corporation should enhance that corporation's ability to engage in international business.

Sharing a common language with FDI partners enhances the ability to communicate, and hence enhances FDI between the countries. This paper extends this evidence to show that when the common language is English, the common language effect is strongest.

This paper aims to describe and characterise the actions carried out by Italian organisations participating in the Economy for the Common Good (ECG) movement and to analyse these actions through the lens of decent work (DW), identifying patterns leading to a typology and conceptual propositions on the subject.

A documentary analysis was conducted on 14 reports describing the actions taken by Italian organisations that belong to the ECG movement. Qualitative content analysis was performed using QSR-NVivo12. The descriptive analysis of the codes was made, as well as a cluster analysis based on coding similarity.

A total of 1,497 actions were coded, and four clusters, grouping sets of the common good reports, were identified. Results suggest that Customers, Business Partners and Staff and Owners are the most addressed stakeholders, human dignity and environmental sustainability are the most addressed values and Fulfilling and Productive Work and Fundamental Principles and Values at Work are the most addressed DW dimensions. Additionally, all clusters are intensive in environmental concerns but have differentiated priorities. Cluster analysis suggests three drivers: recognition, core business closeness and social common good impact. A total of five conceptual propositions are being made useable by organisational leaders who intend to adhere to the ECG movement.

The main limitation is the low number of organisations participating in the ECG movement in Italy, which restricts the scope of the conclusions.

The results are helpful as inputs for designing interventions in organisations that intend to start or strengthen their involvement in the ECG movement.

Identifying DW aspects related to common good indicators and the four approaches to the ECG adhesion corresponding to the four clusters.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on: first, what major impacts do organizers perceive special events to create, and how do they measure an event’s success? second, do these perceived impacts align with the major themes of economic benefits, social impacts, and community cohesiveness revealed in the existing literature? and third, why do event organizers perceive these major impacts?

In order to gain a better understanding of the types of community impact event organizers anticipate from, and attempt to solicit through special events, this study makes use of a survey with open-ended questions. Such questions enable a broader discussion between interviewees and interviewers, giving interviewees greater response leeway and generating more material for the researcher’s analysis.

Findings suggest that bringing the community together, producing economic benefits for local businesses, and creating socializing and educational opportunities for visitors are the primary impacts anticipated by interviewed event organizers. In particular, providing a positive experience by getting the community involved proves to be the key element to the success of any special event discussed.

There are a couple of limitations to the study. First, the study presented a relatively small sample. Second, these results may relate to the institutions located along Lake Erie where parks and recreation have long been viewed as an integral part of community life.

This study represents a first attempt to complement the quantitative data in the former research with a qualitative study. Through in-depth interviews, it sets out to create a dialogue from the event organizers along Lake Erie in the USA to help better understand the impacts of special events prepared by Parks and Recreation Departments.

This paper aims to address the effective selection of customers for direct marketing campaigns. It introduces a new method to forecast campaign-related uplifts (also known as incremental response modeling or net scoring). By means of these uplifts, only the most responsive customers are targeted by a campaign. This paper also aims at calculating the financial impact of the new approach compared to the classical (gross) scoring methods.

First, gross and net scoring approaches to customer selection for direct marketing campaigns are compared. After that, it is shown how net scoring can be applied in practice with regard to different strategical objectives. Then, a new statistic for net scoring based on decision trees is developed. Finally, a business case based on real data from the financial sector is calculated to compare gross and net scoring approaches.

Whereas gross scoring focuses on customers with a high probability of purchase, regardless of being targeted by a campaign, net scoring identifies those customers who are most responsive to campaigns. A common scoring procedure – decision trees – can be enhanced by the new statistic to forecast those campaign-related uplifts. The business case shows that the selected scoring method has a relevant impact on economical indicators.

The contribution of net scoring to campaign effectiveness and efficiency is shown by the business case. Furthermore, this paper suggests a framework for customer selection, given strategical objectives, e.g. minimizing costs or maximizing (gross or lift)-added value, and presents a new statistic that can be applied to common scoring procedures.

Despite its lever on the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, only few contributions address net scores up to now. The new χ²-statistic is a straightforward approach to the enhancement of decision trees for net scoring. Furthermore, this paper is the first to the application of net scoring with regard to different strategical objectives.

This bibliography aims to give citations and annotations for a core selection of sources on the information and learning commons trend in academic libraries.

Articles, books, and web sites relevant to this topic were found in the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database; Library Literature Index; WorldCat; and on the internet. Sources were chosen that contribute to an overview of the concepts or cover practical considerations in implementation.

Libraries are developing best practices as they experiment with learner‐centered service models, but they apply these best practices differently according to their unique needs. Early implementations focus on technology and access, while later implementations focus on more collaborations surrounding learner‐centered pedagogies.

This bibliography selects from English language books, web sites, and peer reviewed journals about US, British, Canadian, and Oceania academic libraries, large and small.

This survey of the literature will help librarians and administrators understand the theoretical trends and collaboration that influence how libraries can change service, space, and technology to meet emerging needs.

Ten years after the first comprehensive review of fiscal noting in the states, revisiting the impact of cost analysis on unfunded state mandates yields pessimistic conclusions. More states have adopted fiscal noting over the period, yet few report that the process is successful. The majority of fiscal notes contain no cost estimates at all for a variety of reasons, including lack of time, lack of resources, lack of legislative attention, and perhaps lack of institutional capacity.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how funding support for intergenerational initiatives can have a positive impact on individuals and communities. The author aims to argue that there are strong motivations for organisations and associations supported by local and national government to adopt intergenerational approaches to their work and to outline areas where need for future work remains.

The paper describes learning gained from initiatives supported through a four‐year funding programme by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Highlighting research by a range of parties on the need for and value of intergenerational work, the article moves on to describing key success factors identified through its own programme of work in creating high impact intergenerational work.

Drawing on experience gained from the support of some 50 projects under the Foundation's programme, a number of key elements are identified in the paper as particularly effective in creating successful intergenerational initiatives with significant impact: commonality – a common interest or goal shared among the different ages; co‐design – involve beneficiaries in developing activities; contribution – recognise that every participant has something to offer; community – house the work with key local players; competences – support and train staff to work with different ages.

Extending the literature base on the value of intergenerational practice, the article draws learning from a range of innovative projects in the UK and Portugal, where intergenerational work is still uncommon. The programme of funding was innovative in applying new approaches to intergenerational work including co‐design and social entrepreneurship. The article represents the first comparative analysis of a range of projects funded through the programme.