Contributions in Merlin

An artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm is proposed that incorporates both market segmentation and discriminant (regression) analysis of the segments. The method simultaneously estimates the models relating consumer characteristics to market segments, i.e., subjects are assigned to (unique) segments so that subjects within a class show similar purchase behavior and share the same characteristics (psychographics/sociodemographics). Parameters of all models are estimated by the backpropagation algorithm. The performance of the ANN methodology is assessed in a Monte-Carlo study. In contrast to the usual stepwise approach adopted in segmentation studies, our study found that simultaneous segmentation and discrimination are preferable for finding an overall optimum in that this way clusters are formed not only to create homogeneous submarkets but also to show a good dicriminatory behavior.

The recent flows of immigrants to many countries has been categorized by both legal/illegal migrants. Such migration flows have occurred despite the presence of domestic unemployment of various categories of labour. It has also been observed that migration has lowered the reward of unskilled workers. These problems are analysed on the basis of two alternative models: (i) where skilled workers and (ii) where unskilled workers are unemployed. It is shown that migration may raise both skilled/unskilled employment and welfare under plausible factor intensity conditions. More importantly, illegal migration may help in lowering the relative price of the non-traded good while the impact of migration on structural adjustment is ambiguous.

null

Information is widely considered one of the most important resources in the information age. Appropriate access to information is becoming increasingly important. This increase in the importance of information is accompanied by a dramatic increase in the amount of available information. Sophisticated information retrieval techniques have been developed that allow for efficient search and retrieval of specific documents from large document collections. Similar techniques are increasingly used in to support users in searching for all kinds of information. The widespread idea is that users have so-called information needs and that they utilize computers in order to satisfy these information needs. It is assumed that the user’s information needs can be modeled in such a way that computers can be used to automate the search for appropriate information. In this thesis, I argue that the concept of searching for information as a particular activity is based on the so-called rationalistic perspective. In this perspective, it is assumed that the basic mechanisms underlying human cognition and those underlying the functioning of computer systems are essentially the same. Recent results from research in cognitive science and, in particular, “situated cognition” , suggest that the principles underlying human cognition and those underlying data- processing in computers are fundamentally different. According to the situated cognition perspective, it is inappropriate to describe human cognition as a sequence of well-defined steps. Rather, cognition is fundamentally a continuous process. Based on this particular understanding of cognition, I argue for a new perspective on human information seeking. According to this perspective, information seeking is not a particular activity occurring in specific search situations but a permanently occurring process that is highly interactive and inherently situated. Indeed, the concept of searching as a specific activity ceases to exist when investigated in detail and thus seems to be artificially constructed. This does not mean, however, that searching as a specific activity does not exist at all but that searching is often simplified and “rationalized” when described as goal-directed search. In addition, the situated perspective explains why the scope of rational approaches to information-seeking support is limited: they are efficient in retrieving specific well-defined information but they can hardly cope with the situated aspects of information seeking. Based on the understanding of information seeking as situated activity, I discuss a conceptual framework for the development of tools that support situated information seeking. This framework adopts the notion of “scaffolding minds”, i.e., the understanding that the human mind depends to a large extent on its capability to transform complex “information-processing tasks” into simpler associative tasks by exploiting structures of the real world and by actively re-structuring problems into series of simpler problems so that they better fit the capabilities of human cognition. The focus of the framework is not on the efficient retrieval of specific information but on exploitation and the structuring of the social as well as the physical environment of the information seeker in order to simplify the access to information services and information. The framework is illustrated by three examples that I developed or supervised in the context of this thesis. The examples indicate a variety of promising ways to support situated information seeking by structuring the physical as well as the social environment in an appropriate way. However, the approaches also indicate that structuring the social environment is different from well-defined tasks, such as programming a computer. Social competence is required in order to exploit the full potential of the social environment as the members of the social environment have to be willing to support others in accessing information.

The paper reviews contributions in the literature, which lend theoretical and empirical credibility to the idea that the banking relationship is valuable and important for the firm. Banks offer a lending relationship as the solution to the firm's ongoing credit needs. Bank default disrupts this relationship. Hence risk in the banking sector influences the value of the relationship, the cost of corporate finance, and the level and growth of real activity. As bank default is often the result of fraud and internal irregularities, it is hard to predict. Bank default affects the economy through a number of different channels. The loss of the relationship, benefit for the firm is an important route through which the health of the banking sector influences real activity.

null