Lehman Brothers in the Dutch offshore financial centre: the role of shadow banking in increasing leverage and facilitating debt

Credit intermediation outside the regular banking system, or shadow banking, has increased immensely over the past decade. This paper situates this increase against the backdrop of the structural problem of overaccumulation, and thus the absence of profitable reinvestment opportunities in the production sphere, in addition to the scarcity of high-quality collaterals. Zooming in on Europe’s offshore world and Dutch conduit structures in particular, the paper illustrates, on the basis of the Amsterdam-based Lehman Brothers subsidiary (and others), how shadow banking enables regular banks to increase leverage and take on excessive debt. It will be argued that the continued expansion of debt at the systemic level, inter alia facilitated by shadow banking, heralds the prospect of a crisis far more dramatic than the one we are currently witnessing.     

Distribution of Chemical Phenotypes (Chemotypes) in European Agricultural Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Cultivars

In Europe, more than 50 approved cultivars of fiber hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are in agricultural production. Their content of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is legally restricted to <0.2% (%w/w in the dry, mature inflorescences). Cannabis strains with much higher THC contents are also grown, illegally or under license for drug production. Differentiation between these two groups relies on biochemical quantification of cannabinoid contents in mature floral material. For nonflowering material or tissue devoid of cannabinoids, the genetic prediction of the chemical phenotype (chemotype) provides a suitable method of distinction. Three discrete chemotypes, depending on the ratio of THC and the noneuphoric cannabidiol (CBD), can be distinguished: a “THC-predominant” type, a “CBD-predominant” type, and an intermediate chemotype. We present a systematic genetic prediction of chemotypes of 62 agricultural hemp cultivars grown in Europe. The survey reveals the presence of up to 35% B_T allele-carrying individuals (representing either a THC-predominant or an intermediate chemotype) in some cultivars—which is unexpected considering the legal THC limit of 0.2% THC. The fact that 100% of the seized drug-type seeds in this study revealed at least one B_T allele, reflects that plant breeding efforts have resulted in a fixation of the B_T allele in recreational Cannabis. To guarantee a sincere forensic application based on a genetic chemotype prediction, we recommend not to classify material of unknown origin if the samples size is below nine genetically independent individuals.     

Incognizance and Perceptual Deviation: Individual and Institutional Sources of Variation in Citizens’ Perceptions of Party Placements on the Left–Right Scale

In this paper we use comparative study of electoral systems data to understand the variation in citizens’ perceptions of political party placements on the left–right scale. We estimate multilevel models to assess the extent to which individual characteristics, party characteristics, and institutional designs contribute to variability observed in citizens’ perceptions of party placements. Because lack of information on the part of the citizens may be revealed through failure to respond to the left–right scale questions or through random components to actual placements, we develop models that include assessments of both types of responses to reduce bias from considering only one source. We find that individual-, party-, and institutional-level variables are relevant to understanding variation in citizens’ perceptions of party placements. Finally, we demonstrate that an inability to cognize the left–right scale (incognizance) and a deviation in the perceptions of party positions (perceptual deviation) have important consequences for citizens’ thermometer evaluations of political parties.     

Performance and Management in the Public Sector: Testing a Model of Relative Risk Aversion

Research has demonstrated that management influences the performance of public organizations, but almost no research has explored how the success or failure of a public organization influences the decisions of those who manage it. Arguing that many decisions by public managers are analogous to risky choice, the authors use a well‐validated model of relative risk aversion to understand how such choices are influenced by managers’ perceptions of organizational performance. They theorize that managers will be less likely to encourage innovation or give discretion to employees when they are just reaching their goals relative to other performance conditions. Analyses of responses to the 2011 and 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys provide considerable support for these assertions. The findings have significant implications for our understanding of the relationship between management and performance in public organizations.     

Education finance reform: A dynamic perspective

We use a dynamic Tiebout model to analyze the consequences of moving from a pure local system of education finance to a pure state system of finance in which each student receives the same resources. While much of the education finance literature focuses on the static or immediate effects of such a change, our analysis also examines the dynamic effects. Numerical simulations for a calibrated version of our model indicate that these dynamic effects are very important. Comparing steady states, we find that aggregate welfare increases on the order of 10 percent following the switch to a state system. The key to this welfare gain is that a local system yields inefficiently low investment in human capital of children from low-income families.     

Different Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: Predictors and Differences in Girls and Boys

The development of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence can follow different pathways. This study examined heterogeneity in the development of self-reported depressive symptoms and the predictive influence of mothers’ depressive symptoms, the number of life events, and loss events via growth mixture modeling over a four-year period in a large community sample of German children and adolescents (N = 3,902; mean age 11.39 years; 49.6 % female). This procedure was conducted for the total sample as well as for separate samples of girls and boys. Four different classes of trajectories for the total and the girls’ model were identified, but only three classes for the boys. Girls showed higher intercepts and stronger increases in symptoms over time, whereas boys displayed stronger decreases. In the total model, mothers’ depressive symptoms and the number of life events significantly increased the level of depressive symptoms. In the gender models, only mothers’ depressive symptoms showed significant influence on the level of symptoms in girls and boys, whereas for life events this was only true for boys. In every model, the significant predictors discriminated at least between some classes. Loss events showed no significant influence in any model. In sum, there are meaningful differences in the development of depressive symptoms in girls and boys. These results have several implications for prevention and future research.     

Does India's growth matter? Evidence from the SAARC nations

The study estimates the extent of spillover effects that India's real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate has on the growth rates of other countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region for the period 2003–2016. It also identifies whether the conventional trade channel is the means through which growth is transmitted from India to her neighboring countries. Using a random effects model, we conclude that on average, a 1 percentage point increase in India's real per capita GDP growth rate results in 0.46 percentage point increase in the per capita GDP growth rates of other SAARC nations. However, this does not occur through the trade channel primarily due to low levels of intraregional trade. Also, using time dummies, the paper analyzes whether there has been any significant change in the degree of spillover effects in the postfinancial crisis period, where countries have been observed to insulate themselves to a certain extent.     

Understanding Employee Motivation to Innovate: Evidence from Front Line Employees in United States Federal Agencies

In a period of ongoing public sector reform in the United States (US), federal government agencies have been pushed to find new ways of performing their public functions more effectively and efficiently. Frontline public sector employees are a particularly vital source of innovations in organisational function and form. This study seeks to identify factors that motivate front line employees in the US federal bureaucracy to engage in innovative behaviour. The empirical analysis is based on data from the 2006 Federal Human Capital Survey. The results show that a constellation of factors encourage bottom‐up innovation, including the expectancy of innovation being rewarded, employee training and development, employee empowerment and involvement in decision‐making, and high‐exchange dyadic relationships with supervisors.     

Methadone determination in puparia and its effect on the development of Lucilia sericata (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

This paper describes a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method for quantification of methadone and 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) in single empty puparial case of Lucilia sericata. Larvae were reared on substrates spiked with different concentrations of methadone (0-4 μg/g). Methadone was quantified in puparia reared on high concentrated substrates (0.8-4 μg/g). The major metabolite of methadone (EDDP) was not detected, confirming rapid elimination of metabolites by the larvae before pupation. The effects of methadone on the development of L. sericata were also investigated. No effect on sex ratio was detected. A significant difference was calculated for emerged adults but no trends could be observed. Concerning the developmental curve, a significant difference was observed between control and high methadone concentrations using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.