Earnings Losses Earnings Losses after Non-Employment Increase with Age Thomas Zwick This paper shows that after older workers experience periods of non-employment, earnings losses increase. Before non-employment, older employees have relatively higher earnings compared to younger employees without employment interruptions. This earnings advantage turns into a strong earnings disadvantage shortly before, and for a long time after, unemployment. Younger people who lose their jobs have a relatively stable, small earnings disadvantage before non-employment and quickly earn more than those without employment interruptions. The earnings effect of returning to the same employer after non-employment suggests that more involuntary work interruptions for older employees better explains the results than the loss of an implicit contract or specific human capital. pp. 2 - 19
Asset Pricing The Cross-Section of German Stock Returns:
New Data and New Evidence Sabine Artmann / Philipp Finter / Alexander Kempf / Stefan Koch / Erik Theissen We introduce a new data set that comprises factor returns and returns of portfolios that are single- and double-sorted. We use this data set to perform asset-pricing tests for the German equity market. We test the standard CAPM, the Fama-French (1993) three-factor model, and the Carhart (1997) four-factor model. Our tests are based on a more comprehensive data set than are earlier studies. We investigate the sensitivity of our results to the choice of test assets. Our results indicate that none of the models can consistently explain the cross-section of returns, and that the results of asset-pricing tests are sensitive to the choice of test assets. pp. 20 - 43
Brand Credibility Brands You Can Rely on!
An Empirical Investigation of Brand Credibility in Services Alexander Leischnig / Anja Geigenmüller / Margit Enke The present study investigates the influence of brand credibility on customers’ repurchase intentions in services. Based on information economics theories, the authors develop and empirically test a model of brand credibility and its effects using structural equation modeling. The results provide strong empirical evidence for the role of brand credibility in services. They reveal significant support for the effects of brand credibility on brand functions (i.e., information efficiency and risk reduction) and in turn on customers’ repurchase intentions. Implications of the study are discussed for both researchers and managers. In addition, the article illustrates limitations and directions for further research. pp. 44 - 58
Creating Loyalty Creating Loyalty in Collective Hedonic Services:
The Role of Satisfaction and Psychological Sense of Community Jan Drengner / Steffen Jahn / Hansjörg Gaus Generally, researchers consider that customer satisfaction is the core driver of loyalty. However, in the case of collective hedonic services, feelings of connectedness among service users might also play an important role in forming brand loyalty. A study among visitors of a music festival actually shows that a feeling of community has a greater impact on loyalty intentions than does overall satisfaction. Thus, satisfying customers is not always the key route to value creation. Sometimes customer interaction more effectively enhances what Prahalad (2004) calls the “co-creation of experience”. pp. 59 - 76
