IE University

About: IE University is a education organization based out in Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Corporate governance & Supply chain. The organization has 527 authors who have published 1709 publications receiving 64682 citations.

Consistent versus Non-Consistent Term Structure Models: Some Evidence from the Spanish Market

Abstract: This article prices cap and swaptions in the Spanish market using the Vasicek, Cox, Ingersoll, and Ros and Hull and White (HW) models. Derivatives prices obtained with the Vasicek and CIR models estimated from time series data are very similar, but they differ substantially from the values given by the HW model fited to the term structureof interest rate swap yields (especially for at-the-money and out-of-the-money options). When the former models are estimated cross-sectionally, they produce option proces similar to those of the HW model. In samples of caps and swaptions, the Vasicek model estimated cross-sectionally, they produce option prices similar to those of the HW model. In samples of caps and swaptions, the Vasicek model estimated cross-sectionally outperforms the HW model. The Vasicek and CIR models estimated from time series produce very large pricing errors.

Mundos virtuales y avatares como nuevas formas educativas.

Abstract: Learning-by-doing is the new educational concept in which the new technologies in the field of virtual worlds and networks are an asset in distance university education within the EEES framework. This is the great challenge of the Internet in education, where Second Life is essential, given its interactivity between teachers and students. In addition, this virtual world allows its residents to build their own environment and to lead a virtual life. In Spain-Public University of Navarre, the University of Alcala de Henares or UDIMA have their own virtual space in SL.

‘With Great Power Comes Virtual Freedom’. A Review of the First Italian Case Holding That (Food-Delivery) Platform Workers Are Not Employees

Abstract: This dispatch concentrates on a review of the first Italian ruling on the legal status of six platform workers who demanded to be reclassified as employees of the food-delivery company Foodora. Last April, the Employment Tribunal of Turin rejected their claims on the basis of the freedom they enjoyed in deciding if and when to work and even to disregard previously agreed shifts. The case note is organised as follows. Section I describes the main facts underlying the legal dispute, according to the judge’s description. Section II offers a context analysis of the Italian legal framework by clarifying the differences between the notions of employment and self-employment. Particular attention is paid to the most recent legislative interventions aimed at extending labour protections to independent workers whose personal activity is organised by the client. By arguing that the judge failed to consider the specificities of the digital work model, section III criticises the reasoning relying on a too narrow and formalistic understanding of the notion of subordination as well as the conclusive relevance attributed to the riders’ presumed flexibility. Section IV closes by summarising the main rulings decided in a set of European countries and providing some reflections on the possibility of applying the current legislation to platform worker. In sum, the dispatch advocates that, in order to properly classify the nature of the actual activity performed by platform workers, judges should assess the role of digital tools when it comes to organising, monitoring and disciplining the workforce, rather than merely focusing on discontinuity and flexibility that are key features of these non-standard work arrangements enabled by technology.

Labor Income, Relative Wealth Concerns, and the Cross-section of Stock Returns

Abstract: The finance literature documents a relation between labor income and the cross-section of stock returns. One possible explanation for this is the hedging decisions of investors with relative wealth concerns. This implies a negative risk premium associated with stock returns correlated with local undiversifiable wealth, since investors are willing to pay more for stocks that help their hedging goals. We find evidence that is consistent with these regularities. In addition, we show that the effect varies across geographic areas depending on the size and variability of undiversifiable wealth, proxied by labor income.