In a large class of hazard models with proportional unobserved heterogeneity, the distribution of the heterogeneity among survivors converges to a gamma distribution. This convergence is often rapid. We derive this result as a general result for exponential mixtures and explore its implications...

We study a mixed hitting-time (MHT) model that specifies durations as the first time a Lévy process - a continuous-time process with stationary and independent increments - crosses a heterogeneous threshold. Such models are of substantial interest because they can be reduced from...

This paper shows that popular linear fixed-effects panel-data estimators (first-differences, within-transformation) are biased and inconsistent when applied in a discrete-time hazard setting, that is, one with the outcome variable being a binary dummy indicating an absorbing state, even if the...

This paper compares two approaches to analyzing longitudinal discrete-time binary outcomes. Dynamic binary response models focus on state occupancy and typically specify low-order Markovian state dependence. Multi-spell duration models focus on transitions between states and typically allow for...

This paper investigates the determinants of German long-term unemployment. In particular a microeconometric event history analysis will be carried out to examine what impact personal characteristics such as age, gender, education, etc. or factors such as receiving unemployment benefits have on...

Several empirical studies showed that it is not the level of entrepreneurial activity itself, but the (long-term) survival and growth of new firms that determine the direct and indirect contribution of new businesses to regional employment. To this end, the aim of this paper is to analyze the...

We use administrative social security records and event history methods to investigate graduate migration in Germany. The results indicate that most migration events happen up to seven years after graduation. Work experience gathered before and during the studies influences the migration...

We develop distress prediction models for non-financial small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using a dataset from eight European countries over the period 2000-2009. We examine idiosyncratic and systematic covariates and find that macro conditions and bankruptcy codes add predictive power...

Shared-frailty survival models specify that systematic unobserved determinants of duration outcomes are identical within groups of individuals. We consider random-effects likelihood-based statistical inference if the duration data are subject to left-truncation. Such inference with...

This paper defines economic slumps as sequences of structural breaks exhibiting a specific pattern. We identify 58 such episodes between 1950 and 2008 among 138 countries, and then examine the phases of decline and their duration. In some countries declines last extremely long, and we put...