Abstract This paper explores the question how firms manage PMI when new joint projects must be completed long before the PMI process is completed and identifies integration mechanisms and organizational solutions at work when firms have to develop new products while still merging their relative sets of innovation competences and knowledge. By employing a processual view and longitudinal analysis, our results show how Fiat and Chrysler, two major automotive manufacturer, carried out the integration of their highly complex and tacit knowledge during their first co-development project. The project represented the real locus of technological and knowledge integration between the two firms and the organizational and integration solutions identified contribute to the NPD literature by showing how, at the same time, firms’ can support both new projects execution and integration efforts after M&As. JEL classification: O32 Keywords: R&D integration, NPD organization, merger and acquisitions The paper is co-authored with Markus C. Becker (University of Southern Denmark) and Francesco Zirpoli (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice)

The aim of this article is to assess whether the track attended in upper secondary education affects student achievement in Italy, by disentangling the genuine effects of track choices from selection biases relating to the different characteristics of students enrolled in different tracks. We contribute to the literature by relying on a more detailed measure of tracking, by focusing on between-school tracking and exploring whether track effects vary systematically by student social background, a largely overlooked issue in previous research. We adopt a counterfactual approach and rely on population panel data on a recent cohort of students assessed in 5th, 8th and 10th grade. We rely on a difference-in-difference strategy integrated with marginal mean weighting with stratification and inverse probability weighting, which are used respectively to better control for selection into tracks and account for missing data. First, we document strong social selection into tracks, along selection based on previous scholastic achievement. Second, we find that track effects are substantial on both reading and mathematics performance, albeit slightly larger in the latter subject. Beyond the anticipated advantage of the academic track over vocational education, we also find differential effects of attending different curricula within these tracks. Third, the benefits of attending the academic tracks appear to be rather homogeneous across students from different social backgrounds. Keywords: tracking; inequality; achievement; causal effect; social background

Board demographic diversity is widely seen as beneficial for firms’ external relations and detrimental for boards’ internal cohesion. Yet, internal cohesion problems may also make boards less willing and able to swiftly and unitedly respond to confrontational stakeholders, making firms with diverse boards attractive opportunities for activism. With this in mind, we argue that activist hedge funds are more likely to target firms with demographically diverse boards, and that activists are more likely to use these opportunities to influence firms when firms exhibit governance, performance, and reputation problems that activists can potentially resolve. Our analyses of US-based activist hedge fund campaigns between 2010 and 2018 provides support for our hypotheses. We discuss theoretical implications for research on board diversity, stakeholder theory, and corporate opportunity structures. Joint work with Mark DesJardine and Wei Shi

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of the minimum wage on teenagers’ educational investment behavior. We exploit the introduction of the German statutory minimum wage law in 2015 and the regional variation in the bite to analyze causal effects of minimum wages on educational plans of teenagers with different skill levels. Using detailed survey data in a difference-in-differences design, we find that in highly affected regions, teenagers aim for a higher educational degree after the minimum wage introduction despite their exemption from the law. This effect is driven by educational intentions of low-skilled teenagers who are most likely affected by the minimum wage when entering the labor market. In contrast, in hardly affected regions the minimum wage did not alter expected wage or employment prospects of teenagers and hence did not affect their educational plans. We conclude that low-skilled teenagers consider regional labor market conditions in their schooling decision and intend to compensate for lower employment prospects by increasing investments in human capital. Keywords: minimum wage, educational intentions, employment prospects JEL-Codes: J24, J31, I21

Reviving European countries and economies overwhelmed by the Coronavirus crisis. This is the purpose of the policies implemented by the European Union, be it the Recovery Fund, the Sure program to support employment and the actions of the European Central Bank. How countries translate these commitments into National Recovery and Resilience Plans will determine how they will come out of the crisis and influence the future process of European integration.