bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Skills, Innovation, and Growth: An Agent-Based Policy Analysis
Authors: Dawid Herbert , Gemkow Simon , Harting Philipp , Kabus Kordian , Neugart Michael , Wersching Klaus 
Published: April 2016

SummaryWe develop an agent-based macroeconomic model featuring a distinct geographical dimension and heterogeneous workers with respect to skill types. The model, which will become part of a larger simulation platform for European policymaking (EURACE), allows us to conduct exante evaluations of a wide range of public policy measures and their interaction. In particular, we study the growth and labor market effects of various policy types that promote workers’ general skill levels. Using a calibrated model it is examined in how far effects differ if spending is uniformly spread over all regions in the economy or focused in one particular region.We find that the geographic distribution of policy measures significantly affects the effects of the policy even if total spending is kept constant. Focussing training efforts in one region is the worst policy outcome while spreading funds equally across regions generates a larger output in the long-run but not in the short-run.
The German Sub-national Government Bond Market: Structure, Determinants of Yield Spreads and Berlin’s Forgone Bail-out
Authors: Schulz Alexander , Wolff Guntram B. 
Published: April 2016

Summary
The paper presents a new and comprehensive data set of all bonds issued by the sixteen German federal states (Länder) since 1992. It thus provides a complete picture of a capital market comparable in size to the combined corporate bond and commercial paper market in Germany. The quantitative analysis reveals that Länder follow different issuing strategies: while some concentrate to a greater extent on large issues or issue joint bonds with other Länder (Jumbos), others rely more on comparatively small but frequent issues. Moreover, some Länder issue a significant volume-share of their bonds in foreign currencies. Suitable bonds are used to compute time series of yields for the respective Länder at a daily frequency as well as a liquidity measure. Based on the unique data set, we document that spreads of Länder yields to the Bund are driven to a great extent by general risk aversion. Public debt only has an economically marginal impact. Moreover, the recent refusal of the Federal Constitutional Court to grant additional federal funds to the city-state of Berlin did not change the risk assessment of German Länder by financial markets. Recent market turbulences have manifestly contributed to widening spreads as well as increased responsiveness of Länder spreads to international measures of risk aversion.
Engines Powered by Renewable Energy, the Network of Filling Stations and Compatibility Decisions
Authors: Conrad Klaus 
Published: April 2016

Summary
The paper addresses entry barriers for a new technology - hydrogen powered cars or cars with fuel cell engines - if the network of its filling stations is missing. We use Hotelling’s model of product differentiation to characterize a situation where an incumbent firm produces the old technology, compatible with the existing network of filling stations, and an entrant, who cannot use this network. The oil companies myopically support the use of the original technology based on fossil fuel by following Hotelling’s pricing rule. This encourages the entrant to invest in compatibility. The entrant with the new technology is a Stackelberg leader while the old technology firm is the follower. In the first stage, the entrant invests in the network of filling stations and in the second stage both compete in prices, given the network situation. These two-step models are repeated until the network is compatible or the oil is exhausted. The main positive result is that the fossil fuel powered cars see their market share and profitability decline over time, while the hydrogen firm increasingly prospers. These trends are stronger the stronger are the consumers’ environmental concerns. On the normative side, the privately optimal pace of investment is slower than the socially optimal pace of investment, suggesting policies that would foster the introduction of the hydrogen technology.
Welchen Zusammenhang zwischen Preis und Qualität sollte der Wettbewerb auf Konsumgütermärkten herstellen? / Which Price-Quality Relationship Should Competition Induce on Consumer Goods Markets ?
Authors: Imkamp Heiner 
Published: April 2016

Summary
Not only that consumers take it often for granted that product prices are good indicators of product quality, but also many experts in consumer economics expect a high positive price-quality relationship. However, for more than 50 years numerous studies in more than 10 countries all over the world have shown low price-quality correlation coefficients, mostly close to 0.2. These results have been interpreted twofold: (a) consumers cannot use prices as valid indicators of quality and (b) markets do not function well. In contrast to the second interpretation, this paper argues that, according to the economic theory of price formation, prices are not an indicator of quality, but an indicator of scarcity. This allows the conclusion that workable consumer goods markets, as seen from a welfare point of view, should be characterized by low or even negative correlations between price and objective quality rather than by strong positive coefficients. All the more it is the availability of valid information about product quality which is necessary to enable consumers to avoid inefficient product choices.
Forecasting Behavioural and Distributional Effects of the Bofinger-Walwei Model using Microsimulation
Authors: Wiemers Jürgen , Bruckmeier Kerstin 
Published: April 2016

Summary
Since Germany’s social assistance reform (“Hartz-IV-Reform”) in 2005 there has been a strong increase in the number of working poor and long-term unemployed. This development is often attributed to the remaining disincentives of the reformed social assistance to take up a low-paid full time job. Therefore, several proposals have been worked out to reduce these disincentives. In this paper we analyse an in-work benefit programme considered by the German government, which follows the proposal of Bofinger et al. (2006). We employ a microsimulation model for estimating labour supply as well as distributional and fiscal effects of this reform proposal.We provide “morning after effects”, i.e. fiscal effects without considering behavioural adjustments, and long run effects, which take into account the labour supply response following the introduction of the reform.We predict the labour supply responses by estimating a discrete choice model for different household types and find a moderate increase in labour supply (103,000 full-time equivalents) as well as overall low negative participation effects. The distributional analysis reveals an overall increase in poverty rates caused by lower earnings disregards as well as substantial deadweight losses, since a large part of the in-work benefit accrues to households who do not belong to the working poor in the status quo.
Demand Side Analysis of Microlending Markets in Germany
Authors: Kritikos Alexander , Kneiding Christoph , Germelmann Claas Christian 
Published: April 2016

Summary
In developing and transition economies, microlending has become an effective instrument for providing micro businesses with the necessary financial resources to launch operations. In industrialized countries, with their highly developed banking systems, however, there has been ongoing debate on the question of whether an uncovered demand for microlending services exists. The present pilot study explores customer preferences formicrolending products in Germany. Among the interviewed business owners, 15 % reported revolving funding needs and an interest in microloans. We find that potential recipients of microloan products are retail business owners, foreign business owners, and persons who had previously received private loans. Furthermore, financial products should feature rapid access to short-term loans.
2002 German Federal Elections and Associated Energy Policy: How Were Energy Corporations Financially Affected?
Authors: Oberndorfer Ulrich , Ziegler Andreas 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper analyzes the effect of the 2002 German federal elections to the Lower House of Parliament (Bundestag) on the financial performance of German energy corporations.We consider the last minute victory of the government coalition consisting of Social Democrats and the Green party which was generally associated with a major shift in energy policy towards the promotion of renewable energies and a phasing out of nuclear energy. Our event study approach is based on the application of the Fama-French three-factor model to estimate abnormal stock returns. The results of the empirical analysis imply neither for traditional utilities nor for renewable energy corporations any robust positive or negative impact of the elections and therefore of the general energy policy direction of the government in the next legislative period.
Endogenous Skill Formation and the Source Country Effects of Skilled Labor Emigration from Developing Countries
Authors: Egger Hartmut , Felbermayr Gabriel 
Published: April 2016

Summary
In this paper we set up a simple theoretical framework to study the possible source country effects of skilled labor emigration from developing countries. We show that for given technologies, labor market integration necessarily lowers GDP per capita in a poor source country of emigration, because it distorts the education decision of individuals. As pointed out by our analysis, a negative source country effect also materializes if all agents face identical emigration probabilities, irrespective of their education levels. This is in sharp contrast to the case of exogenous skill supply. Allowing for human capital spillovers, we further show that with social returns to schooling there may be a counteracting positive source country effect if the prospect of emigration stimulates the incentives to acquire education. Since, in general, the source country effects are not clear, we calibrate our model for four major source countries - Mexico, Turkey, Morocco, and the Philippines - and show that an increase in emigration rates beyond those observed in the year 2000 is very likely to lower GDP per capita in poor economies.
Remittances and Conflict: Some Conceptual Considerations
Authors: Lindley Anna 
Published: April 2016

SummaryThe relationship between migration and development processes in migrants’ countries of origin has been subject to extensive scrutiny in the last decade by researchers and policy-makers. Migrants’ remittances have been fore-grounded as a key aspect in this relationship and have increasingly been seen as a potential source of ‘development capital’. Yet the fact that migration and remitting are often entangled in processes of violent conflict and political upheaval is often overlooked. This paper uses the Somali case to raise a set of conceptual issues regarding the dynamics and impact of remittances in conflict-affected settings. The implications of the violent causation of migration, the on-going conditions in the country of origin, and the post-migration situation of refugees are advanced as key ways in which remittance dynamics in conflict situations may differ from those in more peaceful settings.
Hysteresis in Unemployment Rates? A Comparison between Germany and the US
Authors: Hassler Uwe , Wolters Jürgen 
Published: April 2016

SummaryIn this paper we compare the unemployment dynamics of the US and Germany with monthly data up to 2008. With data from 1971 on the evidence is mixed when applying descriptive methods or formal unit root tests. When allowing for fractional integration, however, we find similar results to the literature in that shocks to US data seem to be transitory while having permanent effects on German unemployment. This difference in hysteresis, however, depends on the sample. Using recursive and rolling techniques we observe that shocks in US subsamples until the mid-nineties are clearly more transitory than in more recent subsamples.We conclude that hysteresis has turned into a dominating feature also on US labour market more recently.
Oil and Unemployment in Germany
Authors: Löschel Andreas , Oberndorfer Ulrich 
Published: April 2016

SummaryIn this paper, we analyze oil price impacts on unemployment for Germany. Firstly, we survey theoretical and empirical literature on the oil-unemployment relationship and relate them to the German case. Secondly, we illustrate this issue within the framework of a vector autoregression (VAR) approach for Germany. For this purpose,we use three different specifications in order to adequately address the uncertainty related to the construction of an adequate oil variable. Using monthly data from 1973 to 2008, we show that oil price increases induce a rise in unemployment in the German labor market.Moreover, for a restricted sample period for post-unification Germany, we oppose claims that the oil to macroeconomy relationship has weakened since the 1980s. However, our results suggest that it has become more important to construct adequate measures of oil price variables.
Living Standards in an Aging Germany: The Benefits of Reforms and the Costs of Resistance
Authors: Börsch-Supan Axel , Ludwig Alexander 
Published: April 2016

Summary
The extent of the demographic change in Europe and especially Germany is dramatic and will deeply affect future labor, financial and goods markets. The expected strain on public budgets and especially social security has received prominent attention, but aging poses many other economic challenges that threaten growth and living standards if they remain unaddressed.
This paper investigates the potential benefits of pension and labor market reform for growth and living standards, taking into account behavioral reactions to specific reforms. Which behavioral reactions will strengthen, which will weaken reform policies? While Germany has a large unfunded pension system and vulnerable labor markets, Germans show remarkable resistance against pension and labor market reform. Can Germany maintain its standard of living even if behavioral reactions offset some of the current reform efforts? The paper uses a novel modeling approach to distinguish between exogenous and endogenous components of labor supply in order to shed light on these questions.
Choosing from the Reform Menu Card – Individual Determinants of Labour Market Policy Preferences
Authors: Heinemann Friedrich , Bischoff Ivo , Hennighausen Tanja 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This contribution empirically explores the drivers of labour market reform acceptance for the individual level in Germany. For that purpose we make use of the representative German General Social Survey (ALLBUS). This survey offers data to which extent individuals support benefit cuts, longer working years, cutting subsidies to declining industries, phasing out of employment programmes, or a liberalisation of employment protection. Our theoretical considerations suggest that self-interest, information, fairness judgements, economic beliefs and other individual factors such as socialisation under the communist regime in the former German Democratic Republic drive individual reform preferences. Our empirical results support this notion: While we find self-interest to be an important driving force, our results show that a number of factors well beyond the narrow scope of self-interest strongly shape individual reform preferences.
Firm Heterogeneity and Wages under Different Bargaining Regimes: Does a Centralised Union Care for Low-Productivity Firms?
Authors: Guertzgen Nicole 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper studies the relationship between wages and the degree of firm heterogeneity in a given industry under different wage setting structures. To derive testable hypotheses, we set up a theoretical model that analyses the sensitivity of wages to the variability in productivity conditions in a unionised oligopoly framework. The model distinguishes centralised and decentralised wage determination. The theoretical results predict wages to be negatively associated with the degree of firm heterogeneity under centralised wage-setting, as unions internalise negative externalities of a wage increase for low-productivity firms.We test this prediction using a linked employer-employee panel data set from the German mining and manufacturing sector. Consistent with our hypotheses, the empirical results suggest that under industry-level bargaining workers in more heterogeneous sectors receive lower wages than workers in more homogeneous sectors. In contrast, the degree of firm heterogeneity is found to have no negative impact on wages in uncovered firms and under firm-level contracts.
Crime and the Labour Market: Evidence from a Survey of Inmates
Authors: Entorf Horst 
Published: April 2016

Summary
In this paper data from a survey of 1,771 inmates conducted in 31 German prisons provide microeconometric evidence on the relationship between individual anticipated labour market opportunities and the perceived probability of future recidivism. Results show that inmates with poor labour market prospects expect a significantly higher rate of future recidivism. Having a closer look at subgroups of prisoners reveals that drug and alcohol addiction cause adverse effects. Thus, improving prisoner health care by installing effective anti-drug programmes would be one of the most effective measures against crime.
Spatial Implications of Minimum Wages
Authors: Buettner Thiess , Ebertz Alexander 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper addresses possible consequences of a minimum wage in a spatial context. An empirical analysis utilizing German data shows that a significant spatial wage structure exists and that, as a consequence, the share of workers earning wages below a minimum wage will be particularly high in rural counties even if we control for educational and occupational differences. A theoretical analysis discusses the implications for the spatial structure of the economy and shows that while the wages in the countryside will be affected positively, wages will decline in the city, where employment and population rise.Workers in the city will further suffer from an increase in housing costs. This supports concerns that urban poverty might increase as a result of the introduction of a minimum wage.
Fields of Training, Plant Characteristics and the Gender Wage Gap in Entry Wages Among Skilled Workers – Evidence from German Administrative Data
Authors: Braakmann Nils 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper investigates the gender wage gap among skilled German workers after the end of vocational training using data from social security records. Using information on worker and plant characteristics for the training plant, results from standard decomposition techniques show that up to 92% of an initial 14% earnings disadvantage for women in the first job can be attributed to differences in endowments. Of these, occupational segregation explains up to two thirds of the earnings gap, with plant characteristics accounting for about 25%.
International Financial Competitiveness and Incentives to Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: Jochem Axel 
Published: April 2016

Summary
International financial integration has become an important factor for economic performance in the globalisation process. Access to international capital markets is crucial for a country’s ability to meet its financial needs and to keep up with the challenges of a changing global landscape. In this paper, “financial competitiveness” is interpreted as the attractiveness of a country as perceived by foreign investors, which is reflected in refinancing costs in international capital markets. The study concentrates on foreign direct investment (FDI), which is an essential feature of the globalisation process and has immediate implications for the real economy. An index of international financial competitiveness is calculated which is given by the ratio of the market value to the book value of inward FDI stocks. For a panel of five advanced economies from 1980 to 2006 it is shown that price competitiveness, stable inflation rates and registered patents have a positive impact on the index. Institutional factors like EMU membership or Anglo-American legislation also play a role. Financial competitiveness in turn encourages FDI inflows whereas it benefits fixed investment relative to M&A. There is also some evidence that an innovative environment accelerates investment decisions by promoting competition among investors.
Reassessing the Pay Gap for Temps in Germany
Authors: Jahn Elke J. 
Published: April 2016

SummaryAs a consequence of the rapid growth of temporary agency employment in Germany, the debate on the remuneration of temporary agency workers has intensified recently. The study finds that the earnings gap of temporary help workers in Germany is indeed large and increased during the past decade. Decomposition reveals that the widening gap mainly is driven by changes in relative skill prices and less by differences in the workforce composition. Temps already have to accept a marked earnings decline before entering the temporary help sector. Nevertheless, after leaving the sector temporary help workers no longer have to accept a pay penalty. A recent reform set a high incentive for temporary help agencies to pay their workers according to a collective agreement. Surprisingly, the unionization of the sector could not bring the widening earnings gap to a halt.
Child Benefit Reform and Labor Market Participation
Authors: Tamm Marcus 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper examines the impact of a change in the German child benefit system in 1996, which led to a large increase in lump sum transfers to families with children.We analyze the impact on the labor force participation of women. Comparing behavioral changes of women with children with behavioral changes of women without children, we find that mothers with a working partner and children above age six considerably reduced the number of working hours (conditional on participation). Participation rates however did not decrease.
The Impact of Innovation Activities on Employment in the Environmental Sector – Empirical Results for Germany at the Firm Level
Authors: Horbach Jens 
Published: April 2016

Summary
The paper explores employment effects of environmental product innovations at the firm level. Whereas there are many studies analysing this relationship for general innovations, studies for the environmental sector are still rare.On the background of high political attention connected with hopeful employment perspectives, a separate analysis of this sector in comparison to other, non-environmental fields seems to be very important.
The empirical analysis is based on the establishment panel of the Institute for Employment Research (Nuremberg). The econometric results show that the influence of environmental innovation activities on the employment development is significantly positive and the quantitative impact seems to be larger than in other, non-environmental fields. Within a bivariate probit model, the determinants of environmental innovation activities are also explored. They may be interpreted as indirect influences on the employment development of the firm. The results show that the improvement of the innovative capacities by R&D and further education measures and the existence of highly qualified human capital are significantly important for the development of new products in the environmental sector