Specialization versus Diversification: Perceived Benefits of Different Incubation Models
Michael Schwartz, Christoph Hornych
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management,
No. 3,
2012
Abstract
Business incubator initiatives are a widespread policy instrument for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and the development of new technology-based firms. Recently, there has been an increasing tendency for the more traditional diversified incubators to be superseded by incubators focusing their support elements, processes and selection criteria on firms from one specific sector, and its particular needs. Despite the increasing importance of such specialized incubators in regional innovation strategies, the question of whether they are advantageous has neither been investigated empirically nor discussed theoretically in detail. Drawing on large-scale survey data from 161 firms incubated in either diversified or specialized incubators in Germany, we investigate the benefits to firms of being part of a specialized business incubator as opposed to being part of a generalized business incubator. The investigation of the value-added contribution of specialized incubators, in particular regarding hardware components, business assistance, networking and reputation gains, reveals considerable differences compared to the more diversified incubation model.
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The Tradeoff Between Redistribution and Effort: Evidence from the Field and from the Lab
Claudia M. Buch, C. Engel
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods Working Paper,
No. 10,
2012
Abstract
We use survey and experimental data to explore how effort choices and preferences for redistribution are linked. Under standard preferences, redistribution would reduce effort. This is different with social preferences. Using data from the World Value Survey, we find that respondents with stronger preferences for redistribution tend to have weaker incentives to engage in effort, but that the reverse does not hold true. Using a lab experiment, we show that redistribution choices even increase in imposed effort. Those with higher ability are willing to help the needy if earning income becomes more difficult for everybody.
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Predicting Financial Crises: The (Statistical) Significance of the Signals Approach
Makram El-Shagi, Tobias Knedlik, Gregor von Schweinitz
Abstract
The signals approach as an early warning system has been fairly successful in detecting crises, but it has so far failed to gain popularity in the scientific community because it does not distinguish between randomly achieved in-sample fit and true predictive power. To overcome this obstacle, we test the null hypothesis of no correlation between indicators and crisis probability in three applications of the signals approach to different crisis types. To that end, we propose bootstraps specifically tailored to the characteristics of the respective datasets. We find (1) that previous applications of the signals approach yield economically meaningful and statistically significant results and (2) that composite
indicators aggregating information contained in individual indicators add value to the signals approach, even where most individual indicators are not statistically significant on their own.
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Pre-announcement and Timing: The Effects of a Government Expenditure Shock
Alexander Kriwoluzky
European Economic Review,
No. 3,
2012
Abstract
An econometric strategy to identify a pre-announced fiscal policy shock is proposed. I show that the reduced form innovations can be recovered by estimating a Vector-moving-average model using the Kalman filter. The structural effects are identified exploiting the shock's pre-announced nature, which leads to potentially different signs of the responses of some endogenous variables during the announcement and after the realization of the shock. I illustrate my strategy by identifying a pre-announced shock to government consumption expenditures. I find that the response of private consumption is significantly negative on impact, rises and becomes significantly positive two quarters after the realization of the policy shock.
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State Aid in the Enlarged European Union: Taking Stock
Jens Hölscher, Nicole Nulsch, Johannes Stephan
From Global Crisis to Economic Growth. Which Way to Take?, Vol. 1,
2012
Abstract
In the early phase of transition that started with the 1990s, Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) pursued economic restructuring that involved massive injections of state support. With reference to the history of state aids in centrally planned economies we display state aid practices of CEECs since full EU membership and analyse whether their industrial policies during and after transition challenged the European state aid legislation and whether these fit into the EUs strategy of ‘less but better targeted aid’. Therefore, qualitative analysis in case studies is used to supplement a quantitative description of state aid levels in East and West. Findings suggest that in recent years a level playing field across the EU has indeed emerged. In fact, the most pronounced differences in this respect are not observed between CEECs and the EU-15 but rather between Northern and Southern member states.
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Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Competition and Innovation
Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit
Journal of the European Economic Association,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
To what extent and in what form should the intellectual property rights (IPR) of innovators be protected? Should a company with a large technology lead over its rivals receive the same IPR protection as a company with a more limited advantage? In this paper, we develop a dynamic framework for the study of the interactions between IPR and competition, in particular to understand the impact of such policies on future incentives. The economy consists of many industries and firms engaged in cumulative (step-by-step) innovation. IPR policy regulates whether followers in an industry can copy the technology of the leader. We prove the existence of a steady-state equilibrium and characterize some of its properties. We then quantitatively investigate the implications of different types of IPR policy on the equilibrium growth rate and welfare. The most important result from this exercise is that full patent protection is not optimal; instead, optimal policy involves state-dependent IPR protection, providing greater protection to technology leaders that are further ahead than those that are close to their followers. This is because of a trickle-down effect: providing greater protection to firms that are further ahead of their followers than a certain threshold increases the R&D incentives also for all technology leaders that are less advanced than this threshold.
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Central Bank, Trade Unions, and Reputation – Is there Room for an Expansionist Manoeuvre in the European Union?
Toralf Pusch, A. Heise
A. Heise (ed.), Market Constellation Research: A Modern Governance Approach to Macroeconomic Policy. Institutionelle und Sozial-Ökonomie, Bd. 19,
2011
Abstract
The objective of this reader is manifold: On the one hand, it intends to establish a new perspective at the policy level named 'market constellations': institutionally embedded systems of macroeconomic governance which are able to explain differences in growth and employment developments. At the polity level, the question raised is whether or not market constellations can be governed and, thus, whether institutions can be created which will provide the incentives necessary for favourable market constellations.
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Effects of Fiscal Stimulus in Structural Models
Mathias Trabandt, Günter Coenen, Christopher J. Erceg, Charles Freedman, Davide Furceri, Michael Kumhof, René Lalonde, Douglas Laxton, Jesper Lindé, Annabelle Mourougane, Dirk Muir, Susanna Mursula, Carlos de Resende, John Roberts, Werner Roeger, Stephen Snudden, Jan in't Veld
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
The paper subjects seven structural DSGE models, all used heavily by policymaking institutions, to discretionary fiscal stimulus shocks using seven different fiscal instruments, and compares the results to those of two prominent academic DSGE models. There is considerable agreement across models on both the absolute and relative sizes of different types of fiscal multipliers. The size of many multipliers is large, particularly for spending and targeted transfers. Fiscal policy is most effective if it has moderate persistence and if monetary policy is accommodative. Permanently higher spending or deficits imply significantly lower initial multipliers.
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The Impact of Psychic Distance on Subsidiary Autonomy - Theory and Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries
Gjalt de Jong, D. van Vo, Philipp Marek
Journal of International Management,
2012
Abstract
The key objective of this study is to determine whether or not psychic distance between home and host countries influences the decision-making autonomy of subsidiaries. Theoretical arguments for the relationship between psychic distance and subsidiary autonomy go in both directions with some predicting a negative relationship and others predicting a positive one. We test these conflicting hypotheses with a unique multi-country and multi-industry database reporting survey evidence of 809 subsidiaries located in five Central and Eastern European countries that serve headquarters in 44 different nation states. Psychic distance is a multidimensional construct and measured in terms of linguistic, religious, economic, institutional and geographic distance. The empirical results of 103 country pairs suggest that psychic distance – in terms of religious and economic distance – is positively related to autonomy.
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The Financial Crisis from a Forecaster's Perspective
Katja Drechsel, Rolf Scheufele
Kredit und Kapital,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
This paper analyses the recession in 2008/2009 in Germany. This recession is very different from previous recessions in particular regarding their causes and magnitude. We show to what extent forecasters and forecasts based on leading indicators fail to detect the timing and the magnitude of the recession. This study shows that large forecast errors for both expert forecasts and forecasts based on leading indicators resulted during this recession which implies that the recession was very difficult to forecast. However, some leading indicators (survey data, risk spreads, stock prices) have indicated an economic downturn and hence, beat univariate time series models. Although the combination of individual forecasts provides an improvement compared to the benchmark model, the combined forecasts are worse than several individual models. A comparison of expert forecasts withthe best forecasts based on leading indicators shows only minor deviations. Overall, the range for an improvement of expert forecasts in the crisis compared to indicator forecasts is small.
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