Quality of Work: An Investigation for East and West Germany for the Years 1994 and 2009
Herbert S. Buscher, S. Noack, M. Pelz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 12,
2011
Abstract
Qualität der Arbeit – ein überwiegend subjektives Empfinden von Erwerbstätigen hat als qualitatives Merkmal in den letzten Jahren bei der Bewertung der Arbeitswelt an Bedeutung gewonnen. Im Gegensatz zu quantitativen Aspekten des Erwerbs- und Arbeitslebens ist die Qualität der Arbeit allerdings schwer messbar und setzt sich aus zahlreichen Indikatoren zusammen. Die hierbei erfassten Bereiche erstrecken sich von gesundheitlichen Aspekten des Arbeitslebens bis hin zu Möglichkeiten, die Arbeitszeit flexibel zu gestalten. Die vorliegende Studie leistet einen Beitrag zur Erweiterung dieses Indikatorensystems, indem weitere Aspekte der Qualität von Arbeit wie berufsbedingtes Pendeln, die Übereinstimmung von erworbener Qualifikation und ausgeübter Tätigkeit, betriebliche Karrierechancen sowie die allgemeine Einkommenszufriedenheit untersucht werden. Hierbei wird zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland sowie nach Altersklassen und Qualifikation der Befragten unterschieden. Ausgewertet werden die Ergebnisse auf der Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) für die Jahre 1994 und 2009. Hierdurch sollen Erkenntnisse darüber gewonnen werden, ob insbesondere ostdeutsche Arbeitnehmer zu einem Zeitpunkt relativ kurz nach der politischen Wende die Qualität der Arbeit anders bewerteten als westdeutsche Arbeitnehmer und ob über die Zeit eine Angleichung in der Beurteilung stattgefunden hat.
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The Changing Process of the Quality of Work – 8th Joint Workshop of the IWH and IAB on Labor Market Policy
Herbert S. Buscher
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2011
Abstract
Am 20. und 21. Oktober 2011 fand zum achten Mal der gemeinsame Workshop des IWH und des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) in Halle (Saale) statt. Das diesjährige Leitthema befasste sich mit der Qualität der Arbeit im Wandel. Ein Grund für die Wahl des Schwerpunktthemas war, dass sich seit einiger Zeit auf dem Arbeitsmarkt ein Trend zu sinkenden Arbeitslosenzahlen abzeichnet. Dies wird oft als Beleg einer erfolgreichen Arbeitsmarktpolitik gewertet. Der Fokus auf rein quantitative Aspekte vernachlässigt allerdings die Qualität von Beschäftigung. In den letzten Jahren ist zugleich die Rede von einem Wandel der Arbeitswelt. Dabei wird (Erwerbs-)Arbeit in der Arbeitsmarktforschung nicht nur unter den Gesichtspunkten Einkommen,
Beschäftigungssicherheit und Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten betrachtet. Zunehmend rücken auch Aspekte wie die Sinnhaftigkeit von Tätigkeiten, Work-Life-Balance, Selbstverwirklichung, Autonomie und Arbeitszufriedenheit in den Mittelpunkt.
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The Impact of Government Procurement Composition on Private R&D Activities
Viktor Slavtchev, Simon Wiederhold
Abstract
This paper addresses the question of whether government procurement can work as a de facto innovation policy tool. We develop an endogenous growth model with quality-improving in-novation that incorporates industries with heterogeneous innovation sizes. Government demand in high-tech industries increases the market size in these industries and, with it, the incentives for private firms to invest in R&D. At the economy-wide level, the additional R&D induced in high-tech industries outweighs the R&D foregone in all remaining industries. The implications of the model are empirically tested using a unique data set that includes federal procurement in U.S. states. We find evidence that a shift in the composition of government purchases toward high-tech industries indeed stimulates privately funded company R&D.
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Finance and Growth in a Bank-Based Economy: Is It Quantity or Quality that Matters?
Michael Koetter, Michael Wedow
Journal of International Money and Finance,
No. 8,
2010
Abstract
Most finance–growth studies approximate the size of financial systems rather than the quality of intermediation to explain economic growth differentials. Furthermore, the neglect of systematic differences in cross-country studies could drive the result that finance matters. We suggest a measure of bank’s intermediation quality using bank-specific efficiency estimates and focus on the regions of one economy only: Germany. This quality measure has a significantly positive effect on growth. This result is robust to the exclusion of banks operating in multiple regions, controlling for the proximity of financial markets, when distinguishing different banking sectors active in Germany, and when excluding the structurally weaker East from the sample.
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Investor Rationality and House Price Bubbles: The Case of Berlin and the German Reunification
Oliver Holtemöller, R. Schulz
German Economic Review,
2010
Abstract
We analyze the behavior of investors in the Berlin rental apartment house market over the years 1980–2004. Using constant-quality multipliers (price–rent ratios), we reject the hypothesis that multipliers in the market were set in a rational manner. Supported by narrative evidence, we conjecture that investors misjudged the economic effects of the German reunification. To examine this, we employ a stylized structural economic model and analyze the effects of shocks on rational multipliers. It seems that investors confused the reunification with a permanent supply side shock to the economy. By basing their investment decisions on this misjudgement, investors behaved irrationally, but in a very uncertain and unprecedented environment.
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Real Estate Prices and Bank Stability
Michael Koetter, Tigran Poghosyan
Journal of Banking and Finance,
No. 34,
2010
Abstract
Real estate prices can deviate from their fundamental value due to rigid supply, heterogeneity in quality, and various market imperfections, which have two contrasting effects on bank stability. Higher prices increase the value of collateral and net wealth of borrowers and thus reduce the likelihood of credit defaults. In contrast, persistent deviations from fundamentals may foster the adverse selection of increasingly risky creditors by banks seeking to expand their loan portfolios, which increases bank distress probabilities. We test these hypotheses using unique data on real estate markets and banks in Germany. House price deviations contribute to bank instability, but nominal house price developments do not. This finding corroborates the importance of deviations from the fundamental value of real estate, rather than just price levels or changes alone, when assessing bank stability.
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Rents and Quality of Life in Eastern Germany
Dominik Weiß
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 12,
2008
Abstract
Das Mietniveau zwischen Westdeutschland und Ostdeutschland unterscheidet sich im Durchschnitt um weniger als einen Euro. Dieser geringe Unterschied ist angesichts der wirtschaftlichen Schwäche und der hohen Leerstandsrate in Ostdeutschland erklärungsbedürftig.
An einem Sample deutscher Kommunen wird mit einem hedonischen Regressionsmodell der Einfluss lokaler Ausstattungsmerkmale auf die Mietpreise verschiedener Marktsegmente untersucht. Als erklärende Variablen werden demografische, wohnungsmarktbezogene und ökonomisch-raumstrukturelle Merkmale verwendet. Dabei werden im Modell Thesen über höhere Mietpreise berücksichtigt, die im Zusammenhang mit der transformationsbedingten Anpassung des ostdeutschen Wohnungsmarktes in den 1990er zu sehen sind. Ein zentrales Modellergebnis ist der Hinweis darauf, dass die Bestandssegmente in Ostdeutschland relativ zur Lebensqualität der Stadt überhöhte Mietniveaus aufweisen. Eine genauere Untersuchung der Gründe für diesen Mietpreisaufschlang sind wünschenswert, da weitere Abwanderung aus Ostdeutschland die regionalwirtschaftliche Folge einer zu hohen Miete sein könnte.
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Quality of Service, Efficiency, and Scale in Network Industries: An Analysis of European Electricity Distribution
Christian Growitsch, Tooraj Jamasb, Michael Pollitt
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 3,
2005
Abstract
Quality of service is of major economic significance in natural monopoly infrastructure industries and is increasingly addressed in regulatory schemes. However, this important aspect is generally not reflected in efficiency analysis of these industries. In this paper we present an efficiency analysis of electricity distribution networks using a sample of about 500 electricity distribution utilities from seven European countries. We apply the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method on multi-output translog input distance function models to estimate cost and scale efficiency with and without incorporating quality of service. We show that introducing the quality dimension into the analysis affects estimated efficiency significantly. In contrast to previous research, smaller utilities seem to indicate lower technical efficiency when incorporating quality. We also show that incorporating quality of service does not alter scale economy measures. Our results emphasise that quality of service should be an integrated part of efficiency analysis and incentive regulation regimes, as well as in the economic review of market concentration in regulated natural monopolies.
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Environmental policy under product differentiation and asymmetric costs - Does leapfrogging occur and is it worth it?
Jacqueline Rothfels
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 124,
2000
Abstract
This paper studies the influence of environmental policies on environmental quality, domestic firms, and welfare. Point of departure is Porter’s hypothesis that unilateral environmental regulation may enhance the competitiveness of domestic firms. This hypothesis has recently received considerable support in theoretical analyses, especially if imperfectly competitive markets with strategic behavior on behalf of the agents are taken into account. Our work contributes to this literature by explicitely investigating the implications of asymmetric cost structures between a domestic and a foreign firm sector. We use a partial-equilibrium model of vertical product differentiation, where the consumption of a product causes environmental harm. Allowing for differentiated products, the domestic industry can either assume the market leader position or lag behind in terms of the environmental quality of the produced product. Assuming as a benchmark case that the domestic industry lags behind, we investigate the possibility of the government to induce leapfrogging of the domestic firm, i.e. a higher quality produced by the domestic firm after regulation than that of the competitor prior to regulation. It is shown that in the case of a cost advantage for the domestic firm in the production process the imposition of a binding minimum quality standard can serve as a tool to induce leapfrogging. In case of a cost disadvantage the same result can be achieved through an adequate subsidization of quality dependend production costs. Thus, careful regulation enables the domestic firm in both scenarios to better its competitive position against foreign competitors and to earn larger profits. Additionally, environmental quality and welfare can be enhanced.
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Explaining Regional Disparities in Housing Prices across German Districts
Lars Brausewetter, Stephan L. Thomsen, Johannes Trunzer
IZA Institute of Labor Economics,
March
2022
Abstract
Over the last decade, German housing prices have increased unprecedentedly. Drawing on quality-adjusted housing price data at the district level, we document large and increasing regional disparities: growth rates were higher in 1) the largest seven cities, 2) districts located in the south, and 3) districts with higher initial price levels. Indications of price bubbles are concentrated in the largest cities and in the purchasing market. Prices seem to be driven by the demand side: increasing population density, higher shares of academically educated employees and increasing purchasing power explain our findings, while supply remained relatively constrained in the short term.
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