Stages of the 2007/2008 Global Financial Crisis: Is there a Wandering Asset-Price Bubble?
Lucjan T. Orlowski
Einzelveröffentlichungen,
No. 3,
2008
Abstract
This study argues that the severity of the current global financial crisis is strongly influenced by changeable allocations of the global savings. This process is named a “wandering asset bubble”. Since its original outbreak induced by the demise of the subprime mortgage market and the mortgage-backed securities in the U.S., this crisis has reverberated across other credit areas, structured financial products and global financial institutions. Four distinctive stages of the crisis are identified: the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market, spillovers into broader credit market, the liquidity crisis epitomized by the fallout of Bear Sterns with some contagion effects on other financial institutions, and the commodity price bubble. Monetary policy responses aimed at stabilizing financial markets are proposed.
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What Happened to the East German Housing Market? A Historical Perspective on the Role of Public Funding
Claus Michelsen, Dominik Weiß
Post-Communist Economies,
2010
Abstract
The paper analyses the development of the East German housing market after the reunification of the former German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. We analyse the dynamics of the East German housing market within the framework of the well-known stock-flow model, proposed by DiPasquale and Wheaton. We show that the today observable disequilibrium to a large extend is caused by post-unification housing policy and its strong fiscal incentives to invest into the housing stock. Moreover, in line with the stylized empirical facts, we show that ‘hidden reserves’ of the housing market were reactivated since the economy of East Germany became market organized. Since initial undersupply was overcome faster than politicians expected, the implemented fiscal stimuli were too strong. In contrast to the widespread opinion that outward migration caused the observable vacancies, this paper shows that not weakness of demand but supply side policies caused the observable disequilibrium.
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Consumer Awareness in the Adoption of Microgeneration Technologies: An Empirical Investigation in the Republic of Ireland
Claus Michelsen, A. O´Driscol, M.R. Mullen, Marius Claudy
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
2010
Abstract
Despite major policy and marketing efforts, the uptake of microgeneration technologies in most European countries remains low. Whereas most academic studies and policy reports aim to identify the underlying reasons why people buy these new technologies, they often fail to assess the general level of consumer awareness. The process of adopting an innovation, however, shows that awareness is a prerequisite which needs to be understood before adoption can be addressed. This paper takes a closer look at awareness of microgeneration and presents the results from a nationally representative study conducted in the Republic of Ireland. Findings from logistic regressions clearly indicate that awareness varies significantly between the individual technologies and customer segments. The paper concludes with implications for policy makers and marketers aiming to promote microgeneration technologies in consumer markets.
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Reform of IMF Lending Facilities Increases Stability in Emerging Market Economies
J. John, Tobias Knedlik
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 3,
2010
Abstract
Im Zuge der aktuellen Finanz- und Konjunkturkrise gewann der Internationale Währungsfonds (IWF) stark an Bedeutung. Dies zeigte sich vor allem in der erheblichen Ausweitung der verfügbaren Mittel des Fonds. Im Zuge der Krise wurden auch die Kreditlinien des IWF überarbeitet. Zwei neue Instrumente sind dabei von besonderem Interesse, die Flexible Credit Line (FCL) und die High
Access Precautionary Arrangements (HAPA). Nachdem bereits früher mit präventiven Kreditlinien experimentiert wurde, ist die FCL das erste Kreditinstrument mit vorgelagertem Qualifikationsprozess, das auch auf Nachfrage stieß. Dabei ersetzt die Ex-ante-Qualifikation die bisher bei allen IWF-Krediten übliche Ex-post-Konditionalität. Dies bedeutet, dass qualifizierte Länder im Falle einer Krise direkt auf die IWFMittel zurückgreifen können. Ein langwieriger Verhandlungsprozess ist damit ebenso obsolet wie die häufig kritisierten begleitenden Reformprogramme. Damit erfüllt der IWF nunmehr wesentliche Voraussetzungen für eine präventive Kreditvergabe. Auch die befürchtete Stigmatisierung der Länder, die Interesse an den neuen Krediten zeigten, blieb
bislang aus. Die Indikatoren für Polen, Mexiko und Kolumbien, also jener Länder, die bisher FCLVereinbarungen geschlossen haben, sind positiv. Die neuen Instrumente dürften deshalb die Stabilität in Schwellenländern erhöhen.
Kritisch zu betrachten bleibt jedoch die Gefahr erhöhter Risikobereitschaft durch die Finanzmarktakteure, solange die Kreditinstrumente nicht von einem effektiven regulatorischen Rahmen begleitet werden. Die systemische Bedeutung der neuen
Kreditinstrumente wird zudem durch die bislang geringe Nachfrage geschmälert.
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Trotz Rückgang arbeitsmarktpolitischer Maßnahmen Stabilisierung der Beschäftigungslage in Ostdeutschland
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit - Teil 2 -
2010
Abstract
Im Zeitraum von 1990 bis 1993 schrumpfte im Zuge des Um- und Neustrukturierungsprozesses der ostdeutschen Wirtschaft die Zahl der Er-werbstätigen um etwa ein Drittel. In dieser Phase haben arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen den Umbruch auf dem ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt in erheblichem Maße flankiert. Zeitweise war etwa ein Fünftel des gesamten Erwerbspersonenpotenzials in Ostdeutschland in solchen Maßnahmen tätig. Ab Mitte der 1990er Jahre ging der Einsatz arbeitsmarktpolitischer Instrumente deutlich zurück. Mittlerweise sind nur noch 5% des Erwerbspersonenpotenzials in arbeitsmarktpolitischen Maßnahmen beschäftigt. Trotz dieser Rückführung hat sich die Beschäftigungslage auf dem ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt stabilisiert.
Dafür waren zwei Ursachen maßgebend: Erstens ist das gesamtwirtschaftliche Arbeitsangebot deutlich gesunken. Maßgebend dafür waren die demographische Entwicklung, die Wanderungsverluste sowie der deutliche Rückgang der Erwerbsbeteiligung. Zweitens hat sich mit dem Aufbau eines wettbewerbsfähigen Unternehmenssektors der Beschäftigungsstand allmählich stabilisiert, wobei der Anteil der durch arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen gestützten Arbeitsplätze nach dem Jahr 2000 weiter abnahm. Diese beiden Ursachen haben dazu geführt, dass nunmehr eine etwas größere Zahl von nicht geförderten Arbeitsplätzen einem deutlich geschrumpften Arbeitsangebot gegenübersteht. Die „Arbeitsplatzausstattung“ hat sich damit relativ verbessert. Die Unterbeschäftigungsquote ist allerdings noch immer erheblich höher als in den Alten Bundesländern.
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Monopsonistic Labour Markets and the Gender Pay Gap: Theory and Empirical Evidence
Boris Hirsch
Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems,
No. 639,
2010
Abstract
This book investigates models of spatial and dynamic monopsony and their application to the persistent empirical regularity of the gender pay gap. Theoretically, the main conclusion is that employers possess more monopsony power over their female employees if women are less driven by pecuniary considerations in their choice of employers than men. Employers may exploit this to increase their profits at the detriment of women’s wages. Empirically, it is indeed found that women’s labour supply to the firm is less wage-elastic than men’s and that at least a third of the gender pay gap in the data investigated may result from employers engaging in monopsonistic discrimination. Therefore, a monopsonistic approach to gender discrimination in the labour market clearly contributes to the economic understanding of the gender pay gap. It not only provides an intuitively appealing explanation of the gap from standard economic reasoning, but it is also corroborated by empirical observation.
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Market Concentration and Innovation in Transnational Corporations: Evidence from Foreign Affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe
Liviu Voinea, Johannes Stephan
Research on Knowledge, Innovation and Internationalization (Progress in International Business Research, Volume 4),
2009
Abstract
Purpose – The main research question of this contribution is whether local market concentration influences R&D and innovation activities of foreign affiliates of transnational companies.
Methodology/approach – We focus on transition economies and use discriminant function analysis to investigate differences in the innovation activity of foreign affiliates operating in concentrated markets, compared to firms operating in nonconcentrated markets. The database consists of the results of a questionnaire administered to a representative sample of foreign affiliates in a selection of five transition economies.
Findings – We find that foreign affiliates in more concentrated markets, when compared to foreign affiliates in less concentrated markets, export more to their own foreign investor's network, do more basic and applied research, use more of the existing technology already incorporated in the products of their own foreign investor's network, do less process innovation, and acquire less knowledge from abroad.
Research limitations/implications – The results may be specific to transition economies only.
Practical implications – The main implications of these results are that host country market concentration stimulates intranetwork knowledge diffusion (with a risk of transfer pricing), while more intense competition stimulates knowledge creation (at least as far as process innovation is concerned) and knowledge absorption from outside the affiliates' own network. Policy makers should focus their support policies on companies in more competitive sectors, as they are more likely to transfer new technologies.
Originality/value – It contributes to the literature on the relationship between market concentration and innovation, based on a unique survey database of foreign affiliates of transnational corporations operating in Eastern Europe.
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What Happened to the East German Housing Market? – A Historical Perspective on the Role of Public Funding –
Claus Michelsen, Dominik Weiß
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 20,
2009
Abstract
The paper analyses the development of the East German housing market after the reunification of the former German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. We analyse the dynamics of the East German housing market within the framework of the well-known stock-flow model, proposed by DiPasquale and Wheaton. We show that the today observable disequilibrium to a large extend is caused by post-unification housing policy and its strong fiscal incentives to invest into the housing stock. Moreover, in line with the stylized empirical facts, we show that ‘hidden reserves’ of the housing market were reactivated since the economy of East Germany became market organized. Since initial undersupply was overcome faster than politicians expected, the implemented fiscal stimuli were too strong. In contrast to the widespread opinion that outward migration caused the observable vacancies, this paper shows that not weakness of demand but supply side policies caused the observable disequilibrium.
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