Technology spillovers from external investors in East Germany: no overall effects in favor of domestic firms
Harald Lehmann, Jutta Günther
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 198,
2004
Abstract
The study deals with the question whether external (foreign and West German) investors in East Germany induce technological spillover effects in favor of domestic firms. It ties in with a number of other econometric spillover studies, especially for transition economies, which show rather mixed and inconclusive results so far. Different from existing spillover analyses, this study allows for a much deeper regional breakdown up to Raumordnungsregionen and uses a branch classification that explicitly considers intermediate and investment good linkages. The regression results show no positive correlation between the presence of external investors and domestic firms’ productivity, no matter which regional breakdown is looked at (East Germany as a whole, federal states, or Raumordnungsregionen). Technology spillovers which may exist in particular cases are obviously not strong enough to increase the domestic firms’ overall productivity.
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The influence of Vertical Integration and Property Rights on Network Access Charges in the German Electricity Markets
Christian Growitsch, Thomas Wein
Externe Publikationen,
No. 6,
2004
Abstract
German Electricity markets were deregulated in the late nineties of the last century. In contrast to other European countries, the German government enacted negotiated third party access instead of installing a regulation authority. Network access charges for new competitors are based on contractual arrangements between energy producers and industrial consumers, which specify the calculation schemes for access charges. Local and regional suppliers are nevertheless able to set (monopolistic) charges at their own discretion, restricted only by the possibility of interference competition authorities. While some of those suppliers have been acquired by one of the four Transmission System Operators and become vertically integrated, the majority is still independent public utility companies. In this paper we analyse if there is evidence for different charging behaviour depending on the supplier’s economic independence or its level of vertical integration. Controlling for other coefficients as the so called structural features and related cost differences as well as the influence of competition law suits, multivariate estimations show significantly lower access charges than vertically separated suppliers, whereas incorporated network operators charge significantly higher charges compared to independent suppliers for at least one typical case.
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Significant differences in annual working hours among the Länder
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 5,
2004
Abstract
Der Beitrag behandelt einige empirische Befunde zu den regionalen Unterschieden in den Jahresarbeitszeiten auf Länderebene. Es werden mögliche Ursachen hierfür genannt und Konsequenzen für den Ausweis der Lohnkostenbelastung aufgezeigt.
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Measurement of Contagion in Banks' Equity Prices
Reint E. Gropp, G. Moerman
Journal of International Money and Finance,
No. 3,
2004
Abstract
This paper uses the co-incidence of extreme shocks to banks’ risk to examine within-country and across country contagion among large EU banks. Banks’ risk is measured by the first difference of weekly distances to default and abnormal returns. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the paper examines whether the observed frequency of large shocks experienced by two or more banks simultaneously is consistent with the assumption of a multivariate normal or a student t distribution. Further, the paper proposes a simple metric, which is used to identify contagion from one bank to another and identify “systemically important” banks in the EU.
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Innovation cooperation: experiences from East and West Germany
Jutta Günther
Science and Public Policy,
2004
Abstract
This paper deals with innovation cooperation as a means to support the ongoing catch-up process of the East German economy. Against prevalent beliefs, it can be shown that East German enterprises are more often involved in innovation co-operation than West German firms, and differences in cooperation partner priorities only reflect the given structural differences between the two regions. While cooperating enterprises in East and West Germany are clearly more innovative than their non-cooperating counterparts, a productivity advantage of these firms is (so far) only observable in West Germany. Reasons for this surprising finding are discussed.
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Evaluation of Further Training Programmes with an Optimal Matching Algorithm
Eva Reinowski, Birgit Schultz, Jürgen Wiemers
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 188,
2004
Abstract
This study evaluates the effects of further training on the individual unemployment duration of different groups of persons representing individual characteristics and some aspects of the economic environment. The Micro Census Saxony enables us to include additional information about a person's employment history to eliminate the bias resulting from unobservable characteristics and to avoid Ashenfelter's Dip. In order to solve the sample selection problem we employ an optimal full matching assignment, the Hungarian algorithm. The impact of participation in further training is evaluated by comparing the unemployment duration between participants and non-participants using the Kaplan-Meier-estimator. Overall, we find empirical evidence that participation in further training programmes results in even longer unemployment duration.
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The economic structure of the largest East German cities: economic differences increase
Cordula Winkler
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 2,
2004
Abstract
Vor dem Hintergrund, dass im großräumigen Wettbewerb um Unternehmen und mobile Produktionsfaktoren insbesondere die großen Städte intensive Standortwerbung betreiben, untersucht der Beitrag den wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungsstand der ostdeutschen Großstädte. Neben dem aktuellen Rand wird dabei auch die Entwicklung der Städte seit Mitte der 90er Jahre nachgezeichnet. Mit Blick auf die gegenwärtige wirtschaftliche Lage zeigt sich, dass es trotz deutlicher wirtschaftlicher Unterschiede keine Großstadt gibt, die bei allen betrachteten Indikatoren eine Führungsrolle eingenommen hat. Vielmehr weist jede Stadt sehr spezifische Stärken und Schwächen auf – sowohl gegenüber den anderen Großstädten als auch gegenüber den neuen Bundesländern insgesamt. Ein Vergleich mit der Situation im Jahr 1995 zeigt weiter, dass das Ausmaß der Entwicklungsunterschiede zwischen den Städten seither deutlich gewachsen ist. Diese Entwicklung geht – insbesondere in den kleineren Großstädten – mit einer gleichzeitigen Verschärfung des jeweiligen Spezialisierungsprofils einher.
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Information or Regulation: What Drives the International Activities of Commercial Banks?
Claudia M. Buch
Journal of Money Credit,
No. 6,
2003
Abstract
Information costs and regulatory barriers distinguish international financial markets from national ones. Using panel data on bilateral assets and liabilities of commercial banks, I empirically determine the impact of information, costs and regulations, and I isolate intra-EU financial linkages. I confirm that information costs and regulations are important factors influencing international asset choices of banks, but their relative importance differs among countries.
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The national German innovation system. Its development in different governmental and territorial structures
Hariolf Grupp, Iciar Dominguez Lacasa, Monika Friedrich-Nishio
The international handbook on innovation,
2003
Abstract
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Why do we have an interbank money market?
Jürgen Wiemers, Ulrike Neyer
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 182,
2003
Abstract
The interbank money market plays a key role in the execution of monetary policy. Hence, it is important to know the functioning of this market and the determinants of the interbank money market rate. In this paper, we develop an interbank money market model with a heterogeneous banking sector. We show that besides for balancing daily liquidity fluctuations banks participate in the interbank market because they have different marginal costs of obtaining funds from the central bank. In the euro area, which we refer to, these cost differences occur because banks have different marginal cost of collateral which they need to hold to obtain funds from the central bank. Banks with relatively low marginal costs act as intermediaries between the central bank and banks with relatively high marginal costs. The necessary positive spread between the interbank market rate and the central bank rate is determined by transaction costs and credit risk in the interbank market, total liquidity needs of the banking sector, costs of obtaining funds from the central bank, and the distribution of the latter across banks.
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