The Causal Effect of Watching TV on Material Aspirations: Evidence from the “Valley of the Innocent”
Walter Hyll, Lutz Schneider
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization,
Nr. 86,
2013
Abstract
The paper addresses the question of whether TV consumption has an impact on material aspirations. We exploit a natural experiment that took place during the period in which Germany was divided. Owing to geographical reasons TV programs from the Federal Republic of Germany could not be received in all parts of the German Democratic Republic. Therefore a natural variation occurred in exposure to West German television. We find robust evidence that watching TV is positively correlated with aspirations. Our identification strategy implies a causal relationship running from TV to aspirations. This conclusion resists various sets of alternative specifications and samples.
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The Causal Effect of Watching TV on Material Aspirations: Evidence from the “Valley of the Innocent”
Walter Hyll, Lutz Schneider
Abstract
The paper addresses the question of whether TV consumption has an impact on material aspirations. We exploit a natural experiment that took place during the period in which Germany was divided. Owing to geographical reasons, TV programs from the Federal Republic of Germany could not be received in all parts of the German Democratic Republic. Therefore, a natural variation occurred in exposure to West German television. We find robust evidence that watching TV is positively correlated with aspirations. Our identification strategy implies a causal relationship running from TV to aspirations. This conclusion resists various sets of alternative specifications and samples.
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Technological Intensity of Government Demand and Innovation
Viktor Slavtchev, Simon Wiederhold
Abstract
Governments purchase everything from airplanes to zucchini. This paper investigates whether the technological intensity of government demand affects corporate R&D activities. In a quality-ladder model of endogenous growth, we show that an increase in the share of government purchases in high-tech industries increases the rewards for innovation, and stimulates private-sector R&D at the aggregate level. We test this prediction using administrative data on federal procurement performed in US states. Both panel fixed effects and instrumental variable estimations provide results in line with the model. Our findings bring public procurement within the realm of the innovation policy debate.
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Ökonomische Aspekte des energieeffizienten Wohnens: Ergebnisse eines Expertenworkshops am IWH
Sebastian Rosenschon, G. Bohmann
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 4,
2012
Abstract
Die Steigerung der Energieeffizienz von Gebäuden und die damit verbundene Reduzierung der gesamtdeutschen Treibhausgasemissionen stellen einen wichtigen Baustein der deutschen Klimaschutzpolitik dar. Im Rahmen des von der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft geförderten Projektes „Energetische Aufwertung und Stadtentwicklung (EASE)“ untersucht das IWH zusammen mit den Projektpartnern des E.ON Energy Research Centers der RWTH Aachen (E.ON ERC) und des Instituts für ökologische Raumentwicklung Dresden (IÖR) die Entwicklung der Energieeffizienz des deutschen Gebäudebestandes. Im Oktober vergangenen Jahres fand, initiiert durch das EASE-Projekt, ein Expertenworkshop am IWH
statt. Ziel des Workshops war es, aktuelle Entwicklungen der energetischen Modernisierung von Wohngebäuden mit Forschern und Praktikern zu diskutieren. Im Mittelpunkt standen einerseits mikroökonomische Erklärungsansätze des Sanierungsverhaltens von privaten und institutionellen Gebäudeeigentümern sowie andererseits die Ausgestaltung und Wirkung der staatlichen Förderung von Energieeffizienzsteigerung im Wohngebäudebestand.
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The Internationalization of Science and Its Influence on Academic Entrepreneurship
S. Krabel, D. S. Siegel, Viktor Slavtchev
Journal of Technology Transfer,
Nr. 2,
2012
Abstract
We examine whether scientists employed in foreign countries and foreign-educated native researchers are more “entrepreneurial” than their “domestic” counterparts. We conjecture that foreign-born and foreign-educated scientists possess broader scientific skills and social capital, which increases their likelihood that they will start their own companies. To test this hypothesis we analyze comprehensive data from researchers at the Max Planck Society in Germany. Our findings provide strong support for the conjecture that academic entrepreneurship can be stimulated by facilitating the mobility of scientists across countries.
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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,
Nr. 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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What Drives Innovation Output from Subsidized R&D Cooperation? — Project-level Evidence from Germany
Michael Schwartz, Michael Fritsch, Jutta Günther, François Peglow
Technovation,
Nr. 6,
2012
Abstract
Using a large dataset of 406 subsidized R&D cooperation projects, we provide detailed insights into the relationship between project characteristics and innovation output. Patent applications and publications are used as measures for the innovation output of an R&D project. We find that large-firm involvement is strongly positively related with the number of patent applications, but not with the number of publications. Conversely, university involvement has positive effects on projects’ innovation output in terms of the number of publications but not in terms of patent applications. In general, projects’ funding as measure of projects’ size is an important predictor of the innovation output of R&D cooperation projects. No significant effects are found for the number of partners as (an alternative) measure of projects’ size, for spatial proximity between cooperation partners, for the involvement of a public institute for applied research, and for prior cooperation experiences. We derive conclusions for the design of R&D cooperation support schemes.
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Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Competition and Innovation
Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit
Journal of the European Economic Association,
Nr. 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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Im Fokus: Im Osten nichts Neues – Ergebnisse des ista-IWH-Energieeffizienzindex –
Claus Michelsen, Sebastian Rosenschon
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 9,
2011
Abstract
Deutschlands Mehrfamilienhäuser verbrauchen immer weniger Energie. Dies ist das Ergebnis des ista-IWH-Energieeffizienzindex für die Abrechnungsperiode 2010. Gegenüber der Vorperiode ist der Energiebedarf für Raumwärme bundesweit um rund 2,3% zurückgegangen. Im Fünfjahresvergleich ist dies leicht unterdurchschnittlich: Im Mittel betrug der Rückgang rund 2,4% seit 2005. Dennoch ist der Energieverbrauch mit rund 131,1 Kilowattstunden je Quadratmeter Wohnfläche im Jahr nach wie vor deutlich von dem von der
Bundesregierung formulierten Ziel – einer Reduktion des Energieverbrauches von Immobilien um 80% bis 2050 – entfernt. Das räumliche Muster der durchschnittlichen Energiekennwerte verändert sich insgesamt nur sehr langsam. Tendenziell ist eine Angleichung zwischen den Neuen und den Alten Ländern zu beobachteten. Im Osten stagnieren die Energiekennwerte auf einem Niveau unterhalb des Bundesdurchschnitts, im Westen sinken sie in den meisten Regionen. Eine höhere Dynamik geht dabei insbesondere von den Regionen im Süden Deutschlands aus.
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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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