Inflation and Relative Price Variability in a Low Inflation Country: Empirical Evidence for Germany
Dieter Nautz, Juliane Scharff
German Economic Review,
Nr. 4,
2005
Abstract
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Financial Openness and Business Cycle Volatility
Claudia M. Buch, Jörg Döpke, C. Pierdzioch
Journal of International Money and Finance,
Nr. 5,
2005
Abstract
This paper discusses whether the integration of international financial markets affects business cycle volatility. In the framework of a new open economy macro-model, we show that the link between financial openness and business cycle volatility depends on the nature of the underlying shock. Empirical evidence supports this conclusion. Our results also show that the link between business cycle volatility and financial openness has not been stable over time.
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Distance and International Banking
Claudia M. Buch
Review of International Economics,
Nr. 4,
2005
Abstract
This paper asks how important distance is as a determinant of international banking and whether distance has become less important over time. If technological progress has lowered information costs and if information costs increase in distance, the importance of distance should have declined. I use data on assets and liabilities of commercial banks from five countries (France, Germany, Italy, UK, and US) in 50 host countries for the years 1983–99 to test this hypothesis. Generally, I find that banks hold significantly lower assets in distant markets and that the importance of distance for the foreign asset holdings of banks has not changed.
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Determinants and Effects of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from German Firm-Level Data
Claudia M. Buch, J. Kleinert, A. Lipponer
Economic Policy,
Nr. 41,
2005
Abstract
Foreign direct investment is an essential aspect of ‘globalization’ yet its empirical determinants are not well understood. What we do know is based either on poor data for a wide range of nations, or good data for the US and Swedish cases. In this paper, we provide evidence on the determinants of the activities of German multinational firms by using a newly available firm-level data set from the Deutsche Bundesbank. The specific goal of this paper is to demonstrate the relative role of country-level and firm-level determinants of foreign direct investment. We focus on three main questions: First, what are the main driving forces of German firms’ multinational activities? Second, is there evidence that sector-level and firm-level factors shape internationalization patterns? Third, is there evidence of agglomeration effects in the foreign activities of German firms? We find that the market access motive for internationalization dominates. Firms move abroad mainly to gain better access to large foreign markets. Cost-saving motives, however, are important for some manufacturing sectors. Our results strongly suggest that firm-level heterogeneity has an important influence on internationalization patterns – as stressed by recent models of international trade. We also find positive agglomeration effects for the activities of German firms that stem from the number of other German firms that are active on a given foreign market. In terms of lessons for economic policy, our results show that lowering barriers to the integration of markets and encouraging the formation of human capital can promote the activities of multinational firms. However, our results related to the heterogeneity of firms and agglomeration tendencies show that it might be difficult to fine-tune policies directed at the exploitation of synergies and at the creation of clusters of foreign firms.
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Business Cycles and FDI: Evidence from German Sectoral Data
Claudia M. Buch, A. Lipponer
Review of World Economics,
Nr. 4,
2005
Abstract
Globalization has affected business cycle developments in OECD countries and has increased activities of firms across national borders. This paper analyzes whether these two developments are linked. We use a new firm-level data set on the foreign activities of German firms to test whether foreign activities are affected by business cycle developments. We aggregate the data by the sector of the reporting firm, the sector of the foreign affiliate, and the host country. Data are annual and cover the period 1989–2002. We find that German outward FDI increases in response to positive cyclical developments abroad and in response to a real depreciation of the domestic currency.
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A Strategy View on Knowledge in the MNE - Integrating Subsidiary Roles and Knowledge Flows
Björn Jindra
East-West Journal of Economics and Business,
1 & 2
2005
Abstract
We assume knowledge inflows endogenous to subsidiary roles. Integrating organisational and knowledge-based views we propose a new subsidiary typology based on MNE integration-subsidiary capability. We hypothesise that both dimensions are positively associated with knowledge inflows into the focal subsidiary. This prediction is tested with data for 425 subsidiaries. The key findings were: (a) the extent for knowledge inflows differs significantly across all subsidiary roles; (c) it diminishes in a anti-clockwise direction starting in the high integration-high capability quadrant of the IC taxonomy; thus (b) both MNE integration and subsidiary capability drive knowledge inflows, although, the balance shifts more towards integration.
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Bank Market Power, Factor Reallocation, and Aggregate Growth
R. Inklaar, Michael Koetter, Felix Noth
Journal of Financial Stability,
2015
Abstract
Using a unique firm-level sample of approximately 700,000 firm-year observations of German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study seeks to identify the effect of bank market power on aggregate growth components. We test for a pre-crisis sample whether bank market power spurs or hinders the reallocation of resources across informationally opaque firms. Identification relies on the dependence on external finance in each industry and the regional demarcation of regional banking markets in Germany. The results show that bank markups spur aggregate SME growth, primarily through technical change and the reallocation of resources. Banks seem to need sufficient markups to generate the necessary private information to allocate financial funds efficiently.
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Ten Years after Accession: State Aid in Eastern Europe
Jens Hölscher, Nicole Nulsch, Johannes Stephan
European State Aid Law Quarterly,
Nr. 2,
2014
Abstract
In the early phase of transition that started with the 1990s, Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) have pursued far-reaching vertical and individual industrial policy with a focus on privatisation and restructuring of traditional industries. Foreign investment from the West and the facilitation of the development of a market economy also involved massive injections of State support. With their accession to the European Union (EU), levels and forms of State aid came under critical review by the European Commission. Now that a first decade has passed since the first Eastern enlargement in 2004, this inquiry investigates how State aid policy in the CEECs has developed during the last...
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Strategien multinationaler Unternehmen in Ostmitteleuropa - Perspektiven aus der Praxis
Jutta Günther, Istvan Fekete
Willkommene Investoren oder nationaler Ausverkauf? Ausländische Direktinvestitionen in Ostmitteleuropa im 20. Jahrhundert. Frankfurter Studien zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Ostmitteleuropas, Bd. 11,
2006
Abstract
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Grenzregionen als Unternehmensstandorte - Entwicklungsstand, regionale Einflussfaktoren und Unternehmensnetzwerke
Gerhard Heimpold, Rupert Kawka
Chancen der EU-Osterweiterung für Ostdeutschland, Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung, Arbeitsmaterial der ARL Nr. 321,
2006
Abstract
Untersuchungsgegenstand des Beitrags sind die Unternehmensstrukturen in den Regionen entlang der deutsch-polnischen und deutsch-tschechischen Grenze sowie wichtige Einflußfaktoren auf deren Entwicklung. Die Ausgangshypothese ist, daß Regionen an Grenzen, welche über lange Zeit geschlossen waren, eine geringere Unternehmensdichte als das Binnenland aufweisen, daß dort jedoch im Zuge der Grenzöffnung die Standortattraktivität und damit die Zahl der Unternehmen überdurchschnittlich zunimmt. Entgegen der im ersten Teil der Hypothese pauschal formulierten Erwartung werden in der Untersuchung eine Reihe von Teilräumen entlang der Grenze mit überdurchschnittlichen Unternehmensbesätzen identifiziert. Der zweite Teil der Hypothese scheint eine Bestätigung zu finden. In einigen Teilräumen ist die Zahl der Unternehmen überdurchschnittlich gestiegen. Letzteres muß aber nicht allein aus der Grenzlage, sondern kann aus der Nähe zu städtischen Zentren im Binnenland herrühren. Am Beispiel von Unternehmensnetzwerken im deutschen Teil der Euroregion Neiße zeigen sich Bestrebungen, die frühere Halbkreissituation entlang der Grenze erfolgreich zu überwinden.
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