Although there is a large and rapidly growing literature on the determinants of regional variation in new firm formation, relatively little is known about the interrelation between the characteristics of start-up firms and urban structure. It is only recently that scholars of urban economics...

We develop an endogenous growth model which is focussed on entrepreneurial skills and their impact on growth and convergence. Our work is closely related to the model by Acemoglu et al. (2006) but extends their analysis in some important respects. Entrepreneurs in our model dispose of two...

Since 1997 the Hong Kong (HK) government has markedly changed its role from being a mere institution provider to being an active innovation promoter. As such, it has actively implemented innovation policies that focus especially on creating new funding opportunities and establishing several R&D...

This paper examines the association between the outcome of business incubation and the resources used by incubators, by using a small panel of science and technology business incubators (STBIs) in China. We find that while the number of firms graduating from an STBI is closely correlated with...

Relationship banking involves the provision of financial services by an intermediary that a) invests in obtaining customer-specific information, often proprietary in nature; and b) evaluates the profitability of these investments through multiple interactions with the same customer over time...

We present a new partial equilibrium theory of price adjustment, based on consumer loss aversion. In line with prospect theory, the consumers' perceived utility losses from price increases are weighted more heavily than the perceived utility gains from price decreases of equal magnitude. Price...

Some path-breaking work on mergers takes efficiency gains for granted, or assumes that firms have perfect knowledge when taking merger decisions. In practice, firms and competition authorities cannot know exact future efficiency gains, prior to merger consummation. This paper analyzes horizontal...

Smallholders often have to certify according to international standards and produce under contract for large agro-businesses to access the export market. While mostly positive effects for the farmers have been found for contracts and certifications, little is known about the role of individual...

This paper addresses the reduction of market failure under imperfect competition. It proposes a taxscheme that provides firms with an incentive to forgo their market power: Firms optimize after-tax profits. Now simply consider a firm´s gross profit margin the unique tax-rate it is charged on...

This paper provides a technical description of the Dynamic Applied Regional Trade (DART) General Equilibrium Model. The DART model is a recursive dynamic, multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model. All regions are fully specified and linked by bilateral trade flows. The...