For most multi-period decision-making problems, it is generally well-accepted that the influence of information about later periods on the optimal decision in the current period reduces as we move farther into the future. If and when this influence reduces to zero, the corresponding problem...

This paper examines whether exporting activity matters for firm's price cost margins. The recent literature on exporting and productivity shows that exporters on average are more efficient than nonexporters. If that is the case we may also expect them to have different mark-ups. We investigate...

Assortment decisions are key strategic instruments for firms responding to local market conditions. We assess this claim by studying the effect of a national merger between two large Dutch supermarket chains on prices and on the depth as well as composition of assortment. We adopt a...

It is often argued that robots will lead to the reshoring of activity from low wage countries to rich countries - the revival of manufacturing in rich countries. But smart robots are a capital biased technology which could potentially replace smart people. As a result the skill premium - the...

In an influential paper Mankiw, Romer, and Weil (1992) argue that the evidence on the international disparity in per-capita income levels and growth rates is consistent with a standard Solow model, once it has been augmented to include human capital as an accumulable factor. In a study on...

Die Digitalisierung, die Energiewende und der Aufstieg Chinas zu einem wichtigen Konkurrenten stellen die Wirtschaftspolitik vor große Herausforderungen. Die Politik reagiert darauf mit Überlegungen, europäische Champions zu schaffen oder lenkend in die Wirtschaft einzugreifen. Eine...

Die steuerliche Förderung von Forschung und Entwicklung (FuE) in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) ist wieder in der Diskussion. Viele Vorschläge liegen vor und die Politik erwägt die Umsetzung. Diese Maßnahme wäre mit vergleichsweise hohen Kosten verbunden und kann später nur schwer...

Mit Patentdaten der weltweit forschungsstärksten Unternehmen lassen sich Informationen über die regionale und technologische Verteilung ihrer Forschungsaktivitäten generieren. Daraus ergeben sich Anhaltspunkte zu den Motiven der Internationalisierung. Unternehmen betreiben Forschung und...

In this paper we present latest facts about the R&D activities of German multinational companies abroad and R&D activities of foreign companies in Germany. These results confirm that Germany is still an attractive location for R&D activites of multinational companies in many technological...

This paper empirically evaluates the price effects of the merger of two major book retail chains in the UK: Waterstone's and Ottakar's. We employ differences-in-differences techniques and use a rich dataset containing monthly scanner data information on a sample of 200 books sold in 60 stores in...