We argue that in labor markets with central wage bargaining wage flexibility varies systematically across the wage distribution: local wage flexibility is more relevant for the upper part of the wage distribution, and flexibility of wages negotiated under central wage bargaining affects the...

Verschiedene Verbindungen zwischen lokalen Kapitaleinheiten können Komplementaritäten in den Standortentscheidungen begründen: Skalenerträge und Spillovereffekte, Input- Output-Beziehungen bei Transportkosten und EinkommenskreislaufefTekte. In einem stilisierten Modell wird ihr simultaner...

The peculiarities of the German system of labor relations suggest, that the efficiency wage hypothesis stating an inverse relation between local wages and local unemployment should be related to sectoral wage bargaining on the national level. For that purpose a theoretical model is presented...

Local productivity externalities play an important role in the recent literature on economic geography and regional growth. But apart from case studies there is only weak empirical evidence. Using a simple theoretic framework the paper derives two empirical implications of those externalities...

This study tests for financial constraints on R&D investment and how they differ from capital investment. To identify constraints in the access to external capital, we employ a credit rating index. Our models show that internal constraints, measured by mark-ups, are more decisive for R&D than...

This paper investigates how competition and firm size affect the relationship between market uncertainty and R&D investment. We use an intuitively appealing measure of firm-specific uncertainty along with panel data to show that firms invest less in current R&D as uncertainty about market...

This paper investigates the impact of in-house R&D and innovation management practices on innovation success in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs). While there is little doubt about the significance of technology competence for generating successful innovations, inhouse R&D activities may be a...

In the tax policy debate, differentiation of value-added taxes is often justified by distributional concerns. Our quantitative analysis for Germany indicates that such concerns are misplaced. We find that the abolition of VAT differentiation has only negligible redistributive effects. Instead,...

We estimate the effects of R&D on firms' credit ratings and on financial distress. The main purpose is the comparison of firms in Western Germany and Eastern Germany as a transitional economy. Innovative activity has a positive impact on firm value proxied by ratings in Western Germany, but a...

The real options investment theory shows that greater uncertainty about market revenues reduces current R&D investment by increasing the value of waiting. This paper presents empirical evidence that patent protection mitigates the effect market uncertainty on R&D investment.