We analyze the cross-national distribution of GDP per capita and its evolution from 1970 to 2003. We argue that peaks are not a suitable measure for distinct growth regimes, because the number of peaks is not invariant under strictly monotonic transformations of the data (e.g. original vs. log...

Die Situation am deutschen Wohnungsmarkt ist aktuell Gegenstand einer gesellschaftlichen Diskussion. Ein deutlicher Nachfrageüberhang, der sich vorwiegend - aber nicht ausschließlich - auf urbane Räume konzentriert, hat in den letzten Jahren zu einem deutlichen Preisanstieg sowohl bei den...

In diesem Papier wird untersucht, welche Auswirkungen die Verfügbarkeit von Infrastruktur auf die unternehmerische Investitionsentscheidung hat. Dabei ist unterstellt, dass Infrastruktur zum einen Input in der Produktionsfunktion ist und zum anderen die Höhe der Anpassungskosten beeinflusst....

This paper proposes a theory for the gradual evolution of knowledge diffusion and growth over the very long run. A feedback mechanism between capital accumulation and the ease of knowledge diffusion explains a long epoch of (quasi-) stasis and an epoch of high growth linked by a gradual economic...

This paper studies the effects of bilateral foreign aid on conflict escalation and de-escalation. We make three major contributions. First, we combine data on civil wars with data on low level conflicts in a new ordinal measure capturing the two-sided and multifaceted nature of conflict. Second,...

Climate policy negotiations identi ed international technology funding as a means of achieving carbon emissions reductions in developing countries. Such funds are now being realized. This paper is probably the first theory-based discussion of international technology funding. It sets up a Ramsey...

Successful economic development is usually characterized by two salient phenomena: industrialization and demographic transition. Chronologically both events happen so closely to each other that historians and economists alike suspect that they are interrelated. This paper develops a theory for...

This paper provides a unified growth theory, i.e. a model that explains the very long-run economic and demographic development path of industrialized economies, stretching from the pre-industrial era to present-day and beyond. Making strict use of Malthus' (1798) so-called preventive check...

In the present paper we advance a theory of pre-industrial growth where body size and population size are endogenously determined. Despite the fact that parents invest in both child quantity and productivity enhancing child quality, a take-off does not occur due to a key "physiological check":...