This paper investigates the transmission of monetary policy in the euro area based onthe factor augmented vector autoregressive approach of Bernanke, Boivin and Eliasz(2005) as well as on a standard VAR model. We focus on the reaction of monetaryaggregates to a one-off monetary policy shock. We...

Using a unique German firm-level data set, this paper is the first to jointlystudy the cyclical properties of the cross-sections of firm-level real value addedand Solow residual innovations, as well as capital and employment adjustment.We find two new business cycle facts: 1) The cross-sectional...

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of knowledge management on theinnovation success of firms in Germany. Using a matching procedure on data from theGerman Innovation Survey of 2003 (“Mannheim Innovation Panel”), we pair firmsapplying knowledge management with twin firms with...

During the turbulent 1970s and 1980s the Bundesbank established an outstandingreputation in the world of central banking. Germany achieved a high degree of domesticstability and provided safe haven for investors in times of turmoil in the internationalfinancial system. Eventually the Bundesbank...

We look at how large international datasets can improve forecasts of national activity. Weuse the case of New Zealand, an archetypal small open economy. We apply “data-rich” factorand shrinkage methods to tackle the problem of efficiently handling hundreds of predictordata series from many...

Multinational corporations (MNC) search increasingly for lead market knowledge andtechnological expertise around the globe. We investigate whether their subsidiaries gainaccess to these valuable sources of host country knowledge to the same degree as domesticrivals. We develop a theoretical...

The establishment of European monetary union (EMU) was widely expected to causeprice convergence among member states. In an investigation of this claim, the presentstudy avoids problems of comparability and representativeness by using an extremelydetailed and comprehensive scanner database on...

This paper discusses pooling versus model selection for now- and forecasting in the pres-ence of model uncertainty with large, unbalanced datasets. Empirically, unbalanceddata is pervasive in economics and typically due to di¤erent sampling frequencies andpublication delays. Two model classes...

This paper investigates how multinational firms choose the capital structure of theirforeign affiliates in response to political risk. We focus on two choice variables, theleverage and the ownership structure of the foreign affiliate, and we distinguish differenttypes of political risk, such as...

Labor market studies on the effects of minimum wages are typically confinedto the sector or worker group directly affected. We present a two-sector searchmodel in which one sector is more productive than the other one and thus,pays higher wages. In such a framework, setting a minimum wage in...