We examine network effects as an impediment to optimal financial contracting. In devising the terms of their transaction, the parties may prefer to conform to a market standard rather than matching their own contracting needs. To study this possibility, we investigate choice of contract law...

By running an experiment among Germans collecting their passports or ID cards in the citizen centers of Berlin, we find that individuals with an East German family background cheat significantly more on an abstract task than those with a West German family background. The longer individuals were...

In this paper, we show that too strong investor protection may harm small firms and, thus, entrepreneurial initiatives. This situation is particularly relevant in crowdinvesting, which refers to a recent financial innovation originating on the Internet. In general, securities regulation offers...

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is a very powerful court compared to other international courts and even national courts of last resort. Observers almost unanimously agree that it is the preliminary references procedure that made the ECJ the powerful court it is today. In this paper, we...

Das Schwerpunktthema der 62. Euroconstruct-Konferenz, die am 1. Dezember 2006 in München stattfand, lautete "Auswirkungen der Globalisierung auf die Bauwirtschaft". Fünf namhafte Experten stellten, neben den gravierenden Veränderungen der letzten Jahre, ihre Prognosen zur Entwicklung der...

Im vorliegenden Gutachten werden auf Grundlage der Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zum Sportwettenmarkt vom 28. März 2006 vier Szenarien erstellt, in denen beschrieben wird, wie sich der deutsche Sportwettmarkt bis zum Jahr 2010 unter unterschiedlichen gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen...