This thesis investigates whether estimating the inputs of the Markowitz (1952) Mean-Variance framework using various econometric techniques leads to improved optimalportfolio allocations at the country, sector and stock levels over a number of timeperiods. We build upon previous work by using...

Untersuchungsgegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Preisbindung auf dem deutschen Buchmarkt. Diese stellt eine absolute Ausnahmesituation dar, da sie für andere Wirtschaftszweige per se verboten ist. Das gilt umso mehr, als im Jahr 2002 das Preisbindungsgesetz eingeführt wurde und alle Verlage ihre...

Mit der Schaffung des europäischen Versicherungsbinnenmarkteswurde 1994 auch der deutsche Versicherungsmarkt liberalisiert.Damit stehen seither den Unternehmen auf diesen Märkten mit derProduktgestaltung, der Prämienkalkulation und derRisikoklassifikation neue Wettbewerbsinstrumente zur...

Investors in financial markets face several restrictions apart from wealth constraints. The first attempt to understand these restrictions in a general competitive equilibrium framework can be traced back to Radner (1972). Here these restrictions are assumed to be given exogenously, as first...

An abundant literature is concerned with the existence of equilibrium in incomplete markets where participation to financial markets is not restricted. To mention a few, Cass (1984), Werner (1985), Geanakoplos and Polemarchakis (1986), Duffie (1987), Duffie and Shafer (1985) and Magill and...

This dissertation extends previous research on bubbles by investigating whether changes in the financial asset prices of the S&P500 reflect changes in fundamentals. We propose that if this is not the case the volatility is due to a bubble. Hence, this is the general hypothesis from which several...

This dissertation has a twofold objective: to extend the Williamson asset specificity hypothesis and to empirically test both the asset specificity hypothesis and the extension. The Williamson asset specificity hypothesis asserts that the financial leverage used by firms is a function of the...

The study tested three types of models, i.e. financial, macroeconomic, and the combined financial-macroeconomic model (FINMAC), an aggregation of the expanded Gordon model and the IS-LM model. This was done to determine the impact of certain financial and macroeconomic variables on stock prices...