The extraordinary height of the U.S. current account deficits in the 90s gave rise to concern, a variety of papers and political recommendationsrevealing the very contrary opinions of economists on the subject.From this alarming evolution, the question of sustainability of such a...

Advances in human development are closely linked to increasing access to water and sanitation services in developing countries. The present study investigates the role of governance for mastering this challenge. The motivation for choosing this subject is the insight that the focus on...

This dissertation is a collection of four research papers written during my doctoral studies at the University of Konstanz between October 2004 and November 2008. These papers are empirical studies dealing with different aspects in the field of university economics. The focus of the first two...

Die Arbeit untersucht die Anwendbarkeit des HarrisTodaro Modells für Land-Stadt-Migrations-Prozesse inEntwicklungsländern. Dabei geht es nicht nur um das Basismodel,sondern auch um die Modell-Erweiterungen, die internationalenHandel, einen städtischen informellen Sektor und die Aspekte...

Mit der Gründung der WTO am 1.1.1995 trat das TRIPS-Übereinkommen in Kraft. Es verpflichtet alle WTO Mitglieder zur Umsetzung von Rechten zum Schutze des geistigen Eigentums, welche dem Niveau industrialisierter Staaten nahezu entsprechen. Die Stärkung internationaler Immaterialgüterrechte...

In my dissertation, I explore the relationship between capital controls and the choiceof the maturity structure of external debt in a general equilibrium setup, incorporatingexplicitly the role of international lenders. I look at specific types of capital controlswhich take the form of...

The dissertation consists of three distinct chapters that contribute to important, yet unresolved topics in Macroeconomics and International Economics.Macroeconomists have been keenly interested in understanding how financial crisis turn into real recessions in emerging markets. By using a...