The following dissertation is a collection of four stand-alone research papers. The focus of my research is on the interplay of immigration, native human-capital investment and the resulting consequences for the labour market outcome of natives and necessary implications for the immigration...

At its core, this dissertation examines the role of information, particularly as it relates to proxies for quality, and how it affects both donor and organization decision processes in the humanitarian space. In Chapter 2 I consider the context of competition within the sub-sector of...

Online Consumer-to-Consumer Communication Networks are characterized by informational and social benefits as well as time and effort costs for participants. Therefore, this dissertation takes an economic perspective on the network formation process as a determinant of value for consumers and...

Mit der Liberalisierung des europäischen Marktes für elektrische Energie haben sich die Randbedingungen für alle in diesem Markt tätigen Unternehmen grundlegend verändert. Um das langfristige Ziel eines europäischen Binnenmarktes zu erreichen, sind erhebliche Eingriffe in die unter...

Diese Doktorarbeit besteht aus vier eigenständigen Forschungsarbeiten, die in der Zeit von Oktober 2004 bis Oktober 2007 geschrieben wurden, während ich Teilnehmer am "Doctoral Programme in Quantitative Economics and Finance" an der Universität Konstanz war. Meine Forschungsinteressen...

Today's predominant disclosure philosophy calls for the fulldisclosure of all decision relevant information bycompanies. More publicly available information, theargument goes, limits the adverse selection problem by reducinginformation asymmetry among heterogeneous investors. Thus, theliquidity...

Die Gründung des GATT Abkommens im Jahr 1947 sowie die Welthandelsorganisation führten zu weltweiten Zollsenkung. Seit deren Gründung haben sich mehr als 150 Länder innerhalb von acht Verhandlungsrunden auf Zollsenkungen von durchschnittlich 40% auf nunmehr 4% geeinigt.Hauptsäule der WTO...

The importance of social and economic networks has meanwhile been widely acknowledged throughout social sciences. Network positions are supposed to be important for both, consumers and suppliers. Examples are R&D collaborations, strategic alliances, knowledge management within organizations,...

By using a broker, the owner of a house can speed up his search for buyers but must pay a percentage of the sale price as a commission. Nonstationarities inherent in the housing market may make it optimal to market a house “by-owner” at the outset and to retain a broker only if the house...

An agent is generally defined as an entity capable of perceiving its environment and accomplishing a particular action without explicit instruction. Blindly taking directives without thinking is typically not intelligent, so rather a software agent is deemed intelligent if it may be...