Zu Beginn des Jahres 2024 zeigen Stimmungsindikatoren etwas aufgehellte Aussichten für die internationale Konjunktur. Dabei war die weltweite Produktionsdynamik noch bis Ende 2023 zurückgegangen. Ursachen waren hohe Inflation, restriktive Geldpolitik und in Europa der russische Krieg gegen die...

Zum Ende des Jahres 2023 verliert die Weltwirtschaft weiter an Schwung. Die Phase der Erholung von der Pandemie ist weitgehend abgeschlossen, und der durch den weltweiten Inflationsschub ausgelöste restriktive Schwenk der Geldpolitik drückt über höhere Finanzierungskosten vielerorts die...

Teollisuuden ja Työnantajain Keskusliiton vuosittain teettämän työvoimatiedustelun aineistosta voidaan muodostaa kaksi tarkasti määriteltyä rekrytointiongelmien mittaria, joita on mahdollista soveltaa joko toimiala- tai toimipaikkakohtaisesti. Näiden kahden mittarin yhteyksiä...

We analyse the adjustment of retail and services prices in a period of low inflation, using a set of individual price data from the German Consumer Price Index which covers the years 1998 to 2003. We strong find evidence of time- and state-dependent price adjustment. Most importantly, the...

The purpose of this paper is to assess under what conditions exchange rate volatility exerts a positive effect on a firm's labour demand. As the exchange rate volatility increases, so does the value of the export option provided the firm under study is flexible. Flexibility is important because...

This paper analyses the flexibility decision of firms. In particular we (a) ask whether the flexibility choice is influenced by market structure (concentration, market growth, ...), (b) compare the firms' actual choices with welfare maximising flexibility decisions (c) investigate the...

We investigate the importance of ?what?-flexibility on top of ?where?- and ?when?-flexibility for alternative emission control schemes that prescribe long-term temperature targets and eventually impose additional constraints on the rate of temperature change. We find that ?what?-flexibility...

This paper investigates to what extent the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) fosters innovation activities by facilitating more flexible organisational structures in firms. We distinguish between functional flexibility (the ability of workers to co-operate and take...