We study the effect of railroad access on urban population growth. Using GIS techniques,we match triennial population data for roughly 1000 cities in nineteenth-century Prussiato georeferenced maps of the German railroad network. We find positive short- andlong-term effects of having a station...

The confluence of factors driving urban growth is highly complex, resulting from a combination of ecological and social determinants that co-evolve over time and space. Identifying these factors and quantifying their impact necessitates models that capture both why urbanization happens as well...

In this paper we apply agent-based methodology on an issue that is fundamental for economic prosperity and growth: the diffusion of innovations. The diffusion of innovations is one of the topics where agent-based simulation is an extremely fruitful method allowing not only the observation of...

Europe trails the global frontier of productivity growth and the region's trend is sluggish. Much prospective economic growth for Europe is likely to come from AI and its adoption by European firms which is projected to shoot up the productivity trend. For such AI-generated growth to work, high...

How can economic theory explain the reasons why consumers adopt innovations? Using the example of innovations in washing machines two approaches are compared. The first focuses in the manner of household production theory on changes in constraints without specifying preferences, leading to the...

In Germany, solar thermal systems (STS) have only diffused to a minor extent yet. This paper analyzes, which demand side factors are decisive for the further proliferation of this environmentally benign technology. Making use of a consumer survey in North-West Germany in 2007, we examine the...

Die Entscheidung über das Angebot großräumiger Verkehrsinfrastrukturnetze ist mit besonderen Problemen behaftet, weil sich die Vorteile einer Angebotserweiterung innerhalb eines großen Raumes über vielfältige, komplexe Interdependenzen auf viele Individuen verteilen, während die negativen...