Das Humankapital einer Volkswirtschaft ist einer der zentralen Faktoren für das Wirtschaftswachstum. Daher finden nationale Bildungssysteme und die Hochschullandschaft als ein wesentlicher Bestandteil zunehmend Beachtung in der politischen und wissenschaftlichen Debatte. In Zeiten knapper...

Using the non-parametric data envelopment approach, the long-run profit efficiency of nine pre-classified merger deals of merging and non-merging U.S. banks is investigated during the period from 1992 to 2003 for a sample of 359 merger deals. The findings show that, in general, large acquirers...

Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a source of regional development and enables enterprises to improve their competitiveness. However, the intensification of innovation effort depends upon a better understanding of the innovation process, in particular the assessment of...

Cooperatives represent an alternative to large-scale corporate farms and plantations as well as to independent unaffiliated small private farms. This paper presents a comparative modeling narrative on cooperative organizational forms’ potential impact on equitable rural development. This...

This paper employs stochastic frontier cost and profit models to estimate economies of scale as well as X-efficiency for multi-billion dollar European and U.S. banks in the period 1995-1999. Empirical results with respect to separate analyses of large European and U.S. banks are strikingly...

JEL CODES: D21, G3, L2, L72 KEYWORDS: profit function, free cash flow, gold mining, x-efficiency, rent seeking, fat ABSTRACT: Conventional economic theory assumes that firms always minimize costs given the output they produce. News articles and interviews with executives, however, indicate that...