Mit dem vorliegenden Aufsatz wird das Ziel verfolgt, die Erklärung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Unternehmensinvestitionen (Ausrüstungsinvestitionen der Unternehmen und Wirtschaftsbauinvestitionen) durch die Einbeziehung von Variablen, mit denen sich Unsicherheit abbilden läßt, zu ergänzen. In...

The impact of uncertainty on firms' investment outlays is subject to an ongoing debate. Theory identifies several channels. Irreversibility, financing constraints and risk aversion make a negative relationship between uncertainty and investment likely. On the other hand, the ability of firms to...

Traditional models of capital budgeting including taxes are based on deterministic tax rates and tax bases. In reality, however, there are multiple sources of tax uncertainty. Tax reforms induce frequent changes in both tax rates and tax bases, making future taxation of investments a stochastic...

Is time-varying firm-level uncertainty a major cause or amplifier of the business cycle? This paper investigates this question in the context of a heterogeneousfirm RBC model with persistent firm-level productivity shocks and lumpy capital adjustment, where cyclical changes in uncertainty...

Using a unique German firm-level data set, this paper is the first to jointly study the cyclical properties of the cross-sections of firm-level real value added and Solow residual innovations, as well as capital and employment adjustment. We find two new business cycle facts: 1) The...

This paper experimentally investigates investment behavior.We find that global risk – i.e. risk independent of an agent’sinvestment decision (like political risk) – substantiallydecreases investment. Also effort to obtain the capital usedfor investment decreases investment substantially....

In a dynamic model of a risk-neutral competitive firm which can lower its pollution emissions per unit of output by building up abatement capital stock, we examine the effect of a higher pollution tax rate on abatement investment both under full certainty and when the timing or the size of the...

The purpose of the present paper is to describe the role of uncertainty and technical change in an environmental context. Which impact does ecological uncertainty have on physical and R&D investments' decisions? How are pollution trajectories modified when uncertainty is taken into account? To...

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, welche Potenziale die Nanotechnologie für eine lange Welle des ökonomischen Fortschritts birgt. Nach Betrachtung ihrer verschiedenen sozioökonomischen Dimensionen kann festgehalten werden, dass die Nanotechnologie zu Recht als eine Schlüsselinnovation...