The aim of this thesis is to thoroughly study structural default models based on jump-diffusion processes. Jump-diffusion models were first proposed by Zhou (2001), who also showed that these models have several desirable properties, most important, positive short-term spreads. On the other...

Chapter 1: The Economic Effects of Medical Innovations: Vioxx and Labor SupplyDespite dramatic improvements in medical technology over time, comparatively little attention has been paid to the effect of these innovations on economic outcomes. This study uses seven overlapping panels of the...

Die Arbeit untersucht in drei unabhängigen Studien Determinanten der Renteneintrittsentscheidung. Es werden drei natürliche Experimente ausgewertet, die sich aus Reformen der Alterssicherungssysteme in Deutschland und der Schweiz ergeben haben und die Identifikation kausaler Effekte erlauben....

The study investigates the extent of distributional impacts of labour-intensiveroad projects using a geographical approach. The aim is to evaluateinfrastructural effectiveness. The central premise is that the interface betweenroad investment and economic development has broad implications that...

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden verschiedene Elemente ?konomischer Analyse gemeinsam verwendet, um einen st?rkeren Blick in das ?konomische Verhalten von Haushalten zu erm?glichen. In der mikro?konomischen Theorie wird Haushaltsarbeit nur in seltenen F?llen als dritte Alternative...

Since the 1980s, household debt has been increasing rapidly. The high level of household indebtedness has been accompanied by a high household bankruptcy rate. My research attempts to provide a better understanding of the theoretical mechanisms behind these credit market and bankruptcy...

In the first essay, I assess the effect of indoor air quality (IAQ) in school buildings on student test performance and attendance rates. Results indicate that performance on standardized tests significantly improves while attendance rates are unresponsive to improvements in IAQ. The improvement...

The focus of this professional report is sectoral workforce development programs. Sectoral programs represent a fairly recent innovation in workforce development. Rather than train a low-skilled worker for low-skill job with low pay, sectoral programs train workers for higher-skill jobs that...