[Einleitung] Chancen und Risiken der Gewinnung von Erdgas oder -öl aus unkonventionellen Lagerstätten und das dabei zum Einsatz kommende Verfahren des Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking, deutsch: aufbrechen) werden derzeit in der Politik und Öffentlichkeit intensiv diskutiert. Als...

The recent Employment and Social Developments report by the European Commission has drawn a bleak picture of the economic situation in Europe. Unemployment levels are on record-highs, household incomes have declined, and risks of poverty and social exclusion have risen, most notably in Southern...

We are looking back to one of the most severe financial crises ever. The subprime crisis, as future generations may call it, was not just a crisis among others, but had a truly global dimension. There are still doubts whether the flames are really out, but in any case the recent crisis has...

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the probability of ceasing to export is lower for firms that simultaneously import intermediate inputs and export (vertically specialized firms à la Hummels et al., The Nature and Growth of Vertical Specialization in World Trade, 2001), once other...

FDI is seen widely as a vital source of investment, technology transfer, and growth. The factors that attract FDI have been a longstanding source of debate. The authors present a comprehensive assessment of the accumulated evidence on one factor, the success of economic growth in attracting FDI....

This paper focuses on self-selection into trade by exporting and importing firms, and on the presence of differential variable and sunk costs between exporters and importers across different categories of imports. In addition the authors consider the role of intensive and extensive margins with...

Why do some people think they will behave differently in the future? Building on research on dynamic inconsistency and age related preferences, this paper introduces the concept that inconsistent intertemporal preferences are directly related to age. In previous studies, standard socioeconomic...

This paper uses a unique newly constructed data set to investigate for the first time the link between credit constraints and the extensive margins of exports in Germany, one of the leading actors on the international market for goods. In line with theoretical considerations and comparable...