This paper analyses the flexibility decision of firms. In particular we (a) ask whether the flexibility choice is influenced by market structure (concentration, market growth, ...), (b) compare the firms' actual choices with welfare maximising flexibility decisions (c) investigate the...

We investigate the importance of ?what?-flexibility on top of ?where?- and ?when?-flexibility for alternative emission control schemes that prescribe long-term temperature targets and eventually impose additional constraints on the rate of temperature change. We find that ?what?-flexibility...

This paper investigates to what extent the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) fosters innovation activities by facilitating more flexible organisational structures in firms. We distinguish between functional flexibility (the ability of workers to co-operate and take...

In international politics, intergovernmental treaties provide the rules of the game. Similar to private law, treaty designers face a trade-off between flexibility to adjust to unforeseen contingencies and the danger that the binding nature of the treaty and hence, the level of commitment by...

Over the past four decades, the accumulation of policy legacies and public debt has led to a decline in fiscal flexibility in Germany and the United States. By applying an index of fiscal democracy to Germany, the paper illustrates the associated shrinkage of democratic control over budget...

Flexible conservation management, where measures are selected in each decision period and depending on the current state of the ecological system, are generally perceived as superior to fixed management, where the same measure is applied in each decision period independent of the current state...

Our study shows empirically that the choice of resource allocation strategy affects innovation performance. A policy of allocating resources to a broader range of innovation projects increases sales of new products, especially if these are truly novel, i.e. new to the market. The effect of...

Das Energiewirtschaftsgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland schreibt Energieversorgern vor, bis Ende 2010 lastabhängige und/oder zeitvariable Stromtarife anzubieten. Bisher ist jedoch noch wenig über die Einschätzung dieser Tarifmodelle durch die Konsumenten bekannt. Jedoch nur wenn solche...