The present work discusses possible methodological approaches for the assessment of employment effects of rural development measures. A special focus is on measures of the so called integrated rural development. Methods that are considered non-appropriate are considered nevertheless. Therefore,...

In this paper, we use both patents' individual life span and foreign patenting activities in Germany to identify the most valuable patents of the 21 most innovative countries (except for Germany) from the European Core, the European periphery and overseas between 1877 and 1932. Our empirical...

We combine a simple agent-based model of financial markets with a standard New Keynesian macroeconomic model via two straightforward channels. The result is a macroeconomic model that allows for the endogenous development of stock price bubbles. Even with such a simplistic comprehensive model,...

Although coordination of wage bargaining probably affects entry barriers and competition in product markets, research on price determination has typically not considered such factors. We argue that the price markup depends on wage setting institutions and present empirical evidence in form of...

Performance-based aid has been proposed as an alternative to the failed traditional approach whereby donors make aid conditional on the reform promises of recipient countries. However, hardly any empirical evidence exists on whether ex post rewards are effective in inducing reforms. We attempt...

This paper analyzes empirically whether the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), advocating the multiple dimensions of women's rights, affects the level of women's rights in a country. Measuring commitments to the CEDAW based on...

In order to investigate the effectiveness of science and technology industrial parks (STIPs), this study examines data on high-tech firms within and outside the STIPs in China, while paying special attention to the issues related to agglomeration and congestion. The main finding is that the...

Im Sommer hat die Rürup-Kommission zwei Entwürfe zu einer Reform der Finanzierungsseite des Gesundheitssystems vorgelegt. In der politischen Diskussion ist seitdem eine Debatte entbrannt über die künftige Beitragsbemessung und den künftigen Versichertenkreis in der Gesetzlichen...

Im Frühjahr dieses Jahres versuchte die IG Metall, die 35-Stunden-Woche auch in Ostdeutschland einzuführen. Damit setzte sie sich erheblicher – zum Teil ideologisch gefärbter – Kritik aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Medien aus. Dies umso mehr, als die Wirtschaft auf eine Rezession...