Strong lending relationships between banks and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in the bank-based financial system of Germany. So far, they have been mainly described by the notion of an housebank and transactional features of long-term bank-customer relationships. The...

We simulate a two-sectoral, three-period OLG-model with endogenous fertility and endogenous education. Parents receive utility from quantity and quality (education) of their offspring, generating a trade-off between the former and the latter. Since education governs efficiency in production,...

The paper inquires whether a public eco-label mitigatesadverse selection, where an ecologically superior (green) product variant is underprovided. A model, integrating entry into a perfectly competitive, vertically differentiated industry and rationally expected quality structure (REQS) under...

This paper surveys the literature on the relationship between international trade in goods and the factors and the environment. Traditional approaches based on the HEckscher-Ohlin trade model and more recent models looking at non-competetive market structures are discussed. Moreover, the paper...

In a framework of a n-union/n-firm oligopoly, this paper analyzes the incentive for firms and unions to adopt efficient bargaining, i.e. negotiating over wages together with employment. The analysis is conducted for the case of autarchy and for an integrated product market. Firm profits, union...

In a framework of a unionised international Bertrand duopoly with differentiated products, this paper analyses national labour market interdependencies and the consequences of trade liberalisation for union wages. The analysis suggests that national wages are likely to be strategic complements...

Social norms and intrinsic motivations lead to voluntary environmentally responsible behaviour even in the absence of environmental policy. The paper shows that the introduction of environmental policy may lead to a reduction of voluntary abatement and sometimes may increase emissions and...