In a two-stage model insurance companies first decide upon risk classification and then compete in prices. I show that the observed heterogeneous behavior of similar firms is compatible with rational behavior. On the deregulated German insurance market individual application of classification...

Economists praise the efficiency of the price mechanism in allocating scarce resources. Others, however, often reject it as unfair. In this study, we investigate the extent to which economists also differ from non-economists in how they value the fairness of the price system, and examine how...

This paper investigates the determinants of German long-term unemployment. In particular a microeconometric event history analysis will be carried out to examine what impact personal characteristics such as age, gender, education, etc. or factors such as receiving unemployment benefits have on...

Regional growth dynamics significantly deviate from a normal process. Using industry-specific employment data for German regions, we find that the asymmetric Subbotin distribution is able to account properly for extreme positive and especially negative growth events. This result confirms...

Universities and research institutes are seen as important drivers of the regional economy. Their impact on regional entrepreneurial and innovation activity is well documented. On the other hand, their influence on regional employment growth is less researched. This paper provides an extensive...

In recent years, innovation processes involve more heterogenous actors inside and outside the firm. Little is known however about the spatial impact of this organisational decomposition of innovation processes (ODIP): Does it lead to a geographical dispersion of innovation activities as well?...