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E-health interventions are considered an important success factor in the continuous improvement of health care both nationally and internationally. Particularly in integrated care arrangements, they are an important infrastructural element. Of course, when developing new interventions and introducing them into the healthcare system, health economic evaluations (HEEs) are mandatory. From a healthcare organizational as well as governmental view, it is especially important that interventions are cost-effective and affordable. Consequently, there is a growing interest in studying digital intervention’s implications on healthcare costs. In order to enable a standardized procedure, the working group "E-Health" of the German Society for Health Economics has begun to develop a roadmap for the health economic evaluation of e-health interventions, which complements current recommendations that exist for Germany.

This paper investigates the intergenerational mobility with regard to people’s decision to work in the U.S. financial industry over the last 47 years. I present evidence that children of fathers who worked in the financial industry during their childhood are about 8 percentage points more likely to work in finance themselves. This increase in likelihood is greater than in most other industries and is driven solely by wealthier families. In addition, I document that second-generation finance industry employees whose fathers already worked in finance enjoy a substantial income surplus compared to their industry peers. JEL Classification : G20, J24, J30, J62, L14

Referring to Isreal M. Kirzner (1973) and Joseph A. Schumpeter (1934), who emphasized the competitive nature of entrepreneurship, this study investigates whether potential and revealed entrepreneurs are more likely to seek competition than non-entrepreneurs. We provide a conceptual framework that links entrepreneurship to three facets of individual competitiveness drawn from economic, entrepreneurship, and psychological research: a desire to win, striving for personal development, and an enjoyment of competition. Following economic research linking competitive behavior in experiments to career choices, we conduct a lab-in-the-field study and demonstrate that entrepreneurs are more likely to enter competitions than non-entrepreneurs. Accounting for individual desires to win and mastery-related achievement motivations, our results indicate that entrepreneurs tend to enter competition for the sake of competition itself rather than for the prospect of winning it or personal development. Our results suggest that enjoyment of competition might be an additional factor driving entrepreneurs’ market entry decisions beyond well-known factors like overconfidence and risk taking. JEL Classification : L26; C9; D9

Urbane Produktion wird als Baustein einer zukünftigen Stadtentwicklung diskutiert und dabei oftmals mit dem neuen Hoffnungsträger „Industrie 4.0“ gleichgesetzt. Aber, was genau ist Urbane Produktion und wie kann sie gemessen werden? Diese Arbeit liefert eine praxistaugliche Definition von Urbaner Produktion und ein geeignetes Werkzeug zu derer statistischen Messung. Dabei zeigen wir, dass Städte bereits heute über einen erheblichen Anteil stadtaffiner Branchen verfügen. Dieser Pool an Branchen, den wir als „Humus für die Urbane Produktion“ sehen, erlaubt unterschiedliche Blickwinkel auf das Forschungsdesiderat. JEL Code: L6; R1 Urban manufacturing is discussed as a crucial element of sustainable development of cities. Thereby, the terms ‘urban manufacturing’ and ‘industry 4.0’ are widely used as synonyms. But, what does it mean, ‘urban manufacturing’? This article provides a practical definition of urban manufacturing and the appropriate measurement. We argue that there is already a significant number of production in cities today, that is affine to urban areas. This pool of industries, which we call ‘humus of urban manufacturing’ allows for different views on urban manufacturing. JEL Code: L6; R1

Dieser Aufsatz ist ein Nachruf auf Reginald Hansen (1919-2016). Er berichtet über die Studien, die Hansen seit den 1960er Jahren zu Gustav Schmoller, dem prominentesten Vertreter der jüngeren historischen Schule der Nationalökonomie, anstellte. Diese Studien rücken die damals gängige Sicht zurecht, der bloß faktensammelnde, theorielose Schmoller habe die deutsche Nationalökonomie um Jahrzehnte zurückgeworfen. Schmoller fasste vielmehr, ähnlich wie heute der sogenannte Kritische Rationalismus, die Nationalökonomie als eine Wissenschaft auf, die nach empirisch prüfbaren Gesetzmäßigkeiten sucht und sich dabei an naturwissenschaftliche Methoden anlehnt; die diese Gesetzmäßigkeiten „aktivistisch“ nutzt, um verändernd in den Wirtschaftsablauf einzugreifen; und die Werturteile in ihren Aussagen im Prinzip vermeidet, aber „metaphysische“ Konstruktionen als erste Orientierungen erlaubt. Schmoller empfahl auf der Grundlage dieser Erkenntnistheorie eine Sozialpolitik, die undogmatisch und nachhaltig vor allem Eigenverantwortung und Selbsthilfe der Betroffenen ermöglichen sollte; Hansen sieht dieses Konzept im Kern in der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft der Bundesrepublik verwirklicht. Außerdem schlug Schmoller, von einer „nominalistischen“ Begriffsverwendung ausgehend, eine Einkommensbesteuerung nach den Verbrauchsmöglichkeiten vor, ein Konzept das sich in Deutschland letztlich aber nicht durchsetzte. Die umfangreiche Schmollerforschung der letzten dreißig Jahre („Schmoller-Renaissance“) ist der Interpretation Hansens, wie der Aufsatz weiter zeigt, nur bedingt gefolgt, besonders wenig in der Verknüpfung von erkenntnistheoretischen und politischen Vorstellungen. Hansens Interpretation hat aber Bestand. Einige Schlussbemerkungen deuten an, wie aktuell Schmoller in dieser Interpretation ist.

Keynes‘ General Theory (GT) ist in zweierlei Hinsicht umfassender als das (neo-) klassische Modell: (1) sie schließt das Vollbeschäftigungsgleichgewicht als Sonderfall ein und (2) sie basiert auf realistischem mikroökonomischem Verhalten, dessen sozial isolierter, den Eigennutz maximierender homo oeconomicus der neoklassischen Ökonomie allenfalls ein ganz spezieller Fall ist. Keynes‘ Mikro basiert auf verhaltensökonomischen Grundlagen, die durch die Neurowissenschaften und die Experimente der Behavioral Economics eindrucksvoll bestätigt werden. JEL classification: A1, A13, B21, B22, B31, D01, D81, D84, D9, E12, E14, E7 Keynes’s General Theory (GT) is more comprehensive than the (neo-) classical model: (1) is comprises the full-employment equilibrium as a special case and (2) it is based on realistic microeconomic behavior of which the selfish, utility maximizing homo oeconomicus is at best a very special case. Keynes’s microeconomic is based on behavioral foundations, which are verified by the neurosciences and the experiments of Behavioral Economics. JEL classification: A1, A13, B21, B22, B31, D01, D81, D84, D9, E12, E14, E7

This paper adds to the literature on extracurricular early childhood education and child development by exploiting unique data on an educational project in Germany, the Junior University (JU). Utilizing a quasi-experimental study design, we estimate the causal short-term effect of JU enrollment on cognitive outcomes and show that attending extra science courses with preschool classes leads to significantly higher school readiness. Although the size of the effect is relatively small, the results are plausible and pass various robustness checks. Moreover, in comparison with other programs this intervention is cost-effective. JEL Classification : I20, I21, I28, J13

After the publication of Keynes’ “General Theory,” economics was frequently described as schizophrenia: (neo-) classical at the micro-level, but Keynesian at the macro-level. In actuality, Keynes’ revolution was, to a substantial part, based on the behavioral micro-foundations of the world we live in, which has been dismissed as ad hocery, or simply ignored or reclassified in the neoclassical synthesis. Keynes’ General Theory is truly general. It includes the full-employment equilibrium as a special case. In addition, its microeconomic foundations are broader than the extremely narrow behavioral assumption of the neoclassical model. Consequently, we argue that Keynes’ microeconomics – although not fully worked out - is actually revolutionary. This may be difficult for (neo-) classical economists to accept, but it is strongly confirmed by the recent results in behavioral economics. Keynes’ macroeconomics is the result of his microeconomics. Keynes’ theory is a criticism of (neo-) classical economics, where he offers alternatives from micro to macro. It is truly a general theory, micro and macro. JEL COde: A1, A13, B21, B22, B31, D01, D81, D84, D9, E12, E14, E7

Behavioral economics, the analysis of economic decisions, has made enormous progress over the last decades and become accepted as a major field in economics. How is behavioral economics to be compared to the neoclassical model? As a revision of the neoclassical model enhancing the set of variables for motivation such as fairness in the utility function which is then to be maximized? Or is behavioral economics a revolution, a departure from the neoclassical axioms, a new model? This paper argues that many of the findings in behavioral economics are incompatible with the neoclassical model and have paved the way for a revolution in economics.

Arbeitslosigkeit durch rapide technische Neuerungen wird von vielen in der nahen Zukunft befürchtet. Auch die Einkommensverteilung und damit der gesellschaftliche Zusammenhalt können noch stärker in Schieflage geraten. Worin liegen die Gefahren der sogenannten „Vierten Industriellen Revolution“ und wo ihre Chancen? Der Autor gibt einen Überblick über die Zusammenhänge und empfiehlt wirtschaftspolitische Maßnahmen zur Bewältigung potenzieller Probleme. The paper discusses some of the probable effects of what is sometimes called the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, based on cyber-physical systems and the internet of things. The attention focuses on their impact on the volume and composition of employment and the distribution of income. Some measures to ward off or mitigate socially harmful consequences of the new waves of technological change are discussed.

Muhammad Yunus is one of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. This microfinance institution is the largest one until today, counting eight million borrowers. We conducted research on Grameen Bank, related organisations and the concept of social business over the past years and asked Yunus questions which arose as a result of the research.

We investigate sources of educational differences in smoking. Using a large German data set containing retrospective information on the age at smoking onset, we compare age-specific hazard rates of starting smoking between (future) low and high educated individuals. We find that up to 90% of the educational differences in smoking develop before the age of 16, i.e. before compulsory schooling is completed. This education gap persists into adulthood. Further, we examine the role of health-related knowledge (proxied by working in health-related occupations) and find it hardly explains smoking decisions. Our findings suggest that (unobserved) factors determining both the selection into smoking and education are almost exclusively responsible for educational differences in smoking. Only small parts of the education gap seem to be caused by general or health-specific education. The effectiveness of education policy to combat smoking is thus likely limited. JEL-Classification : I12, J22, J13

Noise pollution is detrimental to health and to the cognitive development of children. This is not only true for extreme levels of noise in the neighborhood of an airport but also for traffic noise in urban areas. Using a census of preschool children, we show that children exposed to intensive traffic noise significantly fall behind in terms of school readiness. Being exposed to an additional 10 dB(A) counteracts the benefits to school readiness from about 3 months of kindergarten. We contribute to the literature and the policy debate on noise reduction by working with administrative data and focusing on everyday exposure to noise. The proposed method is easily applied to other regions. We assess the public costs of different abatement instruments and perform a cost-benefit analysis accordingly. It turns out that the commonly used abatement measures—e.g., quiet pavement or noise protection walls in densely populated areas of about 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants per km2—are potentially cost efficient, even under a conservative assessment of the benefits.

A change in the index selection rules of Deutsche Börse provides a unique opportunity to investigate the drivers behind the decision to abolish dual-class shares. As of June 2002, selection is based on the market capitalization of the free-float of the more liquid share class rather than the overall market capitalization. Hence, firms have had to reassess the benefits from their dual-class shares by weighing them against the cost from foregone index weight associated with having two share classes. Our findings suggest that index membership significantly affects the controlling shareholder’s motivation to unify preferred and common stock. JEL Classification : G30, G32

This study documents a positive, economically meaningful impact of executives’ general managerial skills on shareholder value. Examining 171 sudden executive deaths over thirty years, we find that a one-standarddeviation increase in the general ability index corresponds to at least a 1.5 percentage point decrease in abnormal stock returns to death announcements. Generalists are found to be significantly more valuable for firms with fewer growth prospects where difficult tasks (e.g., restructurings) need to be performed and adaptations to changing business environments become necessary. Our results provide a market-based explanation for the documented generalist hiring premium and the increasing share of generalists. JEL Classification : G30, G34, J24

Seit dem Ausbruch der Finanzkrise im Jahre 2007 gewinnen in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften theoretische Ansätze an Bedeutung, die finanz- und realwirtschaftliche Analysen miteinander verbinden. Für diese Richtung hat sich der Begriff Makrofinanz etabliert. Wir zeigen, dass sich wichtige Bestandteile moderner makrofinanzieller Betrachtungen bereits im Werk Joseph A. Schumpeters finden. Schumpeter hat nicht nur früher als viele andere Ökonomen die Bedeutung dynamischer Prozesse in Volkswirtschaften erkannt, die in einer Krise von der Finanzwirtschaft ausgehende Selbstverstärkungseffekte generieren können. In seinem Modell des Konjunkturzyklus ist eine enge Interaktion von Geld- und Realwirtschaft zu beobachten: Banken und Unternehmen sorgen gemeinsam für eine dynamische wirtschaftliche Entwicklung. Doch während die Banken wesentliche Verantwortung für krisenhafte Prozesse tragen, gehen von Unternehmen Impulse für eine anschließende wirtschaftliche Erholung aus. Aus heutiger Sicht hochinteressant ist auch Schumpeters Analyse der Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Geldpolitik, in der er sich mit der Rolle der Geldpolitik als Systemstabilisierer und Konjunkturstimulator befasst. Die Rolle der Geldpolitik als Retter in Krisen wird kritisch hinterfragt. JEL-Classification : B10, B13, B20, B22, E30, E44 Since the outbreak of the Great Financial Crisis in 2007, „Macrofinance“ has evolved as an exciting field for economists. The idea of marrying macroeconomics and financial economics has a long tradition, however, which should not remain buried in almost forgotten books. A couple of seemingly new ideas can be traced back to the work of the eminent economist Joseph A. Schumpeter. His dynamic model of the business cycle is built upon a close interaction between entrepreneurs and banks. Fire-sales of assets, liquidity spirals and feedback loops can turn a mild recession into a devastating depression. Schumpeter’s analysis of the role of monetary policy bears a striking resemblance to contemporary discussions JEL-Classification : B10, B13, B20, B22, E30, E44

Expansionary macroeconomic policy is ineffective because, according to the policy ineffectiveness hypothesis (PIH), which is based on the rational expectations hypothesis (REH), it does not affect the real economy. This conclusion is false for several reasons. In their critique on Keynes’ theory, Lucas and Sargent (1978) argue that economic agents erroneously react with positive output and labor supply responses to expansionary macroeconomic policy. But they learn the long-run solution of the Lucas/Sargent model, which involves price reactions only, and do not repeat their mistakes when again confronted with expansionary macroeconomic policy. Thus, learning makes expansionary macroeconomic policy in the Lucas/Sargent model ineffective. The PIH is derived from models based on neoclassical micro-foundations where economic agents optimize in a stationary environment in ‘logical time.’ Experiencing and learning in ‘logical time’? In this paper, we take historical time seriously; that is, we investigate what economic agents actually experience regarding the effectiveness of expansionary macroeconomic policy in ‘historical time.’ We conclude that even if neoclassical micro-foundations are rigorously applied, if economic agents behave as assumed in the Lucas/Sargent model but that they move through time, the economy will not settle at the predicted long run equilibrium. Instead expansionary macroeconomic policy will be perceived as a virtue.

Economists and psychologists follow different approaches to measure individual competitiveness. While psychologists typically use self-reported psychometric scales, economists tend to use incentivized behavioral experiments, where subjects confronted with a specific task self-select into a competitive versus a piece-rate payment scheme. So far, both measurement approaches have remained largely isolated from one another. We discuss how these approaches are linked and based on a classroom experiment with 186 students we empirically examine the relationship between a behavioral competitiveness measure and a self-reported competitiveness scale. We find a stable positive relationship between these measures suggesting that both measures are indicators of the same underlying latent variable, which might be interpreted as a general preference to enter competitive situations. Moreover, our results suggest that the self-reported scale partly rests on motives related to personal development, whereas the behavioral measure does not reflect competitiveness motivated by personal development. Our study demonstrates how comparative studies such as ours can open up new avenues for the further development of both behavioral experiments and psychometric scales that aim at measuring individual competitiveness. JEL-Classification : C91, D03, M52 PSYCInfo: 2223, 2260

Set in the context of the neoclassical growth model this study revisits the discussion of economic convergence in the context of the Russian Federation. Compared to previous similar studies, here a larger more comprehensive data set is implemented (1994-2013) allowing in particular to check for differences in convergence during different time periods. Using a panel approach more reliable results are achieved which point to absolute convergence occurring across the regions of the Russian Federation. The stability of these results is strengthened by estimating Kernel density to test for the presence of potential groups of regions with different steady states, on the one hand, and Markov transition matrices to test for the temporal stability of the regions on the other. Finally, a quantile regression approach is used to assure overall stability of the convergence speed. All results show that Russia reports absolute convergence up to Vladimir Putin's the second term as president and occurring again during his third term in office and conditional convergence in all time periods. All results remain stable even when including spatial effects or when testing for temporal stability. Quantile regression analysis also reports a more or less stable speed of convergence across the whole time horizon which is significantly higher than comparable results for the US or the regions of the European Union. JEL Classification : C21, P25, O47, R11

The present study picks up on the aspect of knowledge generation - a key part of every national innovation system - in the context of the USA and the Russian Federation. Following Fritsch and Slavtchev (2006) a knowledge production function can be used to account for the efficiency of an innovation systems. In detail this study provides a quantile regression estimation of the knowledge production function to account for a possible non-linear relationship between knowledge inputs and knowledge output. Using regional data for researchers, expenditures on R\& D and patent grants for the USA and the Russian Federation - motivated by the results of a kernel density estimation and transition matrices - a quantile regression is performed for a basic knowledge production function design; for Russia as well for an extended design. The results show that in both countries there exist groups of regions with smaller sized research systems that report significantly different dynamics and thus knowledge production functions than regions with larger sized research systems. JEL Classification : P25, O31, O57

Wuppertal : Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal 2016, 24 S. - (Schumpeter Discussion Papers; SDP 16001), Der Beitrag gibt Auskunft über den Stand der Erfassung von Migration in den amtlichen Schulstatistiken der Bundesländer. Hierauf aufbauend werden die Anteile von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit nichtdeutscher Staatsangehörigkeit sowie von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit Migrationshintergrund nach der jeweiligen landesspezifischen Migrationsdefinition dargestellt und hinsichtlich Validität, Vergleichbarkeit und Zusammenführbarkeit in eine Bundesstatistik diskutiert. Anhand der verfügbaren Migrationsmerkmale wird weiter die Bildungsbeteiligung von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit Migrationshintergrund insbesondere hinsichtlich des Gymnasialbesuchs analysiert. (DIPF/Orig.), The paper provides information on the status of the collection of migrational data in official school statistics of the federal states in Germany. Based on this, the proportion of students without a German citizenship as well as students with migration background will be presented and differentiated by the specific definition of migration background in the federal states. Furthermore, the validity and comparability of the definitions will be discussed as well as the merging of the federal school statistics into a national school statistic. Based on the available migration attributes the educational participation of students with migration background will be analyzed – with a special focus on the attendance of secondary schools. (DIPF/Orig.)

This paper investigates how much of the difference in wage distributions is related to differences in skill distributions and whether a compressed wage distribution is associated with high unemployment across core OECD countries. Some countries that have more compressed (dispersed) wage structures simultaneously have more compressed (dispersed) skill structures as well, and according to many economists, variations in skill inequality can explain variations in wage inequality across different countries. Firstly, this paper examines the relationship between skill compression and wage compression; secondly, wage compression is linked to labor market outcomes in terms of employment. Compressed wage structure (usually caused by labor market institutions) is often seen as a cause for high unemployment in the low-skill sector. Does the wage compression hypothesis hold? Based on the PIAAC survey of adult skills for seventeen OECD countries, this paper seeks to shed light on these two important topics. JEL Code: J31, J24, E24

The publication of results of an empirical analysis often includes graphical representations. One of the particular strengths of the statistical computing language and environmentR are the graphical capabilities. Beside the relatively simple base graphic system a number of more sophisticated alternative graphic systems are available within R. Compared to these the base graphic system is easy to use but nevertheless highly customizable and therefore advantageous for many research projects. However, even in the base graphic system the number of graphical functions and parameters is large. Due to this it can be hard to find the functions and parameters which must be used to customize a graphic for publication purposes. This paper provides a brief tutorial for this along with a set of simple rules how to structure the code to achieve a sucient level of reproducibility for a data analysis in general and for associate graphical results in specic. The paper summarizes experiences from a R tutorial hold at the University of Wuppertal for a number of times. The code snippets in the text and the code to reproduce the given examples in the appendix is copy-and-paste-ready and can easily be adopted for own tasks.

A widespread finding among studies from the US and the UK is that maternal employment is correlated with an increased risk of child overweight, even in a causal manner, whereas studies from European countries obtain less conclusive results. As evidence for Germany is still scarce, the purpose of this study is to identify the effect of maternal employment on childhood overweight in Germany using two sets of representative micro data. Moreover, we explore potential underlying mechanisms that might explain this relationship. In order to address the selection into maternal full-time employment, we use an instrumental variable strategy exploiting the number of younger siblings in the household as an instrument. While the OLS model suggests that maternal full-time employment is related to a 5 percentage point higher probability of the child to be overweight, IV estimates indicate a 25 percentage points higher overweight probability due to maternal full-time employment. Exploring various possible pathways, we find that maternal employment is associated with unhealthy dietary and activity habits which might explain the positive effect of maternal employment on child overweight to some extent. Several sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness of our findings. JEL-classification: I12, J22, J13

This paper empirically studies the relationship between different compliance strategies concerning environmental legislation and intentions of entrepreneurs to increase their firms’ material and energy efficiency in the next two years. Moreover, I examine the relationship between such intentions and the extent to which entrepreneurs are satisfied with past investments in resource efficiency improvements. Using data covering small and medium-sized enterprises from 36 countries from 2013, this study also explores the institutional framework regarding the stringency and enforcement of national environmental regulations. The results based on the total sample indicate that entrepreneurs who are more satisfied with past resource efficiency investments and who follow a strategy which goes beyond compliance are more likely to intend material and energy efficiency improvements in the future. The results further suggest that entrepreneurs translate their pro-environmental attitudes into intentions to reduce their demand for energy but not their demand for materials. Furthermore, the results based on subgroup analyses also point to decreasing marginal productivities of resource efficiency investments.

Concepts of new school governance did considerably change the role and responsibilities of school principals. Due to the shift in their role from administrator to manager, recent research tends to focus on management activity, but little is still known about the interrelation between changing contexts and management activities. In the present paper we propose to expand the school context to embrace the school-related environment, and we examine this broader context with respect to its impact on leadership activities. We illustrate our approach by combining German survey and administrative data to analyze the social composition of schools and their environment. Our results suggest that using administrative data to identify objective challenges to leadership improves the measurement of contextual conditions at school. JEL Classification: I20; I21; I28

We investigate the relationship between gender and foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the second language (L2: English) of 320 adult bilinguals (L1: Dutch) outside the foreign language learning context. Results show that females experience higher levels of FLA. The association between gender and FLA, however, is a reflection of gender differences in personality; personality mediates most of this relationship. Individuals who are highly emotional or conscientious—dimensions for which males and females demonstrate substantial differences—experience higher levels of FLA. Furthermore, this relationship is stronger for women; that is, gender also acts as moderator to the personality-FLA relationship.

For our international comparative research on the impact of institutions on economic trends, we put together the Schumpeter School International Comparative Institutions Database. The database comprises the panel data set on various indicators of employment, inequality and labor market institutions in twenty-one OECD countries during the time period 1970-2013. Countries included in the dataset are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Schumpeter School International Comparative Institutions Database is available as an Excel or Stata file upon request.

The package provides the generic function fxInteractive() to facilitate the interpretation of various kinds of regression models. It allows to observe the effects of variations of metric covariates in an interactive manner by means of termplots for different model classes. Currently linear regression models, generalized linear models, generalized additive models and linear mixed-effects models are supported. Due to the interactive approach the function provides an intuitive understanding of the mechanics of a particular model and is therefore especially useful for educational purposes. Technically the package is based on the package rpanel and the only mandatory argument for the main function is an appropriate fitted-model object. Given this, the linear predictors, the marginal effects and, for generalized linear models, the responses are calculated automatically. For the marginal effects a numerical approach is used to handle non-constant marginal effects automatically. If there are two or more categorical covariates the corresponding effects are presented in a novel way. For publication purposes the user can customize the appearance of the termplots to a large extent. Tables of the effects and marginal effects can be printed to the R Console, optionally as copy-and-paste-ready LaTeX-code. JEL Classification : A200, C140, C870

Production simulations can provide a valuable contribution in assessing the complex implica-tions of changes in production planning for downstream company sectors. By means of a case study of a medium-sized manufacturing company it is demonstrated how such a simulation study can be conducted in the area of lot sizing, what the consequences in the field of labor efficiency, production quality and bearing loads are and which policy proposals can be de-rived from the analysis of simulation results. JEL-Classification : C6, D2, L6

From a microeconomic perspective competition between firms has been duely discussed. Extending microeconomic concepts to a macroeconomic level and considering competition between countries becomes more complex. The complexity issues is tackled in this study by extending a methodology developed in Borbely (2006) to account for specialization in specific sectors as well as price groups that under certain assumptions can be seen as a quality indicator. This study observes 27 EU countries - excluding Croatia - and Turkey. This allows for a view on the competition structure in the context of the EU common market. In a second step of the analysis it is analyzed whether FDI inflows impact the price - quality - level of a sector or the probability to switch to a higher or a lower price level in said sector. Where in other publications including \cite{borbely06} for selected EU countries a positive impact of FDI inflows is found, this study finds for the EU as a whole or the EU 15 or EU 10+1 (including Turkey) sub-groups no significant impact of FDI inflows on the price level or the probability to switch to another price level. JEL-Classification : F14, F15, L16

We analyze the decision to announce an open market share repurchase and the share price reaction to the announcement. We use a conditional estimation approach which takes into account that the repurchase decision is made rationally and that, consequently, there is a potential selection bias. This approach requires a "non-event sample" of firms that could reasonably be expected to announce a repurchase but did not. The specific institutional rules for share repurchases in Germany allow us to construct such a sample. We find that a conditional approach yields results that are qualitatively comparable but differ in detail from those obtained using a non-conditional approach. We confirm earlier findings of negative share price performance prior to the repurchase announcement and positive and significant announcement day abnormal returns. The results of our probit models are consistent with the free cash flow hypothesis and provide at least partial support for the rent extraction, signalling and capital structure hypothesis. The results of the crosssectional regressions provide strong support for the signalling hypothesis once we control for selection bias. JEL Classification: G14, G35

This paper provides new empirical evidence on gender differences in competitive preferences using a representative data set of more than 25000 individuals from 36 countries. The empirical results show that the gender differences in competitive preferences are statistically significant in almost all countries with women having, on average, a lower preference for competitive situations than men. Although relatively substantial in most countries, the magnitude of gender differences varies considerably between countries. Results of a regression analysis suggest that the gender differences persist even when controlling for a number of potentially relevant variables. Furthermore, gender differences among adult men and women are hardly affected by the stage of life cycle.

Handlungsorientierte, aktivierende Methoden und ein medialer Einsatz der outputorientiertes Lehren zulässt, bieten zusätzliche Möglichkeiten Lehr- und Lernpotentiale auszuschöpfen. Das vorliegende, pragmatische Lehrveranstaltungskonzept richtet sich an mathematische Universitätsvorlesungen und verfolgt den Zweck, die Sprach- und Ausdrucksfähigkeit, sowie die Intuition zu fördern und ein wechselseitiges Dozent-Student Lehrgespräch herzustellen. Besonderes Gewicht bekommt die Vermittlung mathematischer Behauptungen in Form eines Theorems oder Lemmas. Activity-oriented, activating methods and media that allow an output-oriented learning provide additional options to exploit learning and teaching potentials. This pragmatic course concept addresses to mathematic lectures and aims to promote capabilities of speech and expression, intuition and a mutual teacher-student discourse. The focus lies on the knowledge transfer of mathematical propositions such as theorems or lemmata.

Previous literature stressed on the gender differences in job satisfaction and the factors influencing the job satisfaction of men and women. Two rationales are usually provided for the finding that women tend to be relatively more satisfied with their jobs than men although disadvantaged in labour markets: first, women may have relatively lower expectations of career and income, and second, they may attach relatively less importance to extrinsic rewards than men. In order to analyse whether substantial gender differences exist already at the beginning of the career, we employ information of over 20000 graduates collected through a large-scale survey of German university graduates who recently entered the labour market. We find that the job satisfaction of female graduates is on average slightly lower than the job satisfaction of male graduates, but our results do not point to substantial gender differences. In our sample of highly qualified individuals, men and women are very similar in what they want from their jobs and also in their perceptions of what they get. While our results point to substantial similarity of men and women in the early career stage, gender differences may emerge at later stages of the career life cycle. JEL classification: J16, J28, J81

Formatively-measured constructs (FMCs) are increasingly used in marketing research as well as in other disciplines. Although constructs operationalized by means of formative indicators have mostly been placed in exogenous positions in structural equation models, they also frequently occupy structurally endogenous positions. The vast majority of studies specifying endogenously positioned FMCs have followed the common practice of modeling the impact of antecedent (predictor) constructs directly on the focal FMC without specifying indirect effects via the formative indicators. However, while widespread even in top journals, this practice is highly problematic as it can lead to biased parameter estimates, erroneous total effects, and questionable conclusions. As a result both theory development and empirically-based managerial recommendations are likely to suffer. Against this background, the authors offer appropriate modeling guidelines to ensure that a conceptually sound and statistically correct model specification is obtained when a FMC occupies an endogenous position. The proposed guidelines are illustrated using both covariance structure analysis (CSA) and partial least squares (PLS) methods and are applied to a real-life empirical example. Implications for researchers are considered and ‘good practice’ recommendations offered.

About 20% of German workers retire on disability pensions. Disability pensions provide fairly generous benefits for those who are not already age-eligible for an old-age pension and who are deemed unable to work for health reasons. In this paper, we use two sets of individual survey data to study the role of health and financial incentives in early retirement decisions in Germany, in particular disability benefit uptake. We show that financial incentives to retire do affect sick individuals at least as much as healthy individuals. Based on 25 years of individual survey data and empirical models of retirement behavior, we then simulate changes in the generosity of disability pensions to understand how these changes would affect retirement behavior. Our results show that making the disability benefit award process more stringent without closing other early retirement routes would not greatly increase labor force participation in old age. JEL Classification : H55, J14, J26

Drawing on German household data from 1992 to 2011, this paper analyzes how couples allocate housework against the backdrop of three questions: (1) Does an individual’s contribution to household income - both in absolute and relative terms - influence his or her contribution to housework? (2) If so, does the magnitude of this influence differ by gender? and (3) How important are traditional gender roles on housework allocation? We address these issues by applying a panel quantile regression model and find that as both the share and absolute level of income increase, the amount of housework undertaken decreases, with the latter effect being roughly equal across genders. Nevertheless, traditional gender roles also appear to dictate housework allocation, which is evidenced by women increasing their housework if they earn more than their partner.

In Deutschland ist soziale Ungleichheit in Gesundheit kaum in der öffentlichen Diskussion, obwohl auch hier besser gebildete, reichere, und in der beruflichen Hierarchie höher stehende Menschen zeitlebens gesünder sind und länger leben als andere. Soziale Ungleichheit wird dadurch entlang einer weiteren wichtigen Dimension verstärkt. In diesem Beitrag werden kurz Ausmaß und Dimensionen derartiger Ungleichheit in Deutschland dargestellt. In Abgrenzung zur vorherrschenden sozialepidemiologischen Literatur wird auf Basis der aktuellen gesundheits- und bildungsökonomischen Literatur diskutiert, ob und wie soziale Ungleichheit in Gesundheit mit wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischen Mitteln vermindert werden kann. Dabei wird als Defizit erkannt, dass wir aufgrund einer ausnehmend schlechten Datenlage viel zu wenig über ihre Entstehung wissen. Dies mündet in der Forderung nach einer neuen Evaluationskultur im Bereich der Bildungs- und Gesundheitspolitik.

This paper provides primary evidence of whether certification via reputable underwriters is beneficial to investors in the corporate bond market. We focus on the high-yield bond market, in which certification of issuer quality is most valuable to investors owing to low liquidity and issuing firms’ high opacity and default risk. We find bonds underwritten by the most reputable underwriters to be associated with significantly higher downgrade and default risk. Investors seem to be aware of this relation, as we further find the private information conveyed via the issuer-reputable underwriter match to have a significantly positive effect on at-issue yield spreads. Our results are consistent with the market-power hypothesis, and contradict the traditional certification hypothesis and underlying reputation mechanism. JEL classification: G11, G14, G24

This paper investigates whether the ‘big tradeoff’ between efficiency and inequality exists, and analyzes empirically the relationship between inequality, redistribution, and employment/unemployment. The analysis is based on a cross-country longitudinal data set (panel data) of 21 OECD countries in the period 1980 to 2010. We use inequality and redistribution measures (output indicators) rather than institutional variables (input indicators) as independent variables. We do not find a significant effect of income and wage distribution on labor market performance and cannot confirm the hypothesized ‘big tradeoff’.

The rational expectations hypothesis (REH) is based on two assumptions. The first is that, economic agents learn through experience how to avoid systematic errors. The second is that these errors are identified with reference to a model. Imperfect information may lead economic agents to misperceive changes in nominal economic variables as real but they learn from their mistake, change their behavior and will not make the same mistake again. Therefore, relations estimated from historical data may not hold after economic agents learned about the effects of, say, expansionary macroeconomic policies (the Lucas critique). Repeating the policy will affect nominal variables (prices) but not the real economy (policy ineffectiveness hypothesis). Policy ineffectiveness is derived from models based on neoclassical micro-foundations, claimed to be the basis for rigorous science. In this paper we investigate the learning process rigorously. When pulled into employment by misperceived expansionary macroeconomic policy, what do workers actually learn? Do they actually experience the long-run solution of the neoclassical model? After the introduction we discuss learning in the context of rational expectations. We then analyze the workers’ experience and the learning process, strictly applying neoclassical micro-foundations. We focus on two inconsistencies. First, unless unearned income is indexed, inflation will unambiguously cause labor supply to expand. Second, employers will respond to the macroeconomic impulse –misperceived or not-- with capacity expansion rather than pure price reactions. We conclude that the predictions of the REH do not hold if neoclassical micro foundations are rigorously applied.

In this article an entirely new structural approach called the ‘Emerging Triad’ is identified, which is dealing with the increasing regional, intra- and interregional integration of the emerging regions Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In this context the increasing south-south cooperation’s, specific transregional free trade agreements as well as foreign direct investments are identified as the main driver for this ongoing networking process. For a deeper analysis of this development the regional trading blocs Mercosur, SADC and ASEAN as well as specific countries are chosen. Due to their increasing industrialization a similar development like the one of the BRIC countries can be anticipated for these regions in the upcoming years. Apart from the industrialization, the increasing integration and interdependence of specific countries or even regions is going to be a relevant factor with respect to future market entry decisions of companies of the southern developing countries and a deeper market penetration of northern developed market multinational enterprises. As a consequence the growing relevance of these regions in the global trade and business due to its strong economical development will lead to an ongoing alignment process between the established northern Triad and the new identified emerging triad. This convergence became obvious especially during the global crisis in 2009 and 2010. Finally the new approach of the Emerging Triad and the northern triad with its developed nations are included into a double helix structure which stands for the increasing tradeoff between the industrialized world and the emerging world.

Out-of-Stock along the Supply Chain is a frequent phenomenon with significant effects on sales and total profit in retail industry. Therefore, in this context, decision support information to identify the duration and extent of this Out-of-Stocks as well as about possible structures inside inventory and sales data, which are relevant for their appearance, is of major interest. A purpose-built analyzing tool based on specific retail store data is described, which is suitable to improve both, the administrative planning processes as well as the physical replenishment processes within a chain store retail company. JEL-Classification : C1, C8, L8

Analyzing prices of truly homogenous consumer goods sold in Euroland, we find significant price convergence after the Euro cash changeover in 2002. The deviation of national log prices from the mean log price of the same product is much narrower with the Euro than before. We observe Sigma and Beta convergence, i.e. prices do not differ systematically between countries. Our result is in contrast to some other findings stating divergence rather than convergence but which do not control perfectly for heterogeneity of products. Because of information and transportation costs arbitrage is unlikely to occur in consumer items and reasons for convergence must therefore be sought in competition and advantages on the supplier’s side. If suppliers would minimize menu costs, price for the same item should be identical, which we do not observe. JEL classification: D4, E31, F36

This paper provides an overview on the state of art of research on social entrepreneurship and the establishment of this topic in the academic world. It uses scientometric methods, especially bibliometrics, in measuring the maturity of social entrepreneurship research. The empirical part reveals the increasing number of literature, the institutionalization of social entrepreneurship in seven dimensions, the emergence of thematic clusters, and methodological issue. The paper makes concrete suggestions on how to overcome methodological challenges at the boarder of advanced qualitative and early quantitative research designs. Using Harzing’s “Publish or Perish” software this article furthermore provides a ranking of the 20 most cited academic contributions in social entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, almost half of the most cited papers have not been published in journals but in books, rising doubts on the current (over-)rating of journal publications.

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between individual trust in financial institutions and individual access to these institutions. Based on a large-scale survey of savings patterns of Indians, we find that individuals reporting that they do not have access to certain financial institutions within a commutable distance of one day are less likely to trust these institutions with their money. Moreover, we find that this relationship holds for different banks and financial institutions offering services in low-income areas and that differences in trust can be explained to some extent by differences in individual access. JEL classification: D1, G11, G21, R2

Simulations can be an appropriate tool in the determination of cost-optimal ordering and delivery requirements considering medium and long-term manipulable constraints. Against the background of sustainable supply chain management increasingly relevant environmental factors can be taken into account within such simulations by determining process-related CO2-costs and including these costs into the validation of individual simulation results. This is demonstrated by using the replenishment process between the distribution center and a store of an international drug store chain. Based on actual sales data, logistical product data and given restrictions on date and frequency of possible orders and deliveries different order cycles are simulated, subsequently evaluated and analyzed in terms of costs. JEL classification: C6, L1, L8

In this paper, we examine current changes in the ethnic and social composition of the preschool and school aged population as well as the consequences these changes may have for educational participation and thus for overall educational attainment in the near future. Based on the micro-census 2008 survey, we identify groups of migrants by region of parents’ origin where children - despite low levels of parents’ education and comparatively few socioeconomic resources - have greater chances of upward educational mobility than non-migrant children. By contrast, children from less educated, non-migrant families show a much lower tendency to be upwardly mobile, and educational choices are more closely tied to the economic and social background. Thus, our analysis provides evidence that educational background and socio-economic resources in the students’ families are of greater importance for the overall development of educational attainment in Germany than characteristics of migration and ethnicity. JEL Classification: H75, I24, J10, J15

Organizational commitment of employees towards their employer is highly relevant for both the committed individual as well as the organization. Positive effects on task performance and job satisfaction as well as the reduction of absenteeism and turnover increase organizational competitiveness. Despite extensive research efforts, details of the development of OC remain largely unexplored, particularly with regards to differences at the person level. The aim of this paper is to deduce propositions on the role of residual commitment within this context. Based on the assumption that commitment does not necessarily end when organizational membership does, we posit that residual affective and residual normative commitment towards former organizations form competitive relationships with current commitment. Closer investigation of such parallel commitments may help explain inconclusive results of earlier studies investigating antecedents of OC. Finally, implications for research on organizational commitment and socialization will be discussed. JEL classification: M12, M5