Does exchange rate variability affect the speed of external adjustment? We study bilateral trade balances for a sample of 18 European countries over the period from 1948 through 2008. We find that, with the introduction of the euro, trade imbalances among euro area members widened considerably,...

The question of the main determinants of persistent responses due to nominal shocks captures, at least since Chari et al. (2000), a major part of the recent macroeconomic debate. However, the question whether sticky wages and/or sticky prices are sufficient for persistent reactions of key...

This paper analyzes computer use by older male employees and estimates the impact of computer use on their employment status, based on individual data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the years 1997 and 2001. In line with previous research on the diffusion of new technologies, a...

The gender relationship, characterised to a high degree by the gender-specific division of labour into paid work and housework, is in the process of change. In Germany, however, housework continues to be considered a typically female chore. The present study considers the empirical relevance of...

Der nachhaltige Sparzwang in Zeiten leerer öffentlicher Kassen wird auch zu Einbußen im Bereich der Kriminalprävention führen, insbesondere im Bereich der Jugend- und der Jugendgerichtshilfe. Die Folgen könnten einen deutlichen Anstieg der Kriminalität bedeuten. Wie dieser Artikel jedoch...

We examine the impact of corporate currency hedging on economic stability by introducing hedging activity in a Mundell-Fleming-Tobin framework for analyzing currency and financial crises. The ratio between hedged and unhedged firms is modelled depending on firm size as well as hedging costs. The...

Der Artikel beschreibt die Bedeutung nationaler Einwanderungskriterien für die Zusammensetzung nationaler Stichproben am PISA-2000-Test und analysiert das entsprechende Zustandekommen der internationalen PISA-Ergebnisse. Die Rollen der für das Leseergebnis von Migranten zentralen...

Rising wage inequality in the U.S. and Britain and rising continental European unemployment have led to a popular view in the economics profession that these two phenomena are related to negative relative demand shocks against the unskilled, combined with flexible wages in the Anglo-Saxon...

We analyze a situation where a principal wants to induce two firms to produce an output, e.g. electricity from renewable energy sources. Firms can undertake non-contractible investments to reduce production cost of the output. Part of these investments spills over and also reduces production...

Gemäß der klassischen ökonomischen Theorie der Kriminalität sollte ein Anstieg der erwarteten Strafe (also des Produktes aus Strafwahrscheinlichkeit und Strafmaß) eine Reduktion der Kriminalität bewirken. In der empirischen Analyse gestaltet sich ein Test dieser überschaubar anmutenden...