Open source software (OSS) is a public good. A self-interested individual would consider providing such software, if the benefits he gained from having it justified the cost of programming. Nevertheless each agent is tempted to free ride and wait for others to develop the software instead. This...

Vor zehn Jahren hat der deutsche Wissenschaftsrat mit seiner Forderung nach einer Verstärkung der akademischen Forschungsleistungen an den deutschen Wirtschaftsforschungsinstituten einen Regimewechsel eingeleitet. Der Anstoß wurde von der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, der Dachgesellschaft der...

Recently the software industry has experienced fundamental changes in market structure through the entry of open source competitors, e.g. Linux‘s entry into the operating systems market. In a simple model we examine the effects of such a change in market structure from monopoly to duopoly...

Fairtrade certification aims at transferring wealth from the consumer to the farmer; however, coffee passes through many hands before reaching final consumers. Bringing together retail, wholesale, and stock market data, this study estimates how much more consumers are paying for...

Research and development (R&D) is a common process in for-profit organizations. Despite the benefits, it is not routinely practiced in nonprofit organizations, in part because it is difficult to identify the effects of programs that are designed to involve individuals over long periods of time....

In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health...

"Wettbewerb" und "Bildungspolitik" stehen in zweifacher Hinsicht im Zusammenhang: Erstens erfordert der internationale Wettbewerb den Erhalt und Ausbau des deutschen Humankapitalbestands. Damit dabei die Ressourcen effizient eingesetzt werden, ist es zweitens notwendig, mehr Wettbewerbselemente...

We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Survey to estimate the extent of intergenerational economic mobility in a framework that highlights the role played by assortative mating. We find that assortative mating plays an important role. On average about...

Taxation changes the expectations of prospective university students about their future level and uncertainty of after-tax income. To estimate the impact of taxes on university enrollment, we develop and estimate a structural microeconometric model, in which a high-school graduate decides to...

In this paper I evaluate the effect of student aid on the success of academic studies. I focus on two dimensions, the duration of study and the probability of actually graduating with a degree. While there is an extensive literature on the impact of student aid on its intended outcome, the...