The connection between age and productivity is a widely discussed topic in the empirical literature. The present paper's aim is to contribute to the explanation of an apparant lower productivity of older individuals. If we introduce uncertainty about the future working conditions depending on...

This paper discusses first results of a comparative study of different environmental policy instruments. In a model with pollution as a side effect of consumption different environmental policies are studied. In simulations we observe the dynamic behavior of models with utility functions of the...

The paper discusses questions resulting from a study of the interaction of exogenous shocks and environmental policy. In a model with pollution as a side effect of consumption environmental policy is introduced in the form of a consumption tax with or without a subsidy on eco-friendly...

The paper discusses questions resulting from a study of the interaction of a change of preferences and environmental policy. In a model with pollution as a side effect of consumption environmental policy is introduced in the form of a consumption tax with or without a subsidy on eco-friendly...

In explaining economic phenomena, economic analysis concentrates on selected influences and fixes the host of other factors under a ceteris paribus clause. This view, which goes back to Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), is developed in the first part of the book. Aggregation is viewed as a particular...

Life annuities provide a guaranteed income for the remainder of the recipient’s lifetime, and therefore, annuitization presents an important option when choosing an adequate investment strategy for the retirement ages. While there are numerous research articles studying annuities from a...

Even 50 years after Modigliani/Miller’s irrelevance theorem, the basic question of how firms choose their capital structure remains unclear. This survey paper aims at summarizing and discussing corresponding recent developments in empirical capital structure research, which, in our view, are...

In 2003, Swiss Re introduced a mortality-based security designed to hedge excessive mortality changes for its life book of business. The concern was apparently brevity risk, i.e., the risk of premature death. The brevity risk due to a pandemic is similar to the property risk associated with...

New approaches in health care, such as e.g. Integrated Delivery Systems, affect the role and tasks of medical suppliers. More and more, medical suppliers are incorporated into the process of guiding patients to medical specialists and hospitals and thus managing the course of disease. In this...