In an increasingly competitive environment, firms have to optimally adjust both their allocation of input factors and their technology portfolio. The latter determines economies of scope and scale in future research and production. The aim of this dissertation is to achieve better insight into...

In 1978, Roger Koenker and Gilbert Bassett, Jr. introduced a new econometric estimation method and entitled it quantile regression. Since then, many subsequent authors have elaborated and extended the underlying theoretical framework. Other contributions have successfully applied the procedure...

Measuring the contribution of different markets to the price discovery process of a common asset has been the subject of many research studies in the last decade. In particular the newly developed derivatives markets have given rise to an increasing number of empirical studies examining the...

The present thesis extends the economic literature on the enforcement of environmental regulations by empirically analysing the effectiveness of environmental criminal law. It is a shortcoming of the discussion on the merits of criminal sanctions for environmental offenses that the empirical...

Germany has been an immigration country for more than 30 years now, although many politicians claim the opposite and many people in Germany are inclined to agree with their assessment. However, it is the actual experience with immigration, and not what people would like to experience, which...

This study addresses the potential trade-off between inflation and exchange rate targeting in former transition countries, which now may be labeled emerging market economies and which prepare for entry into the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Among this group of countries, some implemented...

This paper investigates the economic role of bank mergers in creating shareholder value based on the idea that shareholder wealth will increase if the consolidation leads to the aforementioned gains. This paper is divided into seven sections. The second section of my paper provides an academic...

Background: Health-care institutions have looked to business for models to respond to the requirement for reform. This has changed the perspective of institutions that were founded on charitable principles, and managed with liberal employment policies and deficit budgeting. Using lesions from...

The dissertation discusses issues in the field of industrial organization. When the government provides better infrastructure to competing firms for innovation, private firms' R&D expenditures are affected. When the government doesn't assure project completion, the uncertainty impacts private...