We utilize a novel dataset that merges household administrative income and socio-demographic information from tax records with scanner data on CPG consumption. Our analysis reveals significant variation in household per-capita expenditures. However, we find only a modest economic relationship...

Der angekündigte mehrheitliche Verkauf des Discounters "Plus" würde der Konzentration im deutschen Einzelhandel einen neuen Schub verleihen. Die oft vorgebrachte These, dass ein Ausscheiden kleinerer Wettbewerber langfristig auch den Konsumenten schadet, ist allerdings rein spekulativ. Dieser...

We introduce professional financial advice in households’ choice to hold risky financial assets. Consistent with the predictions from a formal model, we present evidence that households’ trust in financial advice only matters when their perceived own financial capability is low. Instead, for...

We offer a theoretical framework to analyze corporate lending when loan officers must be incentivized to prospect for loans and to transmit the soft information they obtain in that process. We explore how this multi-task agency problem shapes loan officers' compensation, banks' use of soft...

Savings accounts are owned by most households, but little is known about the performance of households’ investments. We create a unique dataset by matching information on individual savings accounts from the DNB Household Survey with market data on account-specific interest rates and...

We examine the relation between optimal venture capital contracts and the supply and demand for venture capital. Both the composition and type of financial claims held by the venture capitalist and entrepreneur depend on the market structure. Beside, different market structures involve different...

Die Netzstrukturen im Bereich der Telekommunikation entwickeln sich weiter und erfordern neue Investitionen. Die notwendige Regulierung kann dabei verschiedene Formen annehmen und zu unterschiedlichen Zeitpunkten ansetzen. Die Autoren beschreiben die Netzinfrastruktur in Deutschland und zeigen...

This paper investigates firms’ incentives to innovate in Next Generation Access Networks. The market is initially asymmetric because one firm owns an "old" technology. This operator or its competitor may invest in a new access network. We focus on regulation of the old technology and show that...

Hat die heutige Finanzmarktkrise instabile Marktmechanismen oder mangelnde Regulierung als Ursache? Christoph Kaserer, Technische Universität München, sieht in einer Kombination aus einem Regulierungsversagen und einem ungelösten Moral-Hazard-Konflikt bei Finanzinstitutionen den Grund für...