Current models of industry evolution suggest that development patterns should be the same across different levels of analysis. In comparing the evolution of the synthetic dye industry at the global level and in the five major producer countries before World War I (Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland and the United States), it is shown that patterns of industry evolution differed significantly across national contexts. Based on a quantitative and qualitative database of all firms and plants in the industry, the paper analyzes how German firms came to dominate the industry and identifies factors such as availabilities of crucial skills, economies of scale and scope, and positive feedback mechanisms between firms and national institutions that likely produced these national differences. The empirical analysis calls for formal models of evolution that incorporate differences in institutional environments.
While the importance of a supportive context for entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged, its antecedents are rarely investigated. We apply the concept of organizational climate to higher education institutions and examine the drivers of students’ perceptions of the entrepreneurial climate in their university. Combining data from two unique datasets and using multilevel techniques, we analyze the relationship between university characteristics and such climate perceptions of 8009 students at public universities in Germany. We find university entrepreneurship measures to have a positive effect on students’ climate perceptions, which also depend on students’ background and gender. In addition, we find evidence for different peer effects, depending on students’ affinity for entrepreneurship. For the general student population, including entrepreneurship content in their normal studies seems to be required to initiate a social process of sensemaking. However, students’ perception of the entrepreneurial climate only depend to a certain degree on intentional entrepreneurship measures. In our study, general university characteristics have the strongest influence on climate perceptions. Overall, our study adds to our understanding of which parameters are important for establishing a more favorable and inspiring climate for becoming an entrepreneur at higher education institutions.
Das Haftpflichtrecht hat sich in den letzten Jahren stark verändert. Der Gesetzgeber hat neue gesetzliche Normen eingeführt, das Bundesgericht hat seine Rechtsprechung in etlichen Belangen geändert, und es sind dazu zahlreiche neue Publikationen erschienen.
Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wildhaber hat in diesem Zusammenhang das bedeutende Lehrbuch «Ausservertragliches Haftpflichtrecht» grundlegend überarbeitet, um neue Entwicklungen ergänzt und darin die Vielzahl der seitherigen Urteile und Publikationen eingearbeitet.
Wie bis anhin soll das Lehrbuch «Ausservertragliches Haftpflichtrecht» den Praktikern als Informationshilfe und den Studierenden zur Vertiefung des Stoffes dienen. Deshalb kommt der Darstellung von Rechtsprechung und herrschender Lehre vorrangige Bedeutung zu.
Johann Heinrich von Thünen führte 1848 auf seinem Gut Tellow ein Gewinnbeteiligungsmodell ein, eine frühe betriebliche Altersvorsorge mit Zwang in der Ansparphase und freier Verfügbarkeit der angesparten Mittel im Alter. Von diesem historischen Vorbild ausgehend, betrachtet Monika Bütler in ihrer Thünen-Vorlesung vor der Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik, wie Menschen mit Wahlmöglichkeiten in der Alterssicherung umgehen und was daraus für die Sozialpolitik folgt. Am Beispiel der Entscheidung zum Zeitpunkt der Pensionierung zwischen einer Auszahlung des angesparten Kapitals und einer Rente zeigt sie, dass psychologische Verzerrungen, denen große Teile der neueren Forschung gewidmet sind, zwar eine Rolle spielen. Allerdings entscheiden Menschen gerade in vielen Fragen der Alterssicherung sehr wohl rational.
We make use of the universe of immigrants who arrived in Switzerland between 1992 and 2013, granular community level house price and wage data as well as detailed information on the Swiss population to study the effects of immigration on the location choice of incumbent households. Immigration influences a household’s location choice through three distinct channels: house price changes, labor market competition,and households’ sentiment regarding immigration. We find evidence of all three channels. However, we show that the channel to which a household responds most strongly depends on the type of immigration and the characteristics of the household.Our research provides valuable insights into some of the effects of large scale
immigration.
