infonet-economy

The apprenticeship system is the most important source of formal post-secondary training in Germany. Using German register data - the IAB Employment Sample - we find that apprentices staying with their training firm after graduation have longer first-job durations but not higher wages than apprentices leaving the training firm. Retention rates, first job durations, and post-...

We examine cost-reducing investment in vertically-related oligopolies, where firms may be vertically integrated or separated. Analyzing a standard linear Cournot model, we show that: (i) Integrated firms invest more than separated competitors. (ii) Vertical integration increases own investment and decreases competitor investment. (iii) Firms may integrate strategically so as to...

Antidumping ist zum bevorzugten Instrument für temporäre Handelsbeschränkungen avanciert. Diese Entwicklung gibt Anlass zur Sorge, da Antidumping mit stark negativen Wohlfahrtseffekten einhergeht. Zahlreiche Reformvorschläge wurden in der Vergangenheit gemacht. Sie beinhalten im wesentlichen strengere Vorbedingungen für die Benutzung des Instruments, was zu einer Schmälerung...

This paper analyzes a sequential game where firms decide about outsourcing the production of a non-specific input good to an imperfectly competitive input market. We apply the taxonomy of business strategies introduced by Fudenberg and Tirole (1984) to characterize the different equilibria. We find that outsourcing generally softens competition in the final product market. If firms...

Corporate scandals are reflected in excessive top management compensation and fraudulent accounts. These scandals cause an enormous amount of damage, not only to the companies affected, but also to the market economy as a whole. As a solution, conventional wisdom suggests more monitoring and sanctioning of management. We argue that these efforts will create a governance structure for...

This paper analyzes how bond option prices are affected by different types of monetary policy. Analytical results from a general equilibrium model with sticky wages show that employment or output targeting typically give lower bond option prices than inflation targeting.

This special issue of Research Policy is dedicated to new research on the phenomenon of open source software development. Open Source, because of its novel modes of operation and robust functioning in the marketplace, poses novel and fundamental questions for researchers in many fields, ranging from the economics of innovation to the principles by which productive work can best be...

Workshop-Präsentation am "Model WTO" 2003; St. Gallen, 11. Juni 2003; Download der Präsentation: (210 KB)

In this paper we study the inefficiencies of the monetary equilibrium and optimal monetary policies in a search economy. We show that the same frictions that give fiat money a positive value generate an inefficient quantity of goods in each trade and an inefficient number of trades (or search decisions). The Friedman rule eliminates the first inefficiency and the Hosios rule the...