Congestion Caused by Speed Differences

This paper investigates road traffic congestion caused by speed differences using both analytical and numerical simulation models. Especially outside peak hours, speed differences are probably one of the most important reasons for congestion. Some main conclusions are that optimal tolls for slow vehicles are higher than those for fast drivers, that the marginal external costs and the optimal tolls for slow drivers are actually decreasing in the equilibrium number of slow drivers, and that “platooning” may become an attractive option especially when the desire for a low speed is caused by a lower value of time.     

Useful Properties of Exchange Rate Forecasts for Risk Management and Derivative Pricing

We examine three useful properties of the yen/dollar exchange‐rate forecasts that are published in January and July in the Wall Street Journal. Those properties are the level of explanatory power, whether some forecasters are consistently better than others, and whether the dispersion of forecasts can predict the volatility of the exchange rates. The results show that the relative accuracy of the individual forecasts has not been random each period, and the evidence suggests that some forecasters are consistently better than others. The forecasts from the best forecasters explain about half of the variability in the semiannual exchange‐rate series. Finally, the dispersion of all the forecasts each period, as measured by the standard deviation, has predictive power with respect to the daily volatility of the forecasts for the three months following the survey. This final property has implications for the pricing and use of currency options. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Mirko Marr (Hrsg.): Kommunikationsallrounder für die Mediengesellschaft Schweiz . Die Absolventinnen und Absolventen des IPMZ — Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung der Universit?t Zürich

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Private Finanzierung von Fernstraßen – Erfahrungen und Probleme

Seit 1994 hat der Gesetzgeber die Möglichkeit geschaffen, Fernstraßen privat zu errichten und gegen eine Mautgebühr zu betreiben. Die bisherigen Erfahrungen sind ernüchternd. Warum ist Betreibermodellen bislang der Durchbruch nicht gelungen? Welche Hemmnisse lassen sich für ein privatwirtschaftliches Engagement identifizieren? Wie tragfähig sind Mautgebühren für die private Finanzierung von Verkehrsinfrastruktur?Prof. Dr. habil. Erik Gawel, 41, lehrt Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Fachhochschule Frankfurt am Main und ist öffentlich bestellter und vereidigter Sachverständiger für Gebührenfragen.     

Horizontal integration in the Dutch financial sector

In this paper, the consequences of cross-shareholding in an n-firm industry are analyzed. Our attention focuses on the case where firms have silent interests in each other. These interests can be direct or indirect. We analyze the effects of cross-shareholding on the price–cost margins in a Cournot and a Bertrand setting. In all cases, competition is reduced due to shareholding interlocks. As an empirical example the Dutch financial sector is used. Comparing the case of shareholding with the case of no-shareholding, the price–cost margins are found to be up to 2% higher in a Bertrand market, and at least 8% higher in a Cournot market.     

Does the Governed Corporation Perform Better? Governance Structures and Corporate Performance in Germany

Although there has been an intensive debate on the relative merits of different systems of corporate governance, empirical evidence on the link between corporate governance and firm performance almost exclusively refers to the market-oriented Anglo-Saxon system. This paper therefore investigates the more network- or bank-oriented German system. In panel regressions for 361 German corporations over the time period 1991 to1996, we find ownership concentration to affect profitability significantly negatively. However, this effect depends intricately on stock market exposure, the location of control rights, and the time horizon (short-run vs. long-run). We conclude from our results that (1) the presence of large shareholders does not necessarily enhance profitability, (2) ownership concentration seems to be sub-optimal for many German corporations, and, finally, (3) having financial institutions as largest shareholders oftraded corporations improves corporate performance.