The debt brake in the eyes of the German population

In response to the recent sovereign debt crisis, the member states of the European Union agreed to enact balanced budget rules in their national legislation. However, little is known about the public’s opinion of balanced budget rules. To fill this gap, we conducted a survey among 2,000 representatively chosen German citizens. Our findings suggest that 61 % of the German population supports the debt brake, whereas only 8 % oppose it. However, approval rates differ notably among various subgroups of the population. The debt brake enjoys greater support among high-income earners and among those well-informed about the future costs of deficit spending. People who do not trust politicians would like to see the government’s hands tied even more tightly. Opinions about the debt brake also differ markedly across the supporters of different political parties.     

The brand anchoring effect: A judgment bias resulting from brand awareness and temporary accessibility

Following the Selective Activation, Reconstruction, and Anchoring (SARA) and consumer‐based brand equity models, high awareness brands are expected to serve as anchors for forming impressions of co‐branded entities. Comparing the brand personality profiles of fictitious brand alliances with high and low awareness brands, the brand anchoring effect is found in Studies 1 and 2. Moreover, Study 3 shows that the effect generalizes to specific brand characteristics and results from making brand‐related information more available. Future research on brand awareness and on the brand anchoring effect is discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Excess volatility of real exchange rates in the EMS: some evidence from structural VARs

This paper argues that the effectiveness of the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System (EMS) should be gauged by its impact on the monetary component of real exchange rate variability. Nominal and real shocks are separated using a bivariate structural VAR applied to real exchange rate data of the six original member countries participating in the ERM and a control group consisting of Britain and the United States. The findings suggest that monetary shocks have been an important source of real exchange rate variability and that the ERM has been successful in reducing the incidence of monetary shocks across its member countries prior to the EMS currency crises of 1992–93, while being less successful thereafter.     

Uncommon common sense

Global competition is intense and often thought to be for big multinationals only. Yet, Bernd Venohr and Klaus Meyer believe that mid-size firms can achieve global market leadership, as many German companies demonstrate. But, how do they do it?     

The Theory of Exchange Rate Target Zones

The theory of exchange rate target zones focuses on the role of exchange rate expectations in determining exchange rate behaviour and interest rate differentials in currency bands. This paper analyses earlier models of the target zone research programme as well as more recent developments including endogenous realignment expectations, price rigidities and alternative monetary feedback rules by means of a unified approach. Target zones may be the cause of stabilizing or destabilizing exchange rate expectations, the determinants of which crucially depend on the within-band central bank policy as well as the credibility of the central banks' commitment to defend the target zone. The paper closes with a discussion of the relative merits of implementing a target zone and some suggestions for further research.     

Institutional investors and stock returns volatility: Empirical evidence from a natural experiment

In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the impact of institutional investors on stock market returns dynamics. The Polish pension system reform in 1999 and the associated increase in institutional ownership due to the investment activities of pension funds are used as a unique institutional characteristic. Performing a Markov-switching-GARCH analysis we find empirical evidence that the increase of institutional ownership has temporarily changed the volatility structure of aggregate stock returns. The results are interpretable in favor of a stabilizing effect on index stock returns induced by institutional investors.     

Umsetzungsbarrieren bei Produktinnovationen: Führt der „Weg des geringsten Widerstands“ zum Innovationserfolg?

Welche Innovationsbarrieren gef?hrden die Umsetzung kreativer Ideen in neue Produkte? Was bedeuten Umsetzungsbarrieren für den Erfolg eines Innovationsprozesses? Welche Strategien des Innovationsmanagements bew?hren sich? Mit Daten von 408 Produktinnovationsprozessen aus Technologiebranchen werden diese Zusammenh?nge für vier Innovationstypen vergleichend analysiert: Umsetzungsbarrieren in den Phasen Forschung & Entwicklung, Produktion und Markteinführung treten, insbesondere bei hohem Neuheitsgrad, nahezu immer auf. Der Intensit?t dieser Barrieren kommt jedoch nur geringe Erkl?rungskraft für den Innovationserfolg zu. Offensichtlich führen nicht nur „Wege des geringsten Widerstands“ zum Erfolg. Die Befunde zeigen, dass eine frühzeitige Integration von Akteuren und Funktionen dazu beitragen kann, Innovationserfolge auch „über Barrieren“ zu erreichen.     

Efectos de la negociación colectiva e individual en el rendimiento empresarial. Análisis exhaustivo de la incidencia de diversos sistemas de negociación en la productividad laboral

Sobre un conjunto de datos empresariales representativos de todos los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea se analiza la relación entre diferentes procesos y estructuras institucionales de negociación colectiva y la evolución de la productividad laboral. Los resultados muestran efectos de amplio alcance. Algunos procesos y estructuras, en particular los sistemas sin coordinación entre unidades, parecen menoscabar el rendimiento empresarial, mientras que los sistemas coordinados lo mejoran. En consecuencia, lo importante son los procesos y estructuras institucionales en que se inscribe la negociación colectiva y no la cuestión de si la negociación debe ser colectiva o individual.     

Eliza in the uncanny valley: anthropomorphizing consumer robots increases their perceived warmth but decreases liking

Marketing Letters - Consumer robots are predicted to be employed in a variety of customer-facing situations. As these robots are designed to look and behave like humans, consumers attribute human...