Die Erwartungen an die neue Bundesregierung

Das Ergebnis der Bundestagswahl ist eine gro?e Koalition zwischen CDU/CSU und SPD. Was erwarten die Arbeitgeber und die Arbeitnehmer von der neuen Bundesregierung? Dr. Dieter Hundt von der Bundesvereinigung der deutschen Arbeitgeberverb?nde und Michael Sommer vom Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbund nehmen Stellung.     

Taxation and top incomes in Canada

We estimate the elasticity of reported income with respect to tax rates for high earners using sub‐national variation across Canadian provinces. We argue this allows for better identification of tax elasticities than the existing literature. We find that elasticities of reported income at the provincial level are large for incomes in the top 1%, but small for lower earners. There are strong indications that the response happens both through earned and capital income. While our estimated elasticities are large, changes in tax rates cannot explain much of the overall long‐run trend of higher income concentration in Canada.     

Has Switzerland Really Been Marked by Low Productivity Growth? Hours Worked and Labor Productivity in Switzerland in a Long‐run Perspective

This paper shows that previous work has understated Switzerland's performance in terms of labor productivity growth. First, available data on hours worked are incoherent and overestimate growth in hours worked. The paper therefore establishes a consistent series of total hours worked and its components covering 1950–2010, showing that Swiss labor inputs actually were stable from 1964 to 2007. Second, long‐term improvements in Switzerland's Terms of Trade indicate that quality improvements in Swiss exports might not be fully mirrored in growth of GDP and, hence, productivity growth.     

The Global Preference for Dividends in Declining Markets

Investors globally prefer dividend‐paying stocks over nondividend‐paying stocks more in declining than in advancing markets, even accounting for firm‐level growth opportunities, size and risk effects. Dividend‐paying stocks outperform nondividend‐paying stocks, from 0.63% (China) to 3.79% (Canada) more per month in declining than in advancing markets. In declining markets, dividend‐paying firms outperform by more than any underperformance in advancing markets. The results are robust across dividend taxation regimes, legal environments, emerging and developed markets, periods prior to and after the 2008 global financial crisis, the exclusion of the dividend declaration month and in respect to segmented or integrated international capital markets.     

Ordering,revenue and anchoring in art auctions

We estimate the effect of ordering by value on revenues in sequential art auctions held by Sotheby's and Christie's. We exploit a pre determined rotation of which of these two houses holds their auction first during auction week in New York City. When the house that goes first has relatively expensive paintings compared to the other house, we find that the sale premium for the week is around 21% higher relative to the mean sale premium, and the fraction of paintings sold during the week is around 11% higher. We provide evidence that this is due to an anchoring effect.     

The Health Consequences of Adverse Labor Market Events: Evidence from Panel Data

This study investigates the associations between self‐assessed adverse labor market events (experiencing problems with coworkers, employment changes, financial strain) and health. Longitudinal data are obtained from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Our findings suggest problems with coworkers, employment changes, and financial strain are associated, respectively, with a 3.1 percent (3.3 percent), 0.9 percent (0.2 percent), and 4.5 percent (5.1 percent) reduction in mental health among men (women). Associations are smaller in magnitude and less significant for physical health.     

The Effects of Minimum Wages on Food Stamp Enrollment and Expenditures

We provide the first causal analysis of how minimum wages affects enrollments and expenditures in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Exploiting state‐ and federal‐level variation in minimum‐wage policy between 1990 and 2012, and incorporating local controls in our specifications, we find that a 10 percent minimum wage increase reduces SNAP enrollment between 2.4 and 3.2 percent, and reduces program expenditures an estimated 1.9 percent. If the federal minimum wage were increased from $7.25 to $10.10, enrollment would fall between 7.5 and 8.7 percent (3.1 to 3.6 million persons) relative to 2012 levels, and annual expenditures would decrease 6 percent ($4.6 billion).     

Services,industry evolution,and the competitive strategies of product firms

Services of different types have become increasingly important for product firms. While these firms mainly focus on products, managers and researchers lack a comprehensive framework to understand when to make significant investments in particular kinds of services. We identify three categories of product‐related services from a product firm—smoothing and adapting services, which complement products, and substitution services, which enable customers to pay for the use of a product without buying the product itself. We develop propositions about the relative level of these different kinds of services vis‐a‐vis industry evolution, as well as suggest how these services affect industry structure. We draw upon various literatures, though we conclude that the relationship between products and services is more complex and richer than any one literature suggests. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ENERGY SECURITY IN THE ASIA‐PACIFIC REGION

The nations of the Asia‐Pacific Region, including its three sub‐regions of Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, face major potential dangers in securing the energy needed for their economies. This paper focuses on these dangers and discusses the future prospects for these vulnerable nations, including their need for closer cooperation. (JEL Q32, Q34, Q40)