Ein Arbeitsmarktprogramm für Europa

The European Employment Strategy is the subject of controversial discussion. It is hard to find an economic justification for transnational responsibility since European labour markets are heterogenous and spillover effects of national employment policies are almost negligible. In its latest communication, the European Commission fails to provide a masterplan for a recovery of the struggling labour markets, although it provides convincing and less convincing proposals for tackling unemployment in EU member states. There is a suspicion that the package mainly serves as a first step towards transferring employment policy responsibilities from the national to the EU level. But the EU labour market policy lacks appropriate instruments and competences. Finally, it is questionable whether the package fits in an economic growth plan.     

Drum prüfe, wer sich bindet ...

Marktintransparenz und deren Bedeutung für die Preisbildung auf M?rkten wurden in der ?konomie lange Zeit vernachl?ssigt. Die für ihre Search-and-Matching-Theorie geehrten Wirtschaftswissenschaftler haben ma?geblich dazu beigetragen, dieses Manko zu überwinden. In ihren Arbeiten zeigen sie, wie informationsbedingte Friktionen zu dauerhaften Marktungleichgewichten führen k?nnen und welchen Einfl uss staatliche Institutionen dabei haben.     

Bemessungsgrundlage kontra Fünf-Stufen-Tarif

Die Komplexit?t des deutschen Steuersystems hat in den vergangenen Jahren immer wieder Kritik hervorgerufen und zu verschiedenen Verbesserungsvorschl?gen geführt, von denen jedoch bislang noch keiner ungesetzt wurde. Denn um eine breite politische Akzeptanz zu erlangen, müssen Reformvorschl?ge zum Steuersystem neben Transparenz und Einfachheit gleichzeitig sicherstellen, dass die Einkommensungleichheit nicht versch?rft, das Steueraufkommen insgesamt nicht zu gering wird und die Erwerbsanreize nicht gef?hrdet sind. Durch Steuervereinfachung alleine werden diese Ziele nicht per se erreicht.     

The determinants of interregional migration in Kenya

The polytomous logistic model is applied to unpublished census data from Kenya to test recent theoretical advances in migration theory. In addition to reporting econometric results for interregional migration in Kenya, the accumulated knowledge on the key determinants of migration, as reported in some 20 econometric studies on internal migration in developing countries, are summarized.     

Verfügbarkeit von nicht-erneuerbaren Energierohstoffen

Crude oil, natural gas and coal currently are the most important energy sources and will be the backbone of the energy industry for the next few decades to come. The discussion about the future availability of these fossil fuels was revived by the sharp rise in energy prices since 2004 to a record high in mid-2008. This posed a question as to how long non-renewable energy resources may be available in sufficient quantities in the future. The annual report 2010 “Reserves, resources and availability of energy resources” from the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover analyses the global situation of crude oil, natural gas, coal, uranium and thorium. The focus is on the analysis of reserves and resources, but also aspects of production, consumption and trade as well as prices are being covered. The main emphasis is put on conventional energy resources, but also non-conventional hydrocarbons are discussed. As a result of the study, the situation for crude oil becomes increasingly critical. From a geological point of view there are still sufficient quantities of natural gas and uranium. Coal has the by far greatest long term potential, but in comparison with other fossil fuels it is more pollute.     

The Determinants of Cereal Grain Imports: Sub‐Saharan Africa, 1970–1997

Abstract: During the 1970s cereal imports in sub‐Saharan Africa increased at an annual rate in excess of 20 percent. As a result, it was assumed Africa had two choices: reduce the rate of population growth or become increasingly dependent on food imports and aid. In this paper we investigate the relative importance of food shortfalls versus policy choices that resulted in a taste change away from roots and tubers and coarse grains to imported wheat and rice. Of the 41 countries studied, 17 are still net exporters of food commodities, cereal imports serve to supplement inadequate production of food, but these imports, generally, are not driven by severe nutritional needs within any one country. Rather, the observed cereal imports are primarily wheat and rice flowing into the countries with adequate levels of nutrition available.     

FOCUS: German Banks - What Role do they Really Play?

The Spokesman of Deutsche Bank's Board of Managing Directors delivered The Gilbart Lecture on Banking last year under the auspices of King's College London at an occasion sponsored by the National Westminster Bank plc and organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers. The text of Herr Kopper's lecture is reproduced here with permission.