The Determinants of International Commercial Real Estate Investment

We examine the determinants of international commercial real estate investment using a unique set of panel data series for 47 countries worldwide, covering the period from 2000 to 2009. We explore how different socio-economic, demographic and institutional characteristics affect commercial real estate investment activity by determining both cross-sectional and time-series estimators, running augmented random effect panel regressions. We provide evidence that economic growth, rapid urbanization and compelling demographics attract real estate investment, and also demonstrate that a lack of transparency in the legal framework, administrative burdens of doing real estate business, socio-cultural challenges and political instabilities reduce international real estate allocations.     

The European debt crisis and fiscal reactions in Europe 2000–2014

After the outbreak of the global financial crisis, some governments in the EU experienced serious fiscal problems, while others were less affected. This paper seeks to shed light on the divergent fiscal performance in the EU countries before and after the outbreak of the crisis. Fiscal reaction functions of the primary balance are estimated for different groups of EU countries using quarterly data for the pre-crisis period 2001–2008 and for the crisis period 2009–2014. The pre-crisis estimations reveal some differences in persistence and cyclical reaction between different groups of countries, but in most cases little feedback from the debt stock to the primary balance. The fiscal reaction functions of the countries that eventually developed fiscal problems do not stand out. The estimations on data from the crisis period show largely unchanged persistence and counter-cyclicality but much more feedback from the debt stock, and this applies both to the crisis countries and those less affected. In spite of large deficits and accumulation of debt, the underlying fiscal reaction has become more prudent after the outbreak of the European debt crisis.     

Federal Reserve Independence in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis: Should We Be Worried?

The extraordinary circumstances of the past few years have led to extraordinary responses by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. These ventures into uncharted waters have heightened political scrutiny to the point of raising concern about future independence. In discussing independence of the Federal Reserve, it is important to separate its regulatory and supervisory functions from its monetary policy function. It is the latter in which the question of independence is most important. History indicates that independent monetary policy has been a powerful deterrent to inflation. This paper outlines the threats to Federal Reserve independence, particularly as it exists from the unconventional policies that it pursued to mitigate the financial crisis. Economists have an important role in making the case that monetary policy remains independent.     

Too Much Competition in Higher Education? Some Conceptual Remarks on the Excessive‐Signaling Hypothesis

Within the economics of higher education, there is a small but influential literature that describes and analyzes the outcomes of competitive processes on markets for higher educational services. Colleges and universities in the United States currently invest a vast amount of resources in order to attract well-qualified students. Costly activities like advertising, infrastructure investments, the recruitment of academic stars, or the granting of merit-based tuition discounts can be interpreted as different forms of "market signaling" in the sense of Spence. According to some social science authors, these signaling activities have reached a dimension that has to be classified as excessive or socially wasteful from a welfare-economic viewpoint. The present article makes some conceptual remarks on this excessive-signaling hypothesis, and intends to contribute to the debate about the (potentially) harmful and beneficial effects of competition in higher education.     

Regionale Beschäftigungswirkungen des demografischen Wandels

Die demografischen Ver?nderungen beeinflussen das Arbeitsangebot in den Regionen Deutschlands. Wie wird sich die Bev?lkerung nach Regionen differenziert bis 2020 entwickeln? Durch welche Faktoren wird die Arbeitsnachfrage beeinflusst? Welche Perspektiven ergeben sich daraus bis 2020 für die Raumordnungsregionen? Prof. Dr. Ulrich van Suntum, 52, ist Leiter des Instituts für Siedlungs- und Wohnungswesen der Universit?t Münster; Karsten Rusche, 26, Dipl.-Volkswirt, ist dort wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter.