Gefährden institutionelle Anleger den Wettbewerb?

The Monopolies Commission, which advises the German government in competition policy making, warns against potential anti competitive effects of indirect horizontal links between competitors via institutional investors. Through such common ownership, the competitive conduct between suppliers could be alleviated, because their (joint) institutional shareholders interest in the overall market return may outweigh their interest in the individual firms’ returns. Taking account of the ubiquity of such common ownership in European and global markets as well as a non consideration in current competition law, the Monopolies Commission’s call for more research and vigilance appears to be appropriate.     

Eliteuniversitäten — Gewinner im Wettbewerb um Studierende?

The German Excellence Initiative was intended to strengthen university-based research and to create a set of internationally competitive elite institutions. The present article analyses whether or not designation as an elite institution has had an impact on the number of first-year students. Our results indicate that this is not the case. This observation might be explained by the fact that the Excellence Initiative mainly focuses on the reputation of the university as a whole, while students are more interested in the reputation of their preferred field of study. Hence, students compare the quality of faculties or degree programmes rather than the reputation of universities.     

Der Dauerstreit um Chinas Währungspolitik

China hat im Juni angekündigt, seine starre W?hrungspolitik zu lockern. Die chinesische Zentralbank l?sst aber wohl auch künftig nur geringfügige ?nderungen des Wechselkurses zu. Die M?glichkeiten des IWF, der WTO oder einzelner Staaten dieser W?hrungspolitik entgegenzutreten, werden hier erl?utert.     

Der Europäische Stabilitätsmechanismus ist eine Hydra

After the German Federal Constitutional Court had given its consent to the ratification of the ESM Treaty in an interim proceeding with judgment dated 12 September 2012, subject to several precautionary provisions, the court audience of the main action took place on the 11–12 June 2013. Apart from the acts approving the ESM and the fiscal treaty as well as the regulation (EU) 1176/2011, the German Constitutional Court dealt intensely with the announcement of the ECB Council dated 6 September 2012 to buy bond issues to an unlimited extent from ESM/EFSF-programme states (the so-called OMT programme). The author is the attorney in the procedure 2 BvR 1824/12 of Professor von Stein and others. The article reproduces the essential points of his opening and closing pleadings.     

Der Flexibilitätsbeitrag in der Arbeitslosenversicherung

The controversy around fixed-term contracts centres around the conflict between the employer’s need for flexibility and the employee’s need for security. The authors propose flexible contributions for employers to the public unemployment insurance system to balance both interests. The employers’ contributions for their temporary staff would increase while the contributions for their permanent staff would in turn decrease slightly. The authors calculate four versions. With regards to the total sum of contributions, the first version holds the contributions received constant while the second version leads to a reduction. They then repeat these two calculations for fixed-term contracts without substantive grounds. The flexibility premium takes into account the higher unemployment risk of employees with fixed-term contracts and establishes monetary incentives for employers to hire employees with permanent contracts.     

Der Transmissionsmechanismus der Geldpolitik — eine Ergänzung

In March 2015 Wirtschaftsdienst published the article “The Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy — Where is the Boost to Lending?” by Daniel Hagemann and Monika Wohlmann. Manuel Rupprecht asserts in his response that their argumentation concentrates too heavily on credit supply. He points to the importance of credit demand and the declining significance of bank loans. Hagemann and Wohlmann respond by providing detailed information on the sources of company financing and state that more than half of the financing for companies in the eurozone originated from banks.     

Regionale Konvergenz: Der ländliche Raum schlägt sich gut

Since 2000, there has been a convergence between urban and rural regions in Germany measured by GDP per capita. This is somewhat surprising, as the fate of “left behind” areas and an ostensibly widening gap between rich and poor regions are dominating the public discourse. But contrary to public perception, the continuing migration of the German population into urban regions is not accompanied by a similar clustering of economic activities. Instead, rural regions hold their ground in terms of their share of total value added in Germany. As a result, GDP per capita is rising faster in rural regions, driving convergence. But this positive development doesn’t apply to all rural regions – and the negative demographics in comparison to urban areas will become a growing burden.     

Der US-Dollar als Leitwährung – alternativlos?

The importance of the industrialized countries – including the USA – for world production has been declining for a long time. By contrast, China’s share in particular has increased significantly. Nevertheless, the US dollar has largely fulfilled the criteria for a leading currency function so far, even if this is increasingly criticised due to the protectionist rhetoric of the US. Accordingly, central banks worldwide hold their reserves primarily in US dollars and transactions are largely conducted in US currency. This position brings great advantages–such as making it easier for the US to monitor and enforce sanctions, among other things–and therefore great incentives for the US to maintain its position as the leading currency. Whether other currencies, especially the renminbi, will be able to fulfil the lead currency function is questionable. Similarly, it does not seem realistic that market participants will be able to engage in a global currency.     

Der deutsche Telekommunikationsmarkt im europäischen und internationalen Vergleich

According to current discussions, the German and European market for telecommunications is not as competitive as in the US or Asia. This paper shows — based on official data — that Germany has a high availability of broadband internet connections. It is not the availability but the usage that lags behind. Fixed telephone calls as well as broadband internet connections are rather cheap in Germany, but to be prepared for the digitalisation of the economy and society, more investments in infrastructure are needed. Surprisingly the US does have a higher number of network providers than Europe. What is missing in Europe is a provider that covers all countries of the European Union; current EBITDA does not show that the European market is too fragmented to make a profit.     

Der europäische Haushalt bis 2020: Anspruch und Wirklichkeit

The Commission of the European Union (EU) has made a new proposal regarding the multiannual fi nancial framework through 2020. Raising expenditures with high added value for the EU (e.g. a trans-European transport network) is one important target of the proposal. Another important issue is a change to the fi scal system. The Commission intends to participate in the revenue of a new financial transaction tax. One problem of the proposal is the gap between desire and reality. A look at the structure of the expenditures through 2020 shows, like in the past, more than 40% of the budget is intended for the Common Agricultural Policy and not for European public goods or similar expenditures. This structure makes it unlikely to achieve high added value for the EU.