Mittelstand und EU-Osterweiterung

Viele Umfragen deuten auf eine massive Abwanderung des deutschen Mittelstands in die neuen EU-Beitrittsl?nder hin. Inwieweit kann dieser Exodus empirisch untermauert werden? In welchen Aktivit?ten engagieren sich die deutschen mittelst?ndischen Unternehmen in den Beitrittsl?ndern? Welche Chancen und Risiken erwarten sie von der Osterweiterung?     

Financial opening in developing countries

Many developing countries are currently considering liberalisation of external capital flows. While the ultimate objective of financial opening is to raise efficiency and growth, the reform process must be carefully designed to achieve these results. A recent conference has discussed the policy choices.     

The Impact of Moral Intensity on Decision Making in a Business Context

The present paper reports the results of a vignette- and questionnaire-based research project investigating the influence of Moral Intensity (MI) on decision making in a New Zealand business context. The use of a relatively sensitive research design yielded results showing that – in contrast to previous research – objective manipulations, as well as subjective perceptions, of three of the six MI components were of particular importance in accounting for a comparatively large proportion of the variation in four outcome variables. There were no interactions of appreciable magnitude between MI components, or variations across scenarios. Also, no support was found for a reliable multi-dimensional structure of perceptions of Moral Intensity. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Ageing, productivity and wages in Austria: sector level evidence

In this paper we analyse the link between the age structure of the labour force and average labour productivity as well as average wage across industrial sectors. While this intermediate economic level has been under-explored up to now, we will argue that it provides valuable insights in several respects. Our analysis is based on a panel data set ranging over 6 years (2002–2007). It covers the sectors of mining, manufacturing and market oriented services in the Austrian economy. Our results exhibit a positive correlation of the share of older employees and productivity, whereas we cannot find any evidence for a significant relationship of the share of younger employees and productivity. Moreover, the estimated age-wage pattern does not hint at an over-payment of older employees.