Random Advertising and Monopolistic Price Dispersion

We investigate the role of price advertising in a market where consumers are imperfectly informed about prices. We consider a monopolist whose demand depends on price and advertising expenditure. This demand function is derived from optimizing behavior of consumers. Uninformed consumers may pay a cost to visit the seller and obtain price information. Advertising enables the monopolist to increase the number of informed consumers. In equilibrium the uninformed consumers form rational price expectations, and the seller necessarily adopts a random pricing and advertising strategy.     

Analysis of cointegrated VARMA processes

VARMA (vector autoregressive moving average) processes are proposed for modelling cointegrated variables. For this purpose the echelon form is combined with the error correction form. Procedures for estimating the Kronecker indices which characterize the echelon form and for specifying the cointegration rank are discussed. The asymptotic distribution of the coefficient estimators is given. An example based o n US macroeconomic data illustrates the procedure and demonstrates its feasibility in practice.     

Wage and Mobility Effects of Trade and Migration on the Austrian Labour Market

This study analyses the effect of trade and migration on wages and labour marketmobility. We estimate wage growth equations and a multinomial logit mobilityequation on an individual data set ranging from 1991 to 1994. We find substantialdifferences in the reactions of white and blue-collar workers wages and mobilityto trade and migration. In Austria exports have a positive and imports a negativeimpact on wage growth only for blue-collar workers. Migrants also reduce onlyblue-collar workers wage growth. Our results indicate that higher imports and aninflow of migrants reduce sectoral mobility of all types workers. The risk of beingout of work by contrast is increased by migration and imports only for blue-collarworkers, but reduced by exports for all types of workers. In general our results suggestenlargement of the EU would have only small effects on the Austrian labour market.     

斯图加特的经济：在未来也要领先

新千年伊始 ,斯图加特市面临新的挑战。经济全球化的迅速到来正影响我们所有人在２１世纪的生活。对这种挑战必须要充分地说明 ,要保持领先 ,最迫切需要的是行动。斯图加特市和斯图加特地区有优越的条件来迎接挑战 ,其明显的潜力需要挖掘和调动。斯图加特不仅是多国著名公司的所在地 ,同时还是它们的家园。例如 :戴姆勒———克莱斯勒、Ｐｏｒｓｃｈｅ、Ｂｏｓｃｈ、ＩＢＭ和ＡｌｃａｔｅｌＳＥＬ。斯图加特地区传统的实力是ＳＭＥｓ ,他众多的产品能迅速而灵活地适应全球市场需求。虽然斯图加特地区经济主要集中在动力和机械工程上 ,但他仍…     

Wertorientierte Unternehmenssteuerung in der Versicherung

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Wage differences between Austrian men and women: <Emphasis Type="Italic">semper idem?</Emphasis>

In most OECD countries, the wage gap between men and women has narrowed during the past two decades. Developments of the last 20 years, e.g., increased labour market attachment of women or the introduction of equal pay laws, may have reduced the gender wage gap. We investigate the extent, persistence, and socio-economic determinants of the gender wage gap in Austria, for the years 1983 and 1997. Using wage decomposition techniques, we find that the average gender wage gap was almost as high in 1997 as it was in 1983. Not accounting for differences, the gender wage gap dropped from 25.5 to 23.3% of men’s wages. Taking observable differences between men and women into account, we estimate that the mean gender wage gap that cannot be explained, i.e., discrimination against women, dropped from 17 to 14% of men’s wages. A decomposition of the gender wage gap over time indicates that both returns to human capital and less discrimination were responsible for the narrowing of the gender wage gap.

A landscape approach for assessing the biodiversity value of indigenous forest remnants: Case study of the Manawatu/Wanganui region of New Zealand

To halt the decline of biodiversity in New Zealand, the government has formulated a strategy of maintaining and restoring a full range of remaining natural habitats to a healthy functioning state. Many indigenous forest remnants exist on private land, and these could be utilised to increase biodiversity. Resources for conservation of forest remnants are limited, so they must be used wisely to deliver the greatest possible biodiversity gain. This paper presents a rapid method for valuing the biodiversity of a region's indigenous forest remnants to help prioritise conservation resources. The region is divided into environmentally distinct areas called land environments. A detailed land-cover map is derived from satellite imagery and used to estimate the proportion of natural habitats remaining in each land environment; from this the biodiversity value of any forest remnant may be calculated. The method is rapid and does not require detailed biodiversity information. When combined with conservation costs, it may be used to create a priority list of forest remnants for conservation. The Manawatu/Wanganui region of New Zealand is used as a case study to demonstrate the method.