In eigener Sache: Rezensionen in der 〉Publizistik〈

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Parametric weighting functions

This paper provides preference foundations for parametric weighting functions under rank-dependent utility. This is achieved by decomposing the independence axiom of expected utility into separate meaningful properties. These conditions allow us to characterize rank-dependent utility with power and exponential weighting functions. Moreover, by allowing probabilistic risk attitudes to vary within the probability interval, a preference foundation for rank-dependent utility with parametric inverse-S shaped weighting function is obtained.     

Innovation processes in small and medium-size companies

Innovation in small manufacturing companies often proceeds in an unstructured way. For the most part there is no previous well-defined plan. Small companies manage to introduce product and process innovations in a great variety of ways. The activities involved in the innovation process vary from one company to another, as does the total duration of the process.

With product innovations, the market to which the companies orient largely determines how the innovation evolves. With process innovations, it is the novelty of the innovation that determines the mode of evolution.

Next to the know-how invested in the company, sources of information in the business sector are particularly intensively used, such as customers and suppliers. The use of other sources depends strongly on the stage in the innovation process.

These are the most important conclusions from an investigation that has been carried out under commission from the Dutch government. Its objective was to establish how innovation is accomplished in small companies and which sources of information are used at the successive stages of the innovation process.     

Combining random sampling and census strategies - Justification of inclusion probabilities equal to 1

Very often values of a size variable are known for the elements of a population we want to sample. For example, the elements may be clusters, the size variable denoting the number of units in a cluster. Then, it is quite usual to base the selection of elements on inclusion probabilities which are proportionate to the size values. To estimate the total of all values of an unknown variable for the units in the population of interest (i.e. for the units contained in the clusters) we may use weights, e.g. inverse inclusion probabilities. We want to clarify these ideas by the minimax principle. Especially, we will show that the use of inclusion probabilities equal to 1 is recommendable for units with high values of the size measure. AMS Classification 2000: Primary 62D05. Secondary 62C20     

How to measure the market power of banks in the lending business accurately: a segment-based adjustment of the Lerner Index

Numerous empirical studies use the price-cost-margin-based Lerner Index (LI) to assess the general market power of banks. A common procedure within those LI applications is to approximate the market price required for the LI measurement as the ratio of a bank’s total revenues to total assets. We discuss the major flaws of this aggregated procedure and propose an adjusted (i.e. business segment-orientated) LI approach, which is then applied to assess the market power of banks in the specific lending business at the country level. Our empirical study is based on an original data set containing all interest-related categories (weighted by the respective loan as well as deposit volumes) in the countries of the European Monetary Union zone (EMU) from 2003 to 2013. Our results reveal that the country-specific market power of banks in the lending business has been substantially underestimated in previous studies based on aggregated outputs. For example, averaged across the five most important economies in the EMU, we detect a calibration factor of four. Our findings corroborate the economic notion that the interest-bearing lending business is a more locally separated, and thus profitable, segment in which competition is attenuated.     

Imports and the structure of retail markets

Abstract We construct a model of trade with heterogeneous retailers to examine the effects of trade liberalization on retail market structure, imports and social welfare. We are especially interested in investigating the transmission of lower import prices into consumer prices and the effects of retail market regulation. The paper shows that changes in import prices may have large effects on consumer prices and import volumes when changes in retail market structure are taken into account, and that restrictions on retailing, as they occur in several countries, may significantly alter this transmission mechanism by reducing imports and raising consumer prices.     

Zur Bedeutung von Gentests beim Abschluß von Lebens- und Krankenversicherungsverträgen

The investigation deals with constitutional and insurance law problems of gene tests on completion of life and health insurance contracts. There are predominate reasons for the admissibility of a fundamental prohibition of predictive gene tests as a requirement of the completion of an insurance contract. Exceptions from the prohibition are only thinkable in special cases. Gene tests that were already performed should be allowed to be used by the insurer (only) if the insurer offers an expectancy insurance to the person affected. Furthermore the person must be informed about possible insurance related and legal risks before commencement of the test by the physician.     

Growth and Welfare Effects of Fiscal Policy in an Endogenous Growth Model with Public Investment

In this paper we analyze growth and welfare effects of fiscal policy in an endogenous growth model along the balanced growth path. As to the model we assume that sustained per capita growth results from public investment. The government uses its tax revenue for investment in public capital, for investment subsidy and for transfer payments. We then analyze how the balanced growth rate reacts to variations in those policy variables. Further, we study welfare effects of varying the fiscal parameters and demonstrate that, in general, maximizing economic growth is not equivalent to maximizing welfare on the balanced growth path.