The relationship between risk attitudes and heuristics in search tasks: A laboratory experiment

Experimental studies of search behavior suggest that individuals stop searching earlier than the optimal, risk-neutral stopping rule predicts. Two different classes of decision rules could generate this behavior: rules that are optimal conditional on utility functions departing from risk neutrality, or heuristics derived from limited cognitive processing capacities and satisficing. To discriminate between these possibilities, we conducted an experiment that consists of a search task as well as a lottery task designed to elicit utility functions. We find that search heuristics are not related to measures of risk aversion, but to measures of loss aversion.     

Strategische Steuerung der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung mit Strategy Maps

Zusammenfassung  Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich der Steuerung und Bewertung von Ma?nahmen der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung. Gesellschaftliche Ver?nderungen wie bspw. die Globalisierung oder der demografische Wandel führen dazu, dass die Gesundheit der Mitarbeiter in vielen Bereichen zu einem Engpassfaktor der Leistungserstellung geworden ist. Eine zentrale Rolle zur gezielten unternehmerischen Beeinflussung der personellen Ressourcen eines Unternehmens und damit auch der Gesundheit der Mitarbeiter spielt das Wissen über Ursache-Wirkungsbeziehungen im Bereich der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung und deren Einfluss auf den Erfolg der Leistungserstellung. Zur gezielten Steuerung der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung wird ein Rahmenkonzept vorgestellt, das aus der Logik der Balanced Scorecard und Strategy Maps abgeleitet wird und auf Ursache-Wirkungsbeziehungen basiert.

Inter-industry wage differentials and strategic trade policy

Recent studies suggest that inter-industry wage differentials exist which are neither caused by different endownments of the workers with human capital, nor by different working conditions, nor by institutional rigidities. Higher employment in high-wage sectors due to exports, therefore, raises welfare. According to empirical evidence presented here more likely than not net exports from sectors paying wage premia lead to some extra gains from trade (that cannot be explained by trade policy promoting primary sectors by high amounts of subsidies per employee) for the German economy. A case is made, however, against strategic trade policy in favour of these sectors pointing to uncertainty about the amount of the differentials, their international (dis)similarity, and their sources.

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Zusammenfassung Empirische Untersuchungen deuten darauf hin, daß auch in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Arbeitskräfte mit gleicher Humankapitalausstattung, die unter gleichen Arbeitsbedingungen in Unternehmen gleicher Größe in einer Region arbeiten, unterschiedlich entlohnt werden, wenn sie in unterschiedlichen Sektoren arbeiten. Bestehen solche Sektorlohndifferentiale, dann hat eine Ausweitung der Beschäftigung in Hochlohnsektoren positive Wohlfahrtseffekte. Es wird daher vielfach gefordert, diese primären Sektoren vor internationaler Konkurrenz zu schützen und sie durch Subventionen zu fördern. Die vorliegende Arbeit präsentiert empirische Evidenz dafür, daß die Bundesrepublik Deutschland Extra-Gewinne aus dem Außenhandel bezieht, weil zwischen der Netto-Exportquote und der Höhe des Sektorlohndifferentials ein positiver Zusammenhang besteht, ohne daß sich die Subventionspolitik an diesen Differentialen orientiert. Gegen eine gezielte Förderung der Hochlohnsektoren im Rahmen einer strategischen Handelspolitik werden dann drei Argumente vorgebracht, die mit Unsicherheiten über Höhe, internationale Ähnlichkeit und Ursachen der Differentiale zusammenhängen.

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Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the international economists' group of the Verein für Socialpolitik at Hohenheim University in May 1991, at the Sixth Annual Congress of the European Economic Association in Cambridge in September 1991, and at the Universities of Hamburg and Bielefeld. I would like to thank participants at the discussions and four anonymous referees for helpful comments. The usual disclaimer applies.     

How would Swiss consumers decide if they had freedom of choice? Evidence from a field study with organic,conventional and GM corn bread

In 2005, the Swiss expressed their negative attitude towards genetic engineering in agriculture by voting in favor of a ban to use genetically modified (GM) crops in domestic agriculture. At the same time, certain GM food products remain approved but are not on offer since retailers assume that consumers would shun labeled GM food. In our study we tested this claim by conducting a large-scale field study with Swiss consumers. In our experimental design, three clearly labeled types of corn bread were offered at five different market stands across the French and German-speaking part of Switzerland: one made with organic, one made with conventional, and one made with genetically modified (GM) corn. In addition, we tested the consistency between purchasing decision at the market stand and the previous voting decision on GMOs in 2005 by means of an ex-post questionnaire. The results of our discrete choice analysis show that Swiss consumers treat GM foods just like any other type of novel food. We conclude from our findings that consumers tend to appreciate transparency and freedom of choice even if one of the offered product types is labeled as containing a genetically modified ingredient. Retailers should allow consumers to make their own choice and accept the fact that not all people appear to be afraid of GM food.     

A Note on the Firm Size – Export Relationship

The positive relationship between firm size and direct exports is often considered as a stylized fact. Numerous econometric investigations back theoretical considerations by showing that a ceteris paribus positive relationship between firm size and direct export activities exists. This note contributes to the literature by closely looking at an econometric modelling issues that has largely been neglected hitherto. Various approaches used in the literature to model the exports/sales ratio, which is a percentage variable with usually many observations at the lower limit, are discussed. It is argued that all these methods are seriously flawed, and an alternative approach is suggested that is applied using data from a large comprehensive recent survey of German manufacturing establishments. Furthermore, the relation between firm size and exports is examined in four selected industries to test whether the importance of economies of scale and transaction cost efficiencies vary considerably between industries.     

Export entry and exit by German firms

Export Entry and Exit by German Firms. — While exports have played an important role in German business cycles, little is known about the export supply response of German firms. This paper presents a dynamic model of the export decision by a profit-maximizing firm. Using a panel of German manufacturing plants, we test for the role of plant characteristics and sunk costs in the entry decision. We find evidence for substantial sunk costs: exporting today by a plant increases the probability by 50 percent that the plant will export tomorrow. This advantage depreciates quickly, falling by two-thirds in a year. The authors also find evidence that plant success, as measured by size and productivity, increases the likelihood of exporting.     

Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm‐level Data

While the role of exports in promoting growth in general, and productivity in particular, has been investigated empirically using aggregate data for countries and industries for a long time, only recently have comprehensive longitudinal data at the firm level been used to look at the extent and causes of productivity differentials between exporters and their counterparts which sell on the domestic market only. This paper surveys the empirical strategies applied, and the results produced, in 54 microeconometric studies with data from 34 countries that were published between 1995 and 2006. Details aside, exporters are found to be more productive than non‐exporters, and the more productive firms self‐select into export markets, while exporting does not necessarily improve productivity.     

Profitability and market share: A reflection on the functional relationship

The paper analyzes the functional relationship between profitability and market share for type of businesses in the PIMS data base. Although a linear relationship has been imposed in other studies, our result shows that empirically it seems a poor representation of the data. In addition, three observations seem to be most evident. First, small-share businesses were not per se less successful than larger business units. In the service market and the market for raw or semi-finished materials small-share businesses were just as profitable or even more profitable than larger business units. Second, some businesses were ‘stuck in the middle’, which was most evident in the service market but also in the retail and wholesale markets. Third, very large-share businesses were often less profitable. A critical market share was identified as between 65 and 70 percent. Beyond that level the ROI decreased.     

The internationalization of development policy

It has been evident for some time that the proportion of the public development aid which is distributed through multilateral channels is increasing. The causes of this process are examined in the following article which is based on the author's doctor thesis.