Equivalizing Incomes: A Normative Approach

The paper deals with the comparisonof living standards and investigates two normative methods ofderiving equivalizing transformations for a population whichhas different household types. The first one equates the utilitylevels of representative household members belonging to differenthouseholds. The second method evaluates the well-being of householdsby a social welfare ordering defined by means of household utilityfunctions. The methods can determine the implicit normative assumptionsinvolved in conducting distributional analysis using any equivalizingtransformation. In particular income-level dependent equivalencescales can be founded in this framework. The assumptions underlyingboth approaches are examined and compared.     

Entscheidungstheoretische Instrumente für die Politikberatung?

The work of political advisers becomes more and more important for the political decision-makers in a world of growing complexity. In the past, economic advice was primarily based on theoretical considerations. In the last two decades this has changed and now there is a dominance of evidence-based policy advice. In this paper it is argued that it is necessary not only to rely on conventional empirical evidence but also to take experimental and behavioral evidence into account.     

Culture and Economics

The question of how far it is necessary to include cultural factors in the analysis of economic processes has become topical again in recent years. The first contribution to this Forum introduces a cultural approach to economics. This is followed by an article that examines the transition processes in central and eastern Europe from an econocultural perspective. The next article deals with the concept of a country-specific national tax culture and its implications for tax policy, especially in the context of transformation processes. The final paper discusses Turkey’s economic culture and its possible impact on the country’s integration into the European Union. * This outline is in its main parts the result of cooperation with Bernd Remmele and Joachim Zweynert. The author wishes to express his indebtness to Inga Fuchs for central insights on this subject, and to Michael Wohlgemuth, who helped to finish this paper in a short period of time. ** This article originates in a research project on the historical and cultural path dependence of the transition processes in Central and Eastern Europe (with special focus on the Baltic Sea region). The project is carried out jointly by the Hamburg Institute of International Economics and the University of Hamburg and funded by the VolkswagenStiftung.     

Next generation single-aisle aircraft – Requirements and technological solutions

In recent years, aircraft manufacturers have concentrated on developing new long-haul widebody aircraft, such as Airbus’s A380 and A350XWB and Boeing’s 787 and 747-8. The next challenge for manufacturers and suppliers is the development of new short- and medium-range single-aisle aircraft. This paper outlines how the challenges and quantified goals as developed by the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in its Strategic Research Agenda would influence and contribute to the improvement of the next generation of civil transport aircraft. It continues with a discussion on possible aircraft requirements from the viewpoint of an aircraft operator. Subsequently, the most important technological elements available for the next generation single-aisle aircraft are briefly characterised. Using the Council’s objectives for CO₂ emissions and noise, as an example it can be shown that a decoupling of air traffic growth and emissions/noise can be achieved.     

Is There a Gap in the Gap? Regional Differences in the Gender Pay Gap

In this paper, we investigate regional differences in the gender pay gap both theoretically and empirically. Within a spatial model of monopsonistic competition, we show that more densely populated labour markets are more competitive and constrain employers’ ability to discriminate against women. Utilizing a large administrative data set for western Germany and a flexible semi‐parametric propensity score matching approach, we find that the unexplained gender pay gap for young workers is substantially lower in large metropolitan than in rural areas. This regional gap in the gap of roughly 10 percentage points remained surprisingly constant over the entire observation period of 30 years.     

Are There Rational Bubbles in REITs? New Evidence from a Complex Systems Approach

This study applies a complex systems approach to test for the presence of rational bubbles in the Equity REITs market. The applied model is based on theoretical implications of the evolution of prices under rational bubble regimes. The advantage of the approach is twofold. The model is able to detect rational bubbles while they rise and to predict the most likely time of their collapse. We apply the model to daily price data on U.S. Equity REITs from 1989 to 2011. Our findings suggest the existence of a bubble for the period of 2003 to 2007. Tests for sub-markets reveal that the bubble developed in the Residential REITs market, but not in the Office REITs market.     

低利率承诺，意义重大的新型非常规货币政策工具

【摩根士丹利5月1日】面对金融风暴，各大央行不仅大力运用常规的货币政策工具——下调短期政策利率，而且动用了各种非常规货币政策工具。目前，最引人注目的是各类量化宽松和信贷放松举措，