Price Flexibility as a Two-dimensional Concept and the Volatility of Output

The stabilizing effect of increased price flexibility has been challenged in a series of articles. We show that it is important to distinguish between two different dimensions of flexibility. An increase in the responsiveness of the price level with respect to excess demand may both stabilize and destabilize the economy depending on whether the price level reacts with a lag or whether prices adjust immediately. Hence, the degree of price rigidity in the sense of a delayed price reaction turns out to be of crucial importance for the consequences of an increase in the responsiveness of the price level.     

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.     

Nectar for the taking: the popularization of scientific bee culture in England, 1609-1809

This essay expands and refines academic knowledge of English beekeeping during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Scientific beekeeping focused on improvement, which, in turn, depended on the dissemination of ideas and practices. This analysis, therefore, encompasses the mentalities and tactics of popularizers. The article also identifies two neglected concepts in the popularization campaign. First, popularizers saw scientific beekeeping as a way to end the tradition of killing the bees in order to safely harvest. Second, they sought to promote a rural industry for the economic welfare of the nation. The case study of Exeter's Western Apiarian Society reveals precisely how popularization functioned in reality. The result is a more thorough history of scientific beekeeping and how the rhetoric of improvement related to the culture of practice.     

Determinants of House Prices: A Quantile Regression Approach

OLS regression has typically been used in housing research to determine the relationship of a particular housing characteristic with selling price. Results differ across studies, not only in terms of size of OLS coefficients and statistical significance, but sometimes in direction of effect. This study suggests that some of the observed variation in the estimated prices of housing characteristics may reflect the fact that characteristics are not priced the same across a given distribution of house prices. To examine this issue, this study uses quantile regression, with and without accounting for spatial autocorrecation, to identify the coefficients of a large set of diverse variables across different quantiles. The results show that purchasers of higher-priced homes value certain housing characteristics such as square footage and the number of bathrooms differently from buyers of lower-priced homes. Other variables such as age are also shown to vary across the distribution of house prices.

An evolutionary approach to the examination of capital market efficiency

The paper investigates capital market efficiency on basis of an evolutionary model of asset pricing. Participants of capital markets are considered as organizations in the sense of Nelson and Winter (1982). Behavior of these organizations is described by routines. Routines are regular and predictable behavioral patterns, which determine how individuals gather information, form expectations, and order assets. The participants change their behavior by innovating new routines or by imitating routines of other participants.     

More evidence on the puzzle of interindustry wage differentials: The case of West Germany

Zusammenfassung Mehr Evidenz zur interindustriellen Lohnstruktur in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. — Die Verfasser zeigen, da? in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland für Arbeitskr?fte mit ?hnlichen Qualifikationsmerkmalen branchenspezifische Lohnunterschiede existieren und da? die interindustrielle Lohnstruktur in der Bundesrepublik der interindustriellen Lohnstruktur in den Vereinigten Staaten gleicht. So sind der Stra?enfahrzeugbau und die Mineral?lverarbeitung in beiden L?ndern typische Hochlohnbranchen, das Bekleidungsgewerbe und das Ledergewerbe dagegen typische Niedriglohnbranchen. Diese ?hnlichkeit der interindustriellen Lohnstrukturen mu? überraschen, da sich die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen des Arbeitsmarktes in beiden L?ndern sehr stark unterscheiden. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, da? im Branchenquerschnitt die Verdienste von Besch?ftigten mit unterschiedlicher Qualifikation eng miteinander korreliert sind. Diese Ergebnisse sind nicht ohne weiteres mit den herk?mmlichen neoklassischen Arbeitsmarktmodellen zu vereinbaren.

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Résumé Plus d’évidence des différences inter-industrielles de salaire: Le cas de la RFA. — Cette étude représente l’évidence empirique de l’existence des différences inter-industrielles de salaire pour les ouvriers avec des qualifications similaires en RFA. La structure de salaire inter-industriel en RFA semble à celle aux Etats Unis. Dans tous les deux pays ce sont l’industrie d’automobiles et les raffineries de pétrol qui ont un typiquement haut niveau de salaire, tandis que les industries des textiles et de cuir ont un niveau bas. La similarité des structures inter-industrielles de salaire est un puzzle parce que ces deux pays ont des institutions complètement différentes en ce qui concerne le marché du travail. De plus, on a trouvé des corrélations fortes de salaire entre aucun de deux groupes d’ouvriers qualifiés sur toutes les branches en RFA. Ces résultats sont un défi pour les théories néoclassiques du marché du travail.

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Resumen Más evidencia empírica sobre el rompecabezas de las diferencias salariales interindustriales en Alemania Occidental. — En este trabajo se presenta evidencia empirica sobre la existencia de diferencias interindustriales en el nivel de salarios para trabajadores con calificación similar en Alemania Occidental. La estructura interindustrial de salarios de Alemania Occidental presenta el mismo perfil que la de los EE UU. En ambos países las ramas de salarios altos comúnmente son las de vehículos y refinación de petróleo, mientras que las ramas de salarios más bajos incluyen las de la vestimenta y cuero. La similitud de las estructuras interindustriales de ingresos indica la existencia de un rompecabezas, debido a que estos paises exhiben un marco institutional para el mercado laboral totalmente diferente. Además, se encuentra una correlación alta entre los salarios de dos grupos cualesquiera de trabajadores calificados pertenecientes a una misma industria. Estos resultados constituyen un reto a las teorías neoclásicas tradicionales del mercado laboral.