Product Market Integration and Wages in Unionized Countries

This paper addresses the effects of product market integration on wages. We develop a two–country general equilibrium model of international trade with imperfectly competitive product markets and unionized labor markets. Integration is modelled as either a fall in fixed or variable trade costs. A reduction in fixed trade costs leads to an unambiguous decrease in wages, whereas a reduction in variable trade costs has an ambiguous effect on wages.
JEL classification : F 15; J 5; L 13     

解读资产管理公司的成功要素

在未来资产管理行业的竞争中,强大的品牌、有效的渠道、丰富的产品组合和深度的客户细分将成为关键的成功要素。个人用户的发展对于资产管理公司具有重要的意义。在中国,随着商业银行的进入,资产管理的行业格局将发生巨大的变化。对于独立的资产管理公司,在品牌和渠道处于弱势的情况下,如何通过产品管理、渠道建设和品牌建设提升自身的竞争实力至关重要;而对于商业银行,尽管具有品牌和渠道的天然优势,但只有能够提供有竞争力的产品才可以满足客户的需求,同时商业银行在拥有自身产品的情况下是否仍然代为销售竞争性产品也需要进行仔细衡量,从而在满足客户多样化需求和实现自身利益最大化中找到最佳平衡点。     

How to identify leadership potential: Development and testing of a consensus model

Building on two studies, the current article responds to urgent calls in the literature for more empirical research on how to identify leadership potential. Based on an extensive review of the 1986–2010 literature, and applying a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, we developed a model of leadership potential consisting of four quadrants: Analytical skills (containing the factors Intellectual curiosity, Strategic insight, Decision making, and Problem solving); Learning agility (containing the factors Willingness to learn, Emotional intelligence, and Adaptability); Drive (containing the factors Results orientation, Perseverance, and Dedication); and Emergent leadership (containing the factors Motivation to lead, Self‐promotion, and Stakeholder sensitivity). Notably, the developed model steers clear from some of the typical issues that tend to hinder valid assessments of leadership potential (i.e., the confound between performance and potential, as well as that between leadership potential and successful, mature leadership). Furthermore, high consensus was found between top managers, line managers, and HR managers about the practical relevance of the proposed model. The article concludes with some specific future avenues for research and practice. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Differences in Information Requirements among European Citizens: More Psychology than Socio-Demographics

A review of recent research indicates that the socio-demographic characteristics of the citizens of the EU countries can explain differences in the attitudes towards the new common currency, the euro, only to a quite limited extent, and that the relationship between particular demographic characteristics, such as age, and attitudes varies substantially from one country to the next. Thus, in choosing target groups for information campaigns in connection with the introduction of the euro as well as in choosing the themes for the campaigns, other considerations have to brought to the fore. It is suggested that more attention be paid to national values, including the role that the currency plays as a source of national identity and pride; also here, substantial differences are found among countries. Furthermore, former behavioural experiences -- which also vary among countries -- must be taken into account. Likewise, information about micro-economic and macro-economic consequences has to be adapted to the the different attitudes and beliefs prevalent in the various European countries.     

THE ESTIMATION OF POVERTY DYNAMICS USING DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME

If surveys offer two different measurements of household income, one can use them simultaneously to identify the potential effects of measurement error on the observed-income mobility of the poor. In this paper we investigate transition tables between subsequent income states. Latent Markov models are used to model incorrect classifications of income states. Misclassifications are interpreted as measurement error or spurious changes that are not consistent with a simple transition table model. The empirical results for the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) show that the observed transition tables overestimate the mobility between poverty states.     

Quotelung bei Obliegenheitsverletzung: Alles,Nichts oder die Hälfte

The new German Act of Insurance Contracts prescribes, that in the case of gross negligence in respect of customer's obligations, the compensation has to be apportioned adequate to the measure of responsibility. The article argues, that most serious violations could justify to refuse any compensation. It should not be correct, too, to shorten the compensation regularly by the half or to measure various breaches of duties schematically instead of grading all the customers ways of acting. After all the apportionment should focus on the actual importance of the objective breaches of duties.     

Der Euro – eine kritische Bilanz

Zehn Jahre nach ihrer Gründung erf?hrt die Europ?ische Zentralbank viel Lob für ihre T?tigkeit. Wie ist ihr Erfolg bei der Inflationsbek?mpfung zu bewerten? Wie sind die institutionellen Ver?nderungen seit 2003 zu erkl?ren? Was ist vom Beitritt der osteurop?ischen L?nder zur Europ?ischen W?hrungsunion zu erwarten? Prof. Dr. Roland Vaubel, 60, lehrt Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Universit?t Mannheim und ist Mitglied des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats beim Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie.