How large are wage differentials in Austria?

The OECD has repeatedly recommended that wage bargaining in Austria be decentralised to allow wage diferentials to widen. But the status quo itself is in question. While studies of aggregate industry data indicate a high degree of wage dispersion, research based on data from household surveys seems suggest that income inequality in Austria is as small as in the Scandinavian countries. This paper seeks to reconcile these opposing views. It shows that data from the household surveys underestimate the size of inter-industry wage differentials. An analysis of the structure of contractual wage rates supports the view that wage inequality is very pronounced in Austria and that a narrowing of the wage gap would lead both to an increase in productive efficiency and an increase in income equality.     

Technology transfer through imports

Abstract .  We study international technology transfer through R&D spillovers in sixteen countries' manufacturing industries since the early 1970s. The analysis shows that the productivity impact of international technology transfer often exceeds that of domestic technological change, more so in high-technology industries. Moreover, technology transfer is found to be strongly varying across country-pairs and tends to decline in geographic distance, pointing to goods trade as the transfer channel. We directly evaluate this hypothesis, and results suggest that trade is crucial for technology transfer from Germany, France, and the UK, while for the US, Japan, and Canada non-trade channels are more important.     

Schmerz und Psyche im therapeutischen Prozess

Schmerz wird immer individuell erlebt - Aktuelle Schmerzdefinitionen berücksichtigen neben der k?rperlichen auch die emotionale Dimension von Schmerz. Nicht immer muss eine Gewebesch?digung zugrunde liegen, damit Schmerz empfunden wird.     

Energy for the future

The Eleventh World Energy Conference 1980 was held in Munich from the 8th to the 12th of September. “Looking ahead to 2020”—the title of the energy survey published for this conference—indicates that the long-term trend was in the centre of interest. Oil is a finite resource and has to be substituted in the long run. It is the period in between which causes much concern because during this time we cannot do without oil. It is against this background that we have asked Senator Wolfgang Oehme, chairman of the board of Esso A.G., to present to us his views on this critical period of time.     

中国游客赴欧旅游组织机构的发展与未来任务

本文试图从全新思维角度阐明全球背景下中国出境旅游,特别是赴欧洲的出境旅游的特征.通过系统分析中国游客在不同文化情境下的旅游行为、中国游客赴欧旅游的动机和不同游客群体、中国和欧洲游客之间的知识鸿沟以及跨文化差异等基础上,提出中国与欧洲旅游组织机构的未来发展任务,并进一步指出从事中国出境游的经销商和企业应以顾客为定向,发展适合中国游客市场的旅游产品和营销战略.     

The Reality and Diversity of Buddhist Economics

This essay develops three central points:

1. Buddhist economics (BE), like most religion‐based economics, is not only an extrapolation from the basic texts but is also how BE has recently been practiced. Examples of that practice include the application of the concept of “Gross National Happiness” in Bhutan, the implementation of a “sufficiency economy” in Thailand, and action based on the principle of the Unification of King and People in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
2. BE as a concept comes originally from an outside understanding of Buddhism that entails perspectives that text‐based BE might not have.
3. Buddhism, as such, is at odds with standard textbook economics (STE). BE thus potentially forms its own economic paradigm, but BE as practiced often coexists with STE.

Discussing these points will hopefully result in seeing that there is considerable diversity within BE and that there is such a thing as real, existing BE that truly does matter.     

How to build a factor portfolio: Does the allocation strategy matter?

Factor-based allocation embraces the idea of factors, as opposed to asset classes, as the ultimate building blocks of investment portfolios. We examine whether there is a superior way of combining factors in a portfolio and provide a comparison of factor-based allocation strategies within a multiple testing framework. Factor-based allocation is profitable beyond exploiting genuine risk premia, even when applying multiple testing corrections. Investment portfolios can be efficiently diversified using factor-based allocation strategies, as demonstrated by robust economic performance over various economic scenarios. The naïve equally weighted factor portfolio, albeit simple and cost-efficient, cannot be outperformed by more sophisticated allocation strategies.     

The Euromarket in the face of change

Financial innovations are currently displacing traditional methods of Euro-currency financing, while in Germany and Japan there is talk of establishing international free banking zones along American lines. What are the reasons for these developments and how are they affecting the Euromarket?