Inflation und Schuldenabbau

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently announced its willingness to do whatever is needed to save the euro. This has raised the question whether such a role of the ECB must lead to higher rates of infl ation. Under current recessive macroeconomic conditions in the eurozone, the ECB’s expansionary monetary policy will not lead to higher infl ation. On the contrary, there is a serious danger of defl ation. Higher infl ation would likely occur only if a permanent stabilisation function were assigned to the ECB. Yet historical examples show that mistakes can be made. During the stagnation in Japan, US economists heavily criticised the Bank of Japan’s timid monetary policy response. But in some sense, current Fed policy seems to be a direct copy of that strategy, caused by uncertainty about the proper communication channel. An infl ation tax could help to bring down the mounting public debt in the wake of the fi nancial crisis, but higher wealth taxes have more transparent distributional effects.     

Computer-Mediated Customization Tendency (CMCT) and the Adaptive e-Service Experience

Adaptive customization systems are common in the delivery of e-service. However, consumers vary in their reaction to these systems. We introduce computer-mediated customization tendency (CMCT), a composite individual difference variable that reflects a consumer's personal preferences for designing and interacting with adaptive online environments to create valuable e-service experiences. To measure CMCT, we developed a formative index composed of need for control, technology innovativeness, and aesthetic appreciation. The results show CMCT influences adaptive online behavior and the perceived value of the adaptive e-service experience. In addition, customization-prone and customization-averse consumers differ in how they perceive the costs, benefits, and overall value of the experience.     

DO PERCEPTIONS BECOME REALITY? THE MODERATING ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY ON DISRUPTION OCCURRENCE

The concern and study of supply risk and supply continuity has recently come to the forefront in managing business and conducting research. This empirical study of U.S. and German firms investigates the relationship between perceived supply risk sources and supply disruption occurrence, as well as the use of supply chain resiliency practices to reduce disruption frequency. We demonstrate that supply managers' concerns with risk emanating from suppliers and the supply market are positively related to supply disruption occurrence. We further show how and when implementing flexibility and redundancy may reduce the effects of supply disruptions.     

Rise in Occupational Mobility Especially Amongst Women and Young People

Original Papers

Rise in Occupational Mobility Especially Amongst Women and Young PeopleSuccessful jobsearch often based on personal initiative     

Aggregate liquidity shortages, idiosyncratic liquidity smoothing and banking regulation

This paper develops a model of banking fragility driven by aggregate liquidity shortages. Inefficiencies arise from a failure of the interbank market to smooth the available liquidity in such a shortage. We find that a standard lender of last resort policy is ineffective in restoring efficiency as it leads to offsetting changes in the banks’ supply of liquidity. In contrast, subsidizing the purchase of assets from troubled banks increases welfare by improving the banks’ liquidity holdings. The first best, however, is achieved by redistributing existing liquidity from healthy to troubled banks in a crisis.     

The Search for Flexibility: Skills and Workplace Innovation in the German Pump Industry

The German skill-creation system has been a vital part of the success of its 'diversified quality production' model. Some argue that this success is now threatened by the spread of lean production and that the existing skill-creation system may hinder, rather than help, German manufacturers to restructure. We explore this argument in a detailed study of a nationally representative sample of German pumpmakers. We find that the existence of a highly skilled work-force may deter the adoption of multifunctional work teams, but that countervailing strengths of the German skill-creation system have the potential to help firms develop a new, distinctive German production model.