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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Monetary and fiscal policy interactions in a New Keynesian model with capital accumulation and non-Ricardian consumers

The paper examines simple monetary and fiscal policy rules consistent with determinate equilibrium dynamics in the absence of Ricardian equivalence. Under this assumption, government debt turns into a relevant state variable which needs to be accounted for in the analysis of equilibrium dynamics. The key analytical finding is that without explicit reference to the level of government debt it is not possible to infer how strongly the monetary and fiscal instruments should be used to ensure determinate equilibrium dynamics. Specifically, we identify bifurcations associated with threshold values of steady-state debt, leading to qualitative changes in the local determinacy requirements.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION VARIABILITY: POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This paper examines whether there is increased inter-year instability in food consumption at the national level, and to what extent this is attributable to increased instability of food production in the wake of adoption of modern agricultural technology. The data analysed indicates that increased production instability does translate into increased fluctuations in consumption. Nevertheless, year-to-year consumption variability among the sample of 38 countries has declined during the past 25 years. This is attributed to improved stocking operations and trade practices which accompany economic growth. Nevertheless, food insecurity, as measured in terms of fluctuations around trend levels of consumption, does remain a problem, especially among the poor. Therefore, policy options to reduce consumption instability are outlined.     

Markenkommunikation in der neuen Medienwelt

Die Fragmentierung der Medienwelt führt dazu, dass immer mehr Medien von immer weniger Menschen genutzt werden. Zudem richten sich immer weniger Produkte an einen Massenmarkt. Die Markenführung reagiert darauf mit dem Einsatz von vernetzten Kommunikationsinstrumenten innerhalb von Crossmedia-Konzepten. Neue Kommunikationskan?le wie „Branded Content“ oder „Ambient Media“ gewinnen dabei an Bedeutung. Ausgangspunkt von Crossmedia-Kampagnen ist immer h?ufiger eine Brand Story.     

Regulierungsmöglichkeiten auf dem Markt für Online-Auktionen

Der deutsche Online-Auktionsanbieter eBay hat seit seiner Gründung seine Gebühren um ein Vielfaches erh?ht. Ist dies mit Kostensteigerungen zu begründen? Verh?lt sich eBay wie ein typischer natürlicher Monopolist auf einem schwer bestreitbaren Markt? Wie kann einer Marktkonzentration entgegengetreten werden? Wie k?nnte eine Regulierung des Marktes aussehen? Korbinian von Blanckenburg, 28, Dipl.-Volkswirt, ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Finanzwissenschaft der Westf?lischen Wilhelms-Universit?t Münster; Michael Michaelis, 31, ist Dipl.-Jurist.     

Kapital und Zins in der stationären Verkehrswirtschaft

Ohne ZusammenfassungVortrag, gehalten an der Universität Freiburg i. Br. am 19./20. November 1940.     

A nonparametric efficiency analysis of German public transport companies

In this paper, we present a nonparametric comparative efficiency analysis of 179 communal public transport bus companies in Germany (1990–2004). We apply both deterministic data envelopment analysis (DEA) and bootstrapping to test the robustness of our estimates and to test the hypothesis of global and individual constant returns to scale. We find that the average technical efficiency of German bus companies is relatively low. We observe that the industry appears to be characterized by increasing returns to scale for smaller companies. These results would imply increasing pressure on bus companies to restructure.     

Games of coercion and power part II

This paper analyses the concept of coercion, understood as a special type of social power. Coercion uses threats to force the victim to obey the dominating agent, that is, to elicit an intentional response from the subordinate person. The typical decision environment is described and the effect of threats on utility distributions is analysed. Some causal aspects of threats are also discussed. The strategies of coercive threats are expressed in a game theoretical form. A paradox is revealed: the coercer can only seldom make his threat convincing to his intended victim. It is difficult to show that a rational agent (the coercer) would indeed realize his threat when he meets resistence. Different coercive state policies are then discussed in relation to this paradox and a solution is suggested. Finally, Steven Lukes' ideas concerning power are criticized.