Sollten Zentralbanken unabhängig sein? Ergänzungen zu Stefan Schäfer

This article extends the inspection of Central Bank Independence (CBI) with respect to inflation performance to an examination of the relationship between CBI and economic welfare in general. The common view of monetary neutrality, i.e. a “free lunch” of CBI with respect to economic growth and employment, is contested on the basis of neo- and post-Keynesian theories of policy interactions and market constellations. Nevertheless, the fact has to be taken seriously that there is a broad discussion under way about the merits of CBI. The defenders of CBI must be on the lookout against a broad political and scientific offensive against the cornerstones of “German stability culture”.     

Keeping others in our mind or in our heart? Distribution games under cognitive load

It has recently been argued that giving is spontaneous while greed is calculated (Rand et al., in Nature 489:427–430, 2012). If greed is calculated we would expect that cognitive load, which is assumed to reduce the influence of cognitive processes, should affect greed. In this paper we study both charitable giving and the behavior of dictators under high and low cognitive load to test if greed is affected by the load. This is tested in three different dictator game experiments. In the dictator games we use both a give frame, where the dictators are given an amount that they may share with a partner, and a take frame, where dictators may take from an amount initially allocated to the partner. The results from all three experiments show that the behavioral effect in terms of allocated money of the induced load is small if at all existent. At the same time, follow-up questions indicate that the subjects’ decisions are more impulsive and less driven by their thoughts under cognitive load.     

A flexible adaptation of the WIOD database in a virtual laboratory

ABSTRACT

The World Input-Output Database provides a time series of world input–output tables (WIOTs) that have been used for example to understand the manifold effects of the increased integration of markets through international trade. In order to enhance the flexibility of research on global trade issues using WIOD, we implement the WIOT workflow in a collaborative, cloud-based virtual laboratory environment. We demonstrate that a lab-based adaptation of WIOD is able (a) to continuously create and update versions of the WIOTs in a timely, consistent, and cost-effective way, (b) to enhance original information with accompanying information on standard deviations, and (c) to enable flexible re-casting of the entire WIOT time series into user-specific geographical and sectoral classifications.     

Cluster emergence: combining pre-existing conditions and triggering factors

This article argues that the emergence of regional clusters relies on both necessary pre-existing conditions for cluster appearance in general and triggering factors that cause clusters to emerge in particular places. This approach is used to analyse two ‘critical cases’; the emergence of the synthetic-knowledge boat building industry in the Arendal area in Norway from the mid-1950s and the analytical-knowledge cancer medicine industry in Oslo around the year 2000. Although the industries and the contexts are otherwise very different, the framework turns out to be useful in interpreting the emergence of the two clusters. However, the specific pre-existing conditions and the triggering factors differ between the two cases. The Arendal boat building industry emerged through the combination of traditional boat building skills and exogenous knowledge of the use of new plastic material, while the Oslo cancer medicine industry built on indigenously-developed scientific knowledge. The framework is useful in putting anecdotal evidence of cluster emergence due to the efforts of entrepreneurs into a wider analytical framework of the preconditions necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed.     

中国、挪威两国学生对“丢面子”的比较研究

目的 通过对中国与挪威两国高等学校学生对”面子”认知与理解的调查与分析,获得两国文化背景下对“面子”概念的理解及对“丢面子”程度上的认知有无差异。方法 以131名两国大学生为调查对象,采用问卷调查方法。结果 对脸面的理解及认知与文化有明显相关;与性别有无相关。结论 中国挪威两国不同的文化背景对“丢面子”的理解与感知在程度上有影响。然而,面子是一个具有文化普遍性的概念,从调查结果可知,在某些问题上,挪威学生对丢面子的感知也比较强烈。     

What Have We Learned from a Decade of Manufacturing Enterprise Surveys in Africa?

In the early 1990s the World Bank launched the Regional Programon Enterprise Development (RPED) in several African countries,a key component of which was to collect data on manufacturingfirms. The data sets built by these and subsequent enterprisesurveys in Africa generated considerable research. This articlesurveys the research on the African business environment, focusingon risk, access to credit, labor, and infrastructure, and onhow firms organize themselves and do business. It reviews theresearch on enterprise performance, including enterprise growth,investment, and exports. The article concludes with a discussionof policy lessons.      

Werte und Normen als Sollensvorstellungen in der KommunikationswissenschaftValues and norms as ought-statements in communication studies

Values and norms as research topics are central theoretical and empirical constructs in communication studies and are also used to substantiate research questions or to interpret results. Despite the relevance of values and norms, a respective debate within the discipline has been neglected so far. It is a challenge to discuss the values and norms of our discipline and to initiate an exchange of the societal relevance of one’s own research. The network “Values and norms as research objects and guiding principles in communication research”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), makes a contribution to this by systematically analyzing values and norms in communication studies and by critically reflecting them. Therefore, the paper proposes to operationalize values and norms as “ought-statements”. Ought-statements either describe a situational state that is explicitly evaluated or address a desirable state. Three elements of an ought-statement are identified, which are coded in a multistage content analysis. The operationalization of norms and values as ought-statements allows not only to examine already known values and norms, but also to assess all possible values and norms, to assess the change of values and norms more validly in long-term studies, and to assess those constructs that are labeled as norms or values by the researchers themselves.     

Das adaptierte deutsche Arbeitsbeziehungsmodell im Vergleich

Zusammenfassung  Das deutsche Modell der Beziehungen zwischen Arbeitgebern und Arbeitnehmern innerhalb eines Unternehmens — vor allem die betriebliche Mitbestimmung — stand lange Zeit in der Kritik, w?hrend das anglo-amerikanische Modell als überlegen angesehen wurde. Welches Arbeitsbeziehungsmodell w?hlen deutsche und amerikanische Unternehmen in einem in Hinblick auf die Ausgestaltung der Arbeitsbeziehungen freizügigen Umfeld, wie es in Gro?britannien herrscht? Wie wirkt sich die Wahl des Modells auf Arbeitsproduktivit?t und Profi tabilit?t der Tochterunternehmen aus? Prof. Dr. Arne Heise, 48, lehrt Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Universit?t Hamburg und an der Izmir Economics University, Türkei; Prof. Dr. Heinz Tüselmann, 49, lehrt International Business an der Manchester Metropolitan University; Prof. Dr. Frank McDonald, 58, lehrt International Business an der University of Bradford; und Matthew Allen, 38, ist Lecturer an der Manchester Business School. Prof. Dr. Arne Heise, 48, lehrt Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Universit?t Hamburg und an der Izmir Economics University, Türkei; Prof. Dr. Heinz Tüselmann, 49, lehrt International Business an der Manchester Metropolitan University; Prof. Dr. Frank McDonald, 58, lehrt International Business an der University of Bradford; und Matthew Allen, 38, ist Lecturer an der Manchester Business School. Dieser Aufsatz fasst die Ergebnisse eines von der Hans-B?ckler-Stiftung gef?rderten Projektes „Employee Relations and Firm Performance: A Comparison of German and US Multinational Companies in the United Kingdom“ zusammen.