Points mechanisms and rewards programs

I study points programs, such as frequent flyer and other rewards programs, as a revenue management tool. I develop a two‐period contracting model where a capacity‐constrained firm faces consumers who privately learn their valuations over time. The firm cannot commit to long‐term contracts, but it can commit to allocate any unsold capacity through a points program. This points scheme creates an endogenous and type‐dependent outside option for consumers, which generates novel incentives in the firm's pricing problem. It induces the firm to screen less ex interim, and to offer lower equilibrium prices, reversing the intuition of demand cannibalization.     

The Productivity Effects of Worker Mobility Between Heterogeneous Firms

We analyze the effect of worker inflows on establishments’ productivity, using German data. Previous studies for other countries have found positive effects of hiring workers from superior (more productive or higher paying) firms. Ranking establishments by their median wage, we find that inflows from inferior establishments seem to increase hiring establishments’ productivity. Further empirical analyses suggest our findings are due to a positive selection of such inflows from their sending establishments. These workers might have to find a better job match in order to advance their careers, an interpretation supported by the finding that the effect is driven by workers with short tenure at their previous employer. Our findings reflect the increasingly assortative pattern of worker mobility in Germany found in a related strand of literature.     

Unfolding implementation in industrial market segmentation

Market segmentation is an important method of strategic marketing and constitutes a cornerstone of the marketing literature. It has undergone extensive scientific inquiry during the past 50 years. Reporting on an extensive review of the market segmentation literature, the challenging task of implementing industrial market segmentation is discussed and unfolded in this article. Extant literature has identified segmentation implementation as a core challenge for marketers, but also one, which has received limited empirical attention. Future research opportunities are formulated in this article to pave the way towards closing this gap. The extent of implementation coverage is assessed and various notions of implementation are identified. Implementation as the task of converting segmentation plans into action (referred to as execution) is identified as a particularly beneficial focus area for marketing management. Three key elements and challenges connected to execution of market segmentation are identified — organization, motivation, and adaptation.     

Changing EU agricultural policy discourses? The discourse analysis of Commissioner’s speeches 2000–2007

This paper is a combination of political economy and critical discourse analysis of public texts about the common agricultural policy (CAP) by concerned agents and the EU’s agricultural Commissioner in the period of November, 2004 until October, 2007. The analysis reveals how concerned agents articulated three competing discourses (neomercantilism, multifunctionality, and neoliberalism). It also shows that elements of the discourse of neoliberalism in the Commissioner’s speeches, despite her use of different discourses for different audiences, are becoming more and more important in order to facilitate further reforms and liberalisation of the CAP.     

Gas storage valuation under limited market liquidity: an application in Germany

Natural gas storages may be valued by applying real options theory. However, it is crucial to take into account that most evolving gas markets, like the German spot market, lack liquidity. This implies that large-scale operation of storages reduces the achievable operating margin since storage operators will pay higher prices for injected gas and earn less on withdrawn gas. Optimal storage operation will take this into account. In this context, considering storage operators as price takers does not account for interdependencies of storage operations and market prices. This paper offers a novel approach to storage valuation taking into account the effect of management decisions on market prices. The methodology proposed within this paper determines the optimal production schedule and value by determining the stochastic differential equation describing the storage value and then applying a finite difference scheme. We find that limited liquidity lowers the storage value and reduces withdrawal and injection amounts. Further, we observe decreasing reservation prices for injection and withdrawing for growing illiquidity resulting in a left shift of injection and withdrawing threshold prices.     

Dynamic principal component CAW models for high-dimensional realized covariance matrices

We propose a new dynamic principal component CAW model (DPC-CAW) for time-series of high-dimensional realized covariance matrices of asset returns (up to 100 assets). The model performs a spectral decomposition of the scale matrix of a central Wishart distribution and assumes independent dynamics for the principal components' variances and the eigenvector processes. A three-step estimation procedure makes the model applicable to high-dimensional covariance matrices. We analyze the finite sample properties of the estimation approach and provide an empirical application to realized covariance matrices for 100 assets. The DPC-CAW model has particularly good forecasting properties and outperforms its competitors for realized covariance matrices.     

Understanding the effect of market orientation on circular economy practices: The mediating role of closed-loop orientation in German SMEs

The implementation of circular economy (CE) practices is considered a key driver towards sustainable development of firms. Earlier studies point to the general strategic approach of market orientation as an antecedent to CE practice implementation. Still, insights are limited as the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Based on a sample of 121 German small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), we empirically examine how the strategic approach of closed-loop orientation mediates the relationship between market orientation and the implementation of three types of CE practices. Using structural equation modelling, we find that while market orientation is positively related to all three types of CE practices, closed-loop orientation mediates these relationships for only two. Our study extends CE literature by suggesting that market orientation is translated into closed-loop orientation to spur CE practice implementation. We also offer a differentiated understanding of CE practice implementation in the context of German SMEs.     

Bedürfnis,Wert und Vorzug

Ohne ZusammenfassungAus dem Nachlaß herausgegeben und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Oskar Kraus     

World economic policy—what’s it all about

A world government does not seem to be indispensable for a world economic policy. The work of international agencies, as inter alia IMF, GATT, ILO, WHO, UN Economic and Social Council and World Bank, proves the contrary. Global tasks can in many instances be tackled through treaties and specialized organisations with appropriate mandates.