In Memoriam: Daniel Wydler (1957–2003)

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Das Risiko der Vorsorge — die Zweite Säule unter dem Druck der alternden Gesellschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The employment consequences of technological advance,demand and labor costs in 16 German industries

The decline of employment in German manufacturing industries is often attributed to technological advance, declines in demand and to increases in labor costs. Using business survey data, the study evaluates the relative importance of these determinants in 16 industries. The empirical finding of a series of probit estimates is that in most cases demand plays a dominant role, in some cases technological progress is an important factor, but in no case are labor costs a decisive determinant. Results may depend on the short-run nature of the analysis.     

IPOs and IFRS in European exchange-regulated markets: A research note

This research note aims to enrich our understanding of reporting incentives of firms listed in European exchange-regulated markets. Many initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe are within exchange-regulated markets where firms are allowed to choose between local GAAP and IFRS. Therefore, this research note describes the regulatory environment and investigates the choice to voluntarily adopt IFRS within European exchange-regulated markets. Overall, less than 20% of the firms voluntarily adopt IFRS and voluntary IFRS adoption upon IPO is positively associated with firm size, foreign firms, stocks offered to institutional investors prior to the IPO, and a future migration to an EU-regulated market.     

Der Einfluss des Versicherungskapitalanlagen-Bewertungsgesetzes (VersKapAG) auf Überschüsse und Überschussbeteiligung in der Lebensversicherung — Eine empirische Untersuchung —

On March 26, 2002 the valuation rules for securities of German insurance companies were amended. From the reporting year ending later than September 29, 2001, firms no longer need to apply the strict rules of short-term investment securities. If assets are classified as held-to-maturity or available-for-sale, temporary impairments need not be recognised in the profit and loss accounts. The legislator wanted to create a level playing field for financial institutions as similar rules were already applicable to banks. As an effect with-profits policies were expected to show a more stable pattern of profit sharing. Analysing data from 1998 to 2003 for German life insurers, no different picture of surplus-sharing emerges. This may be due to the fact that valuation rules are only one mechanism of surplus sharing, and other mechanisms that were well established already serve the insurance industry well enough to compete with other providers of financial products.     

50 Jahre Baumol‘sche Kostenkrankheit

The year 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of William J. Baumol’s “Cost Disease”, which posits that services with low productivity growth become more expensive relative to goods while aggregate productivity growth slows down in the process of tertiarisation. The authors present the basic structure of Baumol’s model and discuss several attempts to refute the concept or to cope with its consequences. One of them is the important observation by Nicholas Oulton that business services — unlike personal services — can contribute to higher aggregate productivity growth. A major precondition is that the productivity growth of business services is positive. However, an empirical test shows that this is not the case in Germany and other major advanced economies. Some economic policy conclusions are drawn.