If you could read my mind–an experimental beauty-contest game with children

Experimental Economics - We develop a new design for the experimental beauty-contest game (BCG) that is suitable for children in school age and test it with 114 schoolchildren aged 9–11 years...     

Benefit-risk trade-offs in retrospect: how major stakeholders perceive the decision-making process in the Barents Sea oil field development

This study provides an analysis of risk-benefit communication and participation of the siting process for the Norwegian Goliat oil field development, within the context of a revised model of the International Risk Governance Council’s framework. The main objective of the study is a retrospective review of the decision-making process seen through the lenses of the major stakeholders involved in this process. The research design used qualitative methods of empirical research including stakeholder interviews during a five-day period in 2011 in Northern Norway. Results showed that the siting process of Goliat was dominated primarily by the issue of benefit sharing. In view of potential risks to such oil development, local stakeholders felt entitled to some compensation in terms of shared benefits. However, over the course of time the high hopes that these benefits would materialize and provide additional benefits to the communities which would then be fairly distributed among the beneficiaries have been disappointed. We review the reasons behind these results as well as formulate recommendations regarding potential improvements to the risk-benefit communication process in addition to future siting processes.     

Trends and cycles in regional economic growth: How spatial differences shaped the Swedish growth experience from 1860–2009

Using a novel dataset of regional GDP per worker from 1860 to 2009, this paper analyzes communalities in regional long-term growth trajectories for 24 Swedish regions. Wavelet Analysis and Principal Component Analysis are used to decompose regional growth trajectories and assess the extent that regional growth patterns share common trends and cyclical properties. The study found that regional growth trends show strong common features among groups of regions in Sweden. Natural-resource-rich regions benefited from the First Industrial Revolution. Contrary to regional development in many other European economies, a growth surge in Sweden later benefited virtually the whole country during the Second Industrial Revolution. The countrywide trend of growth slowed in the 1970s when the metropolitan regions became the main growth engines. In mid- and short-term cyclical movements, regions display more heterogeneous growth patterns, and we find evidence of mid-term, sequential lead–lag patterns in regional growth, especially between urban cores and the periphery.     

The role of house prices in the monetary policy transmission mechanism in small open economies

We analyse the role of house prices in the monetary policy transmission mechanism in Norway, Sweden and the UK, using structural VARs. A solution is proposed to the endogeneity problem of identifying shocks to interest rates and house prices by using a combination of short-run and long-run (neutrality) restrictions. By allowing the interest rate and house prices to react simultaneously to news, we find the role of house prices in the monetary transmission mechanism to increase considerably. In particular, house prices react immediately and strongly to a monetary policy shock. Furthermore, the fall in house prices enhances the negative response in output and consumer price inflation that has traditionally been found in the conventional literature. Moreover, we find that the interest rate responds systematically to a change in house prices. However, the strength and timing of response varies between the countries, suggesting that housing may play a different role in the monetary policy setting.     

CO2-Einsparpotenziale des Energieträgers Erdgas

Given the governmental climate targets, the question arises how these targets can be achieved without affecting a secure and cheap energy supply. As natural gas causes less carbon emissions than any other fossil fuel it might be able to make a contribution in this regard. Currently, in the generation of heat and power natural gas plays a significant role, which will further increase in the future. Using several scenarios, we predict the development of the importance of natural gas and the consequences for carbon emissions. The calculations show that the share of natural gas for the supply of heat will increase from 46 % to 56 %. Efficiency increases together with changes in the structure of power generation can reduce heating-related carbon emissions by 8.3 % until 2020. For power generation, we calculate alternative scenarios. If the current structure of power generation is held constant, carbon emissions will increase by 0.8 % p.a. If instead natural gas completely replaces coal and lignite, the carbon emissions will be reduced by 1.9 % per year.     

Distribution of Integrated Business Applications

New corporate developments, such as globalization, diversification and process orientation, are posing a challenge to the degree of integration of business application software. International standard software designed to meet the requirements of all types of business is acquiring greater strategic significance. The increased need for flexibility, localization, and scalable growth makes it necessary for highly integrated businesses applications to be distributable. Possible scenarios reflect managerial and organizational requirements. Additional mechanisms must be incorporated and business processes adapted to compensate for the increased autonomy of sub-applications. Reprint of an article from WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 35(5)1993:455–464. This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Kagermann H (2008) Verteilung integrierter Anwendungen. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/s11576-008-0134-x.