Is there a compensating wage differential for high crime levels? First evidence from Europe

This paper investigates whether high regional crime levels lead to a compensating wage differential paid by firms in the respective region. Using data from German social-security records, official police statistics and official statistics for 2003–2006, I consider both violent and non-violent crimes and use three-way error-components estimators to control for individual and regional heterogeneity. The findings suggest that wages are practically unrelated to changes in crime rates. This result is robust over a wide range of subgroups. There is, however, some evidence that crime rates influence land prices.     

On the economic benefits of software-defined networking and network slicing for smart grid communications

To ensure stable operation, Smart Grids rely on ultra-reliable, low latency communications for transmitting critical measurements and control commands. Though modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides adequate means for asserting hard service guarantees, the installation, configuration and operation of corresponding infrastructures is typically very costly, involving significant administration efforts. Therefore, we propose Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to facilitate configuration and administration drastically, thus reducing expenditures. We identify technical advantages of introducing this approach to Smart Grid communication infrastructures and derive economic benefits. Numerical results for a reference power system indicate Operational Expenditures (OPEX)-driven savings that allow SDN solutions to outperform legacy networks within less than four years. Also, SDN-driven network slicing enables sharing infrastructures between critical power systems and end consumer broadband traffic, allowing for further cost reductions, while maintaining hard service guarantees. Under this paradigm, we compare the installation and operation of dedicated infrastructure by the grid operator to arranging service contracts with telecommunication network operators. This is referred to as make or buy decision. It can be deduced that a shared infrastructure, building on network slicing, provides an optimal solution for both parties.     

Geothermisch erschlie?bare Niedertemperaturw?rmesenken in Deutschland – Identifikation und Quantifizierung

Geothermal energy supply meets the expectations of the established criterias for sustainability from the German government because it provides a base load of electricity- and heat supply by nearly zero emissions. The geothermal resources in Germany are big enough to cover a relevant demand of the German energy supply. Due to the low electrical efficiency is a high amount of heat produced what can be feed in a distribution network. In this context the aim of the following article is to identify and quantify the technical and economical low temperature heat demand for sector household, trade and industry in local authorities bigger then 20?000?inhabitants for German areas with geothermal recourses. The technical low temperature heat demand is calculated to 341?TWh/a (241?TWh/a household, 19?TWh/a trade, 81?TWh/a industry), 206?TWh/a of this heat demand is deducible by geothermal energy and 26?% of the geothermal deducible heat demand can be used on economic conditions.     

Shareholder composition,share turnover,and returns in volatile markets: The case of international REITs

The shareholder composition of listed property companies has changed from the fragmented, retail ownership, to more concentrated, institutional ownership over the past decade. In this paper, we first document significant variation in the composition of the shareholder base across the world's five largest listed property markets. We then examine the relation between the composition of the shareholder base and stock market performance and share turnover during the turbulent trading days of 2008 and 2009. By directly relating the shareholder base of firms to excess returns and turnover on these volatile days, we are able to isolate the importance of shareholder composition during periods when trading behavior is most likely to vary across different types of shareholders. We find that both large block holdings and high levels of institutional ownership decrease trading volumes and moderate stock returns; however, the effects largely occur when stock prices move sharply downward. Moreover, these effects are strongest when ownership concentration and institutional ownership exceed 25 percent. We also find that the disaggregation of institutional investors into distinct categories (banks, pension funds, advisors, etc.) increases our understanding of stock trading and share price dynamics of listed property companies.     

Are liquidity and corporate control priced by shareholders? Empirical evidence from Swiss dual class shares

Stadard asset pricing models generally exclude corporate control and liquidity considerations as joint explanatory factors of the stock price formation process. This empirical study investigates their influence on Swiss Bearer and Registered share prices issued by the same firm. It is shown that the statistical properties of both shares' returns differ without implying profitable arbitrage opportunities. A multifactor model of the ‘premium’ between Bearer and Registered stock prices is then proposed and tested. The results show that the freely negotiable equity book value, the existence of dominant shareholder positions and ownership transfer regime changes are significant variables in explaining the dual class share price differential.     

Development and government policies of the shrimp farming industry in Thailand in relation to mangrove ecosystems

Intensive shrimp farming arrived in Thailand during the 1980s and developed virtually unregulated until 1987. Subsidised by the government, it quickly became an important export industry and Thailand has been the world's largest producer of tiger shrimp since 1991. However, the development of the shrimp farming industry in Thailand over the last 20 years in relation to its use of mangrove ecosystems is an example of sequential exploitation of natural resources witnessed through the shift in farm development from one region to another. This sequential exploitation has caused widespread degradation of mangrove ecosystems, and the benefits of the industry may be less than perceived as a result of subsidies and environmental and social impacts. This study follows the development of shrimp farming in Thailand from the 1940s to 1997 and studies national legislation and associated government policy as examples of driving forces behind this development. From our findings it appears that the development of legislation has not followed the same pace as the development of the industry, neither temporally, nor in content nor implementation, and contradictory policies have arisen.     

Incentives for sales agents after the advent of the internet

E-commerce has siphoned sales away from bricks-and-mortar channels in many industries. Taking a principal-agent perspective, this article analyzes how the increasing volume of e-sales influences offline incentive schemes and firm profitability. According to the proposed model, moderate channel cannibalization can be a blessing in disguise if it decreases incentive intensity and lowers expected wage payments. Whether a larger volume of e-sales is blessing or curse depends (among other things) on the relative magnitude of cannibalization versus market enlargement and the degree to which the increase changes the composition of offline customers’ types with respect to service costs.