Preisdeterminanten des Stromgroßhandels in Frankreich

This article provides a model-based analysis of the French spot market for electricity. Therefore a cost optimizing dispatch model is applied in order to derive a broader understanding of the liberalized electricity market in France considering empirical spot market prices in 2009. At first analysis of market structure and power plant mix is done in accordance with the european framework. The state of supply side competition is suggested as well. Due to the high portion of nuclear energy in the French energy mix the technical availability forecast of the plants plays a crucial role during the price formation on the wholesale market. As a result prices determined by the model are highly correlated with the French spot market. The results suggest a functioning pricing mechanism although deviations occur by ex-ante uncertain demand or unscheduled non-usability of generating units.     

Why are the unemployed in worse health? The causal effect of unemployment on health

We analyse the effect of unemployment on health using information from the German Socio-Economic Panel of the years 1991-2008. To establish a causal effect we rely on fixed-effects methods and plant closures as exogenous entries into unemployment. Although unemployment is negatively correlated with health, we do not find a negative effect of unemployment due to plant closure on health across several health measures (health satisfaction, mental health, and hospital visits). For this subgroup of the unemployed, unemployment does not seem to be harmful and selection effects of ill individuals into unemployment are likely to contribute to the observed overall correlation between poor health and unemployment.     

Transactional activities and total factor productivity growth in Taiwan

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth shows how rapidly an economy is enhancing technology and the efficiency with which it allocates resources. It has been argued that “miraculous” growth in East Asian economies may not be sustainable, due to relatively low rates of TFP growth. Among these economies, it appears that Taiwan has indeed exhibited substantial technological progress. Failure to control for transactional activities, however, can distort the impression of TFP growth. This study recalculates Taiwan's TFP growth for the 1957–1993 sample period, adjusting for transaction costs in the government and private sectors. For the early years of the sample, 1957–1973, the economy's technological progress is better than GDP-based calculations suggest. In recent years, 1983–1993, productivity improvement has been overstated, but the economy has still exhibited relatively fast TFP growth.     

Purchasing power parity as an approximation to the equilibrium exchange ratio

Purchasing power parity (PPP) is re-examined in models with trade impediments and intermediate products that are not traded. A distinction is made between ‘local consumption PPP’ and ‘total consumption PPP’. These are tested on several data sets, with largely negative results.