Please,Marry Me! An Experimental Study of Risking a Joint Venture

Empirical studies in family economics usually rely on questionnaires, statistical data or panel data. Here we try to study experimentally some crucial aspects of engaging in a marriage. The female partner can end the relationship or suggest one of two forms of joint venture where more labor division makes her more exploitable by her partner. More specifically, the random profit of the joint venture is allocated by ultimatum bargaining in the case of a full engagement whereas marriage bargaining is procedurally fair in the case of a low engagement. Our treatment variables are her and his outside options representing different attitudes to investing in human capital.     

Führen viele Wege nach Rom?

There are hardly any data on the situation of post-doc scholars in the field of communication and media studies. This study describes the employment, job satisfaction, mentoring, and career concepts and strategies of post-docs in the field. A survey among post-docs in the German-speaking countries shows that they are satisfied with their job situation, especially the kind of work they have to do and the flexibility of their working hours. They also aspire to a career in academia. Competition and obstacles on the career path are, however, perceived as considerable. Some strategies such as publishing in international journals are seen as promising, but hard to attain. Only those post-docs who are supported by the professor they work for succeed in publishing much and getting to be known internationally. Other groups are less successful in reaching their goals or pursue the traditional career path of habilitation.     

Organizational governance and employee pay: how ownership structure affects the firm's compensation strategy

This research investigated how the ownership structure is related to the firm's overall compensation strategy. The findings extend previous research that focused primarily on CEO compensation strategy. We show that there are significant differences in the compensation practices that apply to all employees as a function of the ownership structure. The results show that for owner‐controlled firms and owner‐managed firms there is significant pay/performance sensitivity for all employees. In management‐controlled firms, changes in pay are related to changes in size of the firm. These findings lead us to conclude that ownership structure not only affects upper management's pay, but also the pay of all employees through substantial differences in the firm's compensation practices. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Der dynamisch-transaktionale Ansatz III: Eine Zwischenbilanz

More than 20 years after the two basic articles on the dynamic-transactional approach (DTA) appeared, a systematic look into the scholarly literature shows that the resonance to the approach was astonishingly strong. The DTA was described and discussed in textbooks and in overviews of theory and research. Mostly, this happened more in form of casual mentions, but often also along with positive or negative evaluations. This article takes up again, and refutes, the most resistant objections against DTA, such as overcomplexity and a lacking propensity for empirical testing. As a bottom line, it is shown that DTA not only gave new momentum to theory, but also led, as a concept for guiding research, to new and original insights.     

Environmental Satellite Models for a Macroeconomic Model

To support national environmental policy, it is desirable to forecast and analyse environmental indicators consistently with economic variables. However, environmental indicators are physical measures linked to physical activities that are not specified in economic models. One way to deal with this is to develop environmental satellite models linked to economic models. The system of models presented gives a frame of reference where emissions of greenhouse gases, acid gases, and leaching of nutrients to the aquatic environment are analysed in line with – and consistently with – macroeconomic variables. This paper gives an overview of the data and the satellite models. Finally, the results of applying the model system to calculate the impacts on emissions and the economy are reviewed in a few illustrative examples. The models have been developed for Denmark; however, most of the environmental data used are from the CORINAIR system implemented in numerous countries.     

Inter-island passenger shipping in Indonesia: development of the system: Present characteristics and future requirements

The developing of inter-island passenger shipping is examined in the vast but unevenly populated Indonesian archipelago with particular attention to improvements in the transport system since 1981. The adequacy of the current network is analysed in terms of frequency of service, overall journey time and average speed. An assessment is made of the future improvements required in the inter-island passenger shipping service.     

International oil price changes: impact of oil prices on growth and inflation in the EU/OECD

This paper uses an open economy DSGE model to analyse the short and long run quantitative impact of a permanent oil price increase for output and inflation in the euro area and compares the results to the predictions of other models currently in use. Special emphasis is devoted to the issue of stagflation. It is found that with standard monetary feedback rules as currently estimated for the euro area, there is no severe inflation risk. The paper also addresses the issue to what extent there is a short run trade off between inflation and output with an adverse supply shock.The views expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Commission.     

Saving for Retirement—A Case for Financial Education in Germany and UK? An Economic Perspective

Demographic changes, tight public budgets, and reduced generosity of occupational pension plans shift the responsibility for an adequate retirement provision towards the individual. Applying the theoretical perspectives of Behavioural Finance and New Institutionalism to the domain of retirement provision offers insights into the difficulties individuals are facing in planning for retirement, carrying out, and revising plans. Lacking financial literacy seems to lie at the heart of the problem and points to a possible solution: providing financial education to consumers through non-governmental organizations and state-related agencies. This article is examining which role consumer education and consumer advice can play to enhance financial literacy with regard to pensions and old-age provision. As two case studies Germany and the UK are compared because the institutional set-up of the pension systems and the approaches towards consumer policy are very different. The case studies show that financial education with regard to old-age provision can be successful if it reaches consumers in their environment at life-stages where important decisions need to be made. To achieve that considerable efforts have to be taken in terms of funding and organizational set-up. However, evaluation is necessary to prove the effectiveness of the education especially for vulnerable consumer groups. If evaluation reveals that these groups cannot be targeted effectively or that consumers are not taking action subsequently to attending financial education, there might be a case for changing behaviour through the institutional set-up of pension schemes (i.e., through automatic enrolment) and using financial education as a supportive policy instrument.

Which Socio-economic Model for Europe?

Disappointing growth rates and high unemployment in Europe have given rise to a debate on whether the European socio-economic model—or which of its variations—has a future in the face of increasing international competition. The following two articles discuss the current challenges facing Europe in this field and the options for meeting these challenges.