Under the assumption of purely additive transaction costs in exchange, the literature on money has a standard example of direct exchange dominating indirect (monetary) exchange. From here, it is frequently concluded that subadditive costs (e. g., search costs) must be examined in order to explain the institution or origin of money. In contrast, this paper presents an additive transaction costs model ...
A simulation study designed to evaluate the pseudo-R2T proposed in an earlier paper by Spiess and Keller suggests that, for the models considered, this measure represents the goodness of fit not only of the systematic part, but also of the assumed correlation structure in binary panel probit models.
Analyzing the under-consumption of benefits in the German means-tested Social Assistance program using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study we confirm recent high estimates of a non-take-up rate of more than 60 percent. In light of likely measurement errors in income and in our simulation of household needs, we provide a range of estimates yielding useful boundaries for the non-take-up rate. ...
This paper provides an empirical analysis of the growing institutional divergence of systemic transformation in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Based upon the institutional theory of economic and legal systemic change, we empirically analyse reforms in a sector where the transformation process proved to be particularly tough: the energy sector. We test to what extent reforms ...
This paper develops scenarios of electricity demand in China until 2010, at a national, a sectoral and a regional level. It takes into account the recent macroeconomic downturn in the Chinese economy and the potential effects of deregulation and price increases in the power sector. The medium-growth scenario hints at a gross electricity demand of 1500 TWh in 2010; should the structural change from ...
This paper describes the different institutional frameworks for infrastructure policy in Germany and France. The economic effects of infrastructure are estimated econometrically for German and French regions. We find evidence that regional road infrastructure has a significant impact on regional output. Moreover, we find evidence that for Germany the priority of promoting equal living conditions throughout ...
It is well understood that children benefit educationally the greater the education of their parents. However, transfers of the benefits of human capital within the home occur between partners too. The more educated an individual the more able he or she is to provide a partner with effective career support. Individuals will on average earn more the higher the education of their partner. This reciprocal ...
