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DIW Discussion Papers 2091 / 2024
Tracking online user behavior is essential for targeted advertising and is at the heart of the business model of major online platforms. We analyze tracker-specific web browsing data to show how the prediction quality of consumer profiles varies with data size and scope. We find decreasing returns to the number of observed users and tracked websites. However, prediction quality increases considerably ...
2024| Hannes Ullrich, Jonas Hannane, Christian Peukert, Luis Aguiar, Tomaso Duso
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DIW Discussion Papers 2090 / 2024
We discuss the main Theories of Harm in EU merger control and their evolution since the 1990s. We present stylised facts and trends using data extracted from EU merger decisions by natural language processing tools. EU merger policy has adapted over time, both in terms of legislation and theories of harm, as well as in terms of the investigative tools and evidence used. The introduction of the new ...
2024| Tomaso Duso, Lea Bernhardt, Joanna Piechucka
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DIW Discussion Papers 2088 / 2024
This paper analyzes a merger of large manufacturers with divestiture in the French coffee market. In contrast to previous approaches used to study the effects of upstream divestitures on prices and welfare, we model the vertical market structure. First, our results show that the standard policy recommendation to require divestiture to small recipient firms may not hold when asymmetric bargaining power ...
2024| Yann Delaprez, Morgane Guignard
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DIW Discussion Papers 2087 / 2024
Freelancers face cold-start problems in online labor markets: getting hired is very difficult without ratings, while obtaining a rating is impossible unless already having been hired. According to economic theory and empirical evidence, advertising can serve as a signal of product quality for experience goods. As such, advertising might help skilled new freelancers without reputation on a platform ...
2024| Jonas Hannane
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DIW Discussion Papers 2085 / 2024
This paper investigates the heterogeneous responses of exporters to policy reforms undertaken by the People’s Bank of China to internationalize the Renminbi (RMB). Using detailed customs data from France for the initial years of these reforms (2011-2017), it documents several novel stylized facts on RMB adoption, highlighting both the growth and extreme skewness in RMB’s uptake across firms and varieties. ...
2024| Sonali Chowdhry
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DIW Discussion Papers 2077 / 2024
This paper investigates the elusive role of productivity heterogeneity in new trade models in the trade and environment nexus. We contrast the Eaton-Kortum and the Melitz models with firm heterogeneity to the Armington and Krugman models without heterogeneity. We show that if firms have a constant emission share in terms of sales — as they do in a wide range of trade and environment models — the three ...
2024| Robin Sogalla, Joschka Wanner, Yuta Watabe
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DIW Discussion Papers 2073 / 2024
This paper analyzes M&A patterns of R&D projects in the antidiabetics industry. For this purpose, we construct a database with all corporate individual antidiabetics R&D projects over the period 1997 - 2017, and add detailed information on firms’ technology dimension using patent information, next to their position in product markets. This allows us to identify the identity of targets and acquirers ...
2024| Jan Malek, Melissa Newham, Jo Seldeslachts, Reinhilde Veugelers
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DIW Discussion Papers 2071 / 2024
Our article investigates the impact of vertical integration (without foreclosure) on innovation. We compare cases where either (i) two manufacturers or (ii) a manufacturer and a vertically integrated retailer invest. Then, the independent manufacturer( s) and the retailer bargain over non-linear contracts before selling to consumers. We show that vertical integration always increases the incentives ...
2024| Claire Chambolle, Morgane Guignard
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DIW Discussion Papers 2060 / 2023
Several empirical studies document the relevance of firm heterogeneity to assess the effect of trade and environmental policy. This paper develops a multi-country and -sector general equilibrium trade model with heterogeneous firms and analyzes the effect of domestic carbon pricing as well as carbon border adjustments. In the presence of heterogeneous firms, these unilateral carbon pricing tools affect ...
2023| Robin Sogalla
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DIW Discussion Papers 2043 / 2023
Our paper contributes to the discussion about Europe’s digital sovereignty. We analyze the relationship between firm performance and the diversification of sourcing countries for imported ICT goods. The analysis is based on administrative data for 3888 German manufacturing firms that imported ICT goods in the years 2010 and 2014. We find that firms that diversify the sourcing of ICT goods across multiple ...
2023| Alexander Schiersch, Irene Bertschek, Thomas Niebel