This paper studies the cost structure of water distribution utilities in Germany. Stochastic cost frontier models are applied to an unbalanced panel of 371 observations of 72 companies in the period from 1998 to 2007. The results suggest that some utilities could reduce their costs by more than 20%. Water losses and elevation differences in a service area turn out to be significant cost drivers....
Michael Zschille, Matthias Walter
Berlin,
25.02.2010
- 26.02.2010| Waterday: Workshop on Water Economics and Technology: Organized by the Joint Research Program ¿Water Economics and Management¿
We put forward a modern version of the 'developmental' view of government-owned banks which shows that the combination of information asymmetries and weak institutions creates scope for such banks to play a growth-promoting role. We present new cross-country evidence consistent with our theoretical predictions. Specifically, we show that during 1995-2007 government ownership of banks has been...
Svetlana Andrianova, Panicos Demetriades, Anja Shortland
Las Vegas, USA,
24.02.2010
- 26.02.2010| Midwest Finance Association Conference
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Berlin,
18.02.2010
- 19.02.2010| Mobilität und Inklusion - Arbeitsmigration von Hochqualifizierten in Europa: Internationale Konferenz der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health care reform can be regarded as a natural experiment. We used a difference-in-difference approach to...
Markus M. Grabka, Jonas Schreyögg
Berlin,
16.02.2010
| Hertie School of Governance