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Quality Upgrading and Price Heterogeneity: Evidence from Brazilian Exporters

Abstract:This paper studies the relation between quality upgrading and pricing across firms and destination countries. The paper builds a model based on heterogeneous firms that set quality and prices to heterogeneous consumers. To test the predictions of this model, the paper uses a uniquely rich data that combines producer quality information and exporter prices by firm and destination country....

Aggregation without the aggravation? Nonparametric analysis of the representative consumer

Abstract: In the tradition of Afriat (1967), Diewert (1973) and Varian (1982), we provide a revealed preference characterisation of the representative consumer. Our results are simple and complement those of Gorman (1953, 1961), Samuelson (1956) and others. They can also be applied to data very readily and without the need for auxilliary parametric or statistical assumptions. We investigate the...

The Future of Natural Gas in the "Energiewende" - Pipelines, Supply Security, and Fuel Mix in Germany and Europe

Presenter: Dr. Jeff Makholm, Boston, USA, leads the Natural Gas Practice at National Energy Research Associates (NERA), he is a world-known expert in the natural gas sector and pipeline regulation in particular, and has advised industry and governments in the US, Asia, and Europe. Makholm is also author of a recent book "The Political Economy of Pipelines", University of Chicago Press (2...

SOEP Brown Bag Seminar

Despite the introduction of major social policy reforms, since the mid-1980s Germany has been experiencing a steady increase in poverty rates among general population. It gave a boost to a great number of studies trying to explain why it happened. By applying decomposition techniques they have been exploring what kind of changes in household structures and labor market conditions of households...

The Role of the Log Transformation in Forecasting Economic Variables

For forecasting and economic analysis many variables are used in logarithms (logs). In time series analysis, this transformation is often considered to stabilize the variance of a series. We investigate under which conditions taking logs is beneficial for forecasting. Forecasts based on the original series are compared to forecasts based on logs. For a range of economic variables, substantial forecasting ...

Lehrbuch zur Analyse von Paneldaten erschienen

Die wichtigsten Methoden zur Analyse von Paneldaten stellt das neue Lehrbuch des SOEP-Forschers Marco Giesselmann und seines Co-Autoren Michael Windzio (Direktor EMPAS an der Universität Bremen) vor. Es ist das erste deutschsprachige Lehrbuch zu diesem Thema (Giesselmann, Marco/Windzio, Michael (2012): Regressionsmodelle zur Analyse von Paneldaten. Wiesbaden: Springer VS).Die Autoren präsentieren ...

Scale Economies and Returns to Scale in Non-Parametric Cost and Production Models: Exploring the Impact of Convexity of Technology

In absolute or relative terms? How framing prices affects the consumer price sensitivity of health plan choice

Abstract:This paper provides field evidence on (a) how price framing affects consumers' decision to switch health insurance plans and (b) how the price elasticity of demand for health insurance can be influenced by policymakers through simple regulatory efforts. In 2009, in order to foster competition among health insurance companies, German federal regulation required health insurance companies...

Do Wealthier Households Save More? The Impact of the Demographic Factor

This paper investigates the relationship between wealth, ageing and saving behaviour of private households by using pooled cross sections of German consumption survey data. Different components of wealth are distinguished, as their impact on the savings rate is not homogeneous. On average, the effect attributed to real estate dominates the other components of wealth. In addition, the savings rate strongly ...

Cohort 2012: Selection process finished

For this year’s student intake, the Graduate Center received a record number of outstandingly high qualified applications. After a careful selection process of evaluating paper applications and conducting personal interviews, the selection committee agreed on 14 candidates to be accepted as new doctoral students into the Graduate Center. The program starts on 1 October 2012. We welcome all successful ...