Vorträge des DIW Berlin

Cost Efficiency and Economies of Scale and Density in German Water Distribution

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....

Preference for Randomization: Empirical and Experimental Evidence

I Want to, But I Also Need To: Start-ups Resulting from Opportunity and Necessity

When unemployed persons go into business, they often are characterized as necessity entrepreneurs, because push factors, namely their unemployment, likely prompted their decision. In contrast to this, business founders who have been previously employed represent opportunity entrepreneurs because pull factors provide the rationale for their decision. However, a data set of nearly 1,900 business...

RDS - a Stata Program for Respondent-Driven Sampling

Das Alterseinkommen von MigrantInnen: herkunftsspezifische Ungleichheiten und Erklärungskraft von Bildungs- und Erwerbsbiographien

Is Eastern Germany on the Jump to Close the Productivity Gap? Firm-Level Evidence in Manufacturing

Mikrokredite: Wie hoch ist die Nachfrage nach solchen Produkten in Deutschland?

Are Geese Flying by Themselves inside China?: An LSTR-SEM Approach to Income Convergence of Chinese Counties

The Globalization of Steam Coal Markets and the Role of Logistics: An Empirical Analysis

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive multivariate cointegration analysis of three parts of the steam coal value chain - export, transport and import prices. The analysis is based on a rich dataset of international coal prices; in particular, we combine data on steam coal prices with freight rates, covering the period December 2001 until August 2009 at weekly frequency. We then test whether...

Vom Winde verweht?: Strommarktpreise und Anreize für Investitionen in thermische Kraftwerke bei wachsendem Windstromangebot

One Last Puff? Public Smoking Bans and Smoking Behavior

This paper investigates the short-term effects of public smoking bans on individual smoking behavior. In 2007 and 2008, state-level smoking bans were gradually introduced in all of Germany's sixteen federal states. We exploit this variation in the timing of state bans to identify the effect that smoke-free policies had on individuals' smoking propensity and smoking intensity. Using rich...

Global Oil Markets Revisited: Cartel or Stackelberg Market?

This paper investigates the existence of market power and the sequentiality of games in the crude oil market. In particular, we examine whether Saudi Arabia acts as a Stackelberg leader or in a simultaneous-move framework, in a number of market power scenarios ranging from perfect competition to cartel. We develop a numerical simulation model that is formulated as a complementarity problem,...

Glass Ceiling Effect and Wages: The Gender Pay Gap in Management Positions in Germany

Although there are a variety of studies on the gender pay gap, only a few relate to managerial positions. The present study attempts to fill this gap. Managers in private companies in Germany are a highly selective group of women and men, who differ only marginally in their human capital endowments. The Oaxaca/Blinder decomposition shows that the gender pay gap in the gross monthly salary can...

Determinants of the Gender Specific Occupational Channeling

Social Welfare Policies and a Sustainable Economy: Keynote Speech

Sekundäranalyse von komplexen Datensätzen: Erfahrungen aus den Nutzerschulungen des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEPcampus)

Income and Longevity Revisted: Do High-Earning Women Live Longer?

Unfulfilled Aspirations among Egypt's Educated Youth

Participation in Microfinancial Markets: The Use of Insurance, Savings, and Credit in Rural Ghana

Die wirtschaftlichen Chancen des Klimaschutzes: Keynote Speech