Microeconometric Evaluation and the Selection Bias – A practical Survey of Nonparametrical Solution Methods
Eva Reinowski
Zeitschrift für Evaluation 2,
No. 2,
2006
Abstract
The application of evaluation strategies becomes more important in various fields of study. The problem of self-selection associated with microeconomic evaluation can be solved in different ways, but nonparametrical solutions are most popular. The study gives an overview of nonparametrical solution methods for this problem. The aim is to close the gap between introductory and the more sophisticated literature and to give some practical guidance for the choice of the appropriate method for empirical application. The assumptions as well as advantages and drawbacks for empirical application and the requirements to the data base are described for every approach. It becomes clear that there is no ‘magic bullet’. For an unbiased estimation the assumptions have to be fulfilled and the data at hand must be compatible with the respective method.
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Where are the economic development cores of East Germany? Results of a survey of the focuses of branches, enterprise networks and innovative competence fields in the East German Regions
Peter Franz, Gerhard Heimpold, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Regionale Strukturpolitik - quo vadis?, Informationen zur Raumentwicklung, Heft 9,
No. 9,
2006
Abstract
The contribution presents the results of an empirical study conducted by the Halle Institute for Economic Research on behalf of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning. The study concerns the identification of “regional clusters” for all spatial planning regions in East Germany. As criteria to identify clusters, three components were taken into consideration: spatially concentrated industries, enterprise networks and innovative competence fields, whereas, for the purpose of identifying “clusters”, the networks and innovative competences have to show a co-incidence with the industry which is spatially concentrated. Cases of co-incidence of all three elements were categorised as economic development cores (or spots), i. e. as forms of spatially concentrated economic activities which show cluster-relevant qualities. For regions which possess economic development spots, the growth perspectives can be expected as more favourable in comparison with other regions. The findings show a particularly high concentration of economic development spots in the Berlin region as well as in the Federal States of Saxony and Thuringia, where the cities of Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt and Chemnitz form delineating points within which a particularly high number of economic development spots are existent. As a consequence, the study might initiate a debate in favour of a stronger spatial concentration of regional policy measures instead of spreading the resources by “watering can principle”.
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Do House Prices Drive Aggregate Consumption?
Marian Berneburg, Axel Lindner
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 10,
2006
Abstract
In recent times increasing house prices have been credited with a stong positive influence on aggre-gate consumption. But it is questionable in how far higher prices are at all able to lift the purchasing power of the economy as whole: The seller’s profit of a high price, equals the buyer’s loss. But while a positive correlation between house prices and consumption is evident, it is not a sign of irra-tional behaviour by market participants. In fact it seems that both factors are driven by other pa-rameters: the interest rate and expectations about future interest rates and economic activity. For a selection of four developed countries, the follow-ing article tries to give an explanation for the house price developments of the past 15 years. While disregarding country specific risk as well as institutional aspects and demographic factors, a present value caluclation forms the basis for esti-mating a fundamentally justified price movement. Expectations for future rents and discount rates are being proxied by a moving average of past values. It can be observed how interest rate changes and long-run economic growth, two as-pects that clearly also drive private consumption, play a key role here.
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Vielfältigkeit eines Hybridberufes: Mechatronikfacharbeiter nach der Ausbildung
Simone Scharfe, K. Tautenhahn
External Publications,
No. 8,
2006
Abstract
In the period from 2002 to 2004, 302 skilled workers successfully concluded their education as a mechatroniker, microtechnologist, chemical laboratory assistant, physics laboratory assistant or varnish laboratory assistant within the scope of the model project "compound education in new professions of high technology" which was initiated by the Saxonian State Ministry of Economy and Labor. The model project and the scientific monitoring were promoted from means of the European Social Fund and complementary state means of the Free State of Saxony.
Some months after the completion of their education, the graduates were questioned by the scientific monitoring about different aspects concerning the model project and its evaluation, points of interests have for example been:
§ the retrospective assessment of the education and the model project,
§ the estimation of their chances in the job market,
§ the professional whereabouts as well as
§ the evaluation of their knowledge in terms of its suitability for daily use.
In this article, the results of the last both points in the view of the mechatroniker, which are the biggest group in the model project with 180 graduates, are picked out as a central theme. Because the mechatronikers should combine the branches of the mechanics and the electronics in the second part of the result representation the actual operational areas of the former trainee are examined.
ich hätte evtl. einiges anders formuliert: (der Satzbau klingt sonst so eingedeutscht)
The article mainly refers to the last two points. Also, the view is limited to the results of the mechatroniker. Covering 180 graduates, it has been the largest group within the model project.
The intention of the new occupational image of the mechatroniker was a bridging of mechanics and electronics. Therefore, it is examined in the second part of this article, to which extend this bridging is reflected in the actual operational areas of the former trainees.
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Gesamtwirtschaftliche Effekte der Förderung regenerativer Energien, insbesondere der Biomasse - Eine kritische Beurteilung vor dem Hintergrund modelltheoretischer Konzeptionen
Götz Zeddies
Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik und Umweltrecht 2/2006,
No. 2,
2006
Abstract
Renewable energies are largely promoted in the Federal Republic of Germany by means of political instruments by the federal government as well as by the federal states. However, the effects of promoting renewable energies on growth and employment are politically controversial. On the part of the scientists, the macroeconomic effects of the promotion of renewable energies were already analysed in different studies by various authors. At first sight, even the scientific results do not allow definite conclusions. The reasons for this may be seen in the diversity of the applied empirical methods and models with respect to their closeness and the model assumptions. Against the background of these difficulties, the aim of this paper is to discuss the general problems of macroeconomic policy analyses, to formulate methodical model requirements and to examine important existing scientific studies with respect to these requirements and to evaluate their results.
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Direktinvestitionen in der Zwischenkriegszeit und nach 1990 - erste Ergebnisse eines nicht ganz einfachen Vergleichs
Jutta Günther, Dagmara Jajesniak-Quast
Willkommene Investoren oder nationaler Ausverkauf?: Ausländische Direktinvestitionen in Ostmitteleuropa im 20. Jahrhundert. Frankfurter Studien zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Ostmitteleuropas, Band 11,
2006
Abstract
Foreign direct investments have a long tradition in Central East European countries and reached a considerable level already during the interwar period. From an economic point of view, Central Eastern Europe strongly depends on foreign investments - today like in the interwar period. Technological backwardness and a lack of internal sources of capital hampered the development of a self-sufficient economy in the newly founded states of Central Eastern Europe after the First World War as well as after the breakdown of socialism. Nevertheless, foreign direct investment has always been subject to a critical debate too in the host economies. Focusing on a comparison between Poland, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, and Hungary, the book deals with the continuities and changes of foreign direct investments in Central Eastern Europe - an issue that has been widely neglected in historical research so far.
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Who Invests in Training if Contracts are Temporary? - Empirical Evidence for Germany Using Selection Correction
Jan Sauermann
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 14,
2006
Abstract
This study deals with the effect of fixed-term contracts on work-related training. Though previous studies found a negative effect of fixed-term contracts on the participation in training, from the theoretical point of view it is not clear whether workers with fixed-term contracts receive less or more training, compared to workers with permanent contracts. In addition to the existing strand of literature, we especially distinguish between employer- and employee-financed training in order to allow for diverging investment patterns of worker and firm. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we estimate a bivariate probit model to control for selection effects that may arise from unobservable factors, affecting both participation in training and holding fixed-term contracts. Finding negative effects for employer-sponsored, as well as for employee-sponsored training, leads us to conclude that workers with fixed-term contracts do not compensate for lower firm investments.
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Vernetzung und einzelwirtschaftliche Effekte von Unternehmen der Kunststoff- und Biotechnologiebranche in Mitteldeutschland - eine Analyse am Beispiel der Clusterinitiativen „Chemie/Kunststoffe“ und „Biotechnologie/Life Sciences“
Walter Komar
IWH-Sonderhefte,
No. 2,
2006
Abstract
According to theoretical implications the success of enterprises benefits from co-operation in clusters and networks. Studies of cluster and network processes show this for the industries chemistry/plastics and biotechnology/Life Sciences in Central Ger-many. Therefore enterprises which are organized in networks have better economic characteristics. Estimations of the productivity of firms using co-operation-based and non-co-operation-based factors as independent variables reveal a significantly positive influence of the propensity to co-operate as well as networking. In this regard scientific institutions and universities located in the region of firms play an important role. From this analysis it can be generalized and concluded, also concerning other industries, that networks emerge automatically under certain conditions. Nevertheless their creation and development should be encouraged, e.g. by efficiency strengthening of public research and university education as well as the intensification of co-operation and networking between the scientific and the corporate sector. This can promote the technology and human capital transfer.
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Wie steht es in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern um die Ballung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten? - Eine Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Städte des Landes
Gerhard Heimpold, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Rostocker Beiträge zur Regional- und Strukturforschung, Heft 18,
No. 18,
2006
Abstract
Urban and regional economics put great emphasis on urban spaces and, in general, on the importance of agglomeration forces, which is of great importance for the development perspectives of structurally weak regions. This in mind, the contribution investigates the extent and the structures of economic agglomeration characteristics, using the example of the cities in the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In this context, the question is raised whether the potential given there might be better used to achieve economic progress. The contribution starts with a brief theoretical overview on the importance of agglomeration forces for urban and regional development. The empirical section comprises, first, an analysis how the cities under consideration are endowed with factors being regarded as important for economic growth; second, two essential elements of agglomeration of economic activities are investigated more in-depth: spatially concentrated industries and business networks. The investigation is based on a method which was already in use within an East-Germany wide study on Economic Development Spots (project on behalf of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning - BBR, finished in 2004). Finally, the contribution draws implications for the economic policy at the Laender level as well as at the municipal level.
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Economies of Scope in European Railways: An Efficiency Analysis
Christian Growitsch, Heike Wetzel
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 5,
2006
Abstract
In the course of railway reforms in the end of the last century, national European governments, as well the EU Commission, decided to open markets and to separate railway networks from train operations. Vertically integrated railway companies – companies owning a network and providing transport services – argue that such a separation of infrastructure and operations would diminish the advantages of vertical integration and would therefore not be suitable to raise economic welfare. In this paper, we conduct a pan-European analysis to investigate the performance of European railways with a particular focus on economies of vertical integration. We test the hypothesis that integrated railways realise economies of joint production and, thus, produce railway services on a higher level of efficiency. To determine whether joint or separate production is more efficient we apply a Data Envelopment Analysis super-efficiency bootstrapping model which relates the efficiency for integrated production to a virtual reference set consisting of the separated production technology. Our findings are that in a majority of European Railway companies exist economies of scope.
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