Does the ECB Act as a Lender of Last Resort During the Subprime Lending Crisis?: Evidence from Monetary Policy Reaction Models
Stefan Eichler, K. Hielscher
Journal of International Money and Finance,
No. 3,
2012
Abstract
We investigate whether the ECB aligns its monetary policy with financial crisis risk in EMU member countries. We find that since the outbreak of the subprime crisis the ECB has significantly increased net lending and reduced interest rates when banking and sovereign debt crisis risk in vulnerable EMU countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) increases, while no significant effect is identified for the pre-crisis period and relatively tranquil EMU countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands). These findings suggest that the ECB acts as a Lender of Last Resort for vulnerable EMU countries.
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Municipality Size and Efficiency of Local Public Services: Does Size Matter?
Peter Bönisch, Peter Haug, Annette Illy, L. Schreier
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 18,
2011
published in: FinanzArchiv
Abstract
Similarly to western Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, the eastern part of Germany has experienced a still ongoing process of numerous amalgamations among counties, towns and municipalities since the mid-1990s. The evidence in the economic literature is mixed with regard to the claimed expenditure reductions and efficiency gains from municipal mergers. We therefore analyze the global efficiency of the municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt, for the first time in this context, using a double-bootstrap procedure combining DEA and truncated regression. This allows including environmental variables to control for exogenous determinants of municipal efficiency. Our focus thereby is on institutional and fiscal variables. Moreover, the scale efficiency is estimated to find out whether large units are necessary to benefit from scale economies. In contrast to previous studies, we chose the aggregate budget of municipal associations (“Verwaltungsgemeinschaften”) as the object of our analysis since important competences of the member municipalities are settled on a joint administrative level. Furthermore, we use a data set that has been carefully adjusted for bookkeeping items and transfers within the communal level. On the “eve” of a mayor municipal reform the majority of the municipalities were found to have an approximately scale-efficient size and centralized organizational forms (“Einheitsgemeinden”) showed no efficiency advantage over municipal associations.
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An Introduction to the IWH FDI Micro Database
Jutta Günther, Andrea Gauselmann, Philipp Marek, Johannes Stephan, Björn Jindra
Schmollers Jahrbuch,
No. 3,
2011
Abstract
The paper introduces to the IWH FDI micro database. It describes the conceptual ideas of the micro data collection and how the database distinguishes from other existing micro data on foreign investors. Since 2007, the IWH FDI micro database has been collecting firm level information on general business indicators, technological activities and information on governance structures within the enterprise. The data collection takes place at the foreign subsidiaries of multinational firms in East Germany and selected East European countries. The paper outlines which research gaps could already be addressed by use of the database and closes with an outlook on future research potential.
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Metropolitan Area „Central Germany“: How Strong are the Commuting Flows between the Cities?
Albrecht Kauffmann
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 2,
2011
Abstract
The metropolitan area „Central Germany“ is an institutional agreement on co-operation between the bigger cities of the German Länder Saxonia, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It is one of now eleven “European Metropolitan Areas” acknowledged by the Conference of German Ministers for Spatial Planning. In the face of the multitude of cities and the large distances between the cities at the fringe and the geographical centre of the metropolitan area “Central Germany” should be regarded as a very special case. Another peculiarity is that the hinterland of the metropolitan area has not yet been delineated. The paper analyses the networking interrelations between the eleven cities on the basis of commuting flows. Additionally, proposals for the delimitation of this metropolitan area as a polycentric functional urban area are suggested for the first time. The investigation yields that network connectivity between the cities that have shaped the former metropolitan area “Halle/Leipzig-Saxonian Triangle”, as well as the Thuringian cities is much more intensive than the commuting flows between these subareas that are well connected from history. As a functional area, the metropolitan area “Central Germany” would have a very large hinterland, but its population density would be rather small, and it would interact only with the nearest regional centres. One can conclude that the preconditions for successful cooperation are better for adjacent cities which collaboration has already a long tradition.
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Regionale Migration in Abhängigkeit von Humankapital und sektoraler Struktur. Eine empirische Analyse am Beispiel von Deutschland und Polen
Alexander Kubis
IWH-Sonderhefte,
No. 2,
2010
Abstract
Die vorliegende Promotionsschrift von Dipl.-Volkswirt Alexander Kubis über deutsch-polnische Migrationsmuster und die Möglichkeiten, künftiges Wanderungsverhalten regional differenziert zu prognostizieren, ordnet sich in die Tradition der Arbeiten des IWH ein, die sich mit der Interdependenz transformationsökonomischer Entwicklungen und der europäischen Integration befassen. Die Verzahnung beider Aspekte ist bei Wanderungen besonders explizit, weil der Umbau von staatlich gelenkten Planwirtschaften zu Marktwirtschaften regional und sektoral mit unterdurchschnittlichen Geschwindigkeiten ablief, weshalb eine erhebliche Dynamik in den Veränderungen dessen, was man als Chancenverteilung im Raum bezeichnen möchte, konstatiert werden kann – und genau auf diese reagiert Migration. Insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund ursprünglicher Zuwanderungsbeschränkungen und eines nunmehr tatsächlich vorhandenen, aber auch im Bewusstsein präsent werdenden erhöhten Fachkräftebedarfs gewinnt die Analyse regionaler und sektoraler Bestimmungsgründe der Migration eine herausragende Bedeutung.
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FDI and the National Innovation System - Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe
Jutta Günther, Björn Jindra, Johannes Stephan
D. Dyker (ed.), Network Dynamics in Emerging Regions of Europe, Imperial College Press,
2010
Abstract
The paper investigates strategic motives, technological activities and determinants of foreign investment enterprises’ embeddedness in post-transition economies (Eastern Germany and selected Central East European countries). The empirical study makes use of the IWH FDI micro database. Results of the descriptive analysis of investment motives show that market access dominates over efficiency seeking and other motives. The majority of investors are technologically active in the region as a whole, but countries differ in terms of performance. The probit model estimations show that firm specific characteristics, among them innovativeness and autonomy from parent company, are important determinants of foreign investment enterprises’ embeddedness.
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Mutual Perception of Science and Industry in Innovation Networks – Evidence from East Germany
Jutta Günther, Cornelia Lang
D. Dyker (ed.), Network Dynamics in Emerging Regions of Europe, Imperial College Press,
2010
Abstract
The paper examines how science and industry perceive each other. Cooperation in the field of innovation and research and development has increased in recent years. But comprehensive empirical research on the mutual perception of science and industry is lacking so far. The article presents the results of explorative research based on a number of qualitative interviews with representatives from science and industry on that topic. The interviews were carried out in the Central German Region which is a centre of manufacturing industry especially of chemicals. So the two selected industries are chemical industry (high-tech based) and food processing (low-tech based). The paper provides remarks on the German innovation system. The empirical section summarizes the interview reports. We found only little evidence of conflict of interests between market-oriented industry and science organisations. Cooperation exists and works. The key issue is trust.
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The Emergence of Wage Coordination in the Central Western European Metal Sector and its Relationship to European Economic Policy
Vera Glassner, Toralf Pusch
Abstract
In the European Monetary Union the transnational coordination of collective wage bargaining has acquired increased importance on the trade union agenda. The metal sector has been at the forefront of these developments. This paper addresses the issue of crossborder coordination of wage setting in the metal sector in the central western European region, that is, in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, where coordination practices have become firmly established in comparison to other sectors. When testing the interaction of wage developments in the metal sector of these three countries, relevant macroeconomic (inflation and labour productivity) and sector-related variables (employment, export-dependence) are considered with reference to the wage policy guidelines of the European Commission and the European Metalworkers’ Federation. Empirical evidence can be found for a wage coordination effect in the form of increasing compliance with the wage policy guidelines of the European Metalworkers’ Federation. The evidence for compliance with the stability-oriented wage guideline of the European Commission is weaker.
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