Germany on the Way to Energy Efficiency in the Housing Sector: Subsidy Programs by the Federal Government and the Länder Level
Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2011
Abstract
In addition to the increasing rigidity of minimum requirements in regulative law, the federal government and the Länder provide a broad range of subsidy programs to force the refurbishment of those parts of a building, that determine the building’s energetic quality-level. In regard of energetic refurbishment quality, the federal government boosts investments, which exceed the minimum requirements of regulative law. Whereas the federal government – with exeption of different financing conditions of investors - applies equal funding requirements to all investors and building-types older than 15 years, the Länder focus their programs on specific regional housing market conditions. A further analysis concerning the influence of the subsidy environment on regional refurbishment output level should be topic of further research.
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Optimum Currency Areas in Emerging Market Regions: Evidence Based on the Symmetry of Economic Shocks
Stefan Eichler, Alexander Karmann
Open Economies Review,
No. 5,
2011
Abstract
This paper examines which emerging market regions form optimum currency areas (OCAs) by assessing the symmetry of macroeconomic shocks. We extend the output-prices-VAR framework by adding net exports and the real effective exchange rate as endogenous variables. Based on theoretical considerations, we derive which shocks affect these variables in the long run: shocks to labor productivity, foreign trade, labor supply, and money supply. The considered economies of Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, East and Southeast Asia, and South Asia, exhibit large enough shock symmetry to form a currency union; the economies of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East do not.
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Rules versus Discretion in Loan Rate Setting
Geraldo Cerqueiro, Hans Degryse, Steven Ongena
Journal of Financial Intermediation,
No. 4,
2011
Abstract
Loan rates for seemingly identical borrowers often exhibit substantial dispersion. This paper investigates the determinants of the dispersion in interest rates on loans granted by banks to small and medium sized enterprises. We associate this dispersion with the loan officers’ use of “discretion” in the loan rate setting process. We find that “discretion” is most important if: (i) loans are small and unsecured; (ii) firms are small and opaque; (iii) the firm operates in a large and highly concentrated banking market; and (iv) the firm is distantly located from the lender. Consistent with the proliferation of information-technologies in the banking industry, we find a decreasing role for “discretion” over time in the provision of small credits to opaque firms. While widely used in the pricing of loans, “discretion” plays only a minor role in the decisions to grant loans.
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A Model for the Valuation of Carbon Price Risk
Henry Dannenberg, Wilfried Ehrenfeld
Antes, R.; Hansjürgen, B.; Letmathe, P.; Pickl, S. (Hrsg.), Emissions Trading - Institutional Design, Decision Making and Corporate Strategies (Second Edition),
2011
Abstract
Modeling the price risk of CO2 emission allowances is an important aspect of integral corporate risk management related to emissions trading. In this paper, a pricing model is developed which may be the basis for evaluating the risk of emission certificate prices. We assume that the certificate price is determined by the expected marginal CO2 abatement costs in the current trade period as well as by the long-term marginal abatement costs. The price risk is modeled on the basis of a mean reversion process. Due to uncertainties about the future state of the environment, we suppose that within one trade period erratic changes in the expected marginal abatement costs may occur leading to shifts in the price level. In addition to the parameter estimation, it is also an objective of this work to modify the mean reversion process so that such abrupt changes in the expected reversion level can be displayed. Because of the possibility of transferring spare allowances to a subsequent period we take into account the fact that the expected long run marginal abatement costs act as a lower limit for the price in the trading period.
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Trade Misinvoicing: The Dark Side of World Trade
A. Buehn, Stefan Eichler
World Economy,
No. 8,
2011
Abstract
We analyse the determinants of trade misinvoicing using data on 86 countries from 1980 to 2005. In a simple microeconomic framework, we derive the determinants of four different types of trade misinvoicing taking into account that only the financial incentives determine whether and how much exports/imports to underinvoice or overinvoice, whereas the deterrents only affect the extent of misinvoicing. The hypothesised determinants are tested using data on discrepancies in bilateral trade with the United States. We find that the black market premia and tariffs motivate illegal trading activities. Higher financial penalties effectively act as a deterrent to this crime.
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Stock Market Firm-Level Information and Real Economic Activity
Filippo di Mauro, Fabio Fornari, Dario Mannucci
ECB Working Paper,
No. 1366,
2011
Abstract
We provide evidence that changes in the equity price and volatility of individual firms (measures that approximate the definition of 'granular shock' given in Gabaix, 2010) are key to improve the predictability of aggregate business cycle fluctuations in a number of countries. Specifically, adding the return and the volatility of firm-level equity prices to aggregate financial information leads to a significant improvement in forecasting business cycle developments in four economic areas, at various horizons. Importantly, not only domestic firms but also foreign firms improve business cycle predictability for a given economic area. This is not immediately visible when one takes an unconditional standpoint (i.e. an average across the sample). However, conditioning on the business cycle position of the domestic economy, the relative importance of the two sets of firms - foreign and domestic - exhibits noticeable swings across time. Analogously, the sectoral classification of the firms that in a given month retain the highest predictive power for future IP changes also varies significantly over time as a function of the business cycle position of the domestic economy. Limited to the United States, predictive ability is found to be related to selected balance sheet items, suggesting that structural features differentiate the firms that can anticipate aggregate fluctuations from those that do not help to this aim. Beyond the purely forecasting application, this finding may enhance our understanding of the underlying origins of aggregate fluctuations. We also propose to use the cross sectional stock market information to macro-prudential aims through an economic Value at Risk.
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Upturn in Saxony-Anhalt in between structural Barriers
Udo Ludwig, Brigitte Loose
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 7,
2011
Abstract
The gross domestic product of Saxony-Anhalt will increase by 2.6% in 2011. Due to structural reasons the growth is lower than in Germany. In Saxony-Anhalt the key growth driver, the engineering industry, are poorly represented. The previously strong food industry suffers under the pressure of rising commodity prices. The growth gap is explained also from a slowing dynamics in the industry later this year, what is already indicated in the intermediate goods sector, which is the most important part in Saxony-Anhalt´s industry. In addition, the dynamics of household demand for consumer goods and housing is weaker because of the sharp decline in population. Furthermore, the government sector slows in connection with the consolidation of public budgets. The growth gap compared to the average of the New Federal States in total also stems from the fact that the recovery in Saxony-Anhalt had progressed rapidly in the previous year.
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Entrepreneurial Opportunity and the Formation of Photovoltaic Clusters in Eastern Germany
Matthias Brachert, Christoph Hornych
R. Wüstenhagen, R. Wuebker (Hrsg.), Handbook of Research on Energy Entrepreneurship,
2011
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explain the evolution of the spatial structures of one particular type of renewable energy in Germany – the photovoltaic (PV) industry. We first demonstrate how environmental movements have contributed to institutional change and government action, leading to changes in the legal and regulative structure in Germany. We describe how these changes opened up a window of locational opportunity (WLO), thus combining the WLO concept with the entrepreneurial opportunity concept. As market entries occurred mainly in Eastern Germany, the paper also explores the factors leading to a concentration of economic activity related to the new PV industry in this part of the country. Based on the WLO concept, we combine this framework with the industrial dynamics literature by Klepper (2007) and illustrate the spatial evolution of the PV industry.
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Energieeffizienz im Altbau: Werden die Sanierungspotenziale überschätzt?
Claus Michelsen, S. Müller-Michelsen
Moderne Gebäudetechnik,
2011
Abstract
Ein zentrales Element der europäischen Klimaschutzpolitik ist die Reduktion des Energieverbrauches privater Haushalte. Im Fokus stehen dabei Wohnimmobilien, insbesondere im Mehrfamilienhausbestand. Die Energieeinsparverordnung (EnEV 2009) fordert deshalb eine deutliche Reduktion des Energiebedarfes bei Sanierungen bzw. beim Neubau von Wohnimmobilien. Allerdings sind diese Vorgaben weitgehend undifferenziert, was Alter und Art einer Immobilie sowie die Marktbedingungen betrifft, unter denen errichtet oder saniert wird. Der vorliegende Artikel zeigt auf Grundlage eines umfangreichen Datensatzes des Energiedienstleisters ista Deutschland GmbH, dass die Energiekennwerte von Mehrfamilienhäusern abhängig vom Jahr ihrer Errichtung sowohl im sanierten als auch im unsanierten Zustand deutlich variieren. Die Daten zeigen zudem, dass die allgemein angenommenen Einsparpotenziale, die sich vor allem am technisch Machbaren orientieren, die Realität erheblich überschätzen. So sind die tatsächlichen Verbräuche in unsanierten Immobilien und die unter Marktbedingungen realisierten Energieeinsparungen nach einer Sanierung teilweise deutlich geringer als bisher angenommen. Eine bautechnische und architektonische Betrachtung legt die Vermutung nahe, dass unterschiedliche Sanierungskostenverläufe und die Bestandseigenschaften des Altbaus zu den beobachtbaren Differenzen beitragen. Im Ergebnis sprechen die hier präsentierten Zahlen für eine differenziertere Strategie, die sowohl die Belange der Wirtschaftlichkeit von Sanierungen als auch die Belange des Klimaschutzes und Städtebaus berücksichtigt. Konkret bedeutet dies, dass sich die spezifischen Eigenschaften von Immobilien auch in den rechtlichen Vorgaben und der Förderpolitik niederschlagen sollten, um Investitionsanreize auch tatsächlich zu setzen.
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Informed and Uninformed Investment in Housing: The Downside of Diversification
Elena Loutskina, Philip E. Strahan
Review of Financial Studies,
No. 5,
2011
Abstract
Mortgage lenders that concentrate in a few markets invest more in information collection than diversified lenders. Concentrated lenders focus on the information-intensive jumbo market and on high-risk borrowers. They are better positioned to price risks and, thus, ration credit less. Adverse selection, however, leads to higher retention of mortgages relative to diversified lenders. Finally, concentrated lenders have higher profits than diversified lenders, their profits vary less systematically, and their stock prices fell less during the 2007—2008 credit crisis. The results imply that geographic diversification led to a decline in screening by lenders, which likely played a role in the 2007–2008 crisis.
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