The unemployment-growth relationship in transition countries
Hubert Gabrisch, Herbert Buscher
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 5,
2005
Abstract
Does the disappointingly high unemployment in Central and East European countries reflect non-completed adjustment to institutional shocks from transition to a market economy, or is it the result of high labour market rigidities, or rather a syndrome of too weak aggregate demand and output? In the case of transitional causes, unemployment is expected to decline over time. Otherwise, it would pose a challenge to the European Union, particular in case of accession countries, for it jeopardizes the ambitious integration plans of, and may trigger excessive migration to the Union. In order to find out which hypothesis holds 15 years after transition has started, we analyze the unemploymentgrowth dynamics in the eight new member countries from Central-Eastern Europe. The study is based on country and panel regressions with instrument variables (TSLS). The results suggest to declare the transition of labour markets as completed; unemployment responds to output and not to a changing institutional environment for job creation. The regression coefficients report a high trend rate of productivity and a high unemployment intensity of output growth since 1998. The conclusion is that labour market rigidities do not to play an important role in explaining high unemployment rates. Rather, GDP growth is dominated by productivity progress, while the employment relevant component of aggregate demand is too low to reduce substantially the high level of unemployment.
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The empirical relationship between longevity and physical stature may be obscured by unobserved genetic diversity in the optimal metabolic rate.
Marco Sunder
Medical Hypotheses 64 (6),
2005
Abstract
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Boom, bust, and the human body: further evidence on the relationship between height and business cycles.
Marco Sunder, U. Woitek
Economics and Human Biology 3 (3),
2005
Abstract
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Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition
Hans Degryse, Steven Ongena
Journal of Finance,
No. 1,
2005
Abstract
We study the effect on loan conditions of geographical distance between firms, the lending bank, and all other banks in the vicinity. For our study, we employ detailed contract information from more than 15,000 bank loans to small firms comprising the entire loan portfolio of a large Belgian bank. We report the first comprehensive evidence on the occurrence of spatial price discrimination in bank lending. Loan rates decrease with the distance between the firm and the lending bank and increase with the distance between the firm and competing banks. Transportation costs cause the spatial price discrimination we observe.
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Deposit Insurance, Moral Hazard and Market Monitoring
Reint E. Gropp, Jukka M. Vesala
Review of Finance,
No. 4,
2004
Abstract
The paper analyses the relationship between deposit insurance, debt-holder monitoring, and risk taking. In a stylised banking model we show that deposit insurance may reduce moral hazard, if deposit insurance credibly leaves out non-deposit creditors. Testing the model using EU bank level data yields evidence consistent with the model, suggesting that explicit deposit insurance may serve as a commitment device to limit the safety net and permit monitoring by uninsured subordinated debt holders. We further find that credible limits to the safety net reduce risk taking of smaller banks with low charter values and sizeable subordinated debt shares only. However, we also find that the introduction of explicit deposit insurance tends to increase the share of insured deposits in banks' liabilities.
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Excessive wage increases dampen capital spending
Klaus Weyerstraß
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 16,
2003
Abstract
Considering the debate about the opposite effects of rising wages for employee’s income and employer’s costs, the relationship between wage changes and investment is being investigated on an econometric basis for the years 1971 to 2003. The results show that the dynamics of investment activity slows down as real wages rise more than productivity increases.
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The home market - precondition for export business of East German industrial enterprises
Brigitte Loose, Udo Ludwig
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 2,
2003
Abstract
This article deals with the presence of East German manufacturers in foreign product markets. The following questions are discussed: Which factories sell their products abroad? What influences the export activities? Hypotheses are built on the basis of different trade theories, such as the relative position of the enterprises in their home market, the cumulation of learning effects in production and sales, the saturation of the domestic market and others. Individual data sets from industrial surveys for 1995 and 2000 are used to reveal the relationship between the company’s technical as well as institutional characteristics and their participation in export activities. Bivariate and multivariate approaches are applied. Additionally, a sample of enterprises has been asked to assess their export activities.
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Der Exportsektor im ostdeutschen Verarbeitenden Gewerbe und seine Bedeutung für das betriebliche Wachstum - eine Auswertung von Mikrodaten der amtlichen Statistik und einer IWH-Industrieumfrage -
Brigitte Loose, Udo Ludwig
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 169,
2003
Abstract
This paper deals with the presence of East German manufacturers in foreign product markets. The following questions are discussed: Which factories sell their products abroad? What influences the export activities? Hypotheses are built on the basis of different trade theories, such as the relative position of the enterprises in their home market, the cumulation of learning effects in production and sales, the saturation of the domestic market and others. Individual data sets from industrial surveys for 1995 and 2000 are used to reveal the relationship between the company’s technical as well as institutional characteristics and their participation in export activities. Bivariate and multivariate approaches are applied. Additionally, a sample of enterprises has been asked to assess their export activities.
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Bank-Firm Relationships and International Banking Markets
Hans Degryse, Steven Ongena
International Journal of the Economics of Business,
No. 3,
2002
Abstract
This paper reviews how long-term relationships between firms and banks shape the structure and integration of banking markets worldwide. Bank relationships arise to span informational asymmetries that are endemic in financial markets. Firm-bank relationships not only entail specific benefits and costs for both the engaged firms and banks, but also directly affect the structure of banking markets. In particular, the sunk cost of screening and monitoring activities and the 'informational capital' collected by the incumbent banks may act as a barrier to entry. The intensity of the existing firm-bank relationships will determine the height of this barrier and shape the structure of international banking markets. For example, in Scandinavia where firms maintain few and strong relationships, foreign banks may only be able to enter successfully through mergers and acquisitions. On the other hand, Southern European firms maintain many bank relationships. Therefore, banks may consider entering Southern European banking markets through direct investment.
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Supraregional sales markets: Development chances for companies in the East German manufacturing sector
Brigitte Loose, Udo Ludwig
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 16,
2001
Abstract
In this paper the export activities of the East German manufacturing industry are studied where exports are defined in a broad sense including both sales abroad and in West Germany. Survey data for 1998 and 1999 are used to reveal the relationship between technical as well as institutional characteristics of the companies and their exports. The following questions are discussed: Which companies participate in the export activities? What are the main regions of their business? Which in-house factors influence the export activities? What are the financial outcomes for the companies engaged in exports? Hypotheses are built on the basis of the market transaction costs theory. Bivariate and multivariate approaches are applied. The data are taken from the “Establishment Panel” of the Institute for Employment Research at the Federal Employment Services (IAB) in Nuremberg (Germany).
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