A Game Theoretic Analysis of the Conditions of Knowledge Transfer by New Employees in Companies
Sidonia vonLedebur
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 3,
2006
Abstract
The availability of knowledge is an essential factor for an economy in global competition. Companies realise innovations by creating and implementing new knowledge. Sources of innovative ideas are partners in the production network but also new employees coming from another company or academia. Based on a model by HECKATHORN (1996) the conditions of efficient knowledge transfer in a team are analysed. Offering knowledge to a colleague can not be controlled directly by the company due to information asymmetries. Thus the management has to provide incentives which motivate the employees to act in favour of the company by providing their knowledge to the rest of the team and likewise to learn from colleagues. The game theoretic analysis aims at investigating how to arrange these incentives efficiently. Several factors are relevant, especially the individual costs of participating in the transfer. These consist mainly of the existing absorptive capacity and the working atmosphere. The model is a 2x2 game but is at least partly generalised on more players. The relevance of the adequate team size is shown: more developers may increase the total profit of an innovation
(before paying the involved people) but when additional wages are paid to each person a greater team decreases the remaining company profit. A further result is
that depending on the cost structure perfect knowledge transfer is not always best for the profit of the company. These formal results are consistent with empirical studies to the absorptive capacity and the working atmosphere.
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Foreign Subsidiaries in the East German Innovation System – Evidence from Manufacturing Industries
Jutta Günther, Björn Jindra, Johannes Stephan
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 4,
2008
Abstract
This paper analyses the extent of technological capability of foreign subsidiaries located in East Germany, and looks at the determinants of foreign subsidiaries’ technological sourcing behaviour. The theory of international production underlines the importance of strategic and regional level variables. However, existing empirical approaches omit by and large regional level factors. We employ survey evidence from the “FDI micro data- base” of the IWH, that was only recently made available, to conduct our analyses. We find that foreign subsidiaries are above average technologically active in comparison to the whole East German manufacturing. This can be partially explained by the industrial structure of foreign direct investment. However, only a limited share of foreign subsidiaries with R&D and/or innovation activity source technological knowledge from the East German innovation system. If a subsidiary follows a competence augmenting strategy or does local trade, it is more likely to source technological knowledge locally. The endowment of a region with human capital and a scientific infrastructure has a positive effect too. The findings suggest that foreign subsidiaries in East Germany are only partially linked with the regional innovation system. Policy implications are discussed.
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What Happened to the East German Housing Market? – A Historical Perspective on the Role of Public Funding –
Claus Michelsen, Dominik Weiß
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 20,
2009
Abstract
The paper analyses the development of the East German housing market after the reunification of the former German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. We analyse the dynamics of the East German housing market within the framework of the well-known stock-flow model, proposed by DiPasquale and Wheaton. We show that the today observable disequilibrium to a large extend is caused by post-unification housing policy and its strong fiscal incentives to invest into the housing stock. Moreover, in line with the stylized empirical facts, we show that ‘hidden reserves’ of the housing market were reactivated since the economy of East Germany became market organized. Since initial undersupply was overcome faster than politicians expected, the implemented fiscal stimuli were too strong. In contrast to the widespread opinion that outward migration caused the observable vacancies, this paper shows that not weakness of demand but supply side policies caused the observable disequilibrium.
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A Federal Long-run Projection Model for Germany
Oliver Holtemöller, Maike Irrek, Birgit Schultz
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 11,
2012
Abstract
Many economic decisions implicitly or explicitly rely on a projection of the medium- or long-term economic development of a country or region. In this paper, we provide a federal long-run projection model for Germany and the German states. The model fea-tures a top-down approach and, as major contribution, uses error correction models to estimate the regional economic development dependent on the national projection. For the medium- and long-term projection of economic activity, we apply a production function approach. We provide a detailed robustness analysis by systematically varying assumptions of the model. Additionally, we explore the effects of different demographic trends on economic development.
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Shadow Budgets, Fiscal Illusion and Municipal Spending: The Case of Germany
Peter Haug
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 9,
2009
Abstract
The paper investigates the existence of fiscal illusion in German municipalities with special focus on the revenues from local public enterprises. These shadow budgets tend to increase the misperception of municipal tax prices and seem to have been neglected in the literature. Therefore, an aggregated expenditure function has been estimated for all German independent cities applying an “integrated budget” approach, which means
that revenues and expenditures of the core budget and the local public enterprises are combined to one single municipal budget. The estimation results suggest that a higher relative share of local public enterprise revenues might increase total per capita spending as well as spending for non-obligatory municipal goods and services. Empirical evidence for other sources of fiscal illusion is mixed but some indications for debt illusion, renter illusion or the flypaper effect could be found.
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Why do banks hold capital in excess of regulatory requirements? A functional approach
Diemo Dietrich, Uwe Vollmer
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 192,
2004
Abstract
This paper provides an explanation for the observation that banks hold on average a capital ratio in excess of regulatory requirements. We use a functional approach to banking based on Diamond and Rajan (2001) to demonstrate that banks can use capital ratios as a strategic tool for renegotiating loans with borrowers. As capital ratios affect the ability of banks to collect loans in a nonmonotonic way, a bank may be forced to exceed capital requirements. Moreover, high capital ratios may also constrain the amount a banker can borrow from investors. Consequently, the size of the banking sector may shrink.
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Capital Stock Approximation with the Perpetual Inventory Method: STATA Code for the IAB Establishment Panel
Steffen Müller
FDZ-Methodenreport, H. 02,
Nr. 2,
2010
Abstract
Das IAB Betriebspanel enthält keine direkten Informationen über den Kapitalstock der befragten Betriebe. Dieser Methodenreport beschreibt die Möglichkeit der Approximation des Kapitalstocks anhand der Methode der permanenten Inventur (perpetual inventory method), wie sie in Müller (2008) vorgeschlagen wird. Der Anhang enthält den entsprechenden STATA Code.
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Exploring the Evolution of Innovation Networks in Science-driven and Scale-intensive Industries: New Evidence from a Stochastic Actor-based Approach
T. Buchmann, D. Hain, Muhamed Kudic, M. Müller
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 1,
2014
Abstract
Our primary goal is to analyse the drivers of evolutionary network change processes by using a stochastic actor-based simulation approach. We contribute to the literature by combining two unique datasets, concerning the German laser and automotive industry, between 2002 and 2006 to explore whether geographical, network-related, and techno-logical determinants affect the evolution of networks, and if so, as to what extent these determinants systematically differ for science-driven industries compared to scale-intensive industries. Our results provide empirical evidence for the explanatory power of network-related determinants in both industries. The ‘experience effect’ as well as the ‘transitivity effects’ are significant for both industries but more pronounced for laser manufacturing firms. When it comes to ‘geographical effects’ and ‘technological ef-fects’ the picture changes considerably. While geographical proximity plays an important role in the automotive industry, firms in the laser industry seem to be less dependent on geographical closeness to cooperation partners; instead they rather search out for cooperation opportunities in distance. This might reflect the strong dependence of firms in science-driven industries to access diverse external knowledge, which cannot necessarily be found in the close geographical surrounding. Technological proximity negatively influences cooperation decisions for laser source manufacturers, yet has no impact for automotive firms. In other words, technological heterogeneity seems to ex-plain, at least in science-driven industries, the attractiveness of potential cooperation partners.
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Network Formation: R&D Cooperation Propensity and Timing Among German Laser Source Manufacturers
Muhamed Kudic, Andreas Pyka, Marco Sunder
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 9,
2013
Abstract
Empirical evidence on the evolution of innovation networks within high-tech industries is still scant. We investigate network formation processes by analyzing the timing of firms to enter R&D cooperations, using data on laser source manufacturers in Germany, 1990-2010. Network measures are constructed from a unique industry database that allows us to track both the formation and the termination of ties. Regression results reveal that a firm's knowledge endowment (and cooperation experience) shortens the duration to first (and consecutive) cooperation events. The previous occupation of strategic network positions is closely related to the establishment of further R&D cooperations at a swift pace. Geographic co-location produces mixed results in our analysis.
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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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