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DIW Discussion Papers 1106 / 2011
In the debate on global imbalances, the euro area countries did not receive much attention so far. While the current account is on balance for the entire area, divergences between individual member states have increased since the introduction of the common currency. In this paper, the imbalances are traced to catching up and competitiveness factors using paneleconometric techniques. In line with the ...
2011| Ansgar Belke, Christian Dreger
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DIW Discussion Papers 1105 / 2011
This paper analyses the impact of violent conflict on economic growth using micro-level data from Indonesia. We compile a panel dataset at district level for the period 2002-2008, and disentangle the overall negative economic effect of violent conflict into its sectoral components. Our results reveal substantial differences across sectors, with the most detrimental impact evident in manufacturing industries ...
2011| Marc Vothknecht, Sudarno Sumarto
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DIW Discussion Papers 1104 / 2011
Good decision-making often requires people to perceive and handle a myriad of statistical correlations. Notably, optimal portfolio theory depends upon a sophisticated understanding of the correlation among financial assets. In this paper, we examine people's understanding of correlation using a sequence of portfolio-allocation problems and find it to be strongly imperfect. Our experiment uses pairs ...
2011| Erik Eyster, Georg Weizsäcker
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DIW Discussion Papers 1103 / 2011
We use a neoclassical production function to analyze the effects of knowledge spillovers via entrepreneurship on economic performance of 337 German districts. To take the spatial dependence structure of the data into account, we estimate a spatial Durbin model. We highlight the importance of the choice of the appropriate weight matrix. We find positive knowledge spillover effects via entrepreneurship ...
2011| Katharina Pijnenburg, Konstantin A. Kholodilin
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DIW Discussion Papers 1102 / 2011
We construct a new, direct measure of female autonomy in household decision-making by creating an index from the principal components of a variety of household variables on which mother of a child takes decision. We then examine its impacts on her child's secondary education in Mexico and find that the children of Mexican mothers with greater autonomy in domestic decision making have higher enrolment ...
2011| Tanika Chakraborty, Prabal K. De
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DIW Discussion Papers 1101 / 2011
The study analyses the gender pay gap in private-sector management positions in Germany based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) for the years 2001-2008. It focuses in particular on gender segregation in the labor market, that is, on the unequal distribution of women and men across different occupations and on the effects of this inequality on earnings levels and gender wage ...
2011| Anne Busch, Elke Holst
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DIW Discussion Papers 1100 / 2011
A personal bankruptcy law that allows for a "fresh start" after bankruptcy reduces the individual risk involved in entrepreneurial activity. On the other hand, as risk shifts to creditors who recover less of their credit after a debtor's bankruptcy, lenders may charge higher interest rates or ration credit supply, which can hamper entrepreneurship. Both aspects of a more forgiving personal bankruptcy ...
2011| Frank M. Fossen
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DIW Discussion Papers 1099 / 2011
In this paper, we focus on network- and gender-specific determinants of remittances, which are often explained theoretically by way of intra-family contracts. We develop a basic formal concept that includes aspects of the transnational network and derive hypotheses from it. For our empirical investigation, we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) for the years 2001-2006. Our findings ...
2011| Elke Holst, Andrea Schäfer, Mechthild Schrooten
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DIW Discussion Papers 1098 / 2011
Many Colombians are confronted with the ongoing conflict that influences their decision making in everyday life, including their behavior in labor markets. This study focuses on the impact of violent conflict on self-employment, enlarging the usual determinants with a set of conflict variables. In order to estimate the effect of conflict on self-employment, we employ fixed effects estimation. Three ...
2011| Carlos Bozzoli, Tilman Brück, Nina Wald
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DIW Discussion Papers 1097 / 2011
Despite political activities to foster a low-carbon energy transition, Germany currently sees a considerable number of new coal power plants being added to its power mix. There are several possible drivers for this "dash for coal", but it is widely accepted that windfall profits gained through free allocation of ETS certificates play an important role. Yet the quantification of allocation-related investment ...
2011| Michael Pahle, Lin Fan, Wolf-Peter Schill
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DIW Discussion Papers 1096 / 2011
Whether Europe will be able to stand up to its internal and external challenges crucially depends on its ability to manage its internal mobility and inflows of international migrants. Using a unique expert opinion survey, we document that Europe needs skilled migrants, and skill mismatch is to be expected. A review of current immigration policies shows that despite a number of positive recent developments ...
2011| Martin Kahanec, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1095 / 2011
The standard approach of analysing gaps in social and labor market outcomes of different ethnic groups relies on analysis of statistical data about the affected groups. In this paper we go beyond this approach by measuring the views of expert stakeholders involved in minority integration. This enables us to better understand the risk of minority exclusion; the inner nature of discrimination, negative ...
2011| Amelie Constant, Martin Kahanec, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1094 / 2010
Studies of peer-to-peer lending in the USA find that female borrowers have better chances of getting funds than males. Is differential treatment of borrowers of different sexes a common feature of peer-to-peer lendingmarkets or is it subject to specific businessmodels, ways of fixing loan contracts and even national financial systems? We aim at answering this question by providing evidence on loan ...
2010| Nataliya Barasinska, Dorothea Schäfer
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DIW Discussion Papers 1093 / 2010
We provide, for the first time, comparative evidence of the impact of various types of extreme events - natural disasters, terrorism, and violent conflicts - on the perceptions of entrepreneurs concerning some key entrepreneurial issues - such as fear of failure in starting a business venture, whether individuals expect that good opportunities are likely to emerge in the next six months, and the expected ...
2010| Tilman Brück, Fernanda Llussá, José Tavares
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DIW Discussion Papers 1092 / 2010
Das ökonomische Potenzial ethnischer und kultureller Vielfalt wird häufig verkannt. Die Ergebnisse neuerer Studien, die in diesem Beitrag zusammengefasst werden, zeigen jedoch, dass sich "weiche" Faktoren wie etwa Einstellungen, Wahrnehmungen und Identitäten, hier insbesondere ethnische Identitäten, wesentlich auf ökonomische Ergebnisse auswirken können. Dies geht sowohl aus Analysen des Prozesses ...
2010| Ulf Rinne, Simone Schüller, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1091 / 2010
The social and labor market integration of ethnic minorities in the EU is still a major political, societal and economic challenge. Based on evidence presented in Kahanec and Zimmermann (2011), this policy paper proposes an agenda for diversity and minority integration in the European labor markets. Policies to foster the labor market and social integration of ethnic majorities can work. But they need ...
2010| Martin Kahanec, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1090 / 2010
This paper sheds light on the labor market situation of ethnic minorities in the European Union. Facing a serious measurement challenge and lacking adequate data, we apply several measures of ethnicity and examine various data sources as well as secondary evidence. We find significant gaps between ethnic minority and majority populations in terms of labor market outcomes. In particular, ethnic minorities ...
2010| Martin Kahanec, Anzelika Zaiceva, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1089 / 2010
This paper analyzes the reservation wages of first and second generation migrants. Based on recently collected and rich survey data of a representative inflow sample into unemployment in Germany, we empirically test the hypothesis that reservation wages increase from first to second generation migrants. Two extensions of the basic job search model, namely an unknown wage offer distribution and different ...
2010| Amelie Constant, Annabelle Krause, Ulf Rinne, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1088 / 2010
In this paper we study the economic effects of risk attitudes, time preferences, trust and reciprocity while we compare natives and second generation migrants. We analyze an inflow sample into unemployment in Germany, and find differences between the two groups mainly in terms of risk attitudes and positive reciprocity. Second generation migrants have a significantly higher willingness to take risks ...
2010| Amelie F. Constant, Annabelle Krause, Ulf Rinne, Klaus F. Zimmermann
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DIW Discussion Papers 1087 / 2010
Leaders are critical to a country's success. They can influence domestic policy via specific measures that they enforce, and they can also influence international public opinion towards their country. Foreign Direct Investments are also essential for a country's economic growth. Our hypothesis is that foreign-educated leaders attract more FDI to their country. Our rationale is that education obtained ...
2010| Amelie Constant, Bienvenue N. Tien