Browsing Department of Economics (ECON) by Year Published
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hvordan får vi mest vækst for pengene?Skaksen, Jan Rose; Kirk, Jens Sand; Stephensen, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7987 Files in this item: 1
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Three papers laying the foundation for regional CGE models with agglomeration characteristicsTermansen, Lars Brømsøe (Frederiksberg, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper analyses the effects of introducing taxes and regional transfers on the equilibrium properties in a standard Core-Periphery model. A central government levies taxes on production factors and redistributes the revenue to all agents regardless of their location. In the case of Core-Periphery economy this is in effect a re-allocation of agglomeration rents. Simulations show that taxes and transfers alter the Core-Periphery model’s properties by moving the Break and Sustain points. The range of freeness of trade with Core-Periphery outcomes is reduced for transfers to the periphery, and increased for transfers to the core. The width of the overlap where the models exhibit hysteresis effects remains the same regardless of the transfers. The analysis reveals that in the Core-Periphery outcome the agglomeration rents can be taxed without exhausting the core’s scale effects. The tax revenues can then be redistributed such that periphery regions and the central government have incentives in promoting core regions, which function as industrial locomotives for the whole economy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7739 Files in this item: 1
Lars_B_Termansen.pdf (1.846Mb) -
Hussinger, Katrin; Schneider, Cedric; Czarnitzki, Dirk (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The knowledge produced by academic scientists has been identified as a potential key driver of technological progress. Recent policies in Europe aim at increasing commercially orientated activities in academe. Based on a sample of German scientists across all fields of science we investigate the importance of academic patenting. Our findings suggest that academic involvement in patenting results in greater knowledge externalities, as academic patents appear to generate more forward citations. We also find that in the European context of changing research objectives and funding sources since the mid-90’s, the "importance” of academic patents declines over time. We show that academic entrants have patents of lower "quality” than academic incumbents but they did not cause the decline, since the relative importance of patents involving academics with an existing patenting history declined over time as well. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation of the effects of the abolishment of the "professor privilege” (the German counterpart of the U.S. Bayh-Dole Act) reveals that this legal disposition led to an acceleration of this apparent decline. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7666 Files in this item: 1
wp5-2008.pdf (305.8Kb) -
Vinten, Frederik Christian (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We study the impact of stock market valuations on delistings from European stock exchanges 1996-2004. Previous research has found that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) occur more often when market valuations are high. This is paradoxical since it implies that companies are more likely to engage in M&A when it is most expensive. In accordance with prior research we find that delistings by mergers and acquisitions are more likely when industry market-to-book values (q) are high. In contrast, we find no effect of industry q on going private transactions. The data also suggest that M&A are more likely to take place in bull years while going private transactions are relatively more likely in bear years. Our study is the first comprehensive study of delistings in Europe and the first study to demonstrate that going private transactions appear to be driven by different causal mechanisms than M&A. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7682 Files in this item: 1
frederik_vinten.pdf (1.449Mb) -
Boom, Anette (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper uses an adapted version of the linear tracing procedure, suggested by Harsanyi and Selten (1988), in order to discriminate between two types of multiple Nash equilibria. Equilibria of the same type are pay-off equivalent in the analysed multiple-unit unit price auction where two sellers compete in order to serve a fixed demand. The equilibria where the firm with the larger capacity bids the maximum price, serves the residual demand and is undercut by the low capacity firm that sells its total capacity risk dominate the equilibria where the roles are interchanged. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7664 Files in this item: 1
wp2-2008.pdf (302.0Kb) -
Munch, Jakob Roland; Rose Skaksen, Jan; Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper, we propose and test a novel effect of immigration on the wages of native workers. Existing studies have focused on the wage effects that result from changes in the aggregate labour supply in a competitive labour market. We argue that if labour markets are not fully competitive, the use of immigrants may also affect wage formation at the most disaggregate level – the workplace. Using linked employeremployee data, we find that an increased use of workers from less developed countries has a significantly negative effect on the wages of native workers at the workplace – also when controlling for potential endogeneity of the immigrant share using both fixed effects and IV. Additional evidence suggests that this effect works at least partly through a general effect on the wage norm in the firm of hiring employees with poor outside options (the immigrants). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7665 Files in this item: 1
wp7-2008.pdf (243.0Kb) -
Veugelers, Reinhilde; Schneider, Cedric (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Recent policy initiatives in the EU aim at supporting so-called Young Innovative Companies (YICs). This paper provides empirical evidence from German CIS data on the innovative performances of this specific type of firms, supporting why they matter. We first characterize YICs in the sample of innovation active firms. We show that firms that combine newness, smallness and high R&D intensity, are rare in the sample of innovative firms, but achieve significantly higher innovative sales than other innovative firms, especially innovative sales that are new to the market. Not surprisingly, YICs view financial constraints, both internal and external, as an important factor hampering their innovation activities, significantly more so than other innovation active firms. This access to finance problem is an often used motive for government intervention. In Germany, subsidies schemes for innovation are general and not particularly targeted at YICs. When assessing the effectiveness of these public funding schemes for our sample firms, we find that they are not effective to increase the innovative sales of YICs, unlike the average innovative firm in our sample. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7663 Files in this item: 1
wp4-2008.pdf (209.8Kb) -
Preliminary Experimental Evidence from Matrilineal and Patriarchal SocietiesBulte, Erwin; List, John A.; Gneezy, Uri; Andersen, Steffen (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
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Schneider, Cedric (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of mixed public-private R&D incentives and empirically tests whether patents that were publicly sponsored are more important than non-subsidized ones. Blending patents and public subsidies will allow the funding agency to subsidize inventions that would otherwise not elicit investment because the private incentive will not fully cover the cost of the invention. Thus, the policy maker will only subsidize inventions that have a high social value. The empirical analysis shows that subsidized inventions result in more important patents, as measured by the number of forward citations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7662 Files in this item: 1
wp6-2008.pdf (150.8Kb) -
Blomgren-Hansen, Niels (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In most countries labor is organzed in cooperating skill-speci c unions rather than in industrial unions or separately bargaining skill-speci c unions. Within an extremely simple model of a small open economy facing imperfect competition we show that this way of organizing labor can be explained as the outcome of rational (optimizing) behavior on the part of the unions and the employers. Organizing labor in local industrial cartels (regardless of skill) or a single economy wide cartel results in a real wage level that is inappropriately low both from the point of view of labor and the society as a whole unless labor has close to monopoly power in the wage setting process. Organizing labor in local or economy wide skill-speci c unions may result in a wage level that is too high. In addition, a labor market organized in non-cooperating unions is likely to be unstable. This dilemma calls for a compromise: A cartel of cooperating, independent skill-speci c unions. The degree and the form of the cooperation depend inter alia on the bargaining power of the employer, the number of skills and competing rms and the rigidity with which the unions enforce lines of demarcations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7599 Files in this item: 1
wp3-2008.pdf (467.4Kb) -
Tvede, Mich; Olai Hansen, Bodil (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the present paper a model of competition between sports clubs in a sports league is presented. Clubs are endowed with initial players but at a cost clubs are able to sell their initial players and buy new players. The results are that: if the quality of players is one-dimensional, then equilibria in pure strategies exist, and; if the quality of players is multi-dimensional, then there need not exist equilibria in pure strategies, but equilibria in mixed strategies exist. Equilibria in mixed strategies resemblance signings just before the transfer window closes in european soccer. competition between sports clubs, dimension of quality of players, equilibrium in pure strategies, equilibrium in mixed strategies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7555 Files in this item: 1
wp10-2007.pdf (380.2Kb) -
An analysis of the proposed Dutch yardstick mechanismBogetoft, Peter; Mikkers, Misja C.; Halbersma, Rein; Agrell, Per J. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Health care provision is undergoing major reforms in Europe as a reaction to rapidly increasing expenditure and lowered political acceptance to commit public finance to cover the deficits. The Dutch government will decide in 2007 if the current budget system will be replaced by a more competitive mechanism, based on the yardstick regulation principle by Shleifer (1985). One of the proposed systems for the reform can be compared to a revenue-cap implementation of a multi-product cost-yardstick mechanism. The redistribution of the sector’s relevant cost is made in proportion to the individual hospitals share of total weighted output. No regulation is made of the multi-lateral contractual relations between users, insurers and hospitals. The scaling weights are updated periodically for new services and as a function of observed excess demand (waiting lists). The mechanism is shown to provide cost-reducing (effort-inducing) incentives for profit-maximizing rational agents in a single-period bargaining game. The game also shows that the regulation acts as a countervailing power for the insurers to reinforce bargaining power. The local distortion of the output profile induced by the regulation is a function of demand elasticity and cost function convexity. In case the revenue target is not binding, no welfare loss is incurred. The regime also provides incentives for cost-reducing investments in the short and the long run. These incentives manifest themselves in local reallocations of output to more efficient producers. The analysis shows that care should be taken in the updating of the weights as to provide incentives for service innovation, as well as to guarantee convergence of the price system. Although this requires econometric analyses, the alternative with a cost-based yardstick is considered superior to a revenue-based ditto for this application. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7661 Files in this item: 1
wp1-2007-yardstick.pdf (1.159Mb) -
Andersen, Steffen; Harrison, Glenn W.; Lau, Morten Igel; Rutström, Elisabeth E. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We make the case that psychologists should make wider use of structural econometric methods. These methods involve the development of maximum likelihood estimates of models, where the likelihood function is tailored to the structural model. In recent years these models have been developed for a wide range of behavioral models of choice under uncertainty. We explain the components of this methodology, and illustrate with applications to major models from psychology. The goal is to build, and traverse, a constructive bridge between the modeling insights of psychology and the statistical tools of economists. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7571 Files in this item: 1
artikel 16.pdf (1.442Mb) -
Waisman, Gisela; Larsen, Birthe (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The eects of discrimination of immigrants on the labour market are studied within a search and wage-bargaining setting including a risk of losing skills during the experience of unemployment. The negative eects of discrimination in the form of higher unemployment and lower wages spread to all workers, immigrants and natives, in all sectors of the economy. The eect is stronger for immigrants, but natives suer as well. An increase in the share of immigrants in the economy exacerbates the problem of discrimination. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7634 Files in this item: 1
wp12-2007.pdf (768.8Kb) -
Schmitt, Nicolas; Raimondos-Møller, Pascalis (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We examine the interaction between commodity taxes and parallel imports in a simple two-country model with imperfect competition. While governments determine non-cooperatively their commodity tax rate, the volume of parallel imports is determined endogenously by the retailing sector. We compare the positive and normative implications of having commodity taxes based on destination or origin principle. Origin taxes are shown to have very attractive properties: they lead to lower levels of optimal taxes, they converge as parallel imports increase (while destination taxes diverge), and they lead to higher welfare levels. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7538 Files in this item: 1
wp.04.07.pdf (360.3Kb) -
Med særligt henblik på grønlandske forholdLund, Lars (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Resource rents and models for taxation of these rents. Some references to the situation for Greenland. After a general introduction to the concept of rents the risk of distortion by double taxation of the normal capital income to investment is explained. Cash flow taxation or deduction in the tax base of investment times the risk free interest rate can be used to avoid this double taxation. Among other instruments to secure a part of rents for the public sector are direct participation and selling rights to exploit the resources by auction. The greater part of the paper is about taxation of rents in fisheries. The regulation is assumed to be based on professional advising and individual transferable quotas. Duties on the quota or a general cost increasing tariff, e. g. on fuel, are administratively simple models for taxation. Cost increasing indirect taxation has the good quality of incentive compatibility, as it supports the effort reducing aim of regulation. A concrete example illustrates a possible taxation of the prawn/shrimp fishery combining a duty on the quota with a tariff levied on the catch. Some comment are given on a recent report on the shrimp fishery (2005), and it is criticised for highlighting the theoretical qualities of Greenland’s fisheries policy, but neglecting the regulation and also to which extent incomes derived from quotas end up as income for Greenlandic households. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7559 Files in this item: 1
wp1-2007_rev.pdf (305.6Kb) -
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Abstract: According to the Competition Act, a merger that impedes eective competition signi cantly, in particular by creating or strengthening a dominant postition, shall be prohibited. To decide whether this is the case the authorities need a quanti able model of the relationship between the variables that are directly aected by the merger and some measure of competition. In this paper we set up and calibrate a simple model of the interaction of the retail and the wholesale markets for high-end cosmetics in Denmark based on the Matas case. The model predicts that the acquisition of Matas - comprising roughly half of the market for high end cosmetics - may have a significant on retail prices and that the authorities had good reasons for making its approval conditioned on the removal of a number of contract-based barriers to entry. Analytically the main results are: (1) In a linear model with constant marginal costs the optimal wholesale prices are unexpected by the structure in the retail sector. (2) The ect on of buyer-power induced quantity dioscounts depends on the speci c design of the scheme: A relative discount on the list price the independent shops are charged increases the average retail price; A xed reduction relative to the pre-merger price reduces the average retail price). (3) Buyer-power induced retail price maintenance (RPM) increases the average retail price. RPM increases the competitiveness and pro ts of the merged shops if producers keep whole-sale prices unchanged. If, however, the producers adjust their wholesale prices, then RMP hurts merged and independent shops alike and benefits only the producers. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7516 Files in this item: 1
wp6-2007.pdf (422.4Kb) -
Ionascu, Delia; Kristjánsdóttir, Helga; Davies, Ronald B. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper applies the panel fixed effects with vector decomposition estimator to three FDI datasets to estimate the impact of time-invariant variables on FDI while including fixed effects. We find that the omission of fixed effects significantly biases several of these variables, especially those proxying for trade costs and culture. After including fixed effects, we find that many time-invariant variables indicate the importance of vertical FDI. We also find that by eliminating these biases, the differences across datasets largely disappear. Thus, controversies in the literature that are driven by differences in data sets may be resolved by using this estimation technique. JEL Classification: F14, F23 Key Words: Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Costs, Culture URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7610 Files in this item: 1
wp2-2007.pdf (355.7Kb) -
Scheuer, Christian; Sørensen, Anders; Rosholm, Michael (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of globalization, in the sense of increasing international trade, on the demand for skills in Danish manufacturing companies. The study is based on a unique data set that enables us to develop rich measures of international outsourcing and import penetration. Moreover, the data also allows several strategies to strengthen the causal interpretation of our results. The main finding of the analysis is that it is of crucial importance to distinguish imports - both in the form of outsourcing and overall imports - by country-of-origin. We find that international trade with low-wage countries leads to skill-upgrading. This is especially pronounced for import penetration with a ceteris paribus contribution of around fifty percent to skill-upgrading. Moreover, we find that import penetration in goods originating from high-wage countries lead to skill-downgrading. This latter result suggests that Danish manufacturing has comparative advantage in skillintensive production when compared to low-wage countries, but in unskill-intensive production when compared to high-wage countries. Skill-upgrading, Low-wage country outsourcing, Low-wage country import penetration, Comparative advantage URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7625 Files in this item: 1
wp8-2007.pdf (532.1Kb) -
The Role of Competition and of the Initial Firm Efficiency. Evidence from the Czech Republicla Cour, Lisbeth; Ionascu, Delia (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It has been argued that the effect of competition on a company’s incentive to innovate and to reduce managerial slack depends on the initial level of efficiency. For example, while firms close to the technology frontier invest more in innovation if competition increases, backward firms reduce innovation. On a panel data of Czech companies, for the years 1993-2005, we empirically assess the impact of increased competition on firm productivity and the importance of the initial firm efficiency level. We depart from the empirical literature on emerging markets by taking into account both domestic and foreign competition. In line with the theory, our results show that there is an inverted U-relationship between domestic competition and firm productivity. Our results also confirm that trade liberalization has a positive impact on productivity. However, the effect is less significant if domestic competition is not taken into account. In addition, we find that both domestic and foreign competition have an effect on productivity in companies close to the technology frontier but not in backward companies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7653 Files in this item: 1
wp9-2007.pdf (2.398Mb)