Publikationen

This paper examines the impact of locational choice as a firm strategy to access knowledge spillovers from universities. Based on a large data set of young high-technology start-ups publicly listed in Germany, this study tests the propositions that geographic proximity to the university is shaped by different spillover mechanisms -- research and human capital -- and by different types of knowledge spillover -- natural sciences and social sciences. The results suggest that spillover mechanisms as well as spillover types are heterogeneous. In particular, the evidence suggests that new knowledge and technological-based firms have a high propensity to locate close to universities, presumably in order to access knowledge spillovers. However, the exact role that geographic proximity plays is shaped by the two factors examined in this paper -- the particular knowledge context, and the specific type of spillover mechanism.

This study examines empirically the syndication of equity by multiple venture capitalists in Germany. Following the literature, there are mainly two competing views as to why venture capitalists syndicate investments. First, syndication can be viewed as a means of risk-sharing. Second, venture capitalists may provide important productive resources to firms, capital and information. We test hypotheses based on these two aspects. The results show that the syndication of equity and the number of venture capitalists involved cannot be fully explained by firm characteristics like size, age or industry affiliation. Although syndicated investments do not differ significantly in stock-market performance, they show significantly higher growth rates.

Initial investments and different strategic actions of universities lead to their different positions in the higher education sector. Pursuing similar strategies leads to similar positions that influence structure and performance within the system. Institutions cannot only choose to focus on research or on teaching, but also to focus either on natural sciences or social sciences. Using 73 public universities in Germany, this paper examines the existence of strategic groups based on performance. Common strategic variables only partly determine performance in high and low efficiency groups.

Most normative studies on child labor arrive at the conclusion that child labor is detrimental to social welfare. Child labor is, however, still prevalent in many developing countries even though in many of these countries it is forbidden by law. In this paper we develop a political-economic model that explains lenient enforcement of existing child labor legislation. The most important implication of our model is that in countries with repressive political regimes enforcement is more lenient and child labor thus more prevalent than in countries enjoying political freedom. We test this implication and find that it is confirmed by the data.

This paper integrates institutionally determined wage rigidities into an otherwise standard Heckscher Ohlin model of international trade. It accounts for individual heterogeneities with respect to innate abilities and analyses their implications for individual wage incomes and for individual decisions about acquiring education. The model provides a foundation for the conjectures the development of wages and unemployment rates derived from comparative cross country studies that do not consistently account for the global general equilibrium links affecting factor prices. It does not support the view that global equilibrium links cause US wages to be determined by European wage rigidities or insulate the US economy from exogenous labor supply shocks.

We present a model consistent with the stylized fact that rigid Europe has witnessed higher unemployment and a more compressed wage structure than flexible America . A distinguishing feature of the present paper is that it endogenises the labour market regulations that account for this divergent experience. We use our political economy model to investigate the policy responses to globalization, i.e. to an increase in international capital mobility. It turns out that labour market institutions are not necessarily scaled down in the course of globalization; rather, the direction of the globalization-induced policy response is determined by the relative strength of the politically active groups.

In this paper I develop a theoretical model explaining optimal wage-tenure profiles for heterogeneous labor. My findings entail that high productive people have steeper profiles than low productive individuals. I find strong empirical evidence for these findings. At the end of my paper, I utilize the basic model to describe the labor market entry of college graduates.

In order to analyse whether women and men differ in their decision making under risk and uncertainty, we use data from the game show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'. It turns out that i) there are gender differences in choosing a lottery or a certain value only for largestakes lotteries, ii) the decision making process differs significantly between small and large stake lotteries for both women and men, and iii) people with lower income tend to react more reluctant to choose a kind of certain value in order of a lottery. The results hold even after controlling for socio-economic variables.