ZEW Discussion Papers

This paper investigates the long-term trend and the underlying determinants of public sector centralization in Germany from 1871 until today. The institutional and the quantitative review of the German history…

Quantile regression methods are emerging as a popular technique in econometrics and biometrics for exploring the distribution of duration data. This paper discusses quantile regression for duration analysis…

Two main hypotheses can be found in literature on why elderly workers have a lower probability of using information technology than their younger peers: lower learning capabilities and reduced incentives to…

Der Beitrag untersucht die Effektivität der Innovationsförderung in den neuen Ländern. Dabei wird ein doppelter Vergleich angestellt. Zum einen analysieren wir die Auswirkungen der Förderung hinsichtlich der…

In the 1990s, patenting schemes changed in many respects: upcoming new technologies accelerated the shift from price competition towards competition based on technical inventions, a worldwide surge in patenting…

Credit ratings are commonly used by lenders to assess the default risk, because every credit is connected with a possible loss. If the probability of a default is above a certain threshold, a credit will not be…

We answer the questions, how many firms acting in the modern German biotechnology industry are funded by venture capital companies (VCC) as well as equity funded by corporate investors. The theory suggests a…

This paper investigates the effects of macroeconomic volatility on non–financial firms’ cash holding behavior. Using an augmented cash buffer–stock model, we demonstrate that an increase in macroeconomic…

Based on a sample of German inovating firms that contains information on formal and informal innovation cooperation between customers and suppliers, we state that firms perceive informal cooperation as being…