ZEW Discussion Papers

In this article we examine how model selection in neural networks can be guided by statistical procedures such as hypotheses tests,information criteria and cross validation. The application of these methods in…

Various empirical studies have shown that the time-varying volatility of asset returns can be described by GARCH (generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity) models. The corresponding GARCH option…

Based on the data of the first wave of the Mannheim Innovation panel,this paper explores the link between R&D expenditures and patents. Ourdata allow a detailed analysis of the firm size distribution of R&Dand…

With the completion of the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations, attention turns to plausible next steps. One question on the agenda of possibilities is the adoption of competition policies that…

Changing product quality poses a challenge for the computation of price indexes, in particular in technologically advanced industries. We assess the differences between traditional and quality-corrected indexes…

Many studies of producer behavior consider cost and input demand functions derived from microeconomic theory and estimate them on the basis of aggregate data. If firms' characteristics differs, the neglect…

This paper follows up recent work on the relationship between (un -- )employment and wage effects of social security financing undertaken by the OECD Jobs Study. Based on a simple macroeconometric model of the…

The research reported in this paper seeks to determine how skewed the distribution of profits from technological innovation is -- i.e., whether it conforms most closely to the Paretian, log normal, or some other…