ZEW Discussion Papers

In many econometric applications it is unclear from the very beginning whether a parametric functional of a continuous regressor should be specified as a linear, as a higher order polynomial or as a piecewise…

This paper investigates the relationship between the gender wage gap, the choice of training occupation, and occupational mobility. We use longitudinal data for young workers with apprenticeship training in West…

Under the world dollar standard, a discrete appreciation by a dollar creditor country of the United States, such as China or Japan, has no predictable effect on its trade surplus. Currency appreciation by the…

In contrast to earlier field studies, we survey German public savings banks on their management of capital. We find that the most important determinants of the savings banks’ target capital ratio are risk…

We compare two options of integrating discrete working time choice of heterogenous households into a general equilibrium model. The first, known from the literature, produces household heterogeneity through a…

The paper tests empirically the role of knowledge stocks to explain the regional distribution of Germany’s biotechnology founders. We present an unique approach to highlight the role of knowledge spillovers as…

The savings banks’ decision to distribute profits among their public owners is strongly regulated by law in order to guarantee their adequate funding via retained profits. However, the legal scope is reluctantly…

This paper investigates to what extent the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) fosters innovation activities by facilitating more flexible organisational structures in firms. We distinguish…

We examine the empirical relation between CO2 emissions per capita and GDP per capita during the period 1960-1996, using a panel of 100 countries. Relying on the nonparametric poolability test of Baltagi et al.…