1. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-016 // 2007

    Double Standards in Educational Standards - Are Disadvantaged Students Being Graded More Leniently?

    A simple model of decentralised graduation standards is presented. It is shown that a school whose students are disadvantaged on the labour market applies less demanding standards because such students have…

  2. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-017 // 2007

    Sinkende Bildungsrenditen durch Bildungsreformen? Evidenz aus Mikrozensus und SOEP

    Die Bildungsreformen der sechziger Jahre sollten das Bildungsniveau der Westdeutschen anheben. Die Analyse der Daten des Mikrozensus weist darauf hin, dass die durch die Bildungsreformen intendierte…

  3. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-015 // 2007

    Age-dependent Skill Formation and Returns to Education

    In this study, we try to connect the economic literature on human capital formation with findings from neurobiology and psychology on early childhood development and self-regulation. Our basic framework for…

  4. Referierte Fachzeitschrift // 2007

    Selbständigkeit in Europa 1991 - 2003: Empirische Evidenz mit Länderdaten

    In dieser Studie werden ausgewählte makroökonomische Determinanten der Anzahl der Selbständigen in fünfzehn Ländern Europas untersucht. Datenbasis sind die Arbeitskräfteerhebungen der Europäischen Union für die…

  5. Discussion und Working Paper // 2007

    Regional Dimensions of Liability of Foreignness: Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

    In this paper we develop optimized localization strategies for multinational firms to overcome their liability of foreignness by adding a regional dimension. We explore conceptually whether economic stress in a…

  6. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-014 // 2007

    Seniority and Job Stability: A Quantile Regression Approach Using Matched Employer-Employee Data

    Job mobility and employment durations can be explained by different theoretical approaches, such as job matching or human capital theory or dual labor market approaches. These models may, however, apply to…

  7. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-013 // 2007

    The Influence of Strategic Patenting on Companies' Patent Portfolios

    This paper analyses whether strategic motives for patenting influence the characteristics of companies' patent portfolios. We use the number of citations and oppositions to represent these characteristics. The…

  8. ZEW Discussion Paper Nr. 07-012 // 2007

    Stale Information, Shocks and Volatility

    We propose a new approach to measuring the effect of unobservable private information or beliefs on volatility. Using high-frequency intraday data, we estimate the volatility effect of a well identified shock on…