Research

Open AccessArticle

Invention in Times of Global Challenges: A Text-Based Study of Remote Sensing and Global Public Goods

by

Ingrid Ott

and

Simone Vannuccini

Economies 2023, 11(8), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11080207 - 02 Aug 2023

Viewed by 879

Abstract

We study whether remote sensing (RS), a set of technologies with global reach and a variety of applications, can be considered instrumental to the provision of global public goods (GPG). We exploit text information from patent data and apply structural topic modeling to [...] Read more.

We study whether remote sensing (RS), a set of technologies with global reach and a variety of applications, can be considered instrumental to the provision of global public goods (GPG). We exploit text information from patent data and apply structural topic modeling to identify topics related (or relevant) to GPG provision, and trace their participation in the evolution of remote sensing technology over time. We develop a new indicator of affinity to GPG (and other themes) using meta information from our dataset. We find that, first, RS displays features of a general-purpose technology. Second, while peripheral, GPG-relevant topics are present in the RS topic space, and in some cases overlap with topics with high affinity in AI and participation of public sector actors in invention. With our analysis, we contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between the dynamics of technology and (global) political economy, a field of research yet under-explored. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

Firms’ Use of Temporary Employment and Permanent Workers’ Concerns about Job Security: Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data

by

Christian Pfeifer

and

Jens Mohrenweiser

Economies 2023, 11(8), 205; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11080205 - 01 Aug 2023

Viewed by 458

Abstract

This research note addresses the question of how permanent workers perceive their individual job security if their firm employs temporary workers with fixed-term contracts and temporary agency workers. One the one hand, the core-periphery hypothesis predicts that permanent workers should have fewer concerns [...] Read more.

This research note addresses the question of how permanent workers perceive their individual job security if their firm employs temporary workers with fixed-term contracts and temporary agency workers. One the one hand, the core-periphery hypothesis predicts that permanent workers should have fewer concerns about job security if the firm employs temporary workers to deal with demand fluctuations. On the other hand, a counteracting substitution effect might increase concerns about job security. Using linked employer-employee data and estimating regression models at the worker level with establishment fixed effects, evidence supports the core-periphery hypothesis for temporary agency work but not for fixed-term contracts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

Open AccessArticle

Flexible Use of the Large-Scale Short-Time Work Scheme in Germany during the Pandemic: Dynamic Labour Demand Models Estimation with High-Frequency Establishment Data

by

Lisa Bellmann

,

Lutz Bellmann

and

Arnd Kölling

Economies 2023, 11(7), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11070192 - 13 Jul 2023

Viewed by 501

Abstract

Our study uses 24 waves of the survey Establishments in the COVID-19 crisis (BeCOVID), a high-frequency dataset collected at monthly intervals by the Institute for Employment Research during the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the behaviour of establishments with respect to the dynamics of [...] Read more.

Our study uses 24 waves of the survey Establishments in the COVID-19 crisis (BeCOVID), a high-frequency dataset collected at monthly intervals by the Institute for Employment Research during the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the behaviour of establishments with respect to the dynamics of their employment, in particular their use of short-time work. Due to the high-frequency intervals, the present data are considerably better suited than annual panel surveys to investigate adjustment processes. This is especially true for the role of short-time work, which is seen as a particularly fast adjustment option and thus reduces adjustment costs rapidly. Our estimations reveal a much faster overall workforce adjustment process compared with previous studies, which rely on annual panel surveys. In addition, our empirical results show that the employment adjustment in establishments using short-time work during the COVID-19 crisis occurred almost immediately within one month. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

Youth Entrepreneurship in Germany: Empirical Evidence on the How, the Why, the How Many, the Who and the When

by

Rolf Sternberg

and

David Breitenbach

Economies 2023, 11(6), 161; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11060161 - 07 Jun 2023

Viewed by 904

Abstract

Youth entrepreneurship is an increasingly prominent aspect of entrepreneurship support policies, but there is surprisingly little relevant research-based empirical evidence. This research gap is particularly noticeable when it comes to the personal and contextual factors that steer young people’s decision to start a [...] Read more.

Youth entrepreneurship is an increasingly prominent aspect of entrepreneurship support policies, but there is surprisingly little relevant research-based empirical evidence. This research gap is particularly noticeable when it comes to the personal and contextual factors that steer young people’s decision to start a business. Using statistically representative survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for Germany, we apply logit regressions to determine the influence of 10 independent variables on the likelihood of starting a business. We distinguish between 18–24-year-olds and 25–64-year-olds as well as between founders and non-founders. Self-efficacy in entrepreneurial skills, fear of failure and gender are the strongest influencing variables for the person-related factors and knowledge of other founders for the contextual factors. For younger people, the formal level of education and the perception of local entrepreneurial opportunities do not play a role in the decision to start a business, whereas they are very important for older people. Our results suggest that start-up promotion policies should explicitly address the empirically proven factors of youth entrepreneurship instead of a ‘one size fits all’ policy for new businesses, regardless of the age of the founders. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

When an Exchange Semester Is No Longer Enough: Why and How the Bologna-Reforms Changed the Behavior of High-Ability Students?

by

Bernd Frick

,

Fabian Lensing

and

Lisa Beck-Werz

Economies 2023, 11(4), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11040103 - 23 Mar 2023

Viewed by 634

Abstract

Emphasizing the existence of information asymmetries between, e.g., young academics and potential employers, signaling theory has shaped our understanding of how high-ability students try to document their superior skills in a competitive environment such as the labor market: high-ability individuals benefit from a [...] Read more.

Emphasizing the existence of information asymmetries between, e.g., young academics and potential employers, signaling theory has shaped our understanding of how high-ability students try to document their superior skills in a competitive environment such as the labor market: high-ability individuals benefit from a relative cost advantage compared to low-ability individuals when producing a credible signal of superior ability. When this cost advantage decreases, the signal’s value also decreases. We analyze how the signal ‘international qualification’ has changed due to increasing overall student mobility, driven by the effect of a massive change in the institutional framework, namely the implementation of the Bologna reforms. Using a large and hitherto not accessible dataset with detailed information on 9096 German high-ability students, we find that following the Bologna reforms, high-ability students extended their stays and completed degrees abroad (instead of doing exchange semesters). No such changes in behavior are to be observed in the overall student population. We conclude that completing a degree abroad is the new labor market signal for the ‘international qualification’ of high-ability students. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

Online Channel Sales Premia in Times of COVID-19: First Evidence from Germany

by

Joachim Wagner

Economies 2023, 11(2), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11020067 - 16 Feb 2023

Viewed by 735

Abstract

A presence on the web tends to be important for firms. Empirical studies show that firms with a better performance across various dimensions, and firms that are more internationally active, tend to have a website. Furthermore, a website helped firms to survive during [...] Read more.

A presence on the web tends to be important for firms. Empirical studies show that firms with a better performance across various dimensions, and firms that are more internationally active, tend to have a website. Furthermore, a website helped firms to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. An open question that is not discussed in the literature is how the use of online channels for sales is related to various dimensions of firm performance. This study contributes to the literature by using a unique recently released set of firm level data from Germany to investigate for the first time the links between online channels sales and firm characteristics. In a robustness check, the empirical investigation was replicated using strictly comparable firm level data from nine European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

Open AccessArticle

Is There a Union Wage Premium in Germany and Which Workers Benefit Most?

by

Marina Bonaccolto-Töpfer

and

Claus Schnabel

Economies 2023, 11(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11020050 - 03 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1098

Abstract

Using representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this paper finds a statistically significant union wage premium in Germany of almost three percent, which is not simply a collective bargaining premium. Given that the union membership fee is typically about one percent [...] Read more.

Using representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this paper finds a statistically significant union wage premium in Germany of almost three percent, which is not simply a collective bargaining premium. Given that the union membership fee is typically about one percent of workers’ gross wages, this finding suggests that it pays off to be a union member. Our results show that the wage premium differs substantially between various occupations and educational groups, but not between men and women. We do not find that union wage premia are higher for those occupations and workers which constitute the core of union membership. Rather, unions seem to care about disadvantaged workers and pursue a wider social agenda. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

Data Protection, Cookie Consent, and Prices

by

Thomas Wein

Economies 2022, 10(12), 307; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10120307 - 01 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1367

Abstract

A legislative process is currently ongoing in the European Union to supplement the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation regarding ePrivacy regulation. The supplement is intended to complete the European data protection policy in significant areas. One addition would be for service providers on [...] Read more.

A legislative process is currently ongoing in the European Union to supplement the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation regarding ePrivacy regulation. The supplement is intended to complete the European data protection policy in significant areas. One addition would be for service providers on the Internet, who currently obtain the consent of their users via an opt-out provision, to always provide a paid alternative without disclosing data. This procedure is essentially aimed at overcoming “cookie consent fatigue”, which can be observed in many cases. A simple economic exchange model shows that users, as data subjects, are basically faced with the choice of paying a monetary price for a service that will also preserve their privacy or using Internet services “for free” while negating data privacy preferences. The individual demand for data privacy coincides with the socially optimal demand only if there is effective competition in the markets for data and Internet services and if users are sufficiently informed. In an online laboratory experiment with students of the Leuphana University of Lueneburg, a between-subjects design was applied in which the control group only had the option to either “pay” for the use of the artificial intelligence DeepL via cookies by surrendering data or to abstain from the service altogether, with the two treatment groups additionally given the option to use DeepL in exchange for a monetary fee so that privacy was not violated. To be tested was whether the “monetary price for privacy” option better reflected users’ privacy preferences than the current cookie opt-out solution. The results show that it was much less common for DeepL to be remunerated with the disclosure of data and less common for DeepL to be waived entirely. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Actor Fluidity and Knowledge Persistence in Regional Inventor Networks

by

Michael Fritsch

and

Moritz Zoellner

Economies 2022, 10(12), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10120298 - 26 Nov 2022

Viewed by 893

Abstract

The development of inventor networks is characterized by the addition of a significant number of new inventors, while a considerable number of incumbent inventors discontinue. We estimated the persistence of knowledge in the inventor networks of nine German regions using alternative assumptions about [...] Read more.

The development of inventor networks is characterized by the addition of a significant number of new inventors, while a considerable number of incumbent inventors discontinue. We estimated the persistence of knowledge in the inventor networks of nine German regions using alternative assumptions about knowledge transfer. Based on these estimates, we analyzed how the size and structure of a network may influence knowledge persistence over time. In a final step, we assessed how persistent knowledge as well as the knowledge of new inventors affect the performance of regional innovation systems (RIS). The results suggest that the knowledge of new inventors is much more important for RIS performance than old knowledge that persists. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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Open AccessArticle

Website Premia for Extensive Margins of International Firm Activities: Evidence for SMEs from 34 Countries

by

Joachim Wagner

Economies 2022, 10(10), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10100250 - 11 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 915

Abstract

This paper uses firm-level data from the Flash Eurobarometer 421 survey conducted in June 2015 in 34 European countries to investigate the link between having a website and international firm activities in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We find that firms that are [...] Read more.

This paper uses firm-level data from the Flash Eurobarometer 421 survey conducted in June 2015 in 34 European countries to investigate the link between having a website and international firm activities in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We find that firms that are present on the web more often export, import, engage in research and development cooperation with international partners, work as subcontractors for firms from other countries, use firms in other countries as subcontractors, and perform foreign direct investments—both inside and outside the European Union. The estimated website premia are statistically highly significant after controlling for firm size, country, and sector of economic activity. Furthermore, the size of these premia can be considered to be large. Internationally active firms tend to have a website. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focused Issues and Trends in Economic Research from Germany)

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