Nach 1995 deutliche Wachstumsschwäche der deutschen Wirtschaft im internationalen Vergleich

Im Folgenden werden ausgewählte Ergebnisse einer neuen Datenquelle zur Messung von Wachstum und Produktivität im internationalen Vergleich präsentiert. Die Informationen decken den Zeitraum von 1970 bis 2004 ab. Sie zeigen, dass Deutschland seine langjährige Wachstumsführerschaft in Europa im Laufe der 90er Jahre verloren hat. Die aktuellen gesamtwirtschaftlichen Daten für 2006 sowie die Schätzungen für 2007 und 2008 deuten allerdings darauf hin, dass Deutschland mittlerweile wieder Anschluss an die Entwicklung in den übrigen Ländern der EU gewonnen hat.Growth, Productivity, European Union

Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance

Using firm-level panel data from the German cost structure survey over the period 1992 to 2000, our empirical analysis shows that firms that increased material inputs relative to internal labor costs performed better in terms of gross operating surplus than other firms. However, firms that increased external services relative to internal labor costs, thus outsourcing service functions previously provided within the firm, performed worse. In sum, our findings support the view that firms tend to overestimate the benefits accruing from outsourcing of services previously provided internally.Outsourcing, Firm Performance, Business Service Sector.

Intangibles, Can They Explain the Dispersion in Return Rates?

It is argued that the observed return rates on capital at firm-level have an upward bias if firms are producing with unobserved intangible capital. Using EUKLEED, a comprehensive firm level data base for Germany, this theoretical preposition is proved empirically. Furthermore, making unobserved capital observable the dispersion in return rates reduces dramatically. The results clearly support the assumption that a considerable part of the observed dispersion in return rates among firms can be contributed to unobserved capital formation in intangible capital. Firms with high input in intangibles also have an above average observed rate of return. However, the question to what extent a more intense use of intangibles can be the cause for higher return rates in the sense of both the monopoly-based and the innovation-based explanations is not answered.Intangible capital, Rate of return, Firm-level profitability

Cyberbullying involvement roles and viewing of suicide-related web-content

An overview of the results of a study investigating the relationships between cyberbullying roles, viewing of specific suicide-related web content, and psychological problems in young people. Data from a representative sample of N = 19,406 (50% girls) 11–16-year-olds across 25 European countries were analysed. This was collected as part of the EU Kids Online Study

East Germany’s Wage Gap: A non-parametric decomposition based on establishment characteristics

East German wages have been below the West German wage level since unification. Moreover, the East-West wage gap implied by the contractual wages specified in collective wage agreements is drifting ever further apart from the wage gap in terms of effective wages. This paper looks at the role of establishment-specific factors — such as sectoral affiliation and size of the labour force — in this process. A non-parametric decomposition that has played a prominent role in the gender wage-gap literature is applied to breakdown the East-West wage gap into its constituent components. Using establishment data from the German employment statistics, the paper demonstrates that the divergence between wage agreements and effective wages is probably not a consequence of a massive escape from collective wage agreements, or the intense use of opt-out clauses in such agreements in East Germany. Rather, the shift of East Germany’s economic structure towards lower-paying types of companies has caused the lagging behind in the adjustment of wages.Regional Wage Gap, Decomposition, Nonparametric Regression

Firm Specific Wage Spread in Germany - Decomposition of regional differences in inter firm wage dispersion

The purpose of this paper is to sort out firm-related differences from effects that result from different economic structures. A non-parametric decomposition is used to analyse firm level difference between the wage spread in the two major regions of unified Germany. If firm-specific effects explain wage dispersion between firms, a decomposition of the wage dispersion between firms is necessary. The decomposition can help to find out, whether the economy-wide results for different regions are due to the composition of the regional economies by industries and firm-size, or whether the differences are due to firm-specific influences, like distinctions in market power. For Germany, a considerable part of the difference in the wage spread between the East and the West can be explained by different economic structures. However, by far the greater part of the difference in the wage spread between firms in the two parts of the country results from lower wages paid by firms of the same type in East Germany compared with their counterparts in West Germany.Productivity, Wage Differentiation, Wage Spread, Firm Wage Levels, Wage Sharing, Non Parametric Analysis, Decomposition

Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Lohnstückkosten in der Strukturanalyse (Competitiveness and unit labour costs in structural analysis)

"There is virtually a unanimous opinion in academic circles that the competitiveness of eastern German enterprises is being diminished by wage costs that are too high. This conclusion is reached if the competitiveness of an enterprise is measured on the basis of unit labour costs, which is a common indicator in macroeconomic analyses. First of all this article looks into the question of how suitable this indicator is for assessing the competitive situation for each industry. This is then followed by a discussion, on the basis of the cost structures of western and eastern German enterprises, of the extent to which other cost factors besides wages are responsible for the inadequate profits of eastern German enterprises." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Lohnstückkosten, Wettbewerbsfähigkeit - Determinanten, regionaler Vergleich, Ostdeutschland, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Types of cyberbullying involvement and mental health problems

Cyberbullying has been found to be associated with self-harm related behaviours and mental health difficulties. The current study aims to investigate adolescents’ viewing of web content related to self-harm and suicide as well as different kinds of mental health difficulties while differentiating between types of involvement in cyberbullying (bullies, victims or bully-victims). Their involvement in cyberbullying and viewing of self-harm or suicide websites was asked of 18,709 11–16 year old Internet users in 25 European countries. Further, crossing of a clinical threshold for different mental health difficulties was assessed. The viewing of self-harm and suicide websites differed according to the involvement in cyberbullying with those not involved showing the least and bully-victims showing the highest prevalence. Those not involved in cyberbullying showed the lowest prevalence for being above the clinical threshold for all mental health difficulties. Victims and bully-victims were highest on emotional and peer problems while bullies and bully-victims were highest for conduct problems. Multi-nominal logistic regression predicting cyberbullying categories showed that the relations above remained stable while adding mental health difficulties and website content simultaneously as predictors. Findings suggest that viewing of self-harm related websites as well as mental health difficulties are independently associated with different types of involvement in cyberbullying

Product policy and the East-West productivity gap

After 20 years of transition from an economy integrated in an exchange scheme of planned economies towards an open market economy based on the ideas of competition, we ask whether East German firms succeeded in finding their place in the international division of labour. We concentrate on the question, to what extent they have caught up with the productivity level of their Western counterparts of similar size and sector and how this productivity difference is related to changes in their product policy. We analyse these questions with a unique data set provided by Statistics Germany that contains both product policy and productivity information for individual manufacturers from both parts of the country. Using a decomposition approach suggested by Nopo (2008) as a nonparametric extension of the widely-used Oaxaca-Blinder methodology (Blinder 1973; Oaxaca 1973) we find that the time span from 1995-2004 has two component periods: a period of adaptation from 1995 to 2001and a period of branding from 2002 to 2004. The initial period is characterized by a smaller share of Eastern firms that modify their product range and by a large productivity gap of Eastern non-modifiers if compared to Western non-modifiers of comparable size and sector. The evidence for the second period, however, points to a more active and established role of East German manufacturers: more of them alter their product range and step up their productivity performance.Productivity, Product Policy, Decomposition, Transition Economies