Towards a Behavioural Foundation of Macroeconomics

Traditional macroeconomic theories often assume that aggregate economic figures originate in the behaviour of individuals who optimise their utility. In doing so, it is casually taken for granted that all agents act self-centered, profit maximising, and risk neutral. A growing number of studies, mainly from the areas of microeconomics and psychology, contradicts this presupposition. Through data gathered by laboratory experiments it is possible to explore whether humans behave according to theoretical predictions. In order to lay a behavioural foundation to macroeconomic theories, such laboratory experiments can be conducted with a macroeconomic scope. In this dissertation thesis, three different macroeconomic topics are investigated experimentally. One focus is put on the interlinks between economic policy and the labour market. In a laboratory experiment where players in the role of various institutions interact, the policy decisions of governments and central banks, their motivations, and their consequences are analysed with respect to wages and employment. The reactions of the labour market are mainly in line with theory. If the official sector’s employment goals are not met, governments tend to increase expenditures, whereas the decisions of central banks seem rather to be motivated by the attainment of price goals. The total of the effects observed deliver a new explanation for the existence of a relationship between employment and the inflation rate. The second emphasis is on the currency trade decisions of firms in the same experiment. The players are guided by interest rate differences rather than by expected exchange rate movements since they are unable to predict exchange rate changes correctly and thus are ambiguity averse. This results in the absence of technical trade, highest profits for interest-conforming traders, and pessimistic expectations concerning the exchange rate. The firms engage in hedging their production-incurred foreign debts against exchange rate risks. A simple decision rule is described on the base of which players would have made profits on average. A transaction tax as proposed by James Tobin is studied in the third part. Experiments have been conducted with an asset market model that includes equally endowed traders. In another variant of the model, a transaction tax is levied on the asset. The trade volume decreases with an increasing tax rate, and so do the fiscal revenues. Price volatility is reduced drastically under a tax regime. Although the market efficiency is higher on taxed markets, there is evidence for lower efficiency with higher tax rates. Concluding it can be said that the Tobin tax has volatility reducing effects on the market, but the tax rate should be low to limit a negative impact on trade volume and market efficiency. The last part derives efficient ways to calculate significance levels of differences in two independent and in two matched samples. This is done with Fisher-Pitman permutation tests, which are frequently used throughout this thesis

Structural Basis of Fosmidomycin Action Revealed by the Complex with 2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate Synthase (IspC): implications for the catalytic mechanism and anti-malaria drug development

2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate synthase (IspC) is the first enzyme committed to isoprenoid biosynthesis in the methylerythritol phosphate pathway, which represents an alternative route to the classical mevalonate pathway. As it is present in many pathogens and plants, but not in man, this pathway has attracted considerable interest as a target for novel antibiotics and herbicides. Fosmidomycin represents a specific high-affinity inhibitor of IspC. Very recently, its anti-malaria activity in man has been demonstrated in clinical trials. Here, we present the crystal structure of Escherichia coli IspC in complex with manganese and fosmidomycin at 2.5 Å resolution. The (N-formyl-N-hydroxy)amino group provides two oxygen ligands to manganese that is present in a distorted octahedral coordination, whereas the phosphonate group is anchored in a specific pocket by numerous hydrogen bonds. Both sites are connected by a spacer of three methylene groups. The substrate molecule, 1-D-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate, can be superimposed onto fosmidomycin, explaining the stereochemical course of the reaction

The impact of data quality and analytical capabilities on planning performance: insights from the automotive industry

Conventional wisdom suggests that data quality plays a central role for compiling valid and reliable plans to make the right decisions. At the same time, it is acknowledged that planning processes are both data and knowledge intensive and characterized by the human-computer interface. However, there are limited academic investigations on how data quality and analytical capabilities simultaneously impact planning performance. Drawing on the conceptual approach of business analytics, we introduce the notion of analytical capabilities, which is operationalized through three distinct resources: IT-usability, user competence, and analytical execution. To assess the impact of data quality and analytical capabilities on planning performance, we develop a structural equation model, which is then tested using data from the automotive industry. Our results suggest that analytical capabilities are a significant mediator for the effect of data quality on planning performance

Precision farming – consideration of reduced exposure in the pollinator risk assessment

Observed declines in the distribution and abundance of various insect species have moved the topic of biodiversity and the protection of honey bees, an insect species of particular economic interest, into the focus of public attention. This also resulted in an increasing public pressure to reform the European agricultural policy and as part of this to minimise the amount of synthetic plant protection products used. In this context, so-called ‘precision farming’ offers a considerable potential for a reduced application of plant protection products by using precision application techniques that allow to adjust applications to the actual scale of target distribution within a field. Is however currently not possible to exactly quantify the subsequent decrease of exposure of non-target organisms. Focusing on honey bees, the authors are therefore in a first step proposing a field study design to quantify the direct and indirect exposure of honey bees and their colonies in relation to the ratio of treated to untreated field area and the application pattern used. Furthermore, parameters of the bee risk assessment scheme are discussed that could be suitable to describe exposure reduction by precision application.Observed declines in the distribution and abundance of various insect species have moved the topic of biodiversity and the protection of honey bees, an insect species of particular economic interest, into the focus of public attention. This also resulted in an increasing public pressure to reform the European agricultural policy and as part of this to minimise the amount of synthetic plant protection products used. In this context, so-called ‘precision farming’ offers a considerable potential for a reduced application of plant protection products by using precision application techniques that allow to adjust applications to the actual scale of target distribution within a field. Is however currently not possible to exactly quantify the subsequent decrease of exposure of non-target organisms. Focusing on honey bees, the authors are therefore in a first step proposing a field study design to quantify the direct and indirect exposure of honey bees and their colonies in relation to the ratio of treated to untreated field area and the application pattern used. Furthermore, parameters of the bee risk assessment scheme are discussed that could be suitable to describe exposure reduction by precision application

Übergabe an die Erben der Buchhandlung "Brüder Suschitzky". Gemeinsame Restitution der Universitätsbibliotheken der Universität Wien und der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Wien, 30. April 2019)

In einer gemeinsamen Übergabezeremonie restituierten am 30. April 2019 die Universitätsbibliotheken der Universität Wien und der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien sechs Bücher an die Nachfahren der Wiener Buchhandlung "Brüder Suschitzky"

β-Amyloid (1–42) Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Cerebral Atrophy in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

Background: Recent studies consistently reported Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and, to a lower extent, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to be accompanied by reduced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of β-amyloid. However, how these changes are related to brain morphological alterations is so far only partly understood. Methods: CSF levels of β-amyloid (1–42) were examined with respect to cerebral atrophy in 23 subjects with MCI, 16 patients with mild-to-moderateAlzheimer’s disease (AD) and 15 age-matched controls by using magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Results: When contrasted with the controls, β-amyloid (1–42) levels were significantly lower (p Conclusion: Our finding confirms the results of previous studies and suggests that both the decrease in β-amyloid (1–42) and the development of hippocampal atrophy coincide in the disease process

Atmospheric Parameter Retrieval from UV-vis-NIR Limb Scattering Measurements

The hyperspectral UV-vis-NIR spectrometer SCIAMACHY will be launched aboard the European satellite Envisat. Its limb measurements will provide vertically resolved profiles of trace gases and other atmospheric parameters. No retrieval algorithms and radiative transfer models have been established for these measurements yet.In this thesis, a unique, fast radiative transfer model for UV-vis-NIR limb radiances has been developed, implemented, and validated. It takes into account the sphericity of the atmosphere and up to two orders of scattering and surface reflection. The weighting functions for all parameters are calculated from analytical formulae. A realistic instrument model with field-of-view integration and signal-to-noise computation and retrieval algorithms have also been implemented. All have been combined in the new program package SCIARAYS. The package has been applied for the characterisation of the limb measurements in several ways:The simulated weighting functions agree well with those due to full multiple scattering. Thus they may be used to calculate theoretical precision estimates and averaging kernels. In conformance with this, test retrievals with approximate weighting functions converge correctly. Therefore, the approximate weighting functions of SCIARAYS are well suited for retrievals from SCIAMACHY´s limb measurements.Detailed theoretical retrieval precisions have been calculated for SCIAMACHY´s trace gas targets. The conclusion is that a UV-vis-NIR limb sensor like SCIAMACHY is well suited for studying the vertical structure of the stratosphere and also of the upper troposphere above cloud top.Further investigations show that the vertical resolution of retrievals from SCIAMACHY´s limb measurements can be improved beyond its geometrical limits. As a trade-off for better vertical resolution, the retrieval precision gets worse. Thus O3 profile features with 1km vertical extent will be detectable with a precision of 20-30%