Mergers Among German Cooperative Banks. A Panel-based Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Based on an unbalanced panel of all Bavarian cooperative banks for the years of 1989-97 which includes information on 283 mergers, we analyze motives and cost effects of small-scale mergers in German banking. Estimating a frontier cost function with a time-variable stochastic efficiency term we show that positive scale and scope effects from a merger arise only if the merged unit closes part of the former branch network. When we compare actual mergers to a simulation of hypothetical mergers, size effects of observed mergers turn out to be slightly more favorable than for all possible mergers. Banks taken over by others are less efficient than the average bank in the same size class, but exhibit on average the same efficiency as the acquiring firms. For the post-merger phase, our empirical results provide no evidence for efficiency gains from merging, but point instead to a leveling off of differences among the merging units.banking, mergers, efficiency, stochastic frontier

Tax reform and labour-market performance in the euro area: a simulation-based analysis using the New Area-Wide Model

In this paper, we employ a calibrated two-country version of the New Area-Wide Model (NAWM) currently under development at the European Central Bank to examine the potential benefits and spillovers of reducing labour-market distortions caused by euro area tax structures. Our analysis shows that lowering tax distortions to levels prevailing in the United States would result in an increase in hours worked and output by more than 10 percent. At the same time, tax reductions would have positive spillovers to the euro area’s trade partners, bolstering the case for tax reforms from a global perspective. Finally, we illustrate that, in the presence of heterogeneous households, distributional effects may be of importance when gauging the impact of tax reforms. JEL Classification: E32, E62DSGE modelling, euro area, Fiscal Policy, limited asset-market participation, tax reform

Nonlinear Optical Effects in Polar Dielectric Materials

The electro-optical and nonlinear optical properties of organic materials are reviewed. Molecular crystals, Langmuir-Blodgett films and poled polymers are shown to have interesting properties for applications as high-speed electro-optic modulators, optical frequency converters or all optical signal processors

Correlations Estimates in the Lattice Anderson Model

We give a new proof of correlation estimates for arbitrary moments of the resolvent of random Schr\"odinger operators on the lattice that generalizes and extends the correlation estimate of Minami for the second moment. We apply this moment bound to obtain a new $n$-level Wegner-type estimate that measures eigenvalue correlations through an upper bound on the probability that a local Hamiltonian has at least $n$ eigenvalues in a given energy interval. Another consequence of the correlation estimates is that the results on the Poisson statistics of energy level spacing and the simplicity of the eigenvalues in the strong localization regime hold for a wide class of translation-invariant, selfadjoint, lattice operators with decaying off-diagonal terms and random potentials.Comment: 16 page

Gemeinschaftliche Absatz- und Exportförderung für Agrarerzeugnisse und Lebensmittel in Österreich und den USA. Bericht im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz (BMELV)

Der vorliegende Bericht stellt die wesentlichen Elemente der Absatzförderung Österreichs und der USA dar. Absatzförderung in Österreich ist produktübergreifend, in den USA überwiegend branchenspezifisch organisiert. Absatzförderung in Österreich ist produktübergreifend, in den USA überwiegend branchenspezifisch organisiert. In beiden Ländern liegt der Schwerpunkt der Maßnahmen auf generischer Werbung. Der Ausgabenanteil für Forschung im Rahmen der Absatzförderung liegt in den USA um den Faktor 2,5 höher als in Österreich. Das erklärte Ziel beider Regierungen ist es, die Exportquote der Ernährungswirtschaft in den nächsten Jahren zu erhöhen. Neben einem Literaturüberblick zur Wirksamkeit generischer Werbung werden ordnungspolitische Leitlinien für staatliche Eingriffe bei der Außenwirtschaftförderung vorgestellt. -- This study presents key elements of promotion programmes for food and agricultural products in Austria and the USA. The promotion programme in Austria encompasses a variety of different food and agricultural products while the US programmes are mostly branch-specific. Programmes in both countries focus on generic advertising. The share of measures for research and development in the USA is 2.5 times higher than in Austria. Both governments aim to increase food and agriculture related exports during the upcoming years. Beside a short literature review regarding the effectiveness of generic advertising, a regulative guideline for export promotion programmes is presented.Absatzförderung,Exportförderung,Außenwirtschaftförderung,promotion programmes,export promotion

The performance and robustness of interest-rate rules in models of the euro area

In this paper, we examine the performance and robustness of optimised interest-rate rules in four models of the euro area which differ considerably in terms of size, degree of aggregation, relevance of forward-looking behavioural elements and adherence to micro-foundations. Our findings are broadly consistent with results documented for models of the U.S. economy: backward-looking models require relatively more aggressive policies with at most moderate inertia; rules that are optimised for such models tend to perform reasonably well in forward-looking models, while the reverse is not necessarily true; and, hence, the operating characteristics of robust rules (i.e., rules that perform satisfactorily in all models) are heavily weighted towards those required by backward-looking models. JEL Classification: E31, E52, E58, E61euro area, macroeconomic modelling, Model uncertainty, monetary policy rules, Robustness